Preview - Utah Jazz @ San Antonio Spurs

by Basketball John on Apr 10, 2009 4:33 PM MDT

I'll take it.

If, and that's a big

IF,

the Jazz were to pull off a victory tonight at SA, I wouldn't care if it's against a depleted Spurs team. Manu is gone for the season. I'm not crying over that one. Timmy may or may not play as he's been banged up.

Player	Date	Type	Note
Tim Duncan	2009-04-09	sore knees	is questionable for Friday's game against Utah
Manu Ginobili	2009-04-06	stress fracture in right ankle	will miss the remainder of the season
Fabricio Oberto	2009-03-27	irregular heartbeat	is out indefinitely
Tony Parker	2009-04-09	cramping in calves	is questionable for Friday's game against Utah

Is it wrong that I want them to win so that I don't have to hear any more that they haven't won there since 1999? Forget about playoff seedings, I just want that to stop.

If it's going to happen, now is the time to take advantage.

However, with Manu out and Timmy limited, that means that Tony Parker is going to go to town. All it will take is a little pick on Deron and he's gone.

Over the past three seasons, Parker is averaging 19 & 6 against the Jazz. He'll be the man to stop tonight. I would like to see the Jazz just pack a zone and make the Spurs shoot over the top of them but they have a guy named Matt Bonner who would love to do nothing more than camp out on the arc and shoot threes all night.

So what Jazz team are we going to see? I doubt you know because otherwise you'd be in Vegas laying down some large large.

Since we can't seem to comeback in games this year, you'll know pretty early how this one turns out. If it's a game after the first quarter, we have a chance.

Then again, if you see the Jazz chucking up jumpers outside of the offense, look out.

Dallas and NOLA go at it tonight. So the good news is that one of them is going to fall. A win for the Jazz would go a long ways in staying out of that 8th seed.

Game Thread coming at 6.

Other blogs:

Pounding the Rock

Poll

Simple question. Do we win at SA tonight?

Yes

14 votes

No

24 votes

38 votes | Poll has closed

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Comments

Big Time Game...I'm ready.

AK47 must start NOW!

by Patrick517 on Apr 10, 2009 5:02 PM MDT reply actions

Guard the 3!!!!!

I think, especially with Ginobili out, you just play tough man D and let Parker and Duncan run wild (assuming they play). With Utah’s slow rotation they double Duncan or help on Parker, then give up a wide open 3 or layup. Every damn time. (Remember when Oberto shot like 75% against them in the WCF? Oberto!!) This is what kills them more than anything else. Completely immobile players like Bonner and Finley are incapable of making their own shots, so let’s put it all on the stars, especially since they should be slowed down.

Maybe this won’t work. Maybe Parker and Duncan will score 50 points each, but I know for damn sure that the excessive help they’ve used in the past has not worked. After a decade of failure, I believe it is time for a new strategy.

by Kcin on Apr 10, 2009 5:10 PM MDT reply actions 1 recs