Sweet music & sour notes -- Jazz vs Knicks

Monday, December 18, 2006

What a letdown tonight ... a 97-96 loss in overtime to the crappy Knicks. This is probably the worst loss of the season (even though it is only by one point) just because of the effort level. Let's get into it ...

SWEET MUSIC


D. Will plays big, again (23 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals) -- He made the 3-pointer with 10 seconds left to send the game into OT. He made another 3-pointer with 1:15 left in OT to tie the game at 94-94. Finally, he hit the shoulda-been game-winner with 3 seconds to go to give Utah a 96-95 lead. What else could the guy have done better?

Okur plays on offense (19 points, 4-7 on 3-pointers, 9 rebounds, 4 assists) -- He had two big 3-pointers in the last three minutes of the 4th quarter (and another in OT). The outside shooting touch was there tonight for Memo, but his defense (we'll get to that later) was not.

SOUR NOTES

Okur doesn't play defense (again) -- Nevermind that that storied Knicks trio of Ronaldo Balkman, David Lee and Channing Frye outrebounded Okur and Boozer 45-19. Nevermind, also, that Lee looked like a white Dwight Howard all night. Okur is on this list for not even attempting to foul Stephon Marbury as he drove the length of the court for the game-winning lay-up! That's right, a game-winning lay-up! How soft do you have to be to be right under the basket and allow a lay-up as time expires? Just ask Memo.

Boozer dozes off for 3 quarters -- Boozer: 23 points, 10 rebounds. Boy, that sure looks nice. Oh wait, what's that? You had seven turnovers, four fouls and you scored 17 of the 23 points in the first quarter? Thanks a lot. There's no reason why Boozer (or the rest of the Jazz's front line) should have been settling for jump shots. Get whatever big guys they have in foul trouble and get to the basket.

Bench does diddly -- The following guys played tonight: Harpring, Millsap, Collins, Giricek and Brown. Combined shooting for them was 4-18, they amassed 7 of the Jazz's 23 personal fouls and did a nice job of killing Utah's 34-20 lead after the first quarter.

AK's poor play -- His all-around game was working yesterday in Indiana, but tonight he just wasn't all there. He seems dead set to not shoot the open mid-range jumper and has no confidence in even attempting the shot. He also had a really stupid foul on Marbury with 53 seconds left in overtime that gave the Knicks a 1-point lead.

Sweet music & sour notes -- Jazz vs Pacers

Sunday, December 17, 2006

A surprising matinee Jazz game in Indianapolis where it was nice to see the Jazz bounce back from Friday's loss to the Kings. Time for some sweet music and sour notes from the game ...

SWEET MUSIC

Deron Williams has his way with Jamaal Tinsley (Williams: 17 pts, 3 rebounds, 5 assists and 6 PFs) -- Williams made sure Tinsley had his hands full when this game started. Williams took control of the game early and did a decent job of pestering Tinsley. Of course, it helped that A. Tinsley finished 3-18 FG and had 9 points B. that Tinsley fouled out and C. that the Pacers got rattled in the 3rd quarter when the Jazz went up by 21. Williams did better on 3-pointers than he had of late (2-3 on 3s) and seemed determined to put Friday behind him.

Memo makes money balls (17 points, 3-4 on 3s, 7 rebounds) -- By my count, the Jazz are 11-2 this season when Okur has 17 points or more. That's pretty good. He had a subtle performance tonight, but the Pacers sagged off him on defense just enough to allow Memo some open looks for 3-pointers. That's usually all he needs, and that was all he needed tonight.

Dee Brown getting better (6 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals) -- Ok, so he was 1-6 from the field (not good), but the play that made him stand out tonight was at the end of the game with the Jazz up 102-94 with 15 seconds left. Brown got in the passing lane, leaped up to steal the inbounds pass and forced the Pacers to foul again to give Utah the final margin. He's got a lot of energy, heart and hustle and you can see why the Illini fans liked him so much.

SOUR NOTES

Jermaine O'Neal lights up Boozer (31 points, 9 rebounds, 3 blocks) -- O'Neal looked fantastic (as he has all season) and Boozer still seems to have trouble staying with power forwards that can move well laterally (i.e. O'Neal). Luckily Boozer's facing a big-bodied (and probably less full Knicks roster) on Monday. He should look better.

C.J. Miles & Ronnie Brewer don't play -- Sloan hasn't had a problem giving minutes to Paul Millsap or Dee Brown this season, but when it comes to C.J. Miles and Ronnie Brewer, they never know when (or if) they'll play. At this point I wish they'd almost send them down to the NBADL just so they can play.

Jarron Collins ... why is he on the team? -- So the Jazz re-signed this guy in the off-season for nights like Sunday (2 points, 2 assists and two fouls in nine minutes)? All he seems to do is foul and I think the Jazz's up-tempo game has left him in the dust.

Sweet music & sour notes -- Mavericks vs Jazz

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

OK, so I missed a game (Wolves/Jazz, if you want to call that a game), but we're back at it with tonight's 101-79 whomping of the Mavericks. Let's hear some sweet music and sour notes as we celebrate Jerry Sloan's 1,000 career victory ...

Sweet music

The Harp Dog: 15 points, 8 rebounds, 3-4 FT --
Harpring provided a nice spark off the bench tonight and hit the boards for some tough rebounds when the Jazz needed it. He and Boozer had a nice little inside (Harpring) and outside (Boozer) combination going in the second quarter, when the Jazz were still slugging it out with Dallas. He did a good job of keeping Devean George from becoming any kind of offensive factor.

AK-47's quiet impact: 10 points, 6 assists, 2 rebounds, 4 blocks -- It is games like this that make me think AK-47 seems to be finding his way in this low-post offense that features Boozer. He's doing well this year when he gets the ball on the wing and can look over the defense and make a good pass. He had a sick pass between the legs of a couple Mavs, but Jarron Collins blew the layup, but some of his other passes were right on. His late steal off Josh Howard caused Howard's sixth foul and he had another near steal earlier in the game.

Boozer: 31 points (13-25 FG), 11 rebounds, 5-6 FT -- After playing the role of Kevin Garnett's woman in the loss to the T-Wolves, Boozer bounced back and slapped around the Mavs front line of Erick Dampier, DeSagana Diop and DJ Mbenga with some tough drives to the hoop. It seems to be this year that as he goes, so goes the offense and hopes of a win.

Sour notes

Fouls: 28 fouls in the game (10 of those in the 1st quarter) --
Utah fouls a lot. We all know this. But when they started hacking away in the first quarter, it got a little ridiculous. Granted, the officals tonight weren't calling everything right, but that's usually the case. The main reason Dallas stayed in the game early was free throws. If they had made a few 3s, Utah would have had a much tougher night.

Slow Memo: 9 points (2-5 FG), 4 rebounds, 4 PF -- He looked lost out there tonight, especially on defense when he did not (as usual) rotate over to help in the post. He hasn't played a good all-around game since last week's blowout win over Milwaukee. Plus, he left the game late in the 4th with a mild ankle sprain ... hopefully he'll get back to playing like himself soon.

The Paperboy is lost (Millsap): 13 minutes, 0 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 4 fouls -- For every one good game Millsap has (see the win over Seattle), he takes a few steps back the next game and slows down. He didn't really have a favorable matchup tonight (he was guarding Josh Howard at one point), but that's life in the NBA. Things likely won't be easier against the Clippers on Wednesday night.

Sweet music & sour notes -- Sonics vs Jazz

Sunday, December 03, 2006

It's been a few weeks since I've posted on the Jazz (due to some family concerns), but life seems to be re-stabilizing, so it's time to hear some sweet music and some sour notes from a disappointing 109-107 win over the hated Sonics ...

Sweet Music

Memmmoooooo!!!!!: 12 points (2-2 on 3-pointers), 5 rebounds, 2 steals: Okur may look like he's drunk/tired/hungover most games, but he's always aware of that 3-point line and aware of what it means to be clutch. Memo!!!The guy has saved the Jazz at least four or five times already this season, and he came through tonight with a 3-pointer from the corner with 1.6 seconds left.

Boozer comes through again: 24 pts, 8 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 blocks: When he's playing well, the rest of the offense seems to be clicking too. The key tonight is that the Jazz got him involved fairly early in the game (he had 10 of his points in the first half). He's already got seven blocks this year (had only 8 last year) and he seems to be on pace to shatter his "Jazz record" for blocks (24). Anytime he decides to get off his feet and contest a shot, it's a miracle.

Deron gets it done: 18 points, 9 assists, 2 steals: In the first night of the season that paired Williams with Derek Fisher, the Jazz got off to a slow start. But as the game wore on, Williams and Fisher played pretty well together (forget the fact Fisher did an OK job guarding Ray Allen). The Jazz nearly gave this game away (more on that later), but at least Williams took the ball to the basket in the 4th quarter throughout the game to keep Seattle's big men from becoming much of a factor.

Paul Millsap (aka The Paperboy) delivers: 16 points, 10 rebounds (4 offensive): More and more, this guy is looking like the steal of the draft. I don't think there is another player on the Jazz (except maybe Deron Williams or AK-47) who gets more out of every minute he plays. Millsap simply does not waste his opportunities when he gets on the floor and he was the spark in the first half to keep Utah alive against Seattle.

Sour Notes

Giricek's undefined role: On average, Gordan had been good for about 15-19 minutes, 5-7 points and a couple of 3-pointers. Last night, Jerry Sloan decided that Giricek should only play seven minutes and get two shots while Fisher and Matt Harpring/Andrei Kirilenko struggle to contain Allen. Giricek actually did OK against Allen (who only scored on a jumper and a free throw while Gira was guarding him). Utah's shooting guard spot remains a question.

Falling apart in the 4th quarter: This game was starting to remind me of last year's Warriors/Jazz game on Nov. 25 when the Jazz blew a lead to the Fisher-led Warriors. How you blow a 94-84 lead with 5:38 to go is beyond me, but at least Okur was able to save the Jazz from themselves. Utah's making too much of a habit of living on the edge this year.