4.29.08 Jazz @ Rockets - Game 5

I thought about all the thinga I hate about Tracy McGrady and decided this picture pretty much sums it up. Dear Jazz, let's not de-flower him this season. Let someone else have the honors.
(Thanks to Scott on our Live Blog for giving the link)

I conceded this game in the 2nd quarter and started writing this recap just as the 3rd quarter came to an end.

Tell me if this looks familiar:

"I'm not blaming the refs per se. The Jazz knew they wouldn't get any calls. They knew that the word "charge" is no longer in the rules unless Rockets is on offense.

Let me get this straight... if Matt Harpring tries to rebound, it's a foul. Even if he has position and his hand on the ball? On the flip side, Scola can push someone in the back... step on them... kick the ball out of bounds on his own... and it's a foul on the Jazz!?!? Screw that noise."

I figure why try and complain about the officiating when The Dream Shake has already done it for me. Those are the exact words (replacing team and players names...and an F bomb) used by The Dream Shake after Game 4. Interesting how they fit into this game perfectly. But they complain that they got hosed in Game 4. So what exactly happened in Game 5? Yeah, you guessed it. Jazz got hosed.

That was hands down the poorest performance I've seen by the Jazz in a post season game. I would have bet my soon to be born children that D-Will was going to come out like a banshee. Instead he decided to go 5-11 and 6 assists. You showed them Deron. I'm sure the state of Texas interrupted normal programming for a public service announcement on how to say your name.

Excuse me for a moment while I look at the box score to find a way I can spin this positively....

...well the 9 bench points from the entire Jazz bench was a great performance except for the fact that Bobby Jackson got that by himself. Um...the Jazz shot 36% from the field. Hey, that's better than 30% right? The Jazz scored 69 points. That's kind of cool. That's it, that's all I could find.

22-36-56. Represents two things (1) the average measurements of the average woman from Houston (I just threw up in my mouth) and (2) it was the Jazz shooting percentages from the 3 pt line, FG, and free throw line in game 5.

There is absolutely nothing positive that came from tonight's game. The Houston defense was jaw dropping. I have not seen the "potent" Jazz offense get torn apart like that this entire season. Simply put, the Jazz lost this game and Houston won it without a fight.

Sweet picture of Deron right here... Too bad it ended with him getting blocked by Mutumbo, the loose ball picked up by Boozer who passes it off Okur's back followed by Harpring picking up the ball and dribbling twice before Alston stole it and gave it to McGrady who was fouled on a 3 point shot resulting in a 4 point play. That's kind of how the entire game went.

All I can say is that the Jazz have to win game 6. There is no question about it. By the way, I am watching the post game press conference and McGrady just said "MY team did well". This guy is an All-Star Flip Flopper, he puts John Kerry to shame.

Does it get any better than this picture? Yes, if McTeary had a single tear rolling down his cheek like last year. The tears will come in game 6 Treysee, they will come.

Final Score: Jazz 69, Rockets 85

Jazz Links:

Biased Fan

Frank Layden Admirers

Basketball John

Rockets Links:

The Dream Shake

Clutch Fans

ESPN Recap

What's My Name?

Just when I thought I could not despise T-Mac anymore than I already do, I hear this:

"After the Jazz won game 4 to put the Rockets backs squarely to the wall, Mr. 4th Quarter (T-Mac), said in the post game press conference that he couldn’t remember how to pronounce D-Will’s name. “Is it Der-ron...Deron..What is it..”, Mr. 4th quarter proclaimed." (Source: http://www.1280kzn.com/)


Tracy, please! What are you doing? Is it not bad enough that you are one game away of losing, yet another, first round match up? Now you go and try to insult D-Will. You know his name Mc-Teary. You know it and I know it. We were there last year when he beat you in Game 7. And if your memory cannot go back that far, certainly you can remember this:



Sit down T-Mac. I'm not saying this series is in the bag. It's the Jazz, anything can happen. But when you are down 3-1 to a team that has shut you down, the last thing you want to do is light a fire under the one player that has dominated every game. Who knows though, us Jazz fans may thank you for it. Let's just wait and see.

Booner

4.26.08 Jazz vs. Rockets Game 4 - Live Blog @ The Dream Shake

What up Jazz fans. The Dream Shake is going a LIVE BLOG of tonight's game. Let's all stop by and show up in force. Let them feel the wrath of My Utah Jazz!

Live Blog

Jazz-Rockets Game 4 Preview

Dear Carlos, We miss you. Please come home. Love, My Utah Jazz

Below is the link to ESPN's preview of tonight's game. I would write my own preview/prediction but predicting game three was the last one you will see from me. Besides, I cannot write too much about the Jazz without going into f-bomb mode. What they did to me and my family the other night damn-near ruined me. Due to a minor case of tourette's, I twitch quite a bit as it is, but you should see me when I start stressing out. Not good at all. You come within a foot of me.... you are going to get hurt.



So, enough of that. Here's the preview from ESPN's Scout's Inc. Click here for the series page.



Again, this is not my prediction. I am staying as far away from predictions as possible. All I am going to say is, if we can get even, semi productive minutes from Memo, Korver, and Milsap, I like our chances. Let's do this Jazz. It's time to make teams fear the ESA again!



Booner

4.24.08 Jazz vs. Rockets vs. NBA whistles

Ok. The Rockets won that game fair and square. That game is exactly what playoff basketball is all about. We held a Live Blog last night and all I can say is welcome to the roller coaster, it you want to see the high's and low's of that game, simply read back through the live blog. Luckily, Lee (UofTOrange) from The Dream Shake was there to keep us in line. He was like the one chick who shows up to prevent an all out sausage fest. Thanks for coming Lee and being a class act. He didn't throw it in our face at all when the game was over. At one point he mentioned how he had just folded his '95 Rockets World Champions T-Shirt and how he would need it for game 7...when he typed that, I started to get nervous.

What if this series goes 7? Danger.

I'm not saying it will, and in fact, I don't think it will get past 6. I think we see the home teams win from this point on. But still...what if it goes to game 7. I don't think my blood pressure could handle that.

I know the vast majority of NBA fans hate the Jazz. I could care less. I don't really see what there is to hate, but I completely understand the hating. But I don't hate the Rockets. I might hate Houston, but I don't hate the Rockets. In fact, they are a great team to watch. No real superstars (McTeary has proven that), just a bunch of role players. They remind me a lot of the Pistons team that won a few years ago. Everyone in a Rockets jersey wants to win and works hard (minus Bobby Jackson, who just doesn't seem to fit for me). IF for some reason the Jazz blow this series, I want to see Houston go far...very far. Up to this point, their fans have been great in the blog world. That was just a quick though. Alright, enough of the Rockets love.

Here are my thoughts on why the Rockets won this game.

-The Rockets played excellent defense on the Pick-and-Roll. This is the bread and butter of the Jazz. Without it, their offense can get very stagnant and they start settling for jump shots. The Rockets have played it incredibly well.

-Alston was incredible. He provided energy that the Rockets have not seen up to this point in the series. He seemed to spread the floor well and know exactly where he wanted his teammates to be. Big help for the Rockets.

-Luis Landry (a morphisys of Luis Scola and Carl Landry as per Dream Shake). Landry loses a tooth, grabs 7 offensive rebounds, and makes the game winning block, followed by the game winning save. Scola didn't shoot particularly well from the floor, but goes 8-10 from the line. Sign up the Booze Hound to attend his summer camp so he can learn to perform like that.

Now for the Jazz side of things.

-Where is Carlos Boozer? Put out a freaking Amber Alert for our "All-Star". Don't be leaving comments saying how he went 15 and 13. That doesn't cut it. He is being guarded by Rookies for the most part. Destroy them. Take them the hole. Punish them. Boozer MUST show up for the Jazz to win this series. He dominated in this series last year. Without Yao, there is no excuse to be just as dominate this year

-Shooting. Memo 3-13. AK 2-7. Sap 0-2. Korver 2-5. Four key players all in the dumper. Now for the real glaring state. Free throws: Jazz go 20-33. That's 60.6%. Pathetic. This was the downfall.

-Jazz get out rebounded and allow Houston to grab 16 offensive rebounds. They also had only 20 assists. Notice that when the Jazz were pushing their offense and had a pace of 122 they were getting assists in the 30's. Jazz must share the ball, they are NOT a 1-on-1 team.

Those are my first instincts. I'm sure some people saw it differently.

The one thing that I really like was the maturity of Deron Williams. D-Will played 43 minutes and didn't once complain of being tired. Didn't complain that he was playing against a well rested Alston. Didn't complain that his teammates aren't shooters. Didn't complain about any flops. Didn't complain about his legs. Didn't complain that he HAD to take the last shot. The guy is a stud and T-Mac needs to take some notes on how to be a leader.

PS. I hated the white t-shirts for the fans. What happened to True Blue? Bad marketing for the Jazz I believe.

Links:

The Dream Shake
Biased Fan (sweet new look)
Frank Layden Admirers
ESpukeN
AOL Fanhouse (Matt at HP)
Hardwood Paroxysm
Ball Don't Lie

**Live Blog** Jazz vs. Rockets - Game 3

Keep it PG-13. Go Jazz!

Playoff Rountable: My Utah Jazz vs. The Dream Shake; Hosted by Matt at Hardwood Paroxysm

Just a bunch of homers talking about Game 3. Check it out.

Thanks to Matt at HP for moderating.

4.24.08 Jazz vs. Rockets **LIVE BLOG*** 8:30 pm MST

What up everyone. We will be hosting another LIVE BLOG tonight as the Jazz look to continue their sweep of the Houston McTeary's. Here is the info on tonight's game:
Game will be on TNT and KJZZ
8:30 pm MST
9:30 pm CST for you Rockets fans



Live Blog will start right around game time. Rockets fans are invited as well. Remember to keep it PG-13.

See you all tonight!

Prediction: Jazz 114, Rockets 98

Game 3 Preview - Utah Jazz & Houston Rockets vs. The FLDS

Nothing like a little religious excitement to amp up a game that quite frankly needs a little drama involved. I am curious to see how many of the wives actually show up to protest. I also want to know why it is only the wives that are coming, where are the so called men in this situation?

Sorry for the 20 seconds of politics, lets get onto the real game tonight (assuming that the Jazz and Rockets don't decide to cancel the game as the lawyer for the FLDS is demanding). I think that the Jazz need to come out tonight like wild dogs and get the crowd whipped up into a frenzy. I am fully expecting a 35 point first quarter with 75% shooting. I hope that the crowd can take this game to a new level and cement our reputation as the best home court advantage in the league. I better be able to hear the "Tracy's Tired" chants on TV. If any of the readers are going to the game I would love to get a first hand account of the atmosphere tomorrow morning.

I hope that the Jazz don't take this game too lightly and lean on the home court advantage. This is a very important game, a loss tonight sends the series back to Houston and that is not acceptable. The Jazz can not let the Rockets gain any momentum or think that they have a chance to win this. Tonight is the night to deliver the knock out blow and kill any thoughts of a come back. In my opinion, here is what needs to happen for the Jazz to put this series away.

1 - Boozer needs to stay out of foul trouble and be a stud. Something like 25 and 12 should do it.
2 - Brewer, AK, Harpring and Korver need to get up in Tracy's face and be very physical. Between the 4 of them we have 24 fouls to give and they should try using all of them all. Tracy is not a very good free throw shooter so lets make him think twice about trying to get to the rim.
3 - Up the tempo. the Jazz need to get this game going early and don't take their foot off the pedal. We average 106 points per game during the season, lets see if we can get there tonight.

My Utah Jazz wishes long time reader Scrumtrulescent a Happy Birthday!