Recap - Portland Trail Blazers @ Utah Jazz - W - 99-96

by Basketball John on Oct 15, 2009 9:57 PM MDT in Game Recaps

Bullet-point style

Maybe, just maybe, the Jazz mean it this time when they're going to play D. The Blazers were without Brandon Roy but still held the Blazers to 40% shooting. They got 9 steals and 25 PF points.
Jazz had the edge in all shooting %s tonight.
Memo got the Jazz off right with two three-pointers. He finished with 15 points.
It looks like it's Wes Matthews' job to lose should the Jazz sign another player. He's getting all of the minutes right now and run with the first team. We was 5/7 tonight for 12 points. Dupree hasn't been bad, just not enough to leap Wes.
Ronnie P and Deron with an identical 10 points on 5/7 shooting. D-Will had 7 boards and 7 assists. All of those boards came in the first quarter. Ronnie sounded good.
The Fess v. KOOF battle didn't have a winner. Nobody stood out tonight. Fess had a nice block on Oden. The KOOF has one as well.

Nobody taking the position though.
Boozer and Millsap were both quiet. They both had 7 boards, but not much on offense tonight.
Eric Maynor with 14 & 5 on 4/9 shooting. He did have a -15 but that was probably more to do with the team he was playing with at the time. He gives the Jazz a lot of flexibility in regards to mix and matching Deron and Ronnie P. He may not get many minutes at first, but I feel more confident with him than I ever did with Hart and Knight.
Jazz had a 28-4 advantage on the fast break. Jazz seemed give up a lot of FB points last year.
Ronnie B hit a couple of midrange jumpers in addition to his dunks. He finished with 12.

It's just the pre-season, but.... You have to like how to team is clicking right now. Despite the lineup experiments and PT given to guys that won't be with the team in a few weeks, the Jazz have managed to go 3-1 so far in the pre-season.

Most everyone appears to be ready to go for the season. Too bad it's still a couple weeks away. I'll be happy if we can avoid any more major injury until then and actually start out the season with a full roster.

We'll head to LA for a Saturday game next before seeing Portland again in Portland.

Blazersedge

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Comments

Ya think Maynor has a chance of unseating Price as the backup?

by Lu Galasso on Oct 16, 2009 8:39 AM MDT reply actions

I think not this year

Price earned the #2 spot in the playoffs last year. I think Sloan will stick with him this year.

I just love how cool Maynor is. He brings the ball down, drives into the key and acts like he’s not exactly sure where he’s going to pass. And then, like he planned it all along, shoots or dishes nicely. He’s a solid pure PG in my opinion. I love Price, but I see him as a placeholder until Maynor matures more. Unfortunately, I don’t think he’ll play much this year.

by chamont on Oct 16, 2009 8:47 AM MDT up reply actions