The Downbeat - 26 January 2010 - #152 - The 4th Place Edition

and it was both awesome and frustrating. I mean, there were two 30 point swings! The Jazz were up 12, down 17, then up again! Overall it was a great game, and here are a couple of observations:

1- In the first half, Deron absolutely owned Dragic and Nash in the paint. On one occasion Deron posted up Dragic on three straight possessions and got layups every time. It’s nice to be reminded about how much more dominant DWill can be over most smaller guards.

2- Nash is a master at running the pick and roll. I’m pretty sure 95% of their plays last night consisted of Nash and one of their bigs running the pick and roll, and 80% of the time it resulted in a dunk, an open 3, or a trip to the foul line.

3- Wes and AK were awesome.

4- I’d much rather have Boozer on the team than Amare. Stoudemire may get more blocks, but overall it looked like Boozer was the better defender. And Boozer has a much better offensive game.

In the course of the season guys go on hot and cold streaks. When CJ is hot he is a beast and really puts forth a lot of effort. When hes cold he does didly. If we keep all of them there will be competition and somebody to turn to for boost of energy, offense, defense or whatever is needed.

I want Matthews to stick around because I think he’s capable of being pretty awesome. I don’t know how things work at the end of the year.

Because he was undrafted is he unrestricted? Is someone gonna offer him money at the end of the year that we can’t even match? Just curious.

Thanks.