12.26.07 Jazz vs. Mavs

1st Half:

Well I can't think of anything negative to say about the first quarter. This is the first time in a long time that I felt like the Jazz were the better team out on the court. Jumping out to a 16-0 lead set the tone for the game. I think about half of the people who had tickets for this game were waiting outside to see how the Jazz came out. The minute they started strong the stadium filled up quickly. I don't blame them. Why go to watch a struggling Jazz game when you can walk over to Gateway and stand in the ice cold water fountain and freeze your boys off just to punish yourself for purchasing tickets to the Jazz?

The 2nd quarter wasn't quite as smooth for the Jazzers. Dallas dropped into a 1-2-2 zone and really put the clamps down on our boys holding them to only 18 points (the Jazz scored 11 of those points in the last 3 minutes of the quarter).

2nd Half:

I love the way AK was playing this game. I can't believe I'm going to type this, but I actually have felt really good about him launching jumpshots and three's the past two games. He looked confident in the Miami game and it continued tonight. You can actually see the difference in his ball rotation and his follow through (I'm not a shooting coach, just a run of the mill church ball player). If he can continue to keep his confidence up and make outside shots, his game will improve because the defense will have to respect his pump fakes.

I was glad to see Memo back out tonight. As much as I was calling for his head, it was refreshing to see us at almost full strength. I thought he played a good game for coming off a 7 game recovery.

Jazz did a nice job of holding off Josh Howard and Jason Terry (0-10 for the game by the way). Dirk got his but I think for the most part, the majority of the Mavs starters were held under their season averages. A nice win for the Jazz. They needed this one bad, really bad.

Final Score: Jazz 99 Mavs 90

For the record: I'm still not a CJ Miles fan, so don't think you'll be converting me anytime soon.

Thoughts on Gira: The Jazz need to cut ties and get out of a contract while they can. I am all for trading him for a 2nd round pick and cash considerations. We're going to need the cash for Millsap and Williams. I have been a Gira supporter in the past (I have a "friend" who is looking to get rid of a #10 Jazz jersey for the right price, just contact me...er him, with an offer). Don't forget how big of a role he played in the Houston series last year. He just shows flashed of the player he could be, but I don't see him turning it around here, especially with Jerry at the helm. Now is a great time to bring Morris Almond into the mix and start giving him some scrub minutes (Hope you all saw that he dropped 51 in a game last week and he leads the D-League in scoring).