Jazz v. Lakers

[Ted]

The game was last Friday, and I've had a turkey hangover since then, so I didn't post about it.

I had tickets! That was one of the best Jazz games in a long time. The Lakers were playing really well, and Kobe was totally abusing Ronnie Brewer, and Lamar simply toyed with Paul Millsap. But then, Sloan put AK47 on Kobe, who had already snuffed Lamar three times when Lamar tried to take him one on one.

Kobe scored 14 points in the first quarter, and 13 the rest of the game. In his post-game interview, Kobe said he was trying to be a facilitator, but it was clear. Andrei just plain got in the way. In fact, after one unsuccessful drive attempt against Andrei, Kobe did not try to drive again, not once. I was waiting for him to try, and he never did. He horked up a couple of jumpers, and nailed one, but everything else was a late pass off.

I was surprised by Kobe's play because I know for a fact that he can get the better of Kirilenko, and has in the past. But he just didn't do it Friday.

I was wondering if anyone got to see the game. Against the Lakers, it was just lay-up after lay-up; and when Harpring hit the deck to bat a loose ball to his teammate, I hit the roof. I love that guy. I'm not sure if it showed on the tube, but "the Nuke" (aka the Energy Solutions Arena) was intense. It was like watching a playoff game. I am excited about this team. I was disappointed, but not too surprised by the loss to Baron-less Golden State. I think they were just burned out.

And, yes, Kobe's block of Deron's dunk was sick. D should have hit the trailer. But why didn't ESPN highlight AK's rejectofest on Lamar.

PS. Lamar Odom is one tough player when he takes it to the basket. This guy is freakin good.

Anyway, Joe, how does this team strike your fancy?  You've got to love the way they

[westkoast]

That was a heck of a game and props to the Jazz for comming back from a defecit AGAIN this season.  We got just murdered on the glass especially on the offensive glass.  If the Lakers could have secured just a few offensive rebounds they might have won that game.  At this point in time the Lakers are not on the Jazz level.  They have a chance to answer on Thursday (I have tickets to that game woohoo!) at home where they are much better so we will see if they can respond.

AK is too good of a defender with too much length for Kobe right now.  The only way Kobe is going to abuse AK is by dunking on him.  If he tries that weak drive to the rim for a layup junk...well you saw exactly what was happening.  He does not have the lift to dunk on him or to really elevate to shoot over him.  I thought Sloan waited just long enough to keep AK fresh enough to guard him in the 2nd half of the game.

The work in the paint was just PAINFULL for us Laker fans.  Play after play, drive after drive, possesion after possesion it was a paint party.  The ball movement by the Jazz was great and I thought they did a great job of getting 2nd chance points (in a few possesions it was 3rd and 4th chance points).  The Lakers made their adjustments and made it a better game in the second half IMO.  Can't wait for Thursdays game!!

[Joe Vancil]

Ted,

I like the team quite a bit - most notably:

Deron Williams.  This guy plays EXCELLENT defense.  Between him and Jarret Jack for Portland, you're looking at the next two great defenders at point guard in the NBA.  And offensively, he's playing with incredible confidence.  Say what you want about Chris Paul - who is fantastic - but this was the right pick for Jerry Sloan and Utah.

Paul Milsap.  Another product from Karl Malone Tech.  A great rebounder, a good scorer, and a guy who fills the stat sheet with blocks and steals.  I'm sorry, but if you lead the NCAA in rebounding 3 years, you should not be only a second round draft pick.  The fact that Sloan loves this guy says A LOT.

Matt Harpring.  You've got to love it when a player decides to go out and EARN the contract he just signed.

I'm not too keen on the frequent offensive set that emphasizes delay until 7 seconds on the shot clock, and then run pick-and-roll.  That's a recipe for disaster, no matter how good you are at pick-and-roll.  The fact that that's what the players seem most comfortable in bothers me.

I'm also not fond of all the come-backs.  That was the downfall of the Jazz in the 1998 and 1999 seasons;  they'd get behind, make a miraculous comeback, and find they had no energy the next night, and would end up losing big.

On the positive side, the Jazz players *DO* respond well to pressure situations.  Can anyone imagine a sub-10-second clock, Utah with two timeouts, a tie game, on the road, with Utah having the ball, and Jerry Sloan elects *NOT* to call a timeout, but has the Jazz push the ball up the court?  Utah seems to thrive in that situation - and makes GREAT plays out of it.

Basically, I like the team, but I recognize it as a wagon with a loose wheel that's just WAITING to come off.

[Randy]

Actually, I think Kobe is trying VERY hard not to be "the man" right now -- and so he is trying to share the ball more than usual.  However, there ARE times in which a defender gets into Kobe's head -- I have seen Bowen do it, I've seen Ray Allen do it (not THAT'S an amazing thought, huh?), there are several others who have done it -- you have to give credit to Raja Bell for doing it last year too.  However, it's not the players who stop Kobe -- but rather these players get Kobe to start thinking rather than staying in the flow of the game.  There isn't anyone in the league that can stop Kobe when he is feeling it -- but some players are better about getting in Kobe's head than others.  AK47 is a very good defensive player but Kobe can drive around him -- AK47 isn't quick enough to hang with Kobe.  Kobe still isn't 100% yet -- you can definately see that on back-to-back games.  He is probably getting close to 90% -- I hope he continues to have a team focus when he gets back to 100%.

Odom is a VERY tough player to stop when he determines he is going to the rim -- he just doesn't seem to have the personality to keep that kind of an attitude going.  He starts falling in love with tossing up 3 point shots and forgetting he can drive to the rim.  It's my frustration with Odom -- if he stays aggressive, it gives the Lakers two incredible scoring options and opens up the floor for the rest of the Laker players.  If Odom get passive, it puts a lot of weight on Kobe to be the playmaker -- and while Kobe can handle that, it also can begin to make Kobe focus on BEING the offense rather than facilitating it.

The Jazz are playing GREAT team ball.  Deron is just what this team needed -- a reincarnation of John Stockton and while the Jazz don't have a Karl Malone -- they have a bunch of pieces that fit into a VERY nice puzzle.  I think the season comes down to one thing -- can Boozer stay healthy for an entire season?  If he goes down, Utah isn't going to be a contender.

[westkoast]

I think Kobe isn't being the man because he doesn't need to be.  People always get on him for scoring, like when he dropped 81,  The scoring balance has been great since before Kobe even came back.  Now you see 5 players in double figures almost nightly, whereas last year Kobe would have 50 and then you would get anywhere from 5-17 from Odom and then 3-5 points from a few players.