Game Previews
Getting Ready For the Nuggets/Jazz
by Basketball John on Feb 6, 2010 4:42 PM MST
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I talked about the best and worst case scenarios when the Jazz play Denver tonight. They could either just be a game back with a win or find themselves 4 games out with a loss.
Well, there was also some middle ground there as well. The Nuggets beat up on LA last night in LA. Chauncey Billups specifically went off for 39 points including 9/12 from downtown. Of those 9, 7 came from the top of the key or to the right side. I didn't watch the game, but I'm guessing that a lot of those came on picks. Let's hope he's cooled down a bit for tonight.
It wasn't just Billups either. The team overall shot 57% and were 15/22 from downtown. That's going to sink most opponents. JR Smith had 27 and Ty Lawson helped abuse the LA point guards with 13 of his own.
Oh yeah, and Carmelo was out. He'll be out tonight which never hurts.
Of course, both Billups and Melo were out last time the Nuggets visited the ESA and they still won. Lawson ran rampant and has burned the Jazz ever since with 17 points a game. Come on Ty, it's not like we passed on you in draft or something, you don't have to play angry. If we had drafted you, you would be in OKC right now anyway.
Part of the reason for the loss at the ESA earlier this season was the 25 turnovers by the Jazz. Every other stat was equal or in Utah's favor. Those turnovers led 11 more field goal attempts by the Nuggets and when shooting 50%, that was the difference in the game.
That lone loss in the 11-1 run by the Jazz is to the Nuggets in Denver. The Jazz had 20 turnovers in that game that didn't help. The back-breaker in that game was the 49, yes 49, free-throw attempts by the Nuggs. They made 41 of those to the 20 that the Jazz made. Amazingly, we only lost by 7 in that game.
So the key to tonight's win? Limit turnovers. That's it. The offense it clicking and they'll get their points. The Nuggets are an average team defensively but are 2nd in the league on the offensive side over the course of the season. Other than the Cavs and Jazz, only the Nuggets can claim to be playing as well as anyone else in the league lately.
The Nuggets have already taken the season series, so there's no chance for a tiebreaker should the two teams end the season with an identical record. The Jazz aren't just playing for pride though here. Like I mentioned before, this is the last chance for the Jazz to gain on the Nuggets in the standings directly. After tonight they'll have to count on other teams beating the Nuggs for them.
Boozer is back tonight. I don't expect a major disruption here. The Jazz were playing well both before and after he got hurt. He'll get plugged back into the system and away we go.
Deron is back sans beard.
If the Jazz lose tonight, the beard better come back and stay for the rest of the season. I'm wondering if he shaved it to do his got milk? spot that's coming out.
Deron and Boozer have both traditionally had big games against the Nuggets. While AK will always be the X factor, we'll need Memo to be the Y factor in tonight's game. We need to Memo from the last game to show up tonight.
The ESA should be rocking.
- Nuggets vs Jazz coverage
- Denver Stiffs
- Game thread at 7
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Preview - Orlando Magic @ Utah Jazz
by Basketball John on Dec 10, 2009 8:00 PM MST
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So you know the episode of Friends - come one, you know you watch(ed) it - where they're watching Old Yeller only Phoebe's mom always shielded her from the ending? Well, here I will do the same for you for last night's game,
[Scene: SLC Dunk Game Thread. clarkpojo enters to see moni, shums, RRR, and DanielleLovesKK cursing on the screen.]
clarkpojo: Hey. How's the game going?
shums: BBJ is making us watch the fourth quarter of this game.
clarkpojo: Why are you guys so upset? It's the Jazz. They always play well against the Lakers.
DanielleLovesKK: What?
RRR: What’re you talkin’ about?
clarkpojo: C’mon, you know. Jazz build a lead and play well against the Lakers.
RRR: Yeah but clark, what about the end?
clarkpojo: What? When the Jazz blow out the Lakers by 26? How's that not awesome?
DanielleLovesKK: That’s not how it ended.
clarkpojo: Yu-huh. David Locke is telling me how well Boozer is playing and that they've got a ton of offensive rebounds.
moni: What about the part where they score only 6 points in the fourth quarter?
clarkpojo: No, with about 6:31 left in the third and the Jazz up by 8, Locke said to change the channel because things are about to get really boring for the Jazz because this game is over for the Lakers. Then he would say, THE END.
RRR: Uh, clark, I don’t think Locke would want you to see what’s about to happen.
clarkpojo: What, what’s about to happen? [starts watching] I thought the game was over. Hey, Memo, watcha doin’ with that ball? Oh no, no no Memo, pass the ball. No no no no, pass it back to Deron, he's your point guard, no, no no, the end, THE END. [hears shot clock violation from the TV]
Click on through for the rest of the preview
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Preview - Utah Jazz @ Los Angeles Lakers
by Basketball John on Dec 9, 2009 8:10 PM MST
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I've been looking for most of the day on ways that the Jazz can beat the Lakers. When I finally thought I had found a couple of recurring themes in their losses, I remembered that their three losses were all sans Pau Gasol.
Since he's been back, nobody has been able to figure them out. Miami came close but lost on the three-pointer at the buzzer from Kobe.
When they win, they're beating opponents on average by 13 points a game, 108.6-95.6. Jeez. But when they have lost, they've lost in spectacular fashion with an average score of 83.3 to 100. Their offense seems to be feast or famine point-wise with mostly feasting.
The Lakers have had a huge advantage to start the season with 15 games at home with only 4 on the road. The closest I could find to that was a couple of teams with 12 home games. They'll have two more home games including tonight before coming to the SLC on Saturday. That's 17 home games with only 4 on the road to start the season. Of course it will even out in the coming months but it was good luck on their part as Gasol had been out with a strained hammy to start the season.
So what hope do the Jazz have tonight against LA? It will be tough first of all since Bynum and Gasol eat up the rest of the league. Given our defensive presence on the inside, if you can call it that, they could have career-type nights. I have a bit of hope for Boozer as we've seen him be physical in some occasions this season and look like he's giving an effort. With Fess and AK not available to back them up, we'll see a lot of Millsap and maybe the KOOF if there's foul trouble. Really though, we shouldn't give them too much trouble on defense.
On offense though they could do some damage. If Memo continues his hot shooting from the arc, that will bring Bynum or Gasol out of the paint and allow Boozer to work one on one.
Of course, that means that the wings will have to be knocking down shots to keep Kobe from hanging out in the paint. It will be interesting to see who he defends this game. If Kobe is sagging like that though, the Jazz have to run something with Boozer on the opposite side. They can't let Kobe hang out like that.
The matchup I'm interested in seeing will be Matthews and Brewer on Kobe. Matthews has that no fear attitude and backs it up instead of just talking about it. We'll see if he can throw Kobe off a bit.
The Jazz will have to play flawlessly to have a chance to win tonight. They can't get behind early like have in almost every game the past two years in the playoffs against the Lakers.
I don't know how you develop the swagger, but you have teams like Boston and LA that will go into any arena and do not get intimidated. I think a lot of the players on the Jazz still get a little overwhelmed by their surroundings. I don't sense that "We don't give a damn" attitude. That's why I miss Ronnie Price because I would love to see him go up against the Lakers tonight because you know he has that right mindset.
LA has shot just 37% in their 3 losses. The Jazz will have to hold them close to that if they want to win.
This will be another measuring stick for the Jazz as they play the best team in the league on the road. Let's hope it doesn't get out of hand.
Game thread coming shortly.
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Preview - Utah Jazz @ Minnesota Timberwolves
by Basketball John on Dec 5, 2009 3:13 PM MST
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After starting the season 4-6, the Jazz have since gone 7-1 after hanging on against the Pacers last night. Let's take a look at the team's stats during those two respective runs
4-6
| Team | FG% | 3P% | APG | TOV | STL | PPG |
| Jazz | 48 | 30.6 | 23 | 15.5 | 7 | 99 |
| Opponent | 47 | 39.3 | 21 | 13 | 7.4 | 101 |
7-1
| Team | FG% | 3P% | APG | TOV | STL | PPG |
| Jazz | 51.2 | 38.6 | 28 | 13.9 | 9 | 102 |
| Opponent | 43.4 | 27 | 18 | 13.8 | 7 | 92 |
The Jazz have ramped up both offensively and defensively. That point differential of 9 points per game is right up with Boston's +9.5. Of course they've done it over the entire season and not just the last 8 games.
For the past few seasons, the Jazz have almost always started out the year well and then had varying degrees of success after that. But they always start out well. They are 11-7 this season through 18. They were 11-7 through 18 last season. For 2008 they were 13-5. And for 2007 they jumped out to a 14-4 mark.
So, was that 4-6 mark just getting the losses out of the way early? There's no doubt that they should have won at least 2-3 of those after getting huge leads and giving the game away.
Were things evening out or was there a turning point? I think there's a little of both.
There's no doubt that the Jazz were playing atrocious for those first 10 games. They were lost on defense and taking a bunch of jumpers on offense.
Something did seem to click though when Deron had to return home to take care of his ailing daughter. The Jazz were already without CJ and Korver. Suddenly, the rotation got a lot tighter and Eric Maynor and Wes Matthews were thrust into the starting lineup. It sure seemed like they started playing as a team then. That's not any inference that Deron was a problem. But maybe they relied on him a bit too much and now had to find a way to work together as a team again?
The Jazz were in danger last night of blowing a huge lead at home to the Pacers. Everything they had working for them in the first quarter when they built a 19-point lead went away for the next 2 3/4 quarters. They withheld the late charge by the Pacers and never relinquished the lead. There wasn't any one person that was responsible for it, it was all team.
So that's not really a preview of tonight's game against Minnesota. But it does apply in part because the Jazz, for whatever reason, have had some problems with the Timberwolves. We just always seem to struggle against them.
But tonight, they'll have Kevin Love back. If the Jazz don't want to lose any momentum that they've had from playing at home so much, they'll have to win this game as a team.
It will start with shutting down Minnesota's offense. They're at the bottom of the league in efficiency and points per game. Combine that with a defense that is nearly as bad and you're not going to have a lot of success. They're even getting out-rebounded which doesn't seem right. Love has a been out all season until last night, but they're still normally a good rebounding team. So with that, if the Jazz start taking a lot of jumpers again, they could be in for another battle because they're not going to get many second chances.
They need to take care of business tonight and not go down to a 2-win team.
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Preview - Indiana Pacers @ Utah Jazz
by Basketball John on Dec 4, 2009 4:29 PM MST
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How appropriate that on the night when the Jazz break out the green and yellow retros that they face the team from the John Deer capital of the world (I can't back that up). The same state where Sloan heads to drive those tractors in the off-season.
The last time the Jazz faced the Pacers at the ESA, they probably should have lost if you look at the box score. The Pacers shot 50% from the floor including 13 of 22 from downtown. They had 34 assists and evened the rebound battle.
But they didn't count on the Turk.
Memo went off for 43 points that surprisingly included only three three-pointers. He lived at the line putting down 14 of his 15 attempts while also going 13 of 19 from the field. Money had to step up as a result of injuries. Check out the starters:
Deron, Price, Memo, AK, and Ronnie B. Nobody on the bench hardly played at all.
This year's Pacers aren't the best offensive team, in fact they're near the bottom. The only reason why they have a relatively high PPG total is that they play at a higher pace than most of the league.
Their defense is solid but because of that high pace, they'll give up a lot of points to other teams. With the Jazz rolling on offense like they are now, we should see a pretty high-scoring game.
The Pacers are led of course by Danny Granger, someone who's capable of dropping 50 on you any given night and especially against the Jazz. He's their biggest three-point threat right now. In fact, he's shooting an almost better percentage from the arc (37.3%) than he is in FG% (41%) overall. Now that we'll have CJ back, hopefully we can slow him down a bit with Matthews, CJ, AK, and Brewer.
The Pacers come into this game struggling having lost 5 of their last 6 and are at the tail end of a 4-game road trip. Hopefully the Jazz stick it to the Pacers early and take care of things. I'm hoping that the layoff hasn't impacted their chemistry too much.
- Indy Cornrows for the Pacers side of things.
- TBJ
- Game Thread @ 6:30
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Preview - Memphis Grizzlies @ Utah Jazz
by Basketball John on Nov 30, 2009 3:00 PM MST
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Summary
The Jazz are getting some good breaks right now. Teams are coming into the ESA having played the night before or wrapping up a road trip. That's not to discount the Jazz wins though.
Memphis comes into this game after having lost to the Clippers last night in terrible fashion. They scored only 7 points in the fourth quarter while giving up 33 and went down hard, 98-88.
They had been playing really well over their last seven games. They were 5-2 and an impressive win at Portland. Before that, they had lost 7 straight and 8 of their first 9.
And of course they've had to deal with the whole Allen Iverson saga. That should be behind them now.
They're not lacking on offense. They're 10th in the league in PPG with 102.2 while their offensive rating puts them slightly above average. Their defense however is amongst the worst in the league. They're ranked 29th in defensive rating and give up nearly 107 points a game. Only the Knicks, Raptors, and Warriors give it up more.
They're allowing opponents to shoot almost 50% from the floor per game and almost 40% from behind the arc. So the Jazz should be able to continue their offensive explosion tonight against the Grizz.
The last two games against the Bulls and Trail Blazers, the Jazz have shot nearly 61% from the field including 53% from downtown all while compiling 65 assists. They've also held the last two team to shooting in the low 40s.
If they keep that up against the Grizz, Memphis will have to shoot out of their minds to keep it close. Let's hope the Jazz have another start against the Grizzlies like they did with Portland.
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Preview - Detroit Pistons @ Utah Jazz
by Basketball John on Nov 21, 2009 6:17 PM MST
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Deeeeeeeetrooooooit Basketball hasn't been quite the same this year. They lost Rasheed Wallace and brought back Ben Wallace. They may or may not have been going after Boozer depending on who you talk to and instead signed Be Gordon. His signing effectively ended any pursuit of Boozer due to salary cap issues as Boozer was looking for more than what they had left.
They've also had their share of injuries to key players with Richard Hamilton being injured in the first game of the year. Tayshaun Prince has also been out.
They're pretty inconsistent when it comes to scoring. Having two of your better players out will do that for you. They're averaging around 92 points a game. They're inconsistent at best though. They rarely score around 92 points. It's either mid-eighties or around 100.
They allow an almost identical 92 points per game as well. Right now, they're middle of the pack defensively. They do hold opponents to pretty low fields goal percentages. Even their opponents scores are inconsistent. They either allow around 100 points or they're holding them to the low eighties. At least they're consistently inconsistent on both ends of the ball.
For the Jazz to win tonight, and they should, they need to get out to a fast start and put some pressure on Detroit to score. Right now, and even with Prince and Hamilton, they're not built to score a lot of points. So while the Jazz have had too many games where they build a huge lead only to give it up, the Detroit offense isn't going to be able to do that on most nights.
What they will do though is play good D and if they're close late in the game, they could pull out a win. The Jazz aren't going to be able to take a lot of jumpers tonight and expect to have a good chance to win. They're going to have to move the ball and get a lot of assists.
Let's hope the Jazz play their game and not play to the pace that the Pistons want them to. And look out for this guy
Game Thread coming at 6:45
Other blogs,
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Preview - Utah Jazz @ San Antonio Spurs
by Basketball John on Nov 19, 2009 4:57 PM MST
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We all partied like it was 1999 when the Jazz last won in SA. I've written this before, but at this point I want the win just so we don't have to talk/hear about it anymore. The actual win itself would be secondary.
The Spurs are giving us one of the better chances we've had because both Tony Parker and Manu will be out with injuries. I'd like to say that beating them with those two playing would bring more satisfaction, but it won't. I just want a win in SA before the 00s close out.'
It's already been over ten years since we won there with that win coming in Feb of 1999. We played them again in May and lost, starting the current streak.
If you take a look at the roster the last time we won, it's of course completely turned over. Nobody on the current team has ever won in SA.
It was also the strike-shortened year. The Jazz were 11-2 at that point despite it being in February. The key to that win was that they played some great D. Duncan got his, but nobody else had a good game. They held the Spurs to 41% shooting and forced 17 turnovers.
Let's hope that it's the same case tonight. Even with Parker and Manu out, it's important not to let someone like Richard Jefferson have a career night or for George Hill to hit another 45 three-pointers.
I have to say I've been swayed a bit by the team's recent play on the road. I don't know why I keep getting my hopes up. But just going on feeling and emotion alone, the team doesn't seem to have that look of despair about them right now.
In fact, are they, GULP, having fun as Boozer states,
Carlos Boozer punctuated Wednesday's victory by slapping the backboard after his follow-up dunk with 2:53 remaining, drawing an immediate (and automatic) technical foul. He joked after the game about last trying such a move when he was 17.
"It’s worth it, though," Boozer said of the technical. "I’m having fun out there. My teammates are having fun. It got my teammates hyped, it got the crowd hyped. That’s part of basketball. I mean, you get T’s like that, that’s the fun part of basketball."
Both teams are coming off a game last night so that should factor in evenly for them. The Jazz really have some momentum right now and this could be the a huge kicker for them if they are able to pull out a win tonight.
Game Thread @ 6
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