Getting healthy

So the Jazz could have Boozer back on Thurs for a HUGE game (as big as a Dec game can be). Harpring is looking like he can help the bench, D-Will is looking better every game.
There is a positive trend right now with the Jazz. They are getting healthier, they just finished some back to backs, and the biggest thing is chemistry.
We have Minny tonight, and we hopefully shouldn't have too hard a time.

Go Jazz!

This is getting old...

It is getting old losing to inferior opponents at our house.
The Jazz are supposed to be near unbeatable at home. And they are when they are healthy. I just hope this injury-plagued start to the season doesn't bite the Jazz too badly at the end of the regular season when the Playoff seedings come.
Against Miami, Deron wasn't very good. Memo was horrible. CJ was off. Millsap was the only one who really showed up.

As for tonight, we have the Raptors, who just fired their coach.....at home.
No excuses, let's just get the job done.

GO JAZZ!

A road win's a road win...

I don't know how you have 18 turnovers in a half and still manage to win the game.
I guess that happens when you only have 7 turnovers in the other half, and you outrebound the other team by 10, and you are playing the Sacramento Kings.

Truth is, despite being an ugly game, Deron Williams put on his cape and took the game over in the last 2 minutes and won the game for the Jazz. Millsap, Korver, and Almond all had good games for the Jazz. Koufos did also, although he was a little foul happy and ended up fouling out.

Good road win for the Jazz.
We have the Heat at home tonight.

GO JAZZ!

I feel strangely better about that Nets loss now.

Don't get me wrong. It sucks that AK is hurt, that Deron is still not 100% and let Devin Harris run circles around him. It stinks that the Jazz lost at home. again. this week. to the Nets.

But after seeing The Mighty Nets go into Phoenix last night and win, and one look at Devin Harris' line from that game had me feeling just a tad better about that loss:
Devin Harris - 47 points, 8 assists, 7 rebounds, 17-17 FT.

Is this guy for real? It sure seems so. Good thing he is in the East.
Vince Carter threw in 28. Point is, this team is not bad, in fact, they may make some noise in the east.
I bet Mark Cuban is kicking himself now for giving up Harris for an old Jason Kidd.
Wow.
Anyway, the Jazz need to get back on track this week. It won't be easy without AK and Boozer on the road. Against an angry Sacramento team.

GO JAZZ!

When there's dunks at home...

I have a theory. It isn't very hard to prove. And it only applies to home.

Basketball is a game of runs and momentum. And when you get exciting plays (like three pointers and alley-oop dunks), it tends to fire up the crowd, thus leading the home team to play better. It leads to a synergistic relationship between the crowd and the home team, and everyone ends up happy. Except the road team.

Anyway, you  know what I'm talking about if you saw the Jazz vs. Kings game tonight.

By the way Danny....how was it?

The Jazz had an outstanding 3rd quarter, thanks to Deron. He had some awesome passes (and ended up with 15 assists). And there was another dunk-fest tonight. It seems like there was a dunk every 30 seconds or so, whether it was Brewer, Millsap, CJ, Price, AK, or Memo. Dunks galore.

I don't think I can overestimate how important D-Will is to this team.  For the first 16 games, Ronnie Price and Brevin Knight did a great job filling in for D-Will. But they were NOT D-Will.

I checked the stats, and neither of them had a double-double in any game this year. In D-Will's first 2 truly healthy games, he has had 2 double-doubles, with 15 assists per game. No, I am not counting the 2 games where he prematurely tried to come back and still averaged 8 and 8.

Anyway, here's hoping we can continue to gain health and keep winning.

GO JAZZ!

I am thankful for Deron Williams.

D-will comes back with a double-double. 11 points and 15 assists later and the Jazz beat the Grizz 117-100.

Millsap was an absolute beast. Memo was great. AK and Brewer were awesome on the offensive and defensive ends.

It was great to see D-Will back and looking healthy. The one big bright side to all these injuries, is that some of our younger players have been able to gain a lot of experience and playing time which will help us during this long season.

I have heard some people saying "Let's just keep Millsap and dump Boozer." Sure, Millsap has played great in Boozer's absence. But seriously, think about it. How great is it having Boozer start and then bringing a beast like Boozer off the bench? If we started Paul and dumped Booze, who would come off the bench? Koof? Fex? Collins? (shudders!#@).

CJ, Paul, Price and even players like Kosta and Almond have got some invaluable game experience and have played quite well at times. I believe when the Jazz are healthy and have the chemistry thing down, they will be very tough to beat.

Remember, Korver and Boozer are still out, and how great was it to see D-Will crossing over and dishing?!

The Jazz had 42 games missed due to injury last year. THE ENTIRE YEAR. This year, they have surpassed that at 45 already, and climbing fast.

They are doing OK at 10-6. The next 2 games are very winnable (AT HOME), and they should be 12-6 going into December. Not bad, considering their health issues and last year they were 16-16 at the end of DEC.

Time to count our Jazz blessings and cheer them on.

GO JAZZ!

Catching up...

Haven't posted for a few games.

The Jazz had a typical horrible loss against the Spurs in San Antonio. We didn't have Boozer or D-Will, but they didn't have Ginobili or Parker.

As soon as we start beating The Spurs on the road is when the Jazz will be serious NBA Finals contenders. Until then, they have some work to do.

Then the Jazz beat the Grizzlies on the road.

I took the family to the Bulls game. What a bummer. Great back and forth game until Larry Hughes hits the game winner with 1 second left. The shot clocks didn't work the whole game. Kind of affected both teams the whole game. Anyway, I guess the Jazz need to start a new home winning streak.

BOOZER OUT

It looks like we won't have Boozer against the Spurs or the Grizzlies.
He has a strained left quad tendon.

Hopefully Deron can come back and carry the load.

David Locke reads my Jazz Blog

So I got a facebook message from David Locke the other day, saying that he enjoys my blog, and encouraged me to keep it up.

He even subscribes to the RSS feed.

Who is David Locke? First of all, if you live in Utah or Washington, and you don't know, I am ashamed of you.

Locke is one of the best Sports TV and Radio personalities to listen to.

He started off in SLC many years ago (back in the Karl Malone days), then followed us to Seattle (I know, what a stalker). He was the "Hot Rod Hundley" of the Sonics. Then the Sonics got bought and subsequently moved to Oklahoma City. Locke decided to come home to Utah and now has a radio show on 1320 KFAN. Here is more info: http://thefansports.com/the_fan_sports_shows.cfm#locked

Anyway, it is cool to know that someone reads and enjoys my biased views of the Jazz.

Thanks Locke,

John

Jazz win roller coaster battle, may have lost injury war

Strange game. Milwaukee is not very good right now, especially with Villanueva and Redd injured. Add in the fact that they are on the 2nd half of a back to back. Then throw in an early 16-point defecit. You would expect them to fold like a deck chair, right?Nope, they came storming back against the Jazz, took a 10-point lead, and made the Jazz work hard for a 105-94 win.
CJ continued to look very impressive. Looks like the Jazz made the right decision on him this past offseason.

Memo looked slow and just plain off his first game back from Turkey. Maybe it was the jet lag. Let's hope.

AK was amazing again. He was a couple of assists and one block short of a 5 X 5.

Price played a ton of minutes, and really came through, leading the offense.Millsap was solid, as was Boozer...speaking of Boozer....he's injured. Strained quad is the preliminary diagnosis, and he will get a full diagnosis sometime today, but this comes at a very bad time.The Jazz are already a M.A.S.H. unit, and we play the Spurs with a real shot at winning in San Antonio on Friday.

I'll try to post an update on Boozer when I have one. My personal speculation is that Deron may come back early if Booze can not go Friday. Even if he would rather wait, he may feel the Jazz need him too much right now to get 100%. Don't know, just a guess.
Anyway, let's hope our bench can step up during the plethora of injuries.
Overall, I'll take the win last night.

GO JAZZ!

Jazz Dim Suns

My favorite part of last nights win over PHO was the 3 blocks on Shaq near the end of the game.
First, Milsap blocked Shaq as he went up for a 2-handed jam, then AK blocks 2 more within moments of each other. You could tell Shaq was frustrated, but at that point the game was almost over.

I thought this was a statement game by the Jazz, even though they are wounded. They showed a lot by coming out and playing a pretty solid game with the players they had. The bench played extremely well, and CJ had his best game as a pro. Boozer was solid as usual, and he has been keeping us close in every game this year. We have not been blown out yet.
I also realized just how important Kirilenko is to this team. His play really gets us going on streaks and runs.

And Deron is very important to our offense as well (even though Price and Knight continue to play well). Once we get him and Memo back, we can start getting some consistency and chemistry.  Looking at our schedule for the rest of December, we have some very winnable games:
- MIL
- @SAS
- @MEM
- CHI
- MEM
- SAC
- NJN

Of those 7 games, 5 are at home, where we a nearly unbeatable. Since December 31 of 2007, the Jazz are 32-1 in the ESA. I'll take that.
The hardest game on that schedule is the Spurs on the road. With San Antonio struggling, this may be the perfect chance to break the streak.
If they could take 6 of 7, the Jazz would be 13-5. Let's get healthy and start building a NW division lead.

GO JAZZ!

Home sweet home

Well, the Jazz are back home after that brutal road trip. I still think the Jazz are better than their 6-4 record. But health issues really hurt them on that trip. They hung tough against Cleveland, despite being so short-handed. I think Koufos has earned a rotation spot.

Latest word for tonight's Suns game is that Memo is back (YES!) and Deron and AK are big fat maybes.

It will be nice to be back in the ESA, and try to get the Jazz mojo back.

We'll see how they look tonight against big shack daddy.

GO JAZZ!

Excuses, excuses....

I hate to sound like an apologist, but you have to admit we probably would have won the past 2 games if we were fully healthy. We terribly miss Memo, a Deron at 100%, and a healthy AK. We were winning by 12 last night, and couldn't hold on. We could easily be 8-1.
But then again, the Spurs would not be 3-5 if the had Manu and Parker.
So, let's see if the Jazz respond better against Lebron and company.

Go Jazz!

Just breathe...

I have to take a deep breath before today's post.
Last night's loss to the Wizards was the ugliest, worst played game by the Jazz in at least a couple of years.
There was no defense played by Utah, only swipes at the ball, wrists and arms of the Wizards, leading to 40 free throws and an ugly loss.

There were WAY too many turnovers also. It seems like every time Boozer, Millsap or Brewer would go in for a strong move in the paint, the ball would slip out of their hands, and end up as a fast break for the winless Wiz.

Well, emotion aside, the fact is that the Jazz can still put together a winning road trip if they win the next two. Last night was a back-to-back, and they should be fresher for the Charlotte game. And for the Cavs, maybe they will get up for a higher level of competition, as they seem to have played "down" to Washington's.
We shall see.

GO JAZZ!

Sweet 16!

The number 16 reared its head a few times in last night's win against the Sixers.

• AK had 16 points (along with 8 rebs, 3 assists, and a block)
  
• Brewer had a huge 16 points in the game (and all in the same quarter)
• Boozer had 16 rebounds (to go along with his 19 points)\
• Millsap had a monster game with 16 points (and 6 rebs, 3 blocks, 2 assists, and a steal)
  

I was livid when the Jazz choked up their 14 point lead and fell behind, but then AK and Brewer took over and helped the Jazz win the 4th quarter 30-13. In fact, Brewer scored all 16 of his points in the 4th, outscoring the whole Philly team 16-13 in the quarter.

One of our KK's (Korver) didn't shoot too well in front of his former home.
The other KK (Koufos) played very solid in his first game in the NBA. I thought he played excellent D, and displayed a nice mini hook shot.

I was just glad to see Deron out on the court again. The Jazz are now 6-1, and face the winless Wizards tonight.

GO JAZZ!

It feels like Christmas...with no Turk-ey

Well, hope everyone has heard the good news by now.
DERON WILL PLAY TONIGHT!!!

Hopefully he is ready to play without re-injuring himself. But it will be nice to see him back out on the court again.
Meanwhile, Memo is in Turkey visiting a sick family member. Koufos is starting in his place, and lots of scouts compared him to Memo (a big guy who can shoot) when we drafted him.

Anyway, the Jazz need to win tonight to have a realistic shot at a 3-2 road trip (which I would consider a huge success).

Hope KK has a big game against his former team.

GO JAZZ!

Start spreading the news

The Jazz are no longer undefeated.
We knew that first loss had to come sometime. But to the Knicks? again?
The Jazz just don't play well there for some reason. Actually, this time, I think not having Deron really hurt the Jazz, because the Knicks like to play the run-and-gun style that D'Antoni likes to run. I think Deron would have been able to slow down the pace to the Jazz's advantage. In fact, the Jazz were winning for most of the game, until an 11-0 run by the Knicks near the end of the 3rd.

So now the Jazz need to start another run. This trip won't be easy. Philly now has Elton Brand. Wizards always seem to play the Jazz close. Charlotte isn't as bad as they usually are. And King James and the Cavs will be tough. I was hoping for a 3-2 road trip, but now that means taking 3 out of the next 4. Extremely difficult, but not impossible. Let's see how the Jazz rebound from their first loss of the season.

GO JAZZ!

Thunder-struck

This game started out bad for the Jazz, as they went down 8-0 early. Then they went on a massive, game-changing run that put the game away. I think it was a 26-3 run, and the game was never really in question after that. Sure, the Thunder went on their expected run in the 2nd half, but the game was never in doubt. You knew the Jazz would win, just didn't know by how much.
Korver missed another free throw, and admitted his wrist was affecting his shot. Booze, AK, Memo, Brewer all played great. But I was impressed with Brevin and his continued improvement in the Jazz offense. He led the Jazz with 11 assists, to go along with 4 pts, 3 steals and 2 rebounds. This is critical, as Deron could be out another 2-4 weeks.

Next up: the Knicks and a big 5 game Eastern road trip.

Life off...game on...
Go Jazz!!

Game 4: Jazz are Money in 4th

(Jazz 103 - Blazers 96)
I have to admit; when the Jazz were down by 11 in the 3rd quarter, I thought they were in trouble. They were getting out-rebounded, out-freethrowed (is that a word?) and couldn't defend the 3.

But Memo, Brewer and Boozer all made big plays in the 4th to lead the Jazz to victory, and help them stay undefeated. Memo was solid all night. He finally hit his first 3 of the year. Brevin Knight played really well, and may be slowly earning the backup point guard duties over Price. Boozer didn't play as many minutes as he usually does, thanks to Millsap, but played stellar nonetheless. And AK continued to play amazing off the bench. Brewer hit a big 3 and played great again. Early on, Korver hit a couple of 3's to keep the Jazz within striking distance. So many players came through and contributed to a great win.

The Jazz are now 4-0. The rest of the division now each has a record of 1-3. I know it's early, but who is our inter-division competition going to come from? The Thuggets now that they have Billups? The Blazers? The Thunder? OK, I'll stop laughing now.

Anyway, great win. We should be 5-0 by 10pm Friday night. Let's keep this thing rolling on the road...

GO JAZZ!

Game 3: Clippers part 2 - THE BEAST!

The Jazz beat the Clippers 89-73 thanks to Paul "The Beast" Millsap. Millsap scored 15 straight points for the Jazz at one point, and Boozer didn't even play in the 4th quarter because Paul was playing so well.

Great start on the road, holding the Clip-joint to only 73 points. I know that it's early, but the Jazz defense is holding their opponents to only 82 points per game. Our offense is usually solid, so if our defense can play like that consistently over 82 games, watch out Western Conference...
We are 3-0 without our best player.

AK continues to play really well off the bench. He is one of the Jazz's MVPs this year so far. Korver didn't shoot particularly well this game. In fact, he even missed 2 free throws. I believe that his wrist is affecting his shot, because we all know how well he can shoot when healthy.

Anyway, let's hope Deron can make it back for the Portland game tomorrow.
GO JAZZ!
life off...game on