Recap - Utah Jazz @ Los Angeles Lakers - Game 5
by Basketball John on Apr 28, 2009 7:20 AM MDT
in Game Recaps
24 comments
Sorry you couldn't go out on better terms Hot Rod.
It's an end of an era in a lot of ways. This last year we've lost Larry H. Miller. This last week we've learned of Hot Rod's retirement. And who knows what the roster will look like next season. Throw in one morning while Jerry is plowing a field and decides, like Hot Rod did, what am I doing?
Here are a list of players that could leave. Most of them will probably be back I assume:
- Carlos Boozer
- Kyle Korver
- Mehmet Okur
- Jarron Collins
- Brevin Knight
- Ronnie Price
- Morris Almond
- Kyrylo Fesenko
- Paul Millsap
That leaves only 6 players returning under contract:
- Deron Williams
- Ronnie Brewer
- Andrei Kirilenko
- C.J. Miles
- Kosta Koufos
- Matt Harpring (expiring contract)
The season ended a long ways away from where it was suppose to end. A lot of the other WC teams were supposedly going to drop off a bit and the Jazz were on the rise. They were suppose to challenge for the 1 or 2 seed - and through the end of February, they were in a position to be #2.
You can guess as to what was the cause of the swoon and you'd probably be partially right. You can't really pin the blame on any one thing/person. It was a culmination of events that never got nipped in the bud. As a result, things were allowed to nosedive and not even Ted Striker could have pulled us out of that free-fall.
But it's not really a time to dwell on that, because as of last night, the Jazz are officially in look-forward mode.
Before we get going with that though, there are few points to the game that I wanted to cover.
- The Lakers were the better team in the series and should have advanced. That said, I wish nothing but the worst for them here on out.
- The referees were letting anything go. Kobe travels a couple of times, Odom rode Williams "like a mule," Kobe instigated contact on AK and AK gets called for the foul (as pictured below), Odom taunted Brewer after a drive and a finger roll, this list goes on. There's Moore, but this game wasn't lost with the refs. Steve Luhm seems to think that they could have had an effect on the late-game run though.
via d.yimg.com
Let's talk about that amazing run.
2:01 left in the third. Jazz down 80-58. They call a timeout and essentially it looks like Sloan is throwing in the towel.
But Ronnie Price, Paul Millsap, and Kyle Korver come together and form the upper body of Voltron. At one point, Millsap goes on an 11-0 run by himself. The Lakers take a timeout when the Jazz cut it to 11.
The timeout does little to stop the attack though. A Ronnie Price follow up dunk and a Kyle Korver three-pointer cut the lead to 6, 95-89. After an LA missed three, Memo had the rebound and the Jazz brought it up court, but Sloan called for a timeout! I didn't hear anyone ask him why. The Jazz had the Lakers on their heels and by taking that timeout broke the momentum that we had. I can see needing to bring Deron back into the game at that point, but don't you wait for the next dead ball? It gave the Lakers time to regroup.
I don't think Jerry believe in momentum because he doesn't take timeouts to stop it when the other team is gaining and he takes a timeout when it's clearly on our side.
There was still 3:20 remaining! Plenty of time. Instead, the Lakers put it together after a couple of missed layups by the Jazz and pretty much finish it off on an Odom AND-1.
I haven't seen that much heart and hustle in a long time. Ronnie Price was inspiring with his play and chippiness. Jerry Sloan said:
I've never seen a guy play that hard in my life in that situation
Jerry Sloan has coached Malone, Stockton, Horny, and countless others. He also played in one of the toughest backcourts in the league in his day. It doesn't get any better than that from Sloan. He also stated,
He shows you probably the mistakes that I made
Here's some of that hustle:
via d.yimg.com
via d.yimg.com
via d.yimg.com
That dunk attempt came after Kobe and Fisher had been jawing at Price. Price got hit up with a T after taunting Fisher. This guy better be back for next year.
Jerry Sloan also finished off the season in fine form by getting two Ts and getting tossed. I love that the networks show slow-mo replays of Sloan cussing out the officials. In case you didn't hear/see it the first time, here's Jerry telling the ref to F Off in slow mo and closeup. Classic. What would have happened all of these years without Phil Johnson. Does he practice that on off days? He just has Corbin sprint for a player and Phil steps in to hold him back?
The season has come to an end and now we get to look forward to re-tooling, re-grouping, and coming out of this season stronger.
And the first person to get hurt is on my list. There better be long days of conditioning this summer.
And to Hots, you'll get your own post. But you're the only play-by-play guy that I and the rest of Jazz fans have ever known. You will be missed.
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Nice work...
I guess I’m going to half-heartedly pick a second team to root for during the play-offs and enjoy some baseball for a few months. That loss hurt. Also, I agree 100 % with you about wishing nothing but the worse for the Lakers in the rest of the playoffs especially after reading some of the trolling that went on in the game thread last night.
Yeah...unfortunately the're down 3-1...
but I’m on their bandwagon until they’re done and then I’ll probably root for LeBron. (Don’t hate me!)
Definitely LeBron in the east
I wouldn’t mind if the Nuggs won out either. I am a Billups fan, and other than Carmelo, they’re a likeable team. It seems absurd that we once considered Carmelo in the same sentence as Dwayne Wade and LeBron James.
Ultimately, it’s anybody but you know who.
I'll make it coach.
LeBron?
Ugh… he’s becoming the next Kobe (not in a good way) very quickly.
I’m hoping for a Hawks/76ers v. Mavs final… something that’ll have David Stern trembling in fright as he sees TV viewership drop. Yeah, it’ll never happen (it is the NBA), but I’d watch it.
True Blue Jazz
RIP Nick Adenhart. 4/9/09
I just think he's a great player...
His game is much more well-rounded than Kobe’s and I’ve never heard him whine about his teammates or the officials unlike a certain Black Mamba.
If you watch him play though
he seems to think of himself as a king.
If he doesn’t get the call or w/e… almost Duncan-ish at times.
True Blue Jazz
RIP Nick Adenhart. 4/9/09
it's kind of like he started to buy into his own hype
yes, he is amazing and he deserves hype, but his petulance when he doesn’t get calls only started this season (or at least that’s when i started to notice it)
See that chopping motion AK47 is making?
That started a few seconds before this photo was shot, and chopped down Kobe’s legally outstretched arm.
Or just go back and watch the video and you’ll see it.
So there are two fouls on the play, AK47 chopping down Kobe’s arm, and Kobe elbowing AK47. I think the whistle got blown right as Kobe was elbowing AK47.
Please
Kobe was instigating the contact the whole time. He was backing into AK all across the lane and throwing his arms into him. AK was in a defensive position.
by Basketball John on Apr 28, 2009 3:33 PM MDT up reply actions 1 recs
That 'chopping' motion is called swimming through
and they teach every kid at every basketball camp to do that when they’re boxed out. Kobe gets whatever he wants from the refs. It’s more blatant star treatment than Jordan ever got. It’s a joke and everybody with eyes can see it. What makes it so disgusting is that Bryant has the nerve to complain on the rare occasions he gets called for a foul. He’s a spoiled brat and I don’t care how deadly of a shot maker he is. I’ll never respect him as a player. He’s a team guy until anything goes not his way and then it’s the same crybaby from Lower Marion that he will ALWAYS BE. I wouldn’t want him on my team even if it meant rings. I wouldn’t want to be his teammate even if it brought rings. I wouldn’t want to be his friend. I wouldn’t want to be his coach. I would not like him in a box. I would not like him with a fox. I do not like him and I cannot conceive of any stat or story or shot that would make me like him one bit. If he gave millions of money to a charity to help hungry little girls, I would not like him. If he made a public statement that Deron Williams has the best crossover in the league, I would not like him. If he rang the doorbell to my house and asked for a drink of water, I would make him wait on the porch while I bring it to him.
I'll make it coach.
1. That wasn’t a rebound situation. Kobe was posting up. Boxing out is a term used when trying to secure a rebound.
2. Your Kobe hatred is impressive. You are a difficult person to please.
3. I did not see Kobe complain on the rare occasion when he was called for an offensive foul on Brewer last night.
by Gils_Keloids on Apr 28, 2009 4:51 PM MDT up reply actions
Amen, MTN
Everything about Kobe is repulsive. His picture belongs in the dictionary alongside “petulance” and “arrogance”. I have no respect for him as a human being and would show more respect to plaque between my teeth than anything having to do with him.
by moneyman memo on Apr 29, 2009 6:36 AM MDT up reply actions
Refs totally changed this game
Look, I hate it when people blame refs. Moreover, I don’t think the series outcome would be much different, and in fact, it might have just been a run. But give me a break. When Price and Sap were at it, there could have been MANY fouls called in our favor. Also when Deron missed that layin, that could have been a foul. NO fouls were called until we go the other way and Odom gets nicked on the arm for a three point play. I’m glad Jerry made his point on the sideline but I wish he would have made more of a point in the post game interview. If you didn’t believe in a Lakers conspiracy last year, watch those five minutes and tell me the refs were not intentionally making no-calls for the jazz and then suddenly have to blow their whistles for Odom? Just disgusting. It makes me hate basketball and hate the NBA.
I'll make it coach.
I hate it when people blame refs.
“But, I’m going to go ahead and do it anyway.”
by Gils_Keloids on Apr 28, 2009 3:56 PM MDT up reply actions
“And I’ll throw in a conspiracy theory, for good measure”.
by Gils_Keloids on Apr 28, 2009 4:03 PM MDT up reply actions
Quite simply
if a foul on one player was the same as a foul on the other (no matter the name on the front or the back of the jersey), it wouldn’t be an issue.
Sadly, in today’s NBA, that isn’t the case.
True Blue Jazz
RIP Nick Adenhart. 4/9/09
The referees had nothing to do with the game
Please take off your biased lenses. I saw the game and as a Suns fan, who is now rooting for the Hornets (Chris Paul is the beast), I will say that every fan is pissed off at the refs when their team loses. I would not expect you to be any different. But the Lakers were the better team and the refs were not biased. Why would the refs have any incentive to favor the Lakers? Wouldn’t they rather have a longer series to boost ratings and make the league more of fan ticket money? Both teams had roughly the same number of fouls called on them (21 on the Lakers, 24 on the Jazz). Instead of blaming the refs why don’t you blame either the injuries earlier this season, the lack of inspiration/mojo coming into the playoffs, or Jerry Sloan’s bad coaching decisions? Instead you guys have to blame it on the refs, which is the hallmark of a sore loser.
by suns_all_the_way on Apr 29, 2009 6:17 PM MDT up reply actions
Um...
Refs wouldn’t have won us the game. But the fouls at the end… they should’ve been called.
Oh, and we’ve been blaming injuries, lack of heart and j-slow all season, including the playoffs.
True Blue Jazz
RIP Nick Adenhart. 4/9/09
I saw the game, and I have to say, the referees called a few iffy ones, but there’s no way it would have made a difference in the game. There’s just too much talent and depth. Take out Bynum and the Lakers are still a top-3 team. The same can’t be said of the Jazz, with memo out, you guys are crap. Besides Boozer and Deron, and some defense from millsap, you guys don’t really have much. Props to Sloan for holding this toegether as long as he did.
Jerry Sloan clearly agrees with me
or he wouldn’t have been thrown out. So with all respect to the trolling lakers fans here, I think I’m in good company on this matter. I am under no delusion that the series would have changed, but I am saying that with fair officiating in the final minutes, it would have been a 2-point game, not an 8-point game.
I'll make it coach.
Seriously, blaming the refs????
As the saying goes “you’re better than that”. The quote above says “the refs were letting anything go”. And then goes on to point out only the Laker plays that were let go. Come on guys keep it real.
"Don't I know you from somewhere"?. "Nah, that ain't me, I'm from Buffalo" - Axel Foley
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