Sweet music & sour notes -- Timberwolves vs Jazz
Monday, January 22, 2007
Kevin Garnett and the Timberwolves had their way with the Jazz in Minnesota in December. Not so tonight ... Jazz earn their 4th straight win with tonight's 106-91 victory. What was sweet? What was sour? Let's get into it ...
SWEET MUSIC
Timberwolves can't stop Memo (28 points, 10-16 FG, 4-6 3-pointers, 5 reb, blk) -- He had 19 points in the second half and scored 10 points during a three-minute stretch of the fourth quarter to lock up the win. Timberwolves C Mark Blount came in as the flavor of the month (as he's averaged 16.9 ppg this month), but Memo and the rest of the Jazz defense kept him in check.
Bench comes through in second quarter -- Utah trailed after the first quarter, 23-20, and generally looked lifeless at times against Minnesota. Enter Matt Harpring, Paul Millsap and (gasp!) Gordan Giricek to lead a Jazz charge in the 2nd quarter. They helped the Jazz build a 43-34 lead before the starters re-entered the game and the Jazz were well on their way to this win.
Williams getting it back together (21 points, 15 assists, 2 steals, 1 block) -- As Boozer's play has improved of late,
Williams has also. Not a huge surprise when you consider the Jazz's offense, but as we addressed in an earlier post, Williams had his struggles earlier this month. Not so much now, as he's gone for 10+ assists in four of his last eight games (and 10 or more assists in 3 of his last 5 games).SOUR NOTES
Shooting guard problems coming back (Ricky Davis: 32 points, 4-8 on 3-pointers, 2 steals) -- I'm not a huge fan of guys like Ray Allen, Michael Redd, Kobe, Gilbert Arenas or T-Mac lighting us up this year. But man, when a second-rate shooting guard like RICKY DAVIS(!!!) goes for 32 points, we have issues that still are not resolved. Harpring did a good job of playing tough against Davis toward the end of the game, but it is Sloan keeping guys like Fisher/Giricek on guys like Davis that is killing us. AK-47 struggled to fight through Minnesota's picks (as he does with most picks), but he's probably the best choice to guard shooters because he has the lateral movement and wingspan to make up for mistakes.
Lazy board work (Minnesota - 35 rebounds; Utah - 32 rebounds) -- It's only a three rebound discrepancy, but to me, three rebounds is the difference between hustling and blocking out or not doing those things. Mark Madsen shouldn't be offensive rebounding over anyone, let alone a Jazz frontline of Boozer, AK-47 and Okur ... but that's what happened tonight.
Where's Brewer (4th straight DNP) -- What is he doing wrong? Not sitting on the bench with his legs in the right position? If the Jazz aren't going to play him, send him down to Idaho with C.J. Miles and let them get some time together. They're the future of this team, right? Then play them (in this case Brewer) in a game like this where there's a need for them.
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