Good recap by moni and one of the greatest gifs ever (at least until his next game),
via jazzfanatical.files.wordpress.com
"I should not have practiced on those 2.89 meter rims in the Ukraine this summer."
Yucca Man had some great tweets last night. I don't know why I didn't know he was on twitter until now. He said that Hayward's D was much better than expected and that AK was AK,
AK was unbelievable. And. Don't believe the box score saying he had 3 TO's. At least two were because of terrible passes from Deron.
Ronnie Brewer spoke out yesterday in this FanHouse column about how he resented the Jazz not trying to bring him back,
"They were basically going to offer C.J. Miles. I was like, 'Well, he got that off potential and he hasn't even played (big minutes) yet.' It was fair (for Miles). No disrespect to him. I thought that I worked hard and improved every year (in Utah). My numbers spoke that I improved every year. But it was unfortunate that we didn't get something worked out because I thought I was a pretty good fit for (the Jazz), and I was only getting better.''
He thought he should be getting paid more than CJ's $3.7/yr deal last season when contract negotiations broke down. Those broken-down negotiations are what he said led to the Jazz not offering him a deal this past summer.
He's getting $4.7M a year from Chicago this season. I guess the chocolate milk money wasn't enough to make up the difference.
While it would have been great to see Brewer back in a Jazz uni, the team just lost two of it's best outside shooters. Unfortunately, Ronnie can't make a consistent shot from the outside whereas Bell can.
If you hadn't heard, Alema Harrington (radio/KJZZ guy, for those that don't know) was in a pretty serious car accident last weekend. From what I can gather, he was on the freeway when a diesel brake drum fell off a truck and smashed through his windshield. He ended up getting this as a result,
via Facebook
It sounds like it could have been a lot worse. Here's hoping he has a speedy recovery.
I came across this article and it got me thinking. Are the Jazz really better equipped to take on the Lakers this season? I tried to look at the numbers and compare how each of them did against the Lakers the past three seasons,
Jefferson, 21 & 12, 1.85 blocks, 45.7% shooting, 2 TOs and 3.5 FTAs a game in 35 minutes. He was 0-7.
Boozer, 19.4 & 11.8, .38 blocks, 48.7% shooting, 2 TOs, and 5.8 FTAs a game in 34.6 minutes. He was 0-8
Boozer's number dip a bit in the playoffs against LA,
17.4 & 13, .2 blocks, 45.4% shooting, 3 TOs, and 4.8 FTAs a game in 37 minutes. He's 3-12.
They're pretty close across the board. I'm guessing though that Al's shots were mostly coming on his own accord against the Lakers while Boozer's shots had a lot more assists credited to them. Al's blocks are far above Boozers. I'm willing to guess as well (since I couldn't find anything for sure), that Boozer's blocks against were higher as well.
Who we should be looking at though is Millsap's numbers since he'll be replacing Boozer really. His numbers in the regular season (adjusted to per 36) against LA,
15.3 & 9.9, 1 block, 51.7% shooting, 1.9 TOs, and 4.8 FTAs a game in 36 minutes. He's 3-8.
In the playoffs (per 36),
19 & 8.6, 1 block, 55.7% shooting, 1.1 TOs, and 5.7 FTAs a game. He's got the same record.
Millsap lags in production in the regular season behind Boozer but was leaps ahead against LA in the playoffs this last three seasons. With him getting more of the scoring load this season, his scoring average should rise with that field goal percentage.
Are we in a position to compete with LA this season? I'll wait until we play them to see how the new guys work out. Right now though, a lineup of Jefferson and Millsap against LA looks pretty good.
Open Friday poll... Which player(s) surprised you the most last night with their play (for good or for bad)