2.29.08 Jazz @ Hornets

The "Big Easy" isn't so easy.

I could say "Deron was cool and threw Chris Paul a bone tonight", but truth is, they both played great. Chris Paul dominated the first half, and Deron the second half. How fitting.

Jazz were down by 27 in the first half and suddenly people were thinking maybe a Bulls vs. Wizards game wouldn't have been so bad on ESPN. Utah does New Orleans a favor and commits 9, yes 9 turnovers in the first quarter. Game. Set. Match. While most people changed the channel to watch a rerun of Scrubs, I had to force myself to finish it. Of course after one quarter of ESPN, I had all of my "Vote CP3 for President, Mayor, Head of FEMA, leader of Zion" fix and had to turn it to our local talking heads. I think my wife thought my head was going to explode as I watched ESPN lick the dust off his sneakers.

The "New Faces" of the NBA aren't always pretty.

Here are some random thoughts that led to our lackluster performance tonight:

1. AK-47. So the trade deadline passes and suddenly Andrei is back to his 2007 form. Missing jumpshots, dribbling off his legs, and getting bad haircuts. How many times did Mo Peterson block his entry passes tonight? 5. I counted. "Andrei meet Ballfake, Ballfake...Andrei".

2. Booze Hound. Goes off on David West for 10 pts, 9 rebounds. In your face David West. Thanks for making me look like a fool Booze.
Note: There may be a problem in the Jazz offense when Boozer finishes a game taking only 6 shots.

3. CP2. Yeah, 2. One for each of his wins against Deron. He got his team off to a hot start and forced Utah to play catch-up from the opening minutes on. CP2 has officially made me hate the alley-oop. He makes it look too easy and almost like he's cheating. I watch him and go "nice shot idiot...er...pass. Damn." about 3 times a game.

4. Kyle Korver. Where was Kyle tonight? 6 minutes. 0-1. What is Jerry's problem? It's not always the other guys fault Jerry.

Give the Hornets credit. They won a game they needed to win. The Jazz HAVE to figure out how to get a true 4th seed and have homecourt advantage. Winning the division will not get them what they need. I hope they come out tomorrow at Memphis and prove themselves. Hate to say it, but a road win at Memphis would really...(gulp)...look good for this Jazz team.

Here's another really awkward NBA attempt at a photoshoot.

Final Thought:

I'd still take Deron Williams over Chris Paul. Feel free to leave a comment about how I'm a Jazz homer and I'm blind. Well you're a New Orleans homer and you're just trying to clamour to anything that gives you hope in this life. I hope CP3 runs for mayor and builds you (insert comment here).
Links:
ESPN
Basketball John
Hornets 24/7
Hardwood Paroxysm

Larry Brown's take on tonight's game: Jazz @ Hornets

Here is a great link to a great basketball mind and his thoughts on tonight's game.

Can you feel the excitement?

It's game day, and tonight is a big one, for both teams. You now its big when ESPN decides to put the two smallest markets on instead of another Miami crapfest. But before we get to the breakdown of the game between the Jazz and Hornets, I want to make a suggestion. Wouldn't it make more sense for these two teams to change names? The Utah Hornets and the New Orleans Jazz. We are the Beehive state after all and jazz music was born in New Orleans, but what do I know.

Anywho, on to the game. The Jazz come into this one on a super high after taking care of business against the Pistons, but don't forget we just lost to the Clip joint and the T-Wolves as well. If we can somehow make it to the finals, I sure hope its against the Pistons, that series would be over in 5. The Hornets also come into this game on a high of sorts after pounding the Suns, but have losses in the 3 games prior. So the question is what team is going to show up on both sides? The one thing we can be sure of is that D-Will is going to own CP3. He always does, even in meaningless All-Star competitions, in front CP3's home crowd. Deron is even a better dresser than Chris -

Seriously Chirs? A leather sports coat and gold chain that you could rope cattle with. At least he has a matching pocket square for the big bird yellow sweater he has on. I wonder if his IROC Camero is parked out back or if he drove the El Camino today?

As for the other players in tonights game, look for Korver to get more playing time and be a bigger part of the offense. He does not have to gard anyone who is super athletic so he should be able to stay in the game longer tonight. I think AK puts up pretty good numbers tonight as well, just a gut feeling there. As for the Hornets, Tyson Chandler is going to have a field day against all of our drives and get 5 or 6 blocks plus 15 rebounds. Seems like good athletic big men can always do good against us in the block department. The only other player that I would worry about is Peja, he seems to kill us a lot. This should be a classic.

2.27.08 Jazz vs. Pistons

I had to DVR the game tonigth so I could attend my niece's 5th grade play "Calamity James" (not a typo). She was the star of the show. Yes, I put a 5th grade play in front of the Jazz game. Thank the good man above for DVR, it has changed my life.

This match-up has 'Game of the month' written all over it. The Pistons roll into town with the 4th best road record in the NBA and the 2nd best overall record. Utah sits with the best home record in the league. Something has to give.

1st Half:

Just what I expected. The Minnesota Jazz came out ready to help their opponent get on ESPN's Top 10 as many times as possible. The Pistons threw the Jazz off of their game before the opening tip off. The Jazz always warm up on the same side of the floor when at home. Most teams respect this, even though the visiting team gets to choose where they warm-up. As the Jazz are starting their shoot around, out come the Pistons, led by Sheed, and they request the side in front of the Jazz bench while the Jazz are warming up. Move over to the other side Utah. What a great mental move by the Pistons. Come out and act like you own the joint.

The Jazz look lifeless aside from Memo in the first half. He always plays well against his former team. Detroit was definately sad to see him go, but they had to let him go to pay Sheed. Utah could easily lose this game by 30 tonight. Detroit has an 18 point lead and we show no signs of coming back.

2nd Half:

Jazz just can't cut into the lead. It's an 'everything you can do , I can do better' game. Detroit is a mighty good ball club. RIP is having his best game against the Jazz that I can remember. Historically he doesn't play well against the Jazz, especially in Utah. We all remember "The Block" on November 6th last year.



I was a witness from the 21st row. A game that goes down in history to me. Jazz win on a blocked RIP layup. Memo and AK both had their hands on the ball. Sweet memories.

Ronnie Brewer just put together an awesome 30 seconds of basketball. The Jazz look like a different team. I hope it's enough to eat into the lead. Welcome back ESA crowd.

It's over. I am stunned. The Jazz just pulled off an incredible comeback to solidify their dominance in the ESA. Memo hits three 3 pointers from almost the exact same spot. He is soooo streaky this year, good thing tonight was an on streak for him. Memo finished 10-18 and 4-8 from behind the arc. At least 4 of those regular field goals were 2-4 inches inside the 3 point line.

Korver got yanked in the fourth and was banished to the bench along with Boozer. Millsap was playing way too good to come off the court. Kudos to Jerry for keeping the hot hand on the court. It's something you don't see often..or...ever in a world. I thought for sure Korver would come in to seal the deal on the line, but it was Super Sophomore Ronnie Brewer who knocks down two key free throws to put the game out of reach.

Pistons played a great game in the 1st half holding the 5th best scoring team to only 42 points. The 2nd half they gave up 61 with 36 coming in the final period. A total anomoly from a team who prides themselves on their defense.

Keys to the game:
-Sheed goes 2-12 and 0-5 from downtown.
-Deron finally loses the AI/Melo arm band.
-Millsap stops triple pumping and takes it to the hoop on his initial drive.
-Deron is back to his normal self with 14 assists.
-CJ Miles didn't play (Thank you Jerry)
-Jason Shart didn't play (Thank you again Jerry)

MVP: Paul Millsap/Memo Okur
I couldn't give it to either one. They both were the reason the Jazz came back in this one. This game was everything we all hyped it up to be. Great win for the Jazz to get back in town at 4am and pull a come from behind win against the leagues 2nd best record. Ladies and gentleman, you may now re-enter the band wagon...ALL ABOARD!

Final Score: Utah 103, Detroit 95

Links:
ESPN Recap and Box Score
Biased Fan
Detroit Bad Boys

Holy Fetchin Crap

Honestly, the Jazz were about 2 or 3 more bad possesions late in the 3rd quarter from losing me on this game. I had Big Brother just waiting to be watched on the DVR and then Brewer got that dunk. And then he played some good defense and forced a jump ball and then the game was over. If this game was on the road there is no way we can make that comeback. This was one of those games that can propel you to a higher place as a team. I dont know what switch was flipped, but I hope they can remember how to do it again. I was really happy to see Sloan keep Millsap in the game until he ran out of gas, not that Booze was playing bad, but Millsap was a man possesed tonight. Play of the game though has to go to the 91 year old lady busting out the splits during halftime, I pulled my groin just watching. Good win Jazz, now keep that intensity and go kick some Honey Bee ass!

Kyle Korver with Shauna Lake

KUTV's Shauna Lake took a moment out of her extremelly busy day...to interview Kyle Korver. At the end she actually brings her son in and has him deliver a PB & J sandwhich to Kyle. This has to be one of the most awkward interviews ever. Watch how pissed she gets when Mark almost hits her in the face with the ball. He then further gets her pissed off as he dribbles the ball while she is trying to introduce her story...classic.



Hey Kyle, I have two friends that would love to come to your apartment and answer the question "Who am I? Where am I going?". If your interested, just leave a comment in the blog. No pressure though...only your eternal salvation is on the line.

Jazz pick up Jackie Moon of the Flint Tropics

Boozer shaves his armpits so I don't think the eyeliner is out of the question.

Want to be a Jazz reporter? Think again...

This is a great article by SL Trib Jazz beatwriter Ross Silar. I'd like to invite our own Ron Boone to tell us about a day in his life back when he was a sports reporter for the SLCC...uh...Bruins....um...whatever their paper is. Ron? I'd like a full report 1,500 words by tonight. Now get out of my office.

Train Wreck!

why do I even watch?

My hope of the Jazz winning the Western conference is over. I have never been more frustrated with a team that can't win on the freakin road. Is it really that difficult to play on the road when the home teams has 1000 depressed fans in there seats. The Jazz aren't good enough right know to start coasting. They looked so flat I was getting embarrassed with the amount of effort they were playing with. I am even more pissed because, I can't listen to any sports talk radio, espn, fsn, and N.B.A. tv. because my team lost. Sometimes I wish I didn't care so much. But, of course my dumb ass will be watching the game tonight win, lose, or draw.

whistle