Jazz Lay an Egg

[Ted]

The Jazz looked as bad as they have all season tonight. DWill was a total non-factor for the first half, and didn't even play in the second half due to his bruised tailbone courtesy of Carmelo (man I'm really starting to dislike Melo).

Props to Tony Parker. 15 points and 11 assists in the first half. Spurs got some payback for what we did to them in SL. Didn't take much tonight though. The Jazz just laid down an waited for the Spurs to pull the trigger.

Hope this doesn't screw up the momentum we had. Hope DWill arse heals quickly. Hope we don't have to face the Spurs.

[Reality]

If we should give this subject its own thread, so be it.
Why are the Jazz so much better at home then on the road?  Seriously.

[westkoast]

If we should give this subject its own thread, so be it.
Why are the Jazz so much better at home then on the road?  Seriously.

Because they get to sleep in their own bed with their 20 wives?  Yes Ted, I think EVERYONE in Utah is Mormon.

Sometimes it seems as if the Jazz over think the game on the road and at home they play more naturally.  During the regular season that's great for your home town fans but not so good in the playoffs considering their seed.

[Reality]

37-4 home 17-24 road.
Where does this rank with all time NBA dispariancies hm vs rd?

Jazz history dispriancy?  The announcer said the 37-4 home is second only to the 1997 or 98 title year 38-3.

[Lurker]

If we should give this subject its own thread, so be it.
Why are the Jazz so much better at home then on the road?  Seriously.

I think it is as Hubie said last night...they play a very physical style of ball.  And have a reputation for it.  It is just that they (for lack of better words) get away with more on their homecourt than on the road.  Not to mention the increased confidence any good team plays with at home.

[Ted]

No. Last night had nothing to do with getting away with physical play. The Jazz had four turnovers in their first 8 possessions. The threw away the ball. They settled for jump shots. They didn't defend Tony Parker. They were slow, listless, and seemed uninterested for most of the game. It has little to do with getting away with physical play.

At home the Jazz execute their offense. They defend aggressively. The get back on defense. They don't rush things. Last night they didn't do any of those things. Against a team like the Rockets, that'll result in a ten point loss. Against a team like the Spurs, it'll result in a corpse with a bullet hole between the eyes; i.e., 30-point loss.

Personally, I think the Jazz play poorly at home because they are young and lack the self-discipline or pride or personal drive to give 100 percent for the entire game. In my experience as a fan watching 75% of their games, it comes down to effort and intensity for the Jazz. At home, the great crowd drives them, but when they don't have that support, they don't have it within themselves to do it alone.

There are two players on the Jazz who, I believe, can lead them on the road. Deron Williams and Matt Harpring. Williams was hurt, and Harpring is getting old. Last night was kind of the perfect storm, and given what we did to the Spurs at home, I should have seen it coming.

[Randy]

The Spurs beat the Jazz last night as bad as the Jazz beat the Spurs in Utah.  There's ZERO excuse for either team to get beat that badly.  I could give you a long list of everything that the Jazz did wrong and the Spurs did right but I think most people saw the game and it was just so obvious.  The Jazz totally left their game plan and failed to spread the floor or ever get into their own system.  I'll give some credit to the Spurs but the Jazz looked like they didn't even HAVE a game plan.  I'm sure Sloan was livid with the Jazz's effort.  Give the Spurs props for coming with their game plan (on both ends of the court) and then keeping that focus throughout the entire game.

I started to say that the Jazz defense looked like Swiss Cheese but I'm not sure that I even saw any cheese -- just holes.  How many layups did Tony Parker have in the game?  And then there were almost as many "find the wide open man standing right under the basket." 

The Jazz looked horrible last night -- definately not a great way to go into the playoffs.  They need to be very grateful that they have home court advantage in the first round -- it means they will probably win one series.

[Ted]

Problem is they DON'T have homecourt.

[Skandery]

While everybody's been jockeying the Jazz for the last month, I still realized they are still very susceptible to getting beat down by virtue of their complete lack of post defense in the starting unit.  I found it funny some pundits picked them as favorites to come out of the west.  

I think the Jazz are going to have dig deep about playing solid interior defense or its going to be a SHORT playoff run.  The Spurs simply have their number and when the Jazz finally say enough is enough and don't just lie down at the sight of a gray and black jersey, that'll be a momentous occasion.  I think they need to beat San Antonio in the playoffs to get over the hump as a franchise.  And right now, it seems like to a man, they see a Spurs uniform and revert to scared little schoolgirls.  I guess turnabout is fair play, it was the other way around in the 90s.  And the way bracket is set up they'll probably have to go through San Antonio in the WCF.

The Rockets are going to be a tougher matchup than anyone expects because they play great defense and still have that bad taste about losing to the Jazz in the 1st round last year as a favorite.  If the Jazz are smart they better let Tracy McGrady go nuts, and NOT Luis Scola, if one of them has to.

Being the 1-4, means they get the Lakers in the second round.  I shudder to think what Odom and Gasol are going to do to us.  If the Lakers have an exceedingly horrible offensive performance--the Jazz have a chance.  

The Jazz are going to have a rough go of it with how stacked the conference is with quality-playoff tested.  Go Jazz -- earn that championship or at least . . . have a quality run.

[Laker Fan]

If the Spurs DO come out of the WC, I think we can say it was last night when they flipped the switch.

We can bag on the Jazz all we want about their flat play, their lack of interior defense, the UNBELIEVABLE turnover rate, and on and on, and we would be correct to do so, the Jazz STUNK IT UP LAST NIGHT, but what I saw beyond that miserable performance was the Spurs at their boring, steady, scary best, disrupting passing lanes, pressuring the outside shot, taking away the inside shot, doing all the things defensively that destroys an opponents rhythm. On offense their passing was as crisp and clean as an ice cold pilsner on a hot afternoon, it was downright beautiful to watch, and that passing left their shooters so wide open on the baseline they looked like the only ones on the floor as they released the ball. Maybe it was Williams tush that kept him from stopping Parker but give Parker credit, this cat is greased lightning and until someone puts him on his butt with a hard foul, he will continue to drive that lane like he's a 6'10" PF, you'd think Utah would have done SOMETHING to make him think twice about slicing and dicing them inside like that, but it sure was an awesome display of finsesse and skill.

I would like to add that I HATE Hubie Brown's commentary, no way Okur popped Oberto intentionally, he was anticipating him rising and turning to shoot and when he didn't the intended hard foul turned into a flagrant 1, but to hear Hubie tell it, Okur was trying knock his block off and they should have taken Okur out and shot him for it, what a joke he is in the announcer's booth

[Skandery]

I would like to add that I HATE Hubie Brown's commentary

Don't bag on Hubie!!  The guy is awesome--so he goes overboard sometimes--but IMHO does some of the best color commentary in the game.  I'm a certified Hubie Brown booster! <thumbs up>

 

this cat is greased lightning and until someone puts him on his butt with a hard foul, he will continue to drive that lane like he's a 6'10" PF

That's the thing John Travolta, people actually DO foul the crap out of Parker.  The guy just takes his beating, converts the shot, falls to the ground, and then calmly gets up again and again AND again.  Doug Collins (I'm pretty sure) and recently in the Laker game, Jeff Van Gundy, have explicitly commented on Tony Parker's functional strength.  He doesn't have brute strength, I doubt he could bench press his body weight, but his functional strength is extraordinary. 

[Randy]

Okay, the Spurs did a great job at their game plan the other day but the Jazz left Parker an open lane and a green light to practice his layups all night.  I'd say 80% of the time, their wasn't even a defender in the post.  I can understand why you want to stay on TD all of the time but Thomas/Fabs defender is the one who should be guarding the post. 

The Spurs did a great job executing their game plan but don't think that the Spurs are going to make Phoenix look the same way.  The Jazz have been pathetic on the road this year and they simply worked HARD to make the Spurs look good.  The only way that the Spurs beat the Suns like this is if they manage to get Stern to repeat last years fiasco and throw a couple of Suns out of games.

[WayOutWest]

That's the thing John Travolta, people actually DO foul the crap out of Parker.  The guy just takes his beating, converts the shot, falls to the ground, and then calmly gets up again and again AND again.

That's the whole point, he should have a difficult time getting back up and NO chance at converting the shot.  You are referring to the sissy fouls that players get for And-1 opportunities, you foul a guy hard he doesn't have a chance at even getting off a shot.

[Lurker]

That's the thing John Travolta, people actually DO foul the crap out of Parker.  The guy just takes his beating, converts the shot, falls to the ground, and then calmly gets up again and again AND again.

That's the whole point, he should have a difficult time getting back up and NO chance at converting the shot.  You are referring to the sissy fouls that players get for And-1 opportunities, you foul a guy hard he doesn't have a chance at even getting off a shot.

I guess the Nuggets could learn how to defend Kobe from this post.

[westkoast]

That's the thing John Travolta, people actually DO foul the crap out of Parker.  The guy just takes his beating, converts the shot, falls to the ground, and then calmly gets up again and again AND again.

That's the whole point, he should have a difficult time getting back up and NO chance at converting the shot.  You are referring to the sissy fouls that players get for And-1 opportunities, you foul a guy hard he doesn't have a chance at even getting off a shot.

I guess the Nuggets could learn how to defend Kobe from this post.

Actually...the #1 thing you want to avoid with Kobe Bryant is getting him mad.  He is one of those type of players who responds very well to being upset.  I can't even tell you how many times I've seen him get a hard foul (like from Mikey Moore a few weeks ago when he torced the Kings in the 4th to get the MVP chants at Arco) and just go off.

Getting him mad by fouling him hard is a really bad idea, seriously.