GO VOTE!

I am trying to become a Jazzbot for UtahJazz360.com, which would allow me to post blogs on their website. Go check it out (I know a lot of you already are members) and vote for my Jazzbot entry called "You Need Me". Thanks, and I will keep you posted. I have written a few blogs on there recently if you are interested. Keep checking the site for details though.
-Sean

A.K.Trade Rumors

Please Kevin O'Connor! Please Gale Miller! Please Jerry Sloan! Whoever is in charge of this call, do not make it. Please do not trade Andrei Kirilenko for Boris Diaw and Quinton Ross.



Here is why:


1-Diaw is a below average, less efficient Paul Millsap. A small PF and even smaller C.

2-How does Diaw help us? He'd be playing behind Jefferson, Memo, and Millsap. Didn't we just sign another 7 footer, and have an offer on the table for Fes? (Couldn't we make an offer to Dampier if the contract with Fes falls through?)

3-We lose our most versatile player, and a Durant, Nowitski, and Carmelo stopper, and gain one more small-for-his-position big guy.

4-I've heard Boris Diaw has a reputation for having the worst personal hygiene in the league. That just doesn't fly with Sloan....I think.

5-We have to pick up Quinton Ross and pay him over a million dollars. He is worthless. Don't believe me? Look him up. Plus he is another wing that we don't need. I like the Ryan Thompson kid.

6-The $. Ya we save money this year, but next year we are paying Boris Diaw 9 million. Ya Boris Diaw. Lets keep AK,and his expiring contract and either drop his salary off the books at the end of the year, or try and sign him to an extension for less money, which would save us money in the long run v.s. Diaw's contract.

I could honestly keep going but for the sake of a quick read I'll quit. Any objections?
Sean

Did We Just Get Swept?

When was the last time 3 teams in the conference semi-finals got swept? Orlando worked Atlanta, Phoenix did the same to San Antonio. At least we came the closest to winning a game out of the 3 series that were swept.

My random thoughts:

-Is Pau Gasol 13 feet tall? Yes. He is. When he shoots over Boozer, it looks like Shawn Bradley is shooting a jump hook over Steve Nash. I once heard that Dr. J could jump and grab a dollar bill off the top of the back board. Gasol just has to stand on his tippy toes.

-Combine that with the fact that Boozer cannot block a shot to save his life, and we get owned in the paint. It is frustrating to watch Fisher, and Farmar, and Brown take it up nice and easy right at Booze for an easy lay-up.

-The last 3 years we have lost to the Lakers in the playoffs. 2 years ago, we lost in 6. Last year in 5. This year, swept. They have us figured out.

-We need a change to beat LA. Look at Cleveland. They lost last year to Orlando. They couldn't match up against Dwight Howard. What did they do in the off season? They signed Shaq, for ONE reason. To match up against Dwight in the postseason, and they only lost ONCE. At what point do we go, "OK, as long as we have this team together, we hardly have a shot to reach the finals, because we cannot get past the Lakers. Easier said than done, I know.

-It would help to have Memo. Then Gasol, and Bynum would have to run out to to check him at the perimeter, which would give Booze a little more space. We haven't had him the last 2 years against LA and it has hurt us. The bad news about Memo is, maybe the Jazz need to treat him like Shaq, and rest him during the season on back to backs, and cut down on his minutes. They could rest him for scrimmages against the Nets and Wizards too.

-Jazz need to seriously work on one thing this off season. Free throws. Doesn't it seem like every time we go to the line, we make 1-2?

-The good news for the Jazz, is this postseason we have seen a couple of guys that really stepped up and could really be effective. I loved the way Miles and Matthews played. Those guys were the most impressive to me.

-I hate Derrick Fisher. He flops so much. I think that the league should review what an offensive foul is, and call them a lot less. It is making the game a flopper's game and it is stupid. When Miles went up and swatted Fisher I yelled "That is right you son of a bitch! (with some other choice words)" I was sitting all alone in my living room too. Ya....I hate him.

-Don't get me started on the officials. I know every fan thinks they're team is getting screwed, but I want to watch these games with a Lakers fan, and show them what I mean. It seems like when the Jazz start making a run, the whistle begins to blow at one end for every touch foul, and we can't buy a call.

-Me and my friends have this name we call certain players that just always hurt the Jazz. Not star players but role players that always kill us. We call them "Jazz Killers." Some of the biggest "Jazz Killers" of all time were Bobby Jackson on the Kings, Shane Battier on the Rockets, and Isaiah Rider of the Blazers. It is time to put Fisher on that list. Every time we make a run he hits a shot. Somehow Williams can't contest his shot because if he blocks it or comes close, Fisher flails around like a "Fish" (pun intended) out of water and gets a call.

-This could have been Boozer's last game in a Jazz uniform, and it might have been one of his worst games. He just couldn't get it going. I love the guy, but he struggled against LA.

-If we could get a top 5 pick in the draft we could be close to contention. There are some really good players in the draft this year.

-As upset as I am about the series, when I really think about it, At least we aren't fans of the 10 teams that suck year after year, and at least we aren't Hawks fans. That would suck to get swept, losing each game by like 20, and 1 game by 43. I love the Jazz.
Sean

Jazz-Lakers Questions

I just have a few questions about game 1:

-How did Carlos Boozer manage to shoot 0 free throws?

-Why? Why? Why? Does Kobe Bryant jut out his jaw like that?

I think I have the answers as well:

-Carlos Boozer's worst enemy, and arch nemesis in the league is Pau Gasol. My personal opinion is that he has blocked so many of Booze's shots that it starts to affect the way he plays. How do you take it up strong with confidence against a guy who is constantly blocking your shot, or altering it into a shot you don't want to take? Boozer shooting 0 free throws is a result of this. He is not confident to take it up right at Gasol, and potentially draw a foul. I honestly can't blame him. If I kept getting owned every time I shot the ball, eventually I would stop taking it up when that guy was on me. The same can be said for Paul Millsap. Does it seem like Gasol or Odom or Bynumm block every single potential layup we get? Many times flat-footed. Combine this with the fact the referees either consciously or subconsciously know this, and swallow their whistles when Booze or Millsap goes up, and the result is 0 free throws. If the Jazz are gonna win this series Booze and Millsap have to figure out how to score inside over Gasol. He's not Dwight Howard. He's just in their heads.

-The reason Kobe does that overbite thing with his Jaw is simple; he is a douche. The guy wants attention. (Much like Lebron in my previous post with his elbow) Here is the bad thing, it is working. I have already read several articles or broadcasts where the author/journalist mentions that when Kobe starts doing that with his jaw it means it is crunch time and he is stepping it up. Are you kidding me? That is exactly why he does it. That is not a natural thing to do. I tried it. In fact, just sitting here alone in my living room, I tried to make a scowl like Kobe's while sticking out my lower jaw, and I felt really stupid. One espn guy said that when Kobe does that, watch out, because it means he is really focused and trying his hardest. So the whole game he hasn't been? You think he remembers Jordan's tongue thing, and all the little kids imitating him? Enough Kobe, stop with the jaw thing, please. My sister-in-law Brittany said it best; "Don't hurt the Butterfly King, his under bite might get you." She is referring to the tattoo on his arm. We thought it was a crown, turns out is is 3 butterflies, no joke.
Sean

Another Utah-L.A. Series

Since the all-star break in February, and maybe even before then, Jazz fans had been hoping for a 2 or 3 seed for one major reason: Avoiding the Lakers in the 2nd round. No need to dwell on it, we all know what happened.

Here we are, a day away from game 1 against the Los Angeles Lakers. I am not going to lie. I am pretty nervous. I am trying everything I can think of to find reasons to believe that we can win a series against this team. Here is what I have come up with:

-Andrei Kirilenko might be back sometime in this series and he is the only one capable of matching up with Lamar Odom, who to me, seems to be the a major problem for us.

-Lamar Odom has been pretty bad in the last few weeks. Below average I would say, but it seems to me that he knows he is such a tough match-up for us, we can't bank on him being pretty much MIA, like he was in round 1.

-An MRI after the Lakers first round series revealed a small tear in Bynum's meniscus. He is listed as questionable for game 1, and day-to-day.

-Ronnie Price and Wes Matthews are coming off of great games, and we need them both, badly, against the Lakers.

-L.A. has been pretty inconsistent. Kobe seems to be either on or off, and is slowing down.

-Ron Artest, despite shooting something like 5-27 from the 3 in round 1, continues to just chuck them up. Let's hope he continues to shoot, a lot.

After all this, in my mind, this series will come down to one thing. We have Deron Williams, who is matched up against Fisher. Williams is our strength, and Fisher is their weakness. This is the most important factor. If we are going to have a chance in this series, Deron Williams is going to have to be aggressive. He has to attack. He cannot be the guy that defers a lot of shots to run the offense, as he does a lot. Not saying that it's a bad thing, but against the Lakers, he can't go on those quarter long stretches where it seems like he doesn't take a single shot. Deron Williams is the best shot we have at winning this series. Everyone else has to play well obviously, but we need the Deron Williams that averaged 28 and 11 through 5 games.

If I am Phil Jackson, I have Kobe matched up on Williams, and Fisher of Matthews. As soon as the Lakers realized that Russell Westbrook was the only reason OKC was hanging with the Lakers, they took Fisher off of him and put Kobe on him. They won the next 2. In my personal opinion, I am shocked Phil didn't realize that at halftime, of game 1.

I remain optimistic, and anything can happen.
Sean

Jazz, Sloan, and Lebron

For the first time I've decided to write about my thoughts going into a game. Game 5 is tonight and I am praying the Jazz aren't thinking they have this in the bag and can afford to lose a game. I hope they can pull it out, and get some rest before facing either the Lakers or Thunder.

Espn.com has a little headline that reads, "Nuggets turn to Billups to stop Utah's Williams." The article goes on to say how, now it is Chauncey's time to step up and guard Deron Williams. Um....I'm kind of confused. I realize that Dantley has put Aaron Afflalo on D-Will to start the game, and that is supposed to be the match up on defense for Denver, but anyone who has watched the series sees that Billups has been guarding Williams at least half the time already. I really have a hard time thinking this is going to make any difference. Chauncey is probably going to pick up a couple of quick fouls and we will see Lawson early. Before game 3 the Nuggets had supposedly come up with a master plan to stop Williams, by trapping him when he came into the half court. I was a bit worried because it was said to have been put in place by George Karl. He made an appearance at practice before Denver flew to SLC for game 3. We saw how that worked. The bottom line is Chauncey is a step slower, and Deron Williams is playing confident and aggressive. I don't think Billups on Williams is going to solve Denver's problem. The key is just going to be whether or not the Jazz play with urgency and energy like they have been, or if they play lackadaisical like we have seen at times.


Sloan has has many great quotes throughout his career. One regarding CJ miles was great. He said, "I don't care if he's 19 or 30. If he's going to be on the floor in the NBA, he's got to be able to step up and get after it. We can't put diapers on him one night, and a jockstrap the next night. It's just the way it is." Another classic was when he was asked about being more physical with Carmelo, he said that the Jazz "couldn't let Carmelo play in a tuxedo all night." Regarding the Coach of the Year award, maybe when Sloan retires without having won it, the league should name the trophy after him. That would be sweet. The Jerry Sloan award.

That brings me to Lebron James. Poor guy has a numb elbow. Did you watch that last night? Am I the only one that thinks he is trying to be dramatic, much like Paul Pierces fake knee injury that saw him leave in a wheelchair? Here is my thought. He shoots a free throw, perfectly, it goes in. That gives them a 4 point lead with seconds left and the game is basically over. He decides to milk his elbow injury, and exaggerate that he cannot shoot the ball right handed. He uses his right arm fine in his routine before the shot, then throws up a left-handed, wounded duck, that looked like one of Kyrylo Fesenko's free throws. My personal opinion (and I could be wrong) is that he decided if he could hit a left-handed free throw, he would get so much coverage, as being so amazing and gifted, and doing whatever it takes to win. Everyone would be talking about his heroic left handed free throw. Unfortunately, he botched it and missed it terribly, which led to him having to answer questions about how serious his injury was. Instead of looking stupid and letting anyone know that it really wasn't a big deal, he had to cover up. AGAIN, I could be way off, but that is just my feeling. After all, is there a guy in pro sports that is in the spotlight more, and knows it, than Lebron? We know he loves the attention. (Openly admitting wanting to be a billionaire, global icon, and business man. Not to mention all his annoying pre-game antics, the dancing, the posing, the singing, the chalk thing, etc.)
Sean

Trivia:
Name the 3 NBA players in history to have a triple-double with 0 turnovers.
Come on, if you read this, at least guess!
Hint: one Rockets, and two Jazz players.

Back to the Jazz

It has been awhile since my last post. A lot has happened since my last post. I took about a 10 day vacation back home to Utah, and just got back to the "Great White North."

While I was in Utah, I went to the last regular season game against Phoenix with my brother Todd. That was a depressing game. It had a playoff feel early, with so much at stake. However, the best part of that game was my ice cold coke and the pre-game introductions. After that, well, it's not even worth talking about. I actually wrote a huge post after that game, and expressed a lot of anger. I decided to sleep on it before I posted it, and that was a good decision. When I read it the next morning, it was so pessimistic and negative, I deleted it.


We started the playoffs on the road, in Denver, without Andrei Kirlenko. During the game Memo Okur tore his achilles. One of the funniest things I've heard, was as Kyrylo Fesenko and Kosta Koufas were helping Memo back to the locker room, Jake leans over to me and says, "They're going back to see which one of them is most eligible for a foot transplant." Ha ha. We almost pulled off a win too. JR Smith had other plans and Melo was unstoppable. Who shoots 18 for 25 from the field? Jeez.

Game 2 was easily the best game of the playoffs so far (besides maybe Pierces game-winner tonight). Without Memo and AK the Jazz played great D and stole a barn-burner to tie it up at 1-1. The best part was that it finally seemed like the ref's weren't afraid to call fouls on the "stars". I heard some Denver fans on an espn article complaining that CJ Miles stepped out of bounds (and he did, I saw a picture). The ref's missed it. However, Carmelo stepped out of bounds in the 3rd quarter driving baseline and it ended in an and 1. Things even out. Denver fans should be mad that Carmelo got a reaching foul 70 feet from the hoop, when he had 5 fouls. (PS-D-Will had 33 and 14, the most ever for a player on the road in the playoffs in 43 years. Last person to do that was Oscar Robertson.)

Game 3 was actually boring due to the Jazz D making the Nuggets look like the Washington Wizards. It seems like the Nuggets thought they were going to win the series by default once Memo went down. They played awful. They ended with more turnovers than assists. Deron Williams had more assists than the entire Nuggets team. It feels pretty good to be up 2-1. I'm sticking to my prediction of Jazz in 6.

Deron Williams was 1 point shy in game 3 of becoming the 2nd player EVER in the history of the NBA, to start the first 3 games of a series with 25 points and 10 assists. The other player?...Michael Jordan. That would have been pretty sweet.

In other news, a lot of Jazz fans are upset that Sloan did not win the Coach of the Year award. My feeling now is that this award has become the "overachieving team award" so Sloan really has no chance. He's too consistent and he's a Hall of Fame coach. That is much better than COY. Look at the last several winners of the award and you'll see that they are not the same names you would consider the best coaches in the league. Oh well, we all know Jerry Sloan could care less, so why do we?

Random Trivia for you:
-Name the 3 players in the history of the NBA that have had a triple double with 0 turnovers. No Googling it. (Is Googling a word?) Here is a hint: 2 Jazz players, and 1 Rockets player.
Sean

Random Thoughts

First of all, I watched both games on TNT last night. Cleveland-Chicago, and Denver-L.A. I have to say right away something that I noticed. Both games ended with final shots that arguably could have been called a foul. Anderson Varejao tried to lean into the defender and though contact was minimal, there was contact. Then, Derek Fisher was blocked by Carmelo Anthony, but the replay shows that their hand also connected. It wasn't an obvious foul, but the same foul was called 3 possessions earlier when Lamar Odom hit Carmelo Anthony's hand on his follow through. I know that none of them were as obvious as the one on Tuesday against Durant, but the point is that it happens all the time. I am still pretty confused as to why the league would feel it was necessary to make an official statement. I have not once disagreed that it could easily have been called in foul. In fact, I will honestly say, that as upset as I would have been, I would have no argument had they called it. But they didn't, and what is the point of the league's statement? Whatever, like Jerry Sloan said, the page has already been turned.

Tonight, watching Mike Brown on "wired" gave me this hunch that Mike Brown is secretly one of the worst coaches in the entire NBA. I acknowledge that this is just a hunch. I have no data, or statistics or even reason for thinking this. Just listening to the things he said to his team seemed so stupid. The whole time, he would say things like, "Get back on defense" and "don't turn the ball over". I even heard him say, "We gotta knock down our shots". Really? That is the great advice your giving these professional athletes? I just compare that to hearing Stan Van Gundy, Greg Poppovich, Jerry Sloan, and other coaches on there. They all say very specific, detailed instructions. Maybe Mike Brown is the reason the Cavs haven't been able to win a championship. I'm pretty sure any coach in the NBA could get the Cavs to have a great regular season record with Lebron James.

The Lakers and Nuggets game really bothered me. Finally, a game that had me rooting for the Lakers, and they choke. Why was Kobe Bryant not playing? I realize that the Lakers have the 1 seed in the west wrapped up, but they are still fighting for homecourt in the finals should they face Orlando (both 55-23). This makes no sense to me, especially because I remember last year the Jazz needed to win their last game against the Lakers to take the 7th seed. The Lakers had the overall 1 seed wrapped up, and me and my friends spent the hours leading up to the game talking about wether or not the Lakers would rest Kobe. They had nothing to gain by winning, but played Kobe full minutes, along with Pau, Odom and everyone else. Maybe I'm way ahead of myself here, but I wondered if maybe the Lakers were looking at the bigger picture. Am I crazy to think that the Lakers thought, if they win great, but if they lose, then it will increase the chances of Denver winning the division, and therefore increase the chances of Utah taking a 4-5 seed, which faces them against the Lakers in the 2nd round. In case you've been living under a rock, LA dominates the Jazz and I would guess the Lakers would probably like to play Utah more than any other team in the west. What do you think? Am I over-thinking it?

I am not sure how things will turn out but they are not looking good. Denver is now 1 full game ahead of the Jazz, with 3 games left. We cannot end in a tie with them, because they own the tiebreaker. This means that for us to win the division, and have a shot at the 2-3 seed, we have to win all 3 games we have left, and Denver has to go 1-2. It could happen, but I was counting on the Lakers to win that one. Either way it will be a great ending to a great season.
Sean

Worst Game of the Year

WOW! Its funny how my reaction last night was also WOW! The difference? Last night was the most entertaining game of the year. Tonight? Let me just say my friend Candice put it best when she said "How can the Jazz ruin my whole night?"

One night after scoring 140, the Jazz cannot manage to hit 100. 1 night after having guys energized, and diving on the floor, and hitting any open shot, they cant catch a pass, grab a rebound, or find the energy to even close out on a wide open shooter. One night after the best game of the year, the Jazz manage to play to worst one of the year.

PATHETIC!

That is the only word I have for it. It is so frustrating how unable the Jazz have been to capitalize this season. Every time the Jazz have stood alone in 2nd place in the west (3 times), we have lost our very next game, twice to non-playoff teams.

I know what some of you are thinking. "It was a back to back, and on the road, and they got in at 4am."

Excuses. Guess what, the Rockets played on the road last night. I don't care what the situation is, even if they pulled an all-nighter, you would expect professional athletes to at least make a crucial, important game like that one competitive. That's not too much to ask. Leave it all out there.

I couldn't stand watching Memo make lazy fouls, not even try to play defense, and jack up jump shots. I couldn't stand watching a 6'6 Chuck Hayes (smallest center in the NBA) out-rebound Boozer and Millsap. Mostly I couldn't stand how I knew the game was over in the 1st quarter. I'll tell you what, I think Ronnie Price is a below average player. He can't shoot, and is not very smart with the ball. The reason I love him? He gives it 100 percent all the time. He is not afraid on anyone, including the Lakers, and I wish all the players had that attitude. It's just so frustrating watching guys like Chase Budinger, Luis Scola, Kyle Lowry, and Jared Jeffries, outplay Carlos Boozer, Deron Williams, and Memo Okur.

Oklahoma City was delayed leaving Salt Lake last night as well, due to the weather, but managed to play a very close game with Denver.

I don't know what the problem is. It could be coaching, or focus, or leadership, or guys just not wanting it bad enough. Whatever the case,they owe the fans at least some effort. I understand these games happen in such a long season, but in such a tight race, with so much on the line, in the final week of the season? Inexcusable. I will only forgive them for this one if we win out, and still take the 2nd seed.
Sean

Game of the Year

What a game! That game felt like a playoff game. For me, that was the best game of the year. Not just the Jazz, but of all the NBA games I've seen. It had it all. Tons of energy and intensity, overtime, controversy, big dunks, last second shots, and it just went back and forth with big play after big play for each team. Not a ton of defense though.

Deron Williams was pretty near flawless, minus the turnover with 30 seconds and the missed last second jumper in regulation. What is funny, is that turnover he had with 30 seconds left was his ONLY turnover of the game. That is incredible. He more than made up for it with that huge 3 in overtime, and the game winner. CLUTCH! I was glad to see that, because I was starting to think to myself, that Deron seemed a little less clutch than in the last few years. That was a big, big, BIG shot.

Let's not forget Boozer tonight. Some huge dunks, 28 points, and 15 boards.

That game was starting to remind me of the Cleveland game in February. We had a nice comfortable lead with 2 minutes to go. It was starting to look like we were about to pull away and win it, then Durant, much like Lebron, hit a couple 3's, and had a few and 1's, and a few Jazz turnovers later the game was close again. Durant scored 15 points in the last 4 minutes of regulation.

Oklahoma City continues to be the team I would least like to face in the 1st round. They're so athletic. Durant gets a lot of pretty weak calls for such a young player. You definitely notice how the stars get a little bit of that extra attention, but its only Durant's 3rd year. I am shocked that he didn't get that last call, but I don't feel bad since he had about 7 ghost fouls that sent him to the line. Not to mention that 1st game in OKC that I am still bitter about, where they called a mystery foul on Paul Millsap, sending Nick Collinson to the line for the win. Maybe I am bias, but it still doesn't seem like D-Will gets those calls. I have also noticed that Wes Matthews and Paul Millsap never get calls. Booze said it best though, "That is playoff basketball and your not gonna get that call."

I am just glad we won. My heart sank when Jeff Green hit that runner with 5 seconds left. I feel pretty confident about the Jazz ability to close out close games though. They have been pretty solid in close ones the 2nd half of the year.

Last thing I noticed, was that despite Durant scoring 45, I thought CJ and Wes did an incredible job making him work tonight. I have never liked Durant much but he's actually growing on me. I think how he handled things after the game was pretty mature for a 21 year old. All he said was, "It's not a foul if they don't call it." Maybe he just didn't want to get hit with a 25,000 dollar fine.

Just have to hope now that the Jazz can have that same energy tomorrow in Houston. That game makes me nervous, back to back, on the road, against a pretty decent team.
Sean

Matchup Possibilities

The Jazz are currently alone in 3rd place in the West and are 1st in the Northwest Division. First time this year we've been alone at the top of the division, but the important thing is to finish there. My brother Todd (you're probably noticing a common theme about where I get ideas on what to write) asked who I was hoping to face in the playoffs.

Very good question, lets check it out. At this point, almost all of the teams minus L.A. could be a first round matchup. It's so close and only a few games separate the top from bottom, so anything could happen. I am going to use my own, complex mathematical system to come up with a number on a scale of 1-10 for each possible matchup. 10 being a team I'd like the Jazz to face, and 1 being the team I'd least like to face in the 1st round.


-DALLAS MAVERICKS
Despite being at the top of the Southwest Division and the number 2 seed, I would actually love to play Dallas in the first round. We matchup very well against them and I dont know if any of you have noticed, AK always plays Dirk well and Dirk usually gets frustrated against him. We are 2-1 against them, the 2 wins being pretty good wins and the one loss being early in the year, when we had a 15 point lead going into the 4th and then Dirk dropped 29 in the 4th for a freak comeback win. That woudn't happen again, and if it weren't for that we'd have swept them. Of course we havent played them with their new roster, but I dont see Caron Butler as a matchup problem for the Jazz.
Mavericks- 7.47



-DENVER NUGGETS
There are a few variables to consider. 1-Will they have Kenyon Martin and 2-Will they have George Karl. If not, then bring them on. They already lacked frontcourt depth and with Martin out, they are on a downhill spiral, losing 5 of their last 6 games. However, we're going to assume that they will have them. Denver has owned us this year. The only game we won was without Melo and Billups but both teams have played a lot of games though since our last matchup. Carmelo really gives the Jazz problems. Nene plays ok against Boozer and, while in my mind, D-will has the slight edge over Billups, many people would say that matchup is a wash. D-will cant post up and abuse Billups like he does to smaller guards. Plus the Nuggets have some experience. This is also a possible 2nd round matchup and the key to this series may be home-court advantage, since both teams dominate at home.
Nuggets-4



-PORTLAND TRAILBLAZERS
Plain and simple, We have owned the injury ridden Blazers this year. 4-0 against them with the last being that incredible overtime victory after being down 25 in the 3rd. We have the advantage at every position except the 2. Brandon Roy is amazing but the Jazz have done a good enough job on him that he can't dominate the game. Portland still doesnt have a ton of playoff experience, with a 1st round exit last year. Steve Blake and Andre Miller have lots of problems keeping up with Williams, and Aldridge isn't strong enough to guard Booze in the post.
Blazers-8.33333333



-PHOENIX SUNS
Here is my concern about playing the Suns; Out of the three times weve played them this year, we have won 2 and lost 1, but in all three games we have been bad/mediocre. 2 of the games, we made 4th quarter comebacks and somehow won the game. The one loss, was one of the worst all around games Ive seen us play all year. I doubt that this Suns team is going to let the Jazz make a big 4th quarter comeback more than once in the playoffs. Nash and Williams is always an awesome matchup, and Booze and Amare mathup fairly well, although sometimes Millsap and Booze seem a little intimidated in the paint around Amare. I really hate Amare, so that alone is one reason I would like to face them, to send him home crying. The Suns are an icredibly good 3 point shooting team. Richardson, Dudley, Frye, Barbosa, Dragic, and Hill can all shoot the 3, not to mention the best shooter in the league, Steve Nash. They dont scare me but they could be dangerous to play in the 1st round.
Suns-6




-OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER
I know that everyone has been talking about how they are so young, and have no playoff experience, but for some reason that doesnt make me feel any better. The idea of having to stop Kevin Durant for a 7 game series seems like a nightmare. They have dominated us this year. They are a huge matchup problem for us, almost at every position. We have more talent, but they have so many great athletes and raw ability that many times they seem to offset. I know that sounds stupid, but watch Ibaka (some guy youve probably never heard of) guard Boozer. He's too quick for Boozer to drive around, and he is tall, long, and can jump, creating problems for Booze and Millsap to get up shots that aren't contested. They usually put Thabo Sefaloosha on D-will because he is bigger and is one of the leagues elite defenders. Russell Westbrook is so fast and athletic that neither Dwill nor Matthews (both great defenders) could stay in front of him. He reminded me of Tony Parker a few years ago, except with crazy hops. He got anywhere he wanted to on the floor. To be honest, this might be the only team we may face in the 1st round that I am scared of. I think we can beat them, but I am really hoping it doesnt have to be us playing them 1st.
Thunder-3



-SAN ANTONIO SPURS
My brother brought up an excellent point that the Spurs are playing fairly well, and Tony Parker will probably back for the playoffs. This is semi-scary. We have dominated the Spurs this year and they have no answer for Deron Williams. Parker is good, but nowhere near Williams, especially coming off an injury that had him missing the last couple months. Manu is looking pretty good, but Duncan is slowing down and playing average at best. Booze has always played really well against Tim. Somewhere along the line he gained a lot of confidence matching up with him and isn't scared of his length. He takes it right at Duncan and draws fouls and doesn't shy away from contact, something I really wish he could learn to do against Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom, and Andrew Bynum. I know they are a veteran team with plenty of experience, but we matchup well with them. The Spurs are just to old to put together a playoff push, thats my feeling.
Spurs-6.5

So there you have it. In my humble, unprofessional opinion, I would love to see the Blazers and I hope to avoid the Thunder. Let me know your thoughts, and if you agree/disagree.
Sean

Who Would You Pick?

My brother Todd text me while I was watching the Spurs-Lakers game with an interesting thought. If you could pick a player to go alongside Deron Williams, who would it be? Obviously, the rule is you can't pick the best player on any team. We are talking about really good, 2nd or 3rd option guys. Here is the thing to keep in mind: You can have three picks, and they must be at least semi-realistic picks. You cannot say Lebron, Kobe, and Howard.

Todds three picks were good.
-Lamar Odom
-Manu Ginobli
-Ray Allen

This got me thinking. I think Todd picked these guys based on the game he was watching. I dont disagree with these three picks, all three are awesome players who would play very well alongside Deron Williams, however, I would pick three others.

First off, Ray Allen, you cant really argue with that. The best thing to have if your a point guard is a great shooter that can set up on the perimeter and draw plenty of attention. I had the opportunity of playing with a Ray Allen type player. Logan Mendenhall is a great shooter, and a guy that I absolutely love playing with because you cant leave him. It opens up plenty of lanes, and the fast breaks are awesome because you just go, and if all else fails, you know Logan is getting open at the three point line and is gonna knock it down. (I had to give the best shooter Ive ever played with some love in here). Another thing we dont often talk about is a shooters ability to move without the ball. Another quality both Ray Allen, and my freind Logan have. I hated guarding Logan in practice everyday because I knew I couldnt just cheat underneath the basket when I was on the weakside. Shooters know how to read every move you make and counter with a cut to get open. Its very annoying to be guarding someone, then turn to close out only to find that player is no longer in the corner where you left him but at the top of the key, busting a three on your eyeball. I led the team in threes busted on my eyeball. (Only cause I was guarding Logan everyday though.)

Manu Ginobli, was a good pick 2 years ago. He was incredible. Now his good games are just not often enough. The dude is getting old. Todd, I think you made this call because Manu looked like the Manu of old against the Lakers and you forgot he is on the downhill.

Lamar Odom, is another great pick because basically he is a guy that goes along great with any player. There are very few 6'9 or 6'10 guys that can run a fast break and handle the ball like Odom. Lebron James comes to mind. Odom isnt a great shooter but is a matchup nightmare for most teams (esp the Jazz).

These are good picks. In creating my own list it would be easy to say I'd take Allen and Odom too, but that is no fun so let me try a different set of guys.

Ill go with:
1-Rashard Lewis. He is a good shooter but is a great scorer. He is clutch too. He is a matchup nightmare, comparable to Lamar Odom.

2-LaMarcus Aldridge. I love his game, he can shoot, and can post up. Another guy Williams could drive and kick to.


3-Josh Smith. For one reason, Jazz need a shot blocker and an athletic guy that can jump. Plus, one thing the Jazz are lacking is alley-oops which are the sweetest play in basketball besides the 4 point play. I guess thats more than one reason.
Let us know what your picks would be.
Sean

Is Doc Rivers Overrated?

Jake's Return
I always wonder if some of the coaches that have great players are sometimes overrated, I would say that I think a team with great players, but a bad coach, will always be better than a team with bad players, but a great coach. I think that this might be the case with Celtics coach, Doc (shiny nose) Rivers. I don't have a lot of stats to back up this theory, but I do know that his career winning percentage is 54%. Did you happent o see him acting like one of the players last night too? He got tossed and was high fiving guys on his way out. Very professional.

He was named coach of the year in his coaching debut in 2000 after helping the Orlando Magic to a 41 and 41 season, and just missing the playoffs. In 1999, the year before he was hired, the Magic were 33 and 17 ( a lockout year) and they were seeded #3 in the playoffs. Congratulations, on a well deserved award, Doc.

Coach Rivers, then climbed above 50% to 52% after General Manager, John Gabriel acquired Grant Hill and Tracy McGrady. A few years later Doc was fired after leading the Magic to the worst record in the NBA in '03-'04. They were 21 and 61 that year, but to be fair, Doc was fired early in the season when the Magic were 1 and 10.

The very next year he was somehow hired by the already playoff caliber team, the Boston Celtics. His first three years the Celtics went from 54% to 40% then in '07 plummeted to an awful 29% Before the Celtics had the chance to getting around to firing him, they were basically given three gifts. Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, and the fact that Paul Pierce then decided to stick around. Those players then of course gave Doc Rivers an NBA Championship.
Jake


SEAN'S TAKE
I agree Jake. I think Doc is overrated, and I think there are a few other coaches who are overrated. I hate Doc too, I couldnt beleive he got tossed last night complaining about the officiating. It was bad in the 1st half, for the Jazz, and pretty even in the 2nd.

The coach of the year award is a joke. It has turned into the "What team exceeded expectations that year" award. Remember how Byron Scott won coach of the year 2 years ago, only to be fired this year after 25 games?

The only defense I would say, is that I have read that Doc is big on chemistry and does a good job of getting players to mesh on a personal level and in the locker room. That can translate to some success on the basketball floor, but I dont think Doc deserves credit for getting unselfish, ready to win, veterans like Peirce, Garnett and Allen to mesh. They knew what they had to do. Plus, rumors are that they have had some chemistry issues this year.

Im glad that the Jazz havent had problems with coaching. The fact that the Jazz have had the same coach for over 20 years says a lot, and stability is maybe one thing other franchises can learn from the Jazz.
Sean

Amare Stoudemire/Travel Master

Amare Stoudemire of the Phoenix Suns

I hate Amare Stoudemire. I think he is so overrated. He had 44 points last night against the Jazz, and youd think that would change my mind. It didnt. In fact it made me beleive even more so that he is not as good as advertised. The guy continued to amaze me with how little he dribbles, and how often he travels. I am going to post a youtube clip of his classic travel off the pick and roll below. Check it out, he does this almost every time and its such an awful travel. Ive posted the link below it so you can check it out if it wont load.

How many steps is this, 4?

Amare with a sweet travel

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ByWl3e4JKq8&feature=related

The worst part is that he dunks it and thinks hes so great. I would love to see a ref call this consistenly. Amare would lead the league in turnovers and wonder what happened to him. How funny is it that he has mastered the art of traveling?

Why cant the refs just call this? Its clearly a travel and any player in the NBA should be able to play without traveling every other play, let alone an all-star.

Amare got his 44 points off dunks and layups, a lot of which were and 1's. Several of them were plays where the ref blew the whistle, guys stopped, Amare turned around and dunked it, and the basket counted. It spoke more about the weak interior defense of the Jazz than it did for Amare.

He is quickly becoming one of my most hated players in the league. In fact, this season, he has passed a few guys Ive hated for years. Including; Luis Scola, Derek Fisher, Michael Beasely and Derrick Rose. Hes getting up there close to Lebron, Sasha Vujudoosh, and Gilbert Arenas.

The Jazz didnt even play that bad against the Suns. They had a few bad spurts, but went on a few runs as well. A slow start cost them, but overall the officiating was so inconsistent and awful, that the game never got into a rhythm. Its too bad when the officials turn the game into their game, instead of the players.

Just how bad is it? Well heres another example. Brandon Roy (who I love) had a game winner just last night. Check out the clip. He clearly changes his pivot foot and travels badly (Watch the Wizards coach as Roy shoots). Keep in mind, this was the game winner.


Sean

GREAT START TO MARCH MADNESS

Alex Tyus of Florida

MADNESS DAY 1
I am writing this at 351 am. After laying in bed from 1-330, unable to sleep, I decided to write this post. I cant help it. I truly wish I was asleep. I went to bed last night at 2 am, and woke up today at 930 am. I got less than 8 hours of sleep. I didnt have a nap either. So can someone please explain to me how I am unable to fall asleep and am wide awake at almot 4 am? Whatever....

First of all, lets give credit where credit it due. For a BYU team to come out and play well through 2 overtimes was big. Especially with this guy lining up next to you. THAT, is composure!

Meet Alex Tyus, of Florida sporting the really long cornrow/dreads, receding hair line, and tying it all together with a nice headband. How do you even begin to focus when you find yourself squaring up against this guy? I couldn't quit chuckling when he air balled a three toward the end of the game. Even now I just chuckled writing that.

BYU almost choked a few times. Blew a 13 point lead, and I was ready to hate Jimmer Fredette when he turned the ball over with 20 seconds left. Why would he push the ball ahead of his teammates into a double team? Why not just stop, and hold for the last shot? I guess it worked out ok in the end.

He's gonna get a lot of recognition if he keeps this up. Billy Donovon (Florida coach) already said he impacts the game more than anyone in college baksetball, including John Wall. Basically he said, you don't have to worry about Wall or anyone else they've played droppin 50, or shooting 20+ free throws. Thats a pretty sweet compliment.

It was an incredible first day and I can only hope the 2nd day is similar. 7 games decided by one possession and 3 overtime games. You can't ask for anything better than this. Just wish I had a freind to watch with......but for now its just me and this old bag of BBQ chips which are getting grosser with every bite.
Sean

ps-A special thanks to the following teams who botched it today, and didnt help my bracket. UTEP, Notre Dame, and Marquette. Luckily I didnt have Georgetown past the 16. Some upsets nobody picks, like Ohio over G-town.

MARCH MADNESS

I decided to write this for a good freind of mine, Ashley Eakins. After a little Kentucky trash talk (shes's a huge Kent. fan) she mocked me by saying, "Go write a blog or something." So I did.

Everyone loves March Madness. Its the best time of year (especially since baseball hasn't officially started and NBA is still going strong)

I personally like to pick a good team that I think can win, and that hardly anyone picks.

Here's my predictions according to my bracket.

-I'm getting a very, very strong gut feeling that this is the year a 16 beats a 1. I'm thinkin Arkansas PB beats Duke. (Obviously I dont have this one on my bracket, I didnt quite dare)

-Texas A&M is better than a typical 5 seed. So is Mich. St. They could both knock off their one seeds. (Duke, and Kansas)

-BYU is much better than a 7 seed and got screwed. Keep that in mind as you say what I said, and that is that you wont be suprised when they lose. I picked them over Florida, but not over Kansas St. even though I think they could actually pull that off. Im not getting my hopes up though, based on experience. Plus Jimmer might pull a 40 point game and be this year's Steph Curry.

-UTEP is way better than a 12 seed. A lot of people dont realize they were ranked in the top 25 for awhile. Not only that but their matchup is favorable. Since they'll be playing the second game against Murray St., they will be in the sweet 16.

-Kentucky is going to disappoint a lot of people. ALL FRESHMEN. Thats all im gonna say.

-Kansas is going to disappoint as well, they have the hardest bracket to go through in the history of the 64 team tournament. Mich. St., Maryland, Tennessee, GA Tech, Ok. St., Ohio St. All possible matchups. How many HOF coaches is that, all of which will be gunning for the overall #1 seed.(Plus 75 percent of people are picking Kansas, so thats no fun to pick them.)

-Evan Turner is the best player in the country, and much better than John Wall, therefore Ohio St is going to be the champion.

Obviously I'm not an expert. Anyone can win their bracket with a little luck. Sometimes the experts who know every matchup in and out still dont do well in the bracket. This is what makes the tournament so awesome, its anything-can-happen factor. Jakes wife Yersa won two years ago. Also at work Ive seen women doing well basing their picks on mascots.
Sean

JAZZ & DOUG'S BREWER TRADE BREAKDOWN, plus COUGS

Ronnie Brewer


DOUG
After the recent Ronnie Brewer trade made by the Utah Jazz I noticed a lot of complaints on facebook. While I was upset at first as well, I would like to take a minute to back up the decision made by Kevin O'Connor and company.

Ronnie Brewer is a great lock down defender and brought great athleticism to our team. At the same time he allowed defenders to sag into the middle because of his poor outside shooting, making the D-Will-Boozer pick and roll almost ineffective.

The trade has brought Wes Matthews to the starting position. In his time with the Jazz, Matthews has hit more threes than Brewer did in his entire career(3 & 1/2 years) with the Jazz. Brewer with 41 and Matthews with 41. Matthews in my mind can play just as well on the defensive end and actually makes a superstar like Kobe guard him at the other end.

I have noticed that the Jazz are hitting a lot of threes in games lately and I credit the Ronnie Brewer trade for this. The Jazz had a large number of wing players all fighting for a few minutes a game. Korver, Miles, Matthews, and Brewer were all fighting for minutes. As soon as one of them missed a shot or got beat on defense, Jerry pulled them out and let someone else try. This caused them to play scared or stiff. Since the trade, Korver, Miles, and Matthews are all getting minutes every night and they are playing with confidence. Korver can't miss and Miles is on a hot streak. Getting rid of Brewer opened up the outside shot while at the same time opening up the middle for Williams and Boozer.

A lot of people were upset that we weren't getting anything back for Brewer. Look at it this way. If we didn't trade him, at the end of the season another team, maybe Memphis, would have been able to offer him a contract that we wouldn't have been able to match. We would have lost him for nothing. Instead we get a draft pick in 2011 which will possibly be a lottery pick.

All in all, great move by the Jazz. Let the threes keep dropping.
Doug


SEAN
First of all, I was one of those complainers. I really loved Brew-hound, and thought he was the best defender. I think, like a lot of people probably did, that I was mostly angry once I heard how upset the players were. However, I have to say that Doug has completely changed my mind. I'm pretty stubborn and don't often change my opinion, but Doug has brought up points I wasn't aware of, like the three pointers. I knew Brew wasn't a great shooter but that's pretty amazing that Matthews has already matched his career total. Overall I say Doug is right and in hindsight, it was a great move.

The Jazz played Milwaukee on Friday and that was disappointing. Another one of those games that we just cant find a good rhythm all game, then make a push at the end, but couldn't finish it.

In all honesty, I thought Deron Williams looked like the rookie, a little rushed, panicked and not too sharp, and Jennings was controlling the game. Obviously that's a rare bad game for D-Will but he seemed scared to shoot and definitely seemed scared to go to the rim anytime Bogut was around.

Ilyasova was killing me. For those of you that noticed how he was involved in almost every play, with a deflection, or rebound, steal, etc., I think we got a little taste of how frustrating it must be for other teams playing us when Andrei is having one of those games.

Speaking of Andrei Kirilenko, I couldn't help but be frustrated with him leaving the game with a hurt calf. It feels like that is happening every 3 games with him. Its always something new.

Final thought on that game, the Bucks defense looked like it was the Celtics D of 07-08. They are a great defensive team, and I think they can pull off an upset in the first round, depending on who they play.


BYU
All I have to say about this is why is it in Las Vegas. I understand, that they bring in money, and it's a convenient location, but all I can say is it is UNFAIR. It's a home game for UNLV. Jimmer is pretty sweet but he forced a lot of really bad shots up. That UNLV player was unreal on defense and you could tell Jimmer was struggling against him. Maybe Coug's can win a tournament game this year, but I won't be surprised if a 11, or 10 seed beats them.
Sean

JAZZ-BULLS, March 9

SEAN'S SPLIT
First of all, I just busted a classic embarrassing moment. I walked into Little Caesars to buy myself a pizza, and the girl looks at me and says, "What can I get for you?" For some reason my mind translated that as how are you? so I pulled out the "Good, how are you doing?" It was a very awkward moment as we then shared a nice stare. Then I realized what happened and made my order.

On to the Jazz. That game was sweet. A couple weeks ago I was involved in an argument on who was better, Deron Williams, or Derrick Rose. I'll let the #2 play on sportscenters top ten do the talking this time(check out the picture above). What a game for D-will. 28 points and 17 assists. Wow!

On a side note, Deron Williams apparently reads our blog. He came out and within the first few minutes had knocked down a few outside jump shots. This opened up the pick and roll and it was working all night.

Taj Gibson made a good case for player of the game tonight. His box score? 13 Min played. 0-0 fg's. 1 Rebound. 0 Assists. 0 Steals. 0 Blocks. +/- was -10. 3 Turnovers, and 6 fouls. Yes, that's right, 6 fouls.

I did that once, I fouled out in like ten minutes. I had 4 offensive charges. My coach wanted us to take it strong to the hoop. I followed the game plan. Shout out to my Coach, Mike Hansen.

Deron Williams is the Jazz's best on ball defender. He is very underrated as a defender. I think he's better than Wes Matthews.

Jazz have been killing it in the 4th quarters lately. I did some research. In the last 5 games the Jazz have outscored their opponents 165-104 in 4th quarters. They've been scoring and average of 33 points in those quarters. Even more impressive is the 20.8 average they've been holding their opponents to in those quarters. That's great defense. To put it in perspective, if a team were to do that for a whole game, the final score would be 132-83.

In other news, Kobe hits his 6th game winner this year. Sucks for the Raptors, I knew he would hit that one, no way is he missing two game-winners in a row. Bosh hit a clutch three but made the ever-so-crucial mistake of leaving more than 1 second on the clock for Kobe to go to work. One thing I noticed thats kind of interesting, in Kobe's 6 game-winning shots this year, 5 of them were against sub-par/average teams. Heat, Bucks, Kings, Grizzlies, and Raptors. The one exception being the Celtic's.
Sean

Taj Gibson with the foul


JAKE'S JAM
I applaud you Taj Gibson, what a remarkable feat. I wonder if that is some sort of record. It makes me wonder if I could have had a better game tonight, if I were in his shoes. Maybe I could have at least made 1 assist, even just 1 field goal attempt. I divided his annual salary into 82 games and it turns out that he made about $12,680.49 tonight. For what? For getting in the game for 13 minutes and running around and fouling people. Amazing.

Great win for the Jazz tonight. They continued to hit three after three, which is just what we need to stretch it out for Boozer down low. C.J. was on fire tonight. In just 19 minutes he was, 9/12 shooting, 6/7 threes, 26 points, and 2 steals. The last Jazz man to score more than 25 points in less than 20 minutes was Darryl Griffith in 1987. I will intentionally leave out Miles' lack of rebounds and assists. It will be interesting to see what he does tomorrow night. Usually when he comes back from a good game he comes out forcing too many jumpers and hoisting up bad threes. Let's hope he keeps his cool.

Boozer had another semi-quiet game with 16 and 10. I'm going to predict he has a great game tomorrow against Detroit with Ben Wallace out. Let's say...26 and 17.
Jake

KOBE vs BARNES/MAGIC-LAKERS

JAKE'S JUMBLE
Check out the video to the right. It is of Matt Barnes faking a pass right at Kobe's face. Here's the link in case you can't see it on here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TaKmIXvANhY

So, Kobe Bryant is super human. How does he not flinch at this? I know this angle makes it look like Barnes might not be faking it directly at Kobe's face, but I've seen it from another angle and it is right at his face. I have to give it to Barnes for treating Kobe like garbage, but Kobe won this one for not flinching and not losing his cool. If this were anyone else they would have looked like a little girl putting their hands up and ducking.



I was watching the Magic and Lakers game and watching what Matt Barnes was acting like against Kobe. The commentators were saying how Barnes should be thrown out for his behavior. That was very funny to me because all I saw him doing was pushing him a little bit and getting in his face a lot. Most of the time they looked closer to kissing each other than fighting.

Here is a picture of Larry Bird and Dr. J practically trying to kill each other. What you don't see is what happened next, both of them throwing violent punches while clinching the others throat. I wouldn't be surprised if these two weren't even tossed for this fight in that game, and if it happened now days they'd be disqualified for who knows how many games. I think I liked how it was back then. What do you think? Does the league handle it better now, or back then?
Jake

SEANS SCHPEEL
I agree Hokub (Jake). Seriously, how does Kobe not even blink at this? Incredible. It's almost like he knew Barnes was going to do that. Even if he did, most guys would still flinch. Jeff Van Gundy said, "If you're in a pillow fight, and someone fakes a pillow at your face, you at least flinch. Kobe didn't even flinch, that's the play of the game." Van Gundy is hilarious.

They try and control the physicality now a lot more. I think we have Artest and the Malace at the Palace to thank for that. Kobe is dirty, he has just mastered getting away with it and making it look like nothng.

That picture is awesome by the way.

Obviously I hope the Jazz make the finals, but if not I am really hoping for a Lakers-Magic re-match. After seeing how chippy Barnes and Kobe were, and Gasol and Howard, a 7 game series for all the marbles would be so crazy. That adds a very entertaining aspect to the game. It is fun to see guys play when they are making it personal. Kobe and Lebron are freinds, and absolutely would go at it 100 percent, but I guarentee you you won't see Kobe and Barnes hugging or slappin' 5 after the game is over.

Either way, I cannot wait for playoffs. There are going to be several awesome matchups. Including a Shaq vs Howard for Superman rights series.
Sean

Superstitious Athletes

JAKE'S JOUST
David James suckered me into watching Talkin' Sports Sunday night. I heard him plugging the segment twice. Once on the Jazz post-game show and the other on a news promo earlier that day. The segment was about different player's superstitions, but particularly Carlos Boozer's obsession with touching the ball every chance he gets.

This caught my interest so I recorded it thinking there would be information that I could not live without. Like an idiot, after watching nearly 4 hours of the Academy Awards, I started watching David James' little weasel face, acting just as excited for this segment as before.

Here it is the moment we've all been waiting for..... Booze says that it's just a habit, and that he likes touching the ball. Wow David James! I understand that you were sent out to the Jazz shootaround to get to the bottom of something fairly interesting, but when you found that there was nothing at all interesting about it, did you give up and say "That's ok we'll just talk sports"? No, you continued to excite me, and like the little gullible moron that I am, I trusted you enough to record it. How dare you?
Jake


SEANS SPOT
Well I was equally disappointed to hear that the only reason Boozer grabs the ball every chance he gets, is because he likes to touch the ball. Haha. I thought there would be some weird story behind it.

I have a few superstitions of my own, they're very weird but I just can't help it. First of all I don't tie my shoes until right before it's time to play. Whenever we had games, I would warm up with untied shoes and only tie them a few minutes before gametime. I have a few more but I think a lot of guys do. One guy on my team wore the same socks whenever he had a good game.

Here are a few of the best superstitions we could find.

-Pro baseball player Turk Wendell had to chew 4 peices of black licorice every inning. When he went to the dugout, he would brush his teeth each inning, then put in 4 new peices of licorice. He also would take a huge leap over the baseline every time he crossed it, and would draw 3 crosses in the mound every time he went out.

-Another MLB player, Kevin Rhomberg was famous for having to touch back anyone that touched him. Sometimes he would wait when the inning ended for the players to run back to the duggout, and run the player down to tag him back. He also never made a right turn, if he had to turn right, he would circle to his left. NO JOKE! Google it, the dude was like Zoolander.

-Caron Butler chewed McDonald's straws each game. He went through thousands of straws each season. He was recently told by the NBA to stop though.

-NHL player Bruce Gardiner began dipping his hockey stick in toilets before the game, to help him score goals. Eventually he quit doing this before every game, but would continue to do it if he was in a scoring slump.

-Jason Terry of the Mavericks wears a pair of his opponents shorts to bed the night before each game.

These are some of the weirdest. Comment below on any superstitions you might have. Let us know what kind of rituals you have if any.
Sean

Jazz-Clippers March 6

So that game was about how you expect the Jazz to beat those kinds of teams. Nice call Jake.

Just a few little things I thought of during that game.

-As they showed the Western Conference standings up to date, I couldn't help but think to myself where we would be with just a few more wins that we should have had. Here's my thoughts, and Jake I know you hate this, but had the Jazz won just 4 games this year that they lost, and should have won, we would be 1 and 1/2 games behind the Lakers. 1 and 1/2 games! I know what your thinking, 4 games? Here is a few that come to mind, take your pick.
-Jazz lose to Clippers in LA
-Jazz lost to Sacramento in SAC
-Jazz lose to Sacramento at home
-Jazz lose to Denver (without Billups and Melo) at home
-Jazz lose to Minnesota in MINN
-Jazz lose to Minnesota at home

I know there is really no benefit to this, but it's still interesting to think about. I'm sure Denver and Dallas fans feel the same way. It's true though, that just 3-4 more games and we could be playing for home court advantage, throughout the entire playoffs. Is 3-4 more games too much to expect your team to win a year? Maybe.

-One difference I noticed between Williams and Price/Gaines. When Korver is on the floor, Williams always looks for him first in transition to know where he's at. I watched a few times as he was wide open in the corner with his hands up and Price, or Gaines didn't notice. Where if Korver gets open just a bit, Williams knows where he's at and gets him the ball. Watch and you'll notice how often Williams gets the ball and locates Kyle Korver right away, as an option.

-Lastly, the pick and roll for the Jazz hasn't been as effective recently and I think I know why. Williams won't shoot a 18-20 footer off the screen. On one hand, this is good, he isn't settling for jump shots, but at the same time, it allows his defender to go underneath the screen, knowing Williams won't shoot it. I think if Williams were to shoot it just 1-2 times early thats all it would take. All he has to do is hit one or two and the defender will have to go over the top of the screen so Williams can't hit the easy jumper. This opens up Booze rolling to the basket or other options much more when the defender has to chase the ball.

-David James finally said they're going to find out why Carlos Boozer always grabs the ball when he checks in, after every free throw, and every dead ball. I've been wondering that for awhile. Superstition maybe.

Sean

THE JAKE FACTOR

I totally agree with Sean about our pick and roll. That could be a very effective play if Williams would take that shot more often. If I remember correctly, I think Deron hit a step back three against Phoenix in the 4th quarter. John Stockton loved to curl around a pick and knock down a jumper. Good call Sean.

Sean has a hard time accepting losses when it should easily be a win, and obviously I do too, but not as long as Sean does. He's talking about games from months ago. Sean, if we were to go back in time and win those "easy" games do you think the Lakers would have lost all the games they think they should have won?

Rockets at Lakers
Lakers@Clippers
Lakers@Blazers
Lakers@Raptors
Nuggets at Lakers (without Carmelo Anthony)
Lakers@Bobcats
Lakers@Heat

The Jazz have had a lot of let downs this year against teams under .500, but if we were supposed to win all of them, does that mean we were supposed to lose all the games we won against teams with a better record than us? All I am saying is it's not worth looking back on the season. Let's all look forward to the rest of the season and the playoffs. Remember the playoffs don't have any of those crappy teams the Jazz have a hard time with anyway. That's Exciting.

Let's not forget to give Memo some love. 24 pts. against the Suns and 27 last night and a couple blocks. I'd say as long as Memo or A.K. are having a great game we can beat any team, but hopefully they both will be more consistent by the time the playoffs start.

Jake

USA vs CANADA

I am a United States citizen living in Canada. I have been up here 2 years in a row playing basketball and going to school. While I will admit that I love it up here, I found myself in a very awkward situation last Sunday. I found myself watching the USA-Canada hockey game, for Olympic gold, with a room full of Canadians. In case you didn't know, hockey is life up here.

It was 2-1 as time began to run short and no one spoke a word. I was on the edge of my seat. It was a very exciting vibe as the U.S. tried desperately to score the tying goal. Under a minute and the tension in the room was incredible. The U.S. pulled the goalie and began taking shots on net, each one more desperate than the last. I had never watched a hockey game with such anticipation. Then suddenly, with 24 seconds left, Karise scored the goal that tied the game.

I was obvioulsy caught up in the moment. Used to watching sports games with my rowdy freinds, I jumped up and shouted "YEAH BABY, WHOOOO!" I even kind of half extended my arm over to give my father-in-law a high five, but his face said it all. I had better shut my trap and sit down. As quickly as I jumped up I sat down and folded my arms. Inside I was still cheering though. When we lost in overtime I was actually really sad. Had the U.S. pulled it off though, I may have been on the wrong end of a classic hockey beat-down. Gotta love sports.
Sean


THE JAKE FACTOR

I have a lot of respect for Canada. After all, every great nation needs a top hat. I am an American that would like to visit Canada someday, but would not be as dishonorable to my country, as Sean is, as to call it my new home. I think of Canada as one great big strainer doing a tremendous service to the United States, by straining all the good Canadians down to the U.S. who end up living their whole lives down here. I'm talking about some of our best actors, athletes, musicians, and some of my favorite comedians.

This just in! The score is 6 to 7 for U.S. when you put both hockey games together.

Please don't take me too seriously, especially if you are Canadian or half Canadian like Sean.
Jake

Jazz-Suns (March 4th) & Playoffs

I don't really know how the Jazz won that game. It feels like the Jazz are making a bad habit of coasting through 3 quarters and trying to make it up in the 4th.

Booze and Millsap have a very similar problem I've noticed. If either of them get a shot or two blocked or altered early in the game, they stop going up strong. They begin to try and make finesse moves around the basket and it makes them miss some easy ones. They begin to shy away from contact.

One thing that really bothers me about Amare, and I first noticed this awhile ago, is you can count on one hand the amount of dribbles he takes throughout the game. You can't count how many times he travels. OVERRATED!

Since i've been pretty pessemistic thus far, I did think Williams was incredible and I love to see him take over games like a superstar should. Wish it was more often of an occurrence. Although he has been in foul trouble a lot this season. Thats something we cannnot afford in the playoffs.

***Interesting fact--Not sure where I read or saw this, but Deron Williams is the only player in NBA history, to put up 35 points and 13 assists, and 7 rebounds in under 33 minutes. Thats pretty sweet, he did it against Houston (he was in foul trouble).***

Andrei Kirilenko is truly the x factor for the Jazz. My brother Todd and I talked about how during that run we had, he was playing incredible. It seemed like he was involved in every play on both sides of the ball. Him playing well puts us on a different level. They need to find ways to get him easy baskets and get him going early, he seems to play better if he can get off to a good start.

As far as the playoffs go, this win was HUGE. Doug Collins made an awesome point in the game, that when you compare standings you should only look at the loss column, because you can't make those games up. Sometimes teams have played more than others and that can create an illusion in the standings. PHX has three more losses than us. Thats a pretty good gap and I feel confident Jazz are going to have homecourt advantage, at least in the 1st round. It would be ideal to finish 2nd or 3rd so we don't have to face the Lakers in the second round.

-Please comment, let us know what you think and make any other observations.
Sean


JAKE'S TAKE

I found myself surprisingly calm last night watching the Jazz game. I can hardly remember the last Jazz game where they didn't have to make a pretty big comeback, and most the time we pull it off.

I agree with Sean that it is becoming a pretty bad habit. A habit that they have to change before the playoffs.

I remember watching every Jazz game in the late 90's, as a teenager. What they were able to do night in and night out was amazing. By the 3rd quarter they were up by 20, maintained that lead through the 4th, and rested their starters the last 6 minutes of the game.

I think this Jazz team is very capable of doing the same kind of thing and they should already be doing that against teams under .500. I think on Saturday against the Clippers, on our home court, we will see just what I'm talking about. They will be hungry for revenge against the Clippers and come out early and put it away.

Jake