LIVE GAME BLOG! LIVE GAME BLOG! LIVE GAME BLOG!

Hey Everyone,

I am going to be trying out a new program to do LIVE GAME BLOGGING tonight. Please come and join us at Tip-Off. I've invited a few friends from The Nugg Doctor and Pick Axe and Roll as well.

Please come jump on the net and talk the smack with us at game time! We need you My Utah Jazz!

7:00 pm MOUNTAIN

Pick and Roll...McNuggets Style

Big game Saturday night for the Jazz. They will be hosting our beloved McNuggets (aka. The Peanut Gang).

We wanted to get some answers straight from the horses mouth, so we did a Q&A with Nuggets starting SG Allen Iverson and SF Carmelo Anthony.

Ok, so it's not AI or Melo, but it is Jeremy from Pick Axe and Roll and Nick from The Nugg Doctor.


You can read what Nick had to answer here. Prepare yourself for Jazz blasphemy before going to his site. I think deep down inside, he really likes the Jazz and just needs one of us to invite him to be a Jazz fan. Feel free to do so.

Below you can find what Jeremy had to say. Jeremy is a little more of a realist than Nick.

It almost makes me want to face the Nuggets in the Playoffs just to get some more Q/A with these guys. They actually give McNuggets fans a good name...if that's even possible.


Wanna read what I had to say to Jeremy's questions? Click here.

MUJ: Simple question. Will the Nuggets make the playoffs? Why or why not?

PA&R: I think the win against Golden State pretty much puts the Nuggets in the playoffs. Should Golden State lose at Phoenix on Monday night Denver needs only to beat Memphis on the last night of the regular season. Of course, Denver will not know if Golden State will lose that game so the games this weekend at Utah and home against Houston are still very important. If the Nuggets can just win one of those two games and beat Memphis they are in for sure.

MUJ: What is the mood in Denver after coming in 2nd to the Jazz in the Northwest division two years straight? Melo was POSITIVE they would win it. What does this do to Nuggets team chemistry and will this affect next years lineup?

PA&R: Clearly there is some disappointment involved losing the division to the Jazz yet again, but the NBA is not about division titles. A nice playoff run will alleviate any frustration about finishing second in the division. The season Denver won the division, they were bounced by the Clippers in the first round of the playoffs. No one remembers that season as the year we finally won the division again, we all remember it as the year we lost to the freakin Clippers in the playoffs! As far as any impact on the Nuggets chemistry or mindset, I honestly do not think there is any whatsoever. There has never been a confidence issue with this team. The issue has been overconfidence.

MUJ: Who do Nuggets fans consider to be their biggest rival? If you were a Jazz fan, who would you consider to be our biggest rival?

PA&R: I believe rivalries are born out of animosity. In the NBA animosity is typically developed in the playoffs. I think Denver and Utah are somewhat natural divisional rivals, but they have not met in the playoffs since 1994. More recently the Jazz and Nuggets have only been fighting it out for the division for the past two seasons and their individual contests have had some scrappy moments.Before the Jazz there was a strong, but short lived rivalry with Minnesota because we were the up and coming team, but they were on top. I think the Nuggets players get up to play the Spurs more than the Jazz due to the fact the Spurs are where the Nuggets want to be. They have knocked the Nuggets out of the playoffs twice in the past three seasons. So from a player's perspective I think there is some presence of a rivalry with the Jazz, but based on how they play it seems like they feel a stronger sense of rivalry with San Antonio.Now with the fans, I think there is a much stronger sense of rivalry with Utah. It makes us nuts knowing that we have more talent than the Jazz, but you guys have had more success. Your fans also make us crazy because Jazz crowds are so whinny. However, the fans also have a special anger in our hearts towards the Spurs. If a Nuggets fan had a gun with two shots and was locked in a room with Manu Ginobili and Carlos Boozer, most of us would probably shoot Manu twice just to make sure he is dead. I would really prefer not to answer the second part of the question, but I can try to remove my ability to reason and think logically in order to think like a Jazz fan. From a Jazz perspective, I would think that historically teams like Houston, Seattle and the Lakers would be teams that you held ill will towards due to the battles that went on between the Jazz and those teams in the playoffs in the late 80s and 90s. So I would think there is some sense of rivalry there. Then of course, there is the divisional rivalry between the Jazz and Nuggets should provide just as much dislike for us as we have for you. I know you guys have written unsavory things about the noble Denver NBA franchise, but I am willing to forgive you as long as you promise the Jazz will lose in the first round of the playoffs.Of course, in another five years we may both think the Trailblazers and Sonics are our rivals as both of those teams look to have a very bright future.

MUJ: Who's blue is better? Jazz blue or Nuggets blue?

PA&R: I think the Jersey sales speak for themselves. The Denver Nuggets are seventh http://www.nba.com/news/jersey_080115.html and I have no idea where the Jazz are because the list is not long enough to show how lowly ranked they are.

MUJ: Jazz/Nuggets All-Star Starting 5. If you had to make a team using only the Nuggets and Jazz. Who would start at what position and why? Also include a 6th man and coach.

PA&R:


PG – Deron Williams
SG – Allen Iverson
SF – Carmelo Anthony
PF – Carlos Boozer
C – Marcus Camby
6th Man – Mehmet Okur
Coach – Jerry Sloan

PA&R: The center and 6th man spots were tough. I think Camby is wildly overrated as a defender, but his rebounding would be more necessary than Memo's three point shooting. I put Memo at the 6th man spot over J.R. Smith, Korver and Kenyon Martin because he is a big man who can shoot and that is a big matchup advantage with most teams though it was really tough not to put J.R. in there the way he is playing. I love Korver's shooting, but J.R. can do so much more than he can both offensively and defensively he would get the nod for 7th man had there been one.

Nugget fans are pretty frustrated with George Karl so only a strong hatred of Jerry Sloan would prevent anyone from going with the Old Curmudgeon. Of course, Sloan would probably end up strangling AI with one hand and Melo with the other so that would be fun to see.

MUJ: Predictions for tonight's game. Score and # of Flagrant fouls on Harpring.

PA&R: I think the Nuggets are set for a big let down after the Warriors victory. They were blown out the last time they were in Utah so that may provide some motivation, but I do not think it is going to be enough. Denver knows deep down that this is not a must win game and I think it ends up showing on the floor.

Utah 118 – Denver 109

Matt Harpring flagrant fouls committed four.Matt Harpring flagrant fouls called zero, but I fully expect Jazz fans to wail and complain anyway.

Editors Note: Thanks Jeremy. I hope the Jazz kick the living shiznit out of your squad. Have a good weekend.

"Fellow Jazz Homers"

After the big win against the Spurs, MoneyMan Memo (one of our favorite readers) lit a fire within each of us here at My Utah Jazz. His comment under the Bring on the Hornets post was both motivating and inspirational. We said that if the Jazz won in New Orleans, he would be asked to put his thoughts as a Jazz fan into one powerful speech.

That time has come my friends for that speech. This will hopefully be the first in a series of speeches written by Jazz fans...for Jazz fans. If you would like to put your Jazz thoughts and inspirations into words and have them posted on our site, email us your speech to myutahjazz@gmail.com and together we will let all the world know that
"This time, is our time".

MoneyMan Memo, you have the podium.


Fellow Jazz homers, about a week ago, my feelings about the Utah Jazz changed.

For years, I had supported the Jazz in a way that perhaps some of you can relate to. I felt like I knew what to expect from the team, which is to say that there was a list of team weaknesses that could befall the Jazz on any given night.

You see, usually I prepare for Jazz games with a mentality that is cautiously (or delusionally, sometimes) optimistic. I hope (but am rarely convinced, truth be told) that they will win, and in the end my only hope is that they compete hard. I see this in the rhetoric on various Jazz blogs....there usually is no post the day of an important game, and if there is, the language typically begins with, "The Jazz better...let's hope the Jazz...hopefully the Jazz won't...." In the last 4 years or so, I think we all pretty much came to expect a certain identity from the team - inconsistency depending upon the caliber of their opponent, inability to win back-to-backs, inability to come back from large deficits due to no quality 3-point shooters, lackadaisacal attitude for road games, penchant for letting opposing 2-guards have huge scoring games, and soft interior defense. I could go on, but this is supposed to be a motivational speech.

Well folks, last week this changed for me. In its place is a new feeling, something that I have never experienced in such pure form about the Jazz.

This feeling was planted on Nov. 3, when they showed their enormous potential as an offensive powerhouse by exploding for 133 points against the Warriors - in total contrast to Sloan's teams of years past. It was also the first game that I realized Ronnie Brewer was going to be a consistent asset as a defender, off-the-ball scorer, and long-limbed athletic wing we had been missing for years.

It began to blossom in the month of November when it became apparent that AK had come around mentally and was going to contribute. It sure helped to hear that Horny was working with him on his jumper again.

It grew some more on Nov. 30, when they beat a Laker team at full strength on national TV with huge contributions from AK, Fesenko, and Milsap in the absence of Boozer and Okur. This performance was critical to the Jazz being able to trust the bench players to run the system in the absence of the starters.

I'm not going to lie - the feeling turned black and nearly died during most of December. To revive it, I kept repeating the old adage that "the only place to go from rock bottom is up", and thank goodness rock bottom occurred in December.

The feeling was resuscitated on Dec 29, 2007, when the Jazz filled a major void in their weaponry by acquiring a deadly 3-point shooter in Kyle Korver. Side note: for the last few years when I used the Jazz in video games (NBA Live, NBA 2k series), I always traded Giricek for Korver and dominated. It's about time KOC and the Jazz front office figured it out.

It shot up on Jan. 25, when Jason Hart went down with a back injury and opened the door for Ronnie Price (took you long enough, Sloan!) to emerge as a competent backup to Deron and play better than any backup PG the Jazz have had for the last 5 years.

It swelled at the end of January when they went on a crucial 10-game win streak to save the season and demonstrate that they could be consistent. That streak included an amazing home win against the Spurs to get the monkey from last year's playoffs off their backs.

It grew by leaps and bounds on Feb. 27 when they rallied from 15 down against the Pistons to win by holding the Pistons for 12 minutes without a field goal - the intestinal fortitude they displayed to do that against that particular team under those circumstances (when they had just lost in Minnesota the night before, ho-hum) showed me resiliency I had never seen before.

It was renewed and refreshed on March 8 when the Jazz avenged the loss against Denver earlier in the season (Linas Kleiza, meet the porous Utah defense) by walloping the Thuggets for 132 points.

It grew in February and March when D-will got pissed about not making the All-star team and Boler's constant props for Boozer's double-doubles, so he went out and starting dropping double-double's like it was nobody's business. Hell yeah.

It grew on March 31 when C.J. Miles set a career high against the Wizards and proved that he could be a game-changer and spark off the bench when needed.

It expanded further in March when Sloan admitted to letting Deron make most of the play-calls during the game, thereby showing his change as a coach and the confidence he had in the Jazz floor general.

And it began to grow feverishly about a week ago, after the Jazz absolutely destroyed the Spurs in a critical game for both teams jostling for playoff position.

This feeling, growing in intensity and breadth with each passing day of the season, is something I believe the Jazz are experiencing just as I am. It's a feeling that I'm sure the Spurs have felt many times this past decade as they go into the playoffs. This feeling that I speak of, this feeling that I watch Jazz games with these days…

…this feeling is called confidence.

Yesterday before the Hornets game, I don’t know about you guys, but I honestly had no doubt that they would win handily. This Jazz team is special, and it is manifested in 3 characteristics that have come to make up the team identity:

- Consistent
- Battle-Hardened
- Hungry

History has shown that championship teams have these 3 characteristics, in addition to the following

- Can rely upon the entire supporting cast to contribute in times of need (Price, Harpring, Korver, Miles, Milsap)
- Have experienced adversity during the regular season and know how to respond (see close wins against the Bucks, Knicks, and, yes, losses to the Knicks, Clippers, Bobcats, Timberwolves, Timberwolves, and Timberwolves..sigh)
- Can adapt defensively and offensively to different styles (see wins against the Warriors, Pistons, Suns, Spurs, Celtics, etc..)
- Know how to exploit mismatches (ahem, Deron embarrassing CP3)
- Know how to win on their home court
- Peak at the end of the season and ride that upward mobility to success in the playoffs

If these signs from previous championship teams carry any weight at all, then the next couple of months bode well for the Jazz. Gentlemen, I hope that you share in my confidence that the Jazz will not only make it to the NBA Finals, but win their first championship this year.

C.B. Jack spoke about making sacrifices in a comment a few days ago. Well, I have never been in the state of Utah and have only been able to attend Jazz games in other cities (mostly Oakland, once in San Antonio) over the years. I would be willing to do whatever it takes to watch and support the Jazz should they make it to the Finals. If that means flying to whatever Eastern Conference team's arena it is (either Boston, Detroit, Cleveland, I would guess), then so be it. But the ultimate experience would be to be in the Delta/ESA Center...although I don't even know if tickets could be bought. I would give my savings account (meager as it is), my credit card limit(s), and my right nut to be present and help support our boys as they bring home the title.

Fellow Jazz homers - are you with me?
-MoneyMan Memo

Editors Note: We are with you MoneyMan. Don't you ever forget it.

Where did I get these articles? The internet...prison....bote.

Here are some good reads to kill some time while we wait for the Dallas game:

From SI.com

Most tiresome debate
Chris Paul vs. Deron Williams

So much of the ink spilled and words exchanged about any sport involve debating which player is better or which championship club would beat another one. It sells publications and draws viewers; it's fun. But it's also pointless, like trying to decide which young point guard is the NBA's best: Paul or Williams.

Both have their teams contending in the Western Conference. Both direct their teams like 10-year veterans instead of the third-year pros they are. And both will be All-Stars for years to come. Can't we all agree that they are both great? That any team would be lucky to have either player? In other words, must Bear vs. Shark have a winner? Both get the job done. Let's leave it at that.

From Hornets Hype

I am now dumber for having watched that game.

From Ball Don't Lie

Kyle Korver wants to sign your baby...

From The Mattness at Hardwood Paroxysm

Creepy.

From Nugg Doctor

Poor Nuggets. This is the result of a lifestyle of thuggary.

From Utah Jazz.com

More boring cliche quotes from Sloan. yawn...

Enjoy.

Chris Paul for MVP? "I don't think so" says The Association

Check out this priceless post on "the association".

Finally people are starting to take the Hurricane Katrina goggles off.

4.8.08 Jazz @ Hornets

For real Christopher? Get out of his way!


Not everyone thought tonight's basketball match was very much fun. Isn't that right Christopher?

After tonight's wickedly awful shooting performance by our two "Future of the NBA" star players, I've decided we should look down another avenue for a rivalry...

and so it begins...

Ronnie Price

versus

Jannero Pargo

Let's start the debate: Who made the better decision for backup PG?

Does Jannero feel like he has a chip on his shoulder because the Jazz offered Ronnie a 2 year 2m deal?

Who will be the first to average 10 points and 4.5 assists? While Ronnie is quicker, I really like Jannero's size. It allows him to post up a little more. However Ronnie can get to the whole with such ease. This is a debate that ......

I'm bored. Let's move on.


Did anyone else notice the scoring tonight came in bunches of 6? That first half was pretty excruciating to watch. I was sure that CP3 and D-Will were going to bust out the second half and go at each others throats.
As you can see...it didn't happen. Thanks for the combined 4-22 effort gentlemen. Don't worry though Chris, as long as you keep sleeping around with every media outlet in the nation, you will win MVP. While the Jazz didn't look great, the Hornets looked even worse. Nothing like two teams holding each other to season lows in scoring...on the same night.


Booner hit it on the head, The Jazz D was excellent tonight. People can say "but NO didn't shoot the ball, that is why they lost."


No shiz Sherlock. It's because the shot clock was running down and they couldn't get a clean look. Also known as the opposing team playing good defense. Come up with a better excuse than that Hornets fans.


I'm waiting for MoneyMan Memo's speech. Gather up your suitcases, pets, and children....it's time to get on the bandwagon.


Final Score: Jazz 77, Hornets 66

Links:
Basketball John
Biased Fan
Frank Layden Lovers
Hornets 24/7
ESPN

****Rather than update my game recap, I passed the torch to My Utah Jazz reader Mark. Here is what he had to say about the game...it basically mirrors my thoughts.

Mark said...
I can honestly say I have never seen back to back better 'DEFENSIVE' games by a Jazz team, and I have been a JazzFanMan ever since the move to SLC, so that's been awhile. How unreal (and uncharacteristic for this years team anyway) is it to hold last year’s champs to 64 and then the west conference leaders to 66? A hypnotist must have told them before the NO game that "you are the Jazz, you are still in NO, this is a home game!”

They sure looked like the home team. A couple of things that stood out and I still can’t believe; 22 turnovers on the road and still win, and (thanks to DJ for this one,) The Jazz score 9 in the 4th and still win by 11? Holy hell!! We ARE in a parallel universe. They continue to play defense like this and nobody can touch them home OR away. The entire team played defense. I honestly think the reason we only scored 77 was our intense focus on the ‘D,’ and in the end it’s a ‘W.’ Doesn’t really matter if the final scores are 55 to 51 as long as we win although scores like that won’t be good for ratings but ‘oh well.’

The ‘Turk’ is the key. Memo is an animal and whatever special place that man is in KEEP HIM THERE! To have the two cold war boys start the game like that for us is like, wow! Jerry has also tightened the rotation to his ‘playoff’ rotation and I like it. Everyone played great overall, everyone hustled even though a couple of guys could have shot the ball a little better, ok, a LOT better (you know who you are KK.) Can we not go to a Jr. high in visiting cities, hand out about 10 or 12 Jazz blue shirts and give them tickets to the game? (My personal favorite of Mark's comment)

Boozer is playing both ends, Memo is playing like and all-star, and DW’s team wins regardless of his personal stats, a ‘true’ point guard in every sense. CP3 and DW both only score 4 but who’s team dominates the entire game. Who ‘leads’ his team as a point guard should and thinks ‘team first?’

Bottle this guys. There is no reason they can’t go 4-0 the rest of the way playing like this. And one more thing, there was a shot of West, CP3, & Peja that was pure Deja Vue from the Spurs game when Parker, Duncan, & ManoFlop were sitting there late in the game and they knew it was over. Sweetness.

Thanks Mark.

Take That CP3!

I realize half of you have the game Tivo'd and have yet to watch the game but I could not wait! It wasn't pretty but the Jazz "D" does it again. (I can't believe I am actually making reference to the Jazz "D.") Neither D-Will or CP3 lit it up, however, D-Will won the battle of the dimes with 16!

http://scores.espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=280408003

http://www.nba.com/games/20080408/UTANOH/gameinfo.html

I would love to share highlights etc. of the game and I am sure we will have some later, but so far, ESPN, SI etc. have yet to mention it. I am sure they will play it down and focus on CP3's next game. That's fine with me though, leaving New Orleans with a "W" is all I need to sleep well tonight! Nice win Jazz!

Late,

Booner

Chatting up the HO's (Updated with Q&A from Hornets.com)

Here are my questions and the answers from Jim at http://www.hornets.com/:

Question: Playing devils advocate here – Williams and Paul will be forever linked and compared with one another. Tell my why you would rather have Derron Williams on your team instead of Chris Paul?

Answer: At this point, with Chris being in contention for MVP and leading the Hornets to the best season in franchise history, after two straight non-playoff seasons, I would be lying if I said I’d rather have Deron Williams. Obviously, Deron Williams should take no offense to that. Chris has just been that good. I think Deron Williams is a fantastic player and probably isn’t getting enough credit for the season he’s having. But I think if Utah had been 39-43 last season, like the Hornets were, Williams would be getting more attention for sparking a major turnaround.
Williams has the size advantage on Paul and is still probably a better shooter (though CP’s mid-range shot is becoming automatic these days), but other than that I’d give the edge to Paul. With that said, though, the gap between these two guys is not that wide.
After Year 1, everyone said Utah made a mistake by not taking Paul. After Year 2, even Paul acknowledged that Williams deserved more acclaim than Paul, because Williams had led Utah to the Western Conference finals, while Paul had not even been in the playoffs at that point. Year 3 obviously goes to Paul, but who knows what could happen in Year 4? Plus, who knows what will happen in the upcoming playoffs? That will affect people’s perceptions of these guys tremendously.

Question: If you could draft one team from the players on the Jazz and Hornets only who would you pick for each position plus 2 bench guys?

Answer: I hate to bail on this one, but I’d rather not say which Jazz player(s) I prefer to Hornets players, especially since I have to talk to the guys in the Hornets locker room on a regular basis.
This isn’t really an answer, but it’s interesting that both teams’ top two players are at point guard and power forward. It makes for some tremendous matchups at those spots. Plus, all four guys are still young, meaning this New Orleans-Utah rivalry could become a great one in the Western Conference soon. I know our fans really look forward to these games and view the Jazz as one of the Hornets’ biggest rivals, especially among teams that aren’t even in our division.

Question: If the Hornets can keep the number 1 seed, would you rather see Denver, Golden State or Dallas get the 8 seed and would you least want to see get it?

Answer: We addressed this at length in our blog on Hornets.com (shameless plug: it’s called Big Easy Buzz and anyone is welcome to participate in it... even Jazz fans) the other day. There are many different opinions on this, but I think the consensus among fans is that Denver would be the best matchup. Golden State seems to be the team that scares Hornets fans the most.
If I had to briefly summarize the reasoning, it’s because of the Nuggets’ penchant for porous defense. On the other hand, the Warriors frighten me partly based on what they did in the playoffs last year. They are such an explosive, unpredictable team that I can’t imagine anyone would be thrilled about having to match up against them in the first round. Golden State also won in New Orleans this season, ending the Hornets’ nine-game win streak. Denver was routed in its lone trip to the Big Easy.

Question: Considering that most of the key players on your team are playoff virgins, what would you consider a successful run?

Answer: That’s a tough one to answer, because at the beginning of the season the team’s goal was just to make the playoffs. Now that they are in the unexpected position of possibly earning a No. 1 seed, it’s hard to gauge what would be rated as successful or unsuccessful. I think most fans would probably say it would be an unsuccessful postseason if the team loses in the first round. Other than that, and even if that does happen, I don’t think there will be many people around here using the word “disappointing” to describe this season. It has already surpassed all expectations. Plus, with the Western Conference being so difficult, the Hornets could be in the strange position of being a No. 1 or No. 2 seed but picked by some analysts to lose in the first round. This quote from David West the other day summarizes the uniqueness of the situation: “We obviously are the underdog. Nobody is going to pick us to win our series, so we’ll go in free-flowing and full of energy. We have nothing to lose and I don’t think there is going to be any pressure on us.”
As far as the playoff experience of the Hornets, there is no doubt that these guys have no experience together. West is the only player who was on the team the last time they made it (2004). But the idea that the Hornets are completely untested may be slightly overstated. New Orleans has several key contributors with multiple trips to the playoffs in their past, including Peja Stojakovic (59 playoff games), Bonzi Wells (36), Jannero Pargo (21), Morris Peterson (19) and Tyson Chandler (12). Among the Hornets who’ve been in the nine-player rotation recently, only Paul, second-year big man Hilton Armstrong and rookie forward Julian Wright will be new to the postseason. Also, third-string point guard Mike James was a key reserve on the 2004 NBA champion Detroit Pistons and has appeared in 29 playoff games.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I had a chance to answer some questions for the official NBA site of the Hornets. Hopefully they will be able to respond in kind later today. Below is a transcript of the proceedings as well as a link to the interview on their site. Enjoy!

http://www.nba.com/hornets/news/Rival_Report_Jazz_Blogger_Jed-266459-2057.html

Hornets.com: With only a week remaining in the regular season, what will be the biggest keys to success for the Jazz in the 2008 playoffs?
Kassing: Defense, defense, defense. When the Jazz buckle down and put forth the effort on defense they can be scary good. The few games that come to mind are the recent win over San Antonio and the game in Boston. During both games the Jazz were really active on defense and showed that they are capable of beating anyone. Hopefully you will get to see it first hand on Tuesday night there in New Orleans.

Hornets.com: What are the most prominent areas where the Jazz have shown improvement or regression since the 2007 playoffs, when they were a surprise participant in the Western Conference finals?
Kassing: I would say that our three-point shooting has been a real improvement this year especially with the addition of Korver. Overall our two-guard spot has become very solid for us with Brewer and Korver, and even C.J. Miles has contributed when called upon. Offensively we are just very efficient and can be deadly when the threes are falling. Defensively we have regressed and I can’t really say why. Maybe Derek Fisher was able to direct the effort better on the floor or maybe our guys got a little greedy for offensive stats. It’s quite frustrating as a fan to watch it.

Hornets.com: Who would you choose as the biggest “X-factor” for Utah in the postseason, a possibly under-the-radar player who will be key for the Jazz?
Kassing: Jarron Collins and Jason Hart – just kidding. Seriously I think that it is Memo Okur. For some reason opposing teams tend to forget about him on the perimeter and he can just flat out kill you when he’s open. When he wants to he can be a pretty good defender as well. I would also say that if we get anything at all from Kirilenko it would be a bonus. As a fan we do not expect much out him anymore so when he has a good game it’s a big surprise.

Hornets.com: Utah has one of the largest discrepancies between home and road success in the NBA. Nearly every team is better at home than on the road, but how do you explain the Jazz’s drastic differential?
Kassing: I think that we have narrowed it down to being Jerry Sloan’s fault. He must not properly motivate them to play well on the road because it seems like we have been losing to the worst teams in the NBA for years now. The road record is a bit deceiving however because we have done pretty well against the better teams in the league, it’s the non-playoff teams that give us heartburn. We honestly feel more confident about going in to play the Hornets than we would the Timberwolves.

Hornets.com: Overall, what do you think would qualify as a successful postseason for the Jazz? Reaching the West finals again? Advancing past the first round?
Kassing: If we can make the Western Conference Finals again I would deem that a success. The talent is there to win it all, but it’s going to be incredibly hard to win any series this year.

Hornets.com: Lastly, which player is your blog endorsing in the MVP campaign? Chris Paul, perhaps?
Kassing: Hmmm, this is a hard one. Chris is having an excellent year, MVP-worthy for sure, but we tend to think that our boy D-Will is a little better. Call us homers, but I am sure that you all feel the same so I just can’t bring myself to voting for him as the overall leader. I can’t vote for Kobe either. LeBron is putting up some serious numbers so he has to be there, but I think I would give it to KG right now. He has made that biggest overall impact on his team and seems the most valuable to me.

Bring on the Hornets

Awesome game by the Jazz on Friday night, that was the defensive effort that we are going to need for the rest of the year. That game tied the franchise low in scoring for the Spurs. It also tied the league mark for missed wide open lay-ups in a row from one player by Matt Harpring. You are dang lucky that the Jazz did not need those buckets Matt or we would be serving you up as the main course for the next week. You could see it in his eyes when he went up for those layups, there was no confidence at all. The thoughts going through his mind had to be so depressing.

On to the Hornets - or as they are more commonly reffered to by the media as "MVP front-runner Chris Paul and the Hornets". I think I am just going to shorten their name to HO's for today. Is anyone else sick of the non-stop Chris Paul love affair that we are being subjected to? I understand, he is having a good season, historic even, but enough is enough. Let's see it happen in the playoffs once before we annoint this kid king and ruler of the NBA. This game is as big as it gets for the Jazz. In the long run it will most likely mean nothing in the standing's, but to beat the HO's in New Orleans after the smack down on the Spurs would make quite the statement to the rest of the NBA. I think that we will see an epic point guard duel this game with the X-factor being Ronnie Brewer coming back from injury to score 20 + points and get 4 steals. The question marks for the Jazz are going to be can the 3-point shooting stay hot and can Booze put together back to back above average defensive efforts. Let's hope so.

4.2.08 Jazz vs. Those Pesky Timberwolves

While we all had butterflies in our stomach, we all would have gone to Vegas and bet on the Jazz to cover the 14 point spread. And they did.

Everyone was excited for this game.

Grandma Mabel didn't even have time to look in the mirror as she
drove on her Jazzy (pun intended) to roll down to the game.

Have the Jazz ever been this much fun to watch? Every player on the court looks like he is having the time of his life...except Andrei. Does he want out? Did his calf bother him that much that he had to look like it was torture being on the court? I can't believe I am about to write this....but....I think CJ....Miles....is....a mediocre player. I actually would rather have him on the court than Andrei right now. Not because he is a better player, but his attitude is in line with the rest of the team. Andrei seems like he is on a different planet right now. I bet he goes home and lounges around in his old Russian team uniforms, listening to his wife's crappy Russian pop music, eating dry potatoes and dancing like this.

He must be playing video games again.

Jazz played good. Wolves didn't. I was really excited to see Mark "The Mad Dog" Madson get in the game.

I will always say this guy had Jazz man written all over him. How did we not pick him up when we lost Adam Keefe?

Deron to CJ was one of the prettiest Alley-Oops this year.

You gotta love this stat:

Final Score: Jazz 117, Pesky Wolves 100

Links:

Twolves Blog

Frank Layden Admirers

Game Recap-Video