Official Utah Jazz 09'-10' Season Thread

[Duluoz]

Fuck you suns fans.

[cornielious]

Plz change background to AK, kthx

[milhouse]

HOly crunk face my buddy got tickets for buying from a miller dealership and called me last night to see if I wanted to go, the first five minutes was great, then it sucked the rest of the first half.

BUT I ate two jumbo dogs during halftime and knew that it was inspiration not indigestion I was feeling. Booyeah. SUCH A GREAT WIN. this was the first game I've been to all year because I have been trying to lay low on my fandom too much stress for something that doesn't really matter.

but eff it this is what makes going to games and watching and cheering all worth it.

good times.

what a comeback. with the suns offense I didn't think we would be able to catch em but wow how momentum and a home crowd can change a game like that. I miss that feeling.

DRAGIC THE SLOVENIAN. MATTHEWS. STEVE NASH. AK47. JASON RICHARDSON.
TONS OF FUN.

[cornielious]

Portland loss puts Jazz into 4th place in the west. That might be the all-time record for transitioning between not-in-a-playoff-spot to top-four.

[Damp Map]

Wow! I decided to pay for international access to nba games via my computer.. a little slice of home. phoenix - utah was the first game i watched. that game alone makes up for the $20 a month it costs me. great game!!

[TOOELE RULEZ]

kiri looks comfy
the jazz are moving the ball
matthews has heart
dwill is solid
boozer is money
brewer is fiesty


still MIA:

okur - WAKE UP DUDE
miles - streakier than my fruit o the looms

[BEARTOWNREIGNS]

why can't I watch these damn games? fuk dis! does anyone know about the online pass? My internet doesn't work this year, but maybe for the next.

[Damp Map]

BEARTOWNREIGNS wrote:

why can't I watch these damn games? fuk dis! does anyone know about the online pass? My internet doesn't work this year, but maybe for the next.

i'll send you a link. too tired to do it now though. almost 2 am and i have a busy day tomorrow

[milhouse]

TOOELE RULEZ wrote:

kiri looks comfy the jazz are moving the ball matthews has heart dwill is solid boozer is money brewer is fiesty still MIA: okur - WAKE UP DUDE miles - streakier than my fruit o the looms

Good assessment>

Okur: get it together or get traded for that Net's Lopez.
CJ Miles: I stand by my feelings about trading him to OKC LAST year
Korver: He made his ONE 3 and I saw enough pink Korver jerseys on Beehives and Laurels so I guess he can stay..... NOT.

[pilmer]

jazz are number 1 in hollinger's daily power rankings. is anyone here an insider and want to tell me what his reasoning is for this? he has a story about it, but alas, i am no insider.

http://espn.go.com/nba/hollinger/powerrankings[/url]

[cornielious]

pilmer wrote:

jazz are number 1 in hollinger's daily power rankings. is anyone here an insider and want to tell me what his reasoning is for this? he has a story about it, but alas, i am no insider. http://espn.go.com/nba/hollinger/powerrankings[/url]

I'm curious, too. I want to know if he feels that it's the correct ranking, or if it's a weird anomaly of his numbers system.

[cornielious]

Some of my thoughts, probably most of which can be placed squarely in the file of "getting my hopes up yet again for this stupid team."

Through most of the season, the Jazz have actually been very good defensively in terms of statistical efficiency--one of the best in the league, actually. The areas where they've struggled have mostly been on offense. Total reversal of typical Jazz play, and I'm not sure why. Slower tempo? Wes Matthews effect? Less PT for Memo?

Over this past 10 game stretch where the Jazz have picked up their play, they've gone back to being a very efficient offense, and have continued to be very good defensively as well (I think Locke said before the Suns game that Utah was #1 in defensive efficiency over the past 10 games). Could it be that Utah has finally solved their defensive problems? Can we really expect to get 2010 defense and 2008 offense for the rest of the season? And if they can do that, are they real contenders in the west? Can we actually trust Carlos "I want to stay in Utah" Boozer? Is Mehmet Okur's body fat percentage this year higher than his field goal percentage?

I'm certainly not yet willing to say one way or another on any of these questions (except for Memo, dude grows a new chin every month). I think it's pretty safe to say that, outside of maybe trimming a role player, the Jazz aren't gonna make a big move before the trade deadline, as they seem to have a good thing going. For better or worse, I think they believe they can win right now. I hope they're right, but we've all been roped in before by this team....

[pilmer]

cornielious wrote:

pilmer wrote: jazz are number 1 in hollinger's daily power rankings. is anyone here an insider and want to tell me what his reasoning is for this? he has a story about it, but alas, i am no insider. http://espn.go.com/nba/hollinger/powerrankings[/url] I'm curious, too. I want to know if he feels that it's the correct ranking, or if it's a weird anomaly of his numbers system.

so my friend has insider, and he told me that hollinger feels the ranking is justified based on the recent play of the jazz, and that if the playoffs were right now, the jazz would beat either cleveland or the lakers in a seven game series. because those rankings are based heavily on the most recent 25% of games, he feels that they are currently the best team in the league. not that they have been all season, but right now.

[mapIedell]

pilmer wrote:

cornielious wrote: pilmer wrote: jazz are number 1 in hollinger's daily power rankings. is anyone here an insider and want to tell me what his reasoning is for this? he has a story about it, but alas, i am no insider. http://espn.go.com/nba/hollinger/powerrankings[/url] I'm curious, too. I want to know if he feels that it's the correct ranking, or if it's a weird anomaly of his numbers system. so my friend has insider, and he told me that hollinger feels the ranking is justified based on the recent play of the jazz, and that if the playoffs were right now, the jazz would beat either cleveland or the lakers in a seven game series. because those rankings are based heavily on the most recent 25% of games, he feels that they are currently the best team in the league. not that they have been all season, but right now.

Quote:

I know what you're all thinking: Utah? Utah?! OK, Utah. The Jazz are No. 1 in the Power Rankings, ahead of the mighty Cavs and Lakers, after rallying from 17 down to beat Phoenix on Monday night -- their latest high-profile win in a torrid 10-game stretch. The Jazz are 8-2 in their past 10 games, including six victories against teams with winning records, and several of the wins were impressive: They beat Memphis by 23 without Deron Williams, topped Miami by 29 and dumped Dallas by 18 on the road. They also, of course, had that dramatic nationally televised win over Cleveland, when little-known Sundiata Gaines hit a game-winning 3 at the buzzer. Still, the Jazz are 26-18 overall, while the Lakers and Cavs are seven and eight games ahead of them in the standings at 33-11 and 35-11, respectively. Are we really saying that the Jazz are better than those two? Let me offer a brief defense of the Jazz before I give the final answer: 1. The records lie Utah is 26-18, but has the scoring margin of a team that should be 30-14. The Jazz haven't been fortunate in close games (5-8 in games decided by five points or fewer) but have been in nearly every other contest. Utah's only two blowout losses have come in the infamous 101-77 loss to the Lakers in which they scored only six points in the fourth quarter, and a 96-83 loss to Atlanta in which they pulled the starters when trailing by 27 in the middle of the third quarter. As a result, the standings don't reflect Utah's true strength. Most notably, the Jazz trail Dallas by three games in the standings despite a much better scoring margin. 2. Their schedule has been difficult The Jazz have played more home games than road games, something they have in common with several West rivals at this point (among the conference's upper crust, only the Mavs have played more on the road than at home). That may make it seem like the tough part of their schedule is still to come. In truth, the Jazz just finished the tough part and they slapped it around. Utah opponents have a .521 winning percentage when not playing the Jazz; only Houston, Miami and Toronto have faced tougher slates thus far. Cleveland opponents are at .497 (19th), and the Lakers, at .512 (seventh), aren't too far behind Utah. But L.A. has had even more home cookin' than the Jazz, having played 26 home games and only 18 away from Staples Center. Looking ahead, the Jazz should be able to make up some of the ground in the standings, as Utah faces only one elite team on the road the rest of the season (the Lakers). The next-best team the Jazz play away from home is Oklahoma City, with the rest coming against losing teams or fringe playoff contenders. 3. They have held up against the big guns In addition to their well-chronicled 4-0 season sweep of the Spurs and the aforementioned win over Cleveland, the Jazz nearly beat the Cavs on the road without Williams on Nov. 14 (a 107-103 loss in Cleveland) and split the season series with both Orlando and the Lakers (with two more games against L.A. still to come). It's a small sample and I don't put a lot of weight on it, but since a lot of people want to compare how heavyweights did against one another, it's worth noting that the Jazz have held their own in this department. 4. Recent history OK, this is the crux of the issue. The most recent 25 percent of games played are weighed most heavily by the Power Rankings, and that's only 11 games at this point in the season. It may not seem like it because they aren't on a huge winning streak -- they're 8-3 in their past 11 games -- but the Jazz have been far and away the best team in the league in that span. Against the fourth-most-difficult schedule, the Jazz's average scoring margin over their past 11 games is plus-11.3 -- nobody else is better than plus-7.0. Even if you take away the scrimmage against the lowly Nets on Jan. 23 they're plus-9.1, and that's against opponents with an average winning percentage near .600; no other team has faced opposition better than .562 in the same stretch. Use any formula you wish, mutilate the calculation as badly as you want, and you'll still reach the same conclusion: The Jazz have been the league's best team over the most recent quarter of the schedule. 5. It's a compressed league I keep getting back to this because it's true … and because it's a huge point. The Lakers and Cavs may have the two best records, but the margin between those two and the pack has never been as large as the distance last season between the top four teams and everybody else. We perceive the Lakers and Cavs as miles ahead of the field, but in reality that hasn't been true. L.A. and Cleveland have scoring margins of 61-win teams, which is excellent but hardly dominant. Factor in the schedules, and the Playoff Odds project the Lakers and Cavs to finish with 57 and 60 wins, respectively. Those are the two best projected records in the league, and nobody else projects to win more than 53 games. If that holds up, it would be the first time since 2002-03 that no team won more than 60 games, the first time since 2001-02 that the league didn't have multiple 60-game winners and the first time since 1987-88 (when it was a 23-team league) that there weren't at least three 55-game winners. We're seeing that reflected in the Power Rankings. The Jazz, Cavs and Lakers all have ratings in the 106 range -- which is good, but in a normal year, it would not be leading the league. Nine teams behind them clump together with ratings between 102.3 and 104.8, and their positions shift almost daily. A second group of seven hopefuls between 100.0 and 101.5 stands in a similar herd. Compaction is an important concept to remember when eyeing the Lakers, Cavs and Jazz as well. Remember, the number in the second column of the Rankings (overall record) is more important than the number in the first column (rating). Utah's lead over the other two is small enough in the first column (0.57 over L.A., 0.70 over Cleveland) that a bad outing in Portland on Wednesday night could easily shift the Jazz back to third. So … on to the big question: Am I saying the Jazz are better than the Cavs and Lakers? Depends on what you mean by "better." The Jazz are playing better than anyone in basketball right now, and that's why they're No. 1 in the Power Rankings -- which, by nature, are designed to put a heavy weight on a team's current form. If the Jazz were to start a series against Cleveland or L.A. that tipped off Tuesday, I'd be seriously inclined to pick them. But "better" in the global sense? I'm not going anywhere near there yet. The Jazz earned the top spot in the Rankings thanks to a lack of dominance from the league's elite and their own recent torrid play, and props to them for it. That said, I need to see them do it for more than a couple weeks before I anoint them as legitimate challengers to the throne.

[cornielious]

Interesting. Utah has typically done well in those rankings because of the point differential thing, it seems common for them to blow out teams when they win but then lose close games, that's a big factor in Hollinger's formula. I do think it's true that they're better than their record, but still, I'm wary...

[cornielious]

Final 7 minutes of Jazz v. Blazers. Rudy just went for a legendary-level flop, didn't get the call. Love it.

[cornielious]

Maybe don't leave Aldridge wide open at his favorite spot on the floor every play. Please.

[cornielious]

BTW, missed most of this game. Sucks about Boozer, he's playing so well finally...ugh.

[cornielious]

I hate it when Utah doesn't shoot free throws well. It's like your football team missing field goals, so random and arbitrary.

[cornielious]

Turnovers! Ugh. Seems to be the make or break stat for Utah.

[cornielious]

I'm typing all this as Utah is up 8 inside 3 minutes. It's weird how blowing a 20+ point lead makes you feel different about what's a decent lead.

[cornielious]

Biggest play of the game = Ronnie Brewer offensive rebound.

[cornielious]

cornielious wrote:

Biggest play of the game = Ronnie Brewer offensive rebound.

Followed, of course, by Korver's dagger 3. Good for him to show up in what's been a rough season.

[Cousin]

Parallel Universe from the last time we played in the Rose Garden.

People already started to leave when the Jazz scored their first 21 points hahaha.

[pilmer]

this game showed the difference in attitude that this team has been bringing that it hasn't for a loooooong time. after they were down 17 to the suns, when the spurs put on a 25-0 run, and now when they let a huge lead slip to 5, the jazz put their work boots on and started playing defensive, hardnosed, jerry sloan ball. that lead to them being able to get their offense back together and pull it out. it seems like there has been a mental shift in the last month, and it is pulling together all that talent they have. even okur has shown more defensive prowess(although his effort against aldrige on the elbow tonight was still abysmal). let's hope booz's injury isn't too bad.

[albacore tuner]

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/blog/ball_dont_lie/post/Spoiler-All-Star-reserves-revealed?urn=nba,216300

[Sean]

albacore tuner wrote:

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/blog/ball_dont_lie/post/Spoiler-All-Star-reserves-revealed?urn=nba,216300

I can't decide if I'm happy Deron finally got it or disappointed I won't get to see him play out of his mind to prove everyone wrong.

[cornielious]

Sean wrote:

albacore tuner wrote: http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/blog/ball_dont_lie/post/Spoiler-All-Star-reserves-revealed?urn=nba,216300 I can't decide if I'm happy Deron finally got it or disappointed I won't get to see him play out of his mind to prove everyone wrong.

I think that's not giving Deron enough credit, he doesn't play just to prove people wrong. I mean, that's a big part of it for him I think, but not the only reason.

[TOOELE RULEZ]

kiris best game in years

[cornielious]

Great win over Dallas! In the third it looked like another impending Dirk steamrolling, he was getting into that rhythm whre he's just unstoppable, Utah had no answers. Then in the fourth, AK came in and just took Dirk out of the game completely. Andrei basically had his balls in Dirk's mouth. Dirk couldn't even get his hands on the ball, all he managed that whole period was a pair of free throws. Based on Dirk's play in the 3rd quarter, there's just no way Utah wins that game without Andrei's defense.

[CrackGrammar]

[CrackGrammar]

[Deus Ex]

CrackGrammar wrote:

Behold the beard of JUSTICE!

[Sean]

Huge win. I'm glad we clamped down on Dirk in the 4th.

Am I wrong or does it seem like the Jazz make a conscious effort to slow down the game in the 3rd quarter? We are pushing the ball the whole time through the first half and get a nice lead, slow it down in the 3rd and then hit the gas again in the 4th. The only time that game started getting out of hand is when we started playing half court ball.

In other news, Sap and AK are playing out of their minds right now. We've all been bitching about AK's contract for so long but right now that dude is worth every penny.

[Damp Map]

cornielious wrote:

AK came in and just took Dirk out of the game completely. Andrei basically had his balls in Dirk's mouth.

haha!! i just watched it. unlike that game where memo let dirk score 20 something in the 4th quarter, it seems like sloan is finally playing people for matchups as opposed to regular rotation. it's about time.. thumbs up.
however, I wish the jazz announcers would stop talking about williams' beard.

[Levi]

Championship callibur basketball, IMO. Hopefully it continues. AK is really a great player. Jon metioned that he's one of his fav's and now that i started paying more attention, i'm with him. I heard a good bit on KFAN about him playing better with room and a faster paced game, and i couldn't agree more. when he's off and running i'm not sure he can be stopped. i like the fake pumps and passes too. it's so much fun to watch the opposing team get that WTF just happened look on their face.

[Sean]

Damp Map wrote:

I wish the jazz announcers would stop talking.

Except Harp. They should fire Boller and Booner and let Harp call the whole game.

[TOOELE RULEZ]

Sean wrote:

Damp Map wrote: I wish the jazz announcers would stop talking. Except Harp. They should fire Boller and Booner and let Harp call the whole game.

Yes it is time for Boone to retire "for the most part"

and Boler is so milktoast it is sickening

[cornielious]

More good Jazz news: Impending logo/jersey redesign centered around the note:

http://www.slcdunk.com/2010/2/3/1290631/the-utah-jazz-will-bring-back-the

Color scheme figures to be blue, green and gold, which I'm totally, totally down with. I hope they keep it simple and don't screw it up too much, but as far as I'm concerned if they can make this happen over all star break it wouldn't be too soon.

[Deus Ex]

Sean wrote:

Damp Map wrote: I wish the jazz announcers would stop talking. Except Harp. They should fire Boller and Booner and let Harp call the whole game.

Harpring adds so much to the TV coverage! I'm surprised how comfortable and fluid he sounds on TV, and hope he can make it into a long career!

[Levi]

cornielious wrote:

More good Jazz news: Impending logo/jersey redesign centered around the note: http://www.slcdunk.com/2010/2/3/1290631/the-utah-jazz-will-bring-back-the Color scheme figures to be blue, green and gold, which I'm totally, totally down with. I hope they keep it simple and don't screw it up too much, but as far as I'm concerned if they can make this happen over all star break it wouldn't be too soon.

Dude! I can't wait for the ski bum shit to hit the bricks. This is basketball, not a weekend at Teluride.

[Sean]

Blazers by 4.

[Clawhammerandanetherrag]

Just wanted to say I told you so about AK.

[cornielious]

Levi wrote:

cornielious wrote: More good Jazz news: Impending logo/jersey redesign centered around the note: http://www.slcdunk.com/2010/2/3/1290631/the-utah-jazz-will-bring-back-the Color scheme figures to be blue, green and gold, which I'm totally, totally down with. I hope they keep it simple and don't screw it up too much, but as far as I'm concerned if they can make this happen over all star break it wouldn't be too soon. Dude! I can't wait for the ski bum shit to hit the bricks. This is basketball, not a weekend at Teluride.

huh?

[cornielious]

cornielious wrote:

Levi wrote: cornielious wrote: More good Jazz news: Impending logo/jersey redesign centered around the note: http://www.slcdunk.com/2010/2/3/1290631/the-utah-jazz-will-bring-back-the Color scheme figures to be blue, green and gold, which I'm totally, totally down with. I hope they keep it simple and don't screw it up too much, but as far as I'm concerned if they can make this happen over all star break it wouldn't be too soon. Dude! I can't wait for the ski bum shit to hit the bricks. This is basketball, not a weekend at Teluride. huh?

Wait, it took me a minute but I figured it out. I'm with you. I like that Deron even said "anything's fine as long as it's not the Hornacek mountains."

[cornielious]

Also, if the note comes back as the primary logo, does that mean the logo at center court goes back to just the multi-colored ball, like in the Salt Palace days?

[TOOELE RULEZ]

another convincing victory

[Sean]

I have noticed that the closer you sit to the floor in ESA, the greater the number of 40 something cougars with designer jeans and fake boobs.

You can also hear Sloan yell "bullshit!" much more clearly.

[milhouse]

So pumped about the possibility of the old logo coming back.

Question though, does he mean metallic gold as in Wizards metallic gold? I don't know how I would feel about that.

[BEARTOWNREIGNS]

Sean wrote:

I have noticed that the closer you sit to the floor in ESA, the greater the number of 40 something cougars with designer jeans and fake boobs. You can also hear Sloan yell "bullshit!" much more clearly.

sounds like a dream come true!