Recap - Denver Nuggets @ Utah Jazz - Hurry Back Deron

by Basketball John on Oct 30, 2008 11:30 AM MDT Comment 12 comments

That would have been a tough loss to absorb. Yes, it's only the first game of the season. But from my understanding of how the system works, a first-game win counts as much as a late-season win.

Even with Carmelo detoxing and Deron still a bit wobbly, this game shouldn't have been as close as it was. The Jazz did start to pull away in the third and built up a double-digit lead. But this is probably where we missed Deron the most. Had he been playing, I don't think there's any way that the Nuggets come back to tie it in the fourth. The Nuggets made some big shots down the stretch granted, but they came as a result of the Jazz forcing passes and taking ill-advised shots. With Deron running the show, we would have gotten much better looks and he would have taken a lot of the pressure off of others to make plays.

That's no knock on Ronnie P. That's not his usual role. He's great as a backup to come in and change things up a little and to provide a spark. He didn't have a good shooting night at all, going 1-9. He did provide some great hustle and energy going after loose balls, including one that led to a nice behind the back flip to AK at mid-court which resulted in this flush,

via d.yimg.com

and he ran the offense well for the most part. As was stated in the game thread by UtesFan, he looked like he was trying too hard offensively. He should settle down for the next game provided Deron isn't back.

And CJ, you have to be smart kid. I don't need you proving me wrong. You have to be smarter when you're out there. When you pick up a quick foul, you have to know they're going to come right back at you. You have to know when to pick your battles on the defensive end. If your man is already at the hoop, it's probably best to not put a body into him as he goes up. The only way you're going to see more than 13 minutes a night is to stay out of foul trouble and to play D. You have to know that by now playing under Sloan.

Bringing AK off the bench could be one of those small things that nudge the Jazz over the top. He is the king of the second unit and he loves it. I don't know why all of the reporters were asking him questions as if it were a demotion. I haven't heard Kirilenko grumble about it at all. In fact, I think he kind of sees it as a rebirth. It's kind of had the effect of a trade without him getting traded. I don't doubt that had he been tradaed to a team where he was one of the central figures, he would have flourished again. That's what this move has done. And it's brilliant. Even if CJ doesn't pan out starting, I think we still see Korver get moved into the starting spot with AK still as the 6th man. AK's line was great last night,

BENCH	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OREB	DREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	PTS
Andrei Kirilenko, SF	35	6-9	1-1	3-4	3	3	6	3	1	2	3	2	16

David Locke on KFAN mentioned yesterday that he doesn't think a team can improve defensively with the same players. He doesn't have the stats to back that up yet. But if it is the case, then perhaps moving AK to the bench might have the same effect of bringing in another player.

Boozer showed why he's going to get paid next summer. He was fantastic going for 25 & 14 to start the season. I was also impressed with his D. He had a couple of great blocks including one on Nene that pretty much sealed the game for the Jazz. He had a nice strip of Kenyon Martin that was called a foul by the backside ref when he had no view of the play at all. He couldn't see if Boozer got the ball or not. One way to know if it's a foul or not; if the ball goes down when there's a strip, it's usually a clean play. If the ball goes up, that means he got his arm. And if you can't see the play anyway, swallow the whistle. Booze also leveled Iverson on a nice pick. Is there a corresponding term in basketball for de-cleater? Because that's what it was. I like this little toughness streak. I hope we see it all season. He also talked about after the game about how they would have liked to have held the Nuggets to less than 94. I thought it was impressive, but I'm glad to see that focus.

And the unheralded Memo had a solid game. He shot only 5-12 and took only one three. I don't know how to explain it, but I can tell when his shot is going in by his stroke. It's a more compact stroke and the ball usually has less arc to it. When he lengthens his shot motion, he usually gets the old Griffith Rainbow shot and it's not as likely to fall. Here's my photo-illustration,

He had 10 boards to go along with his 13 points.

Brewer had a great game in limited minutes. He went 5-9 for 15 points. His jumper was pretty good. He didn't get his points all from dunks and layups. Sloan seems to like AK and Korver to close out games (although Ronnie B was in for the last bit). So that means less minutes for Brewer right now.

The stats were pretty close down the line. The Jazz won this one though because they hit their free-throws. That hasn't always been the case. But they needed every one. Korver missed one at the end of the game but was able to redeem himself when the Birdman stepped into the lane early. He wasn't going to miss his second chance. Korver didn't seem to experience the Sampson effect from his haircut. He went 3-6 including 1-2 from deep. If he's shooting 50% from the field this year, we're in good shape.

I still felt like this was a pre-season game. The crowd wasn't into it for most of the game. And with Deron and Memo out, AK coming off the bench, and Matt missing, it didn't have the same feel. But when we almost gave the game away, that brought back the regular season flavor.

Up next, the Clippers of LA. I hope to have Deron back for this because he gives us someone to match up against Baron Davis. It will also mark the return of Jason Hart. And given past experiences, I expect some boos when he comes in.

1 down, 81+ to go.

Other notes

Kosta Koufos was dressed, not Fess.
Deron had on a huge watch and about 100 carats worth of diamonds on a bracelet. I think he put that bracelet on the opposite side of his injured ankle to help keep the weight off it. His made Brewer's from summer league look like a couple bits of glass.
The new intro was good. I miss having Bear rev his Harley though. Maybe they'll change it up a little. But what was the thing that they said had never been done before in the NBA? Did I miss something?
Videos coming

Other blogs

The Utah Jazz - "The Jazz ended with 20 fouls, which is kinda surprising because they were in the penalty half way into the first quarter. Forget Hack-A-Shaq, this team will hack anyone."
Ross Siler
All That Utah Jazz
Pick Axe and Roll - "Between Kleiza’s foot and Andersen’s foot the Nuggets lost two points in the last 40 seconds of a tight game."

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Comments

uh . . . .

you keep forgetting http://allthatjazzbasketball.blogspot.com/

I had the jazz game recap up first last night . . . .

by AllThatJazzBasketball on Oct 30, 2008 11:33 AM MDT reply actions 0 recs

I don't have you in my reader

I’ll get it added.

SLCDunk.com, The Utah Jazz on SBNation

by Basketball John on Oct 30, 2008 11:35 AM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

thanks BBall John! : )

Go Jazz Go!

by AllThatJazzBasketball on Oct 30, 2008 11:48 AM MDT reply actions 0 recs

Honestly,

How glad were you guys that we had Knight to backup Ronnie P. last night? I can only imagine the anxiety that would have been caused if we still had Shart running around throwing up balls at the end of quarters. We definitely lucked out with that trade.

by DaniellelovesKK on Oct 30, 2008 12:43 PM MDT reply actions 0 recs

Bear

Bear did have his Harley

We bleed True Blue.
www.truebluejazz.com

by CB Jack on Oct 30, 2008 12:47 PM MDT reply actions 0 recs

Terminology

“Is there a corresponding term in basketball for de-cleater?”

foul

Leave the ball, will you George?

by MTN on Oct 30, 2008 1:25 PM MDT reply actions 0 recs

optimism

The promising thing about AK off the bench (and Price/Knight holding their own) is that we didn’t give up points with the second unit. Usually, we build a lead, put in the second unit and watch it slip, rinse, repeat, fight to win at the end.

I have to think that with Deron back, a) the initial leads will be higher, b) with AK off the bench, we’ll still have a defensive presence, experience, confidence, etc. in the second unit.

Leave the ball, will you George?

by MTN on Oct 30, 2008 1:34 PM MDT reply actions 0 recs

Boozer wasn't 'excellent'. Stats DO lie.

I agree with the excellent game summary…except for your points about Boozer.

Boozer did not look ‘fantastic’ by any means. Yes, yes, yes…he ended up with 25 and 14, but not because of exceptional play on his part. Most his buckets were put backs or trash buckets, in fact he missed every single one of his jumpers outside of the paint (he went 3-8 on ‘jumpers’, the three makes coming on soft hooks within seven feet).

Besides his continuing shooting woes (ever since the all-star game last year, he has had trouble scoring jumpers), he also continues to have trouble with two related aspects of his game; holding onto the ball and controlling himself on drives to the hoop.
Although only having two official TOs, Booze was constantly dropping passes and fumbling the ball while attempting to maneuver around defenders. This was especially apparent in crunch time, where he lost the ball several times, only to either pick it up himself, get it picked up by another Jazz player, or get bailed out by the refs. For example, in the final two mins of the game, Boozer lost the ball on a drive to the hoop (only to save himself by blocking Nene on the other end—which by the way, occurred only after Booze let KMart drive right by him—even Booner pointed out that Boozer got the block only after finding himself “out of position”). Then after missing a FT and fouling Nene to give him a three pt play (a good foul, imo), Booze got the ball again, this time with the Jazz up by only 1. Booze got the ball at the top of the key, did a quick turn where he lost the ball because he dribbled with his inside hand (right hand). Luckily, the refs called a questionable foul on Nene to bail Boozer out (Karl was pissed). Then after Boozer’s two FTs and Kleiza’s foot-on-the-line two pointer, Booze got the ball yet again, and fumbled it away yet again, this time while trying some kind of DWill around the back shenanigans on the baseline. Luckily (again) he recovered it on the ground and was able to cradle it while calling timeout. Even on the big play of the game, Boozer scored a floater next to the rim but only after fumbling a difficult, but entirely catchable pass from Price following Price’s drive to the hoop. Boozer fumbled the ball away three times in the final two minutes of the game, fumbles that could easily have landed in somebody else’s hands and been recorded as TOs.

I agree that Boozer’s defense looked better. But you can’t get much worse than his defense last year, so anything is an improvement.

by edevart on Oct 30, 2008 2:55 PM MDT reply actions 0 recs

He did have those fumbles

And his jumpers were off. But his inside moves were spectacular. He posted up Kenyon and pretty much owned him. The jumpers will be fine.
And once Deron comes back, I don’t think he forces those things late in games. Deron gets everyone set up better. Deron makes a lot of passes to Booze that Price and Knight can’t make.

SLCDunk.com, The Utah Jazz on SBNation

by Basketball John on Oct 30, 2008 10:34 PM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

Besides...

How can you criticize him for missing 15 foot jumpers. I go crazy when he settles for them. I wish he would attack the bucket much more often. He shot a good fg% and saying that his points came off putbacks and trash buckets is a compliment to Boozer’s game, not a rip. It isn’t luck that gets Boozer those buckets. He is so tenacious on crashing the offensive boards.

The more you try to erase me, the more that I appear.

by clarkpojo on Oct 31, 2008 1:05 AM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

jumpers

I can criticize because if Booze is going to take five to seven of those 15 ft jumpers a game he needs to make more than zero of them. I remind you of last year when Boozer started the season on a tear, winning player of the month for November. Why? Because his jumper was spot on, which opened up his inside game a ton. Really, he couldn’t miss for much of the first half of the season. That broke down as the season went on, and by playoff time defenders were laying off out there and challenging him to take it to the whole, which he can’t do very well facing up to defenders.

The best part of Boozer’s game is the trash stuff, I agree, no rip there. He is huge and expected to pull down boards and get put backs. But so are a lot of guys with his size. What sets him apart, and makes him an all-star is doing that, but also making the baseline turn around jumper and random 17 footer. Without that, he is just another good power forward.

I still have confidence in Boozer, I just want him to hold on to the ball, play some common sense defense, and make a jumper now and again. (Around here we’ve been calling him fumblefingers for two seasons now, and I hope he’d do something to make us change…)

by edevart on Oct 31, 2008 11:51 AM MDT up reply actions 0 recs