The Stupidest ‘T’ Ever?

Yeah… he (Reggie Evans) actually got T’d up for that.

Filed under: PHI 76ers

Jazz Pound Sixers To End 2008

The Jazz sent 2008 out (well, it’s not over yet, but the Jazz don’t play any more games until after the calendar has turned to January) on a high note, bouncing back from the Houston 2OT loss to beat the Sixers down at the ESA, 112-95. It got to the point where we finally saw Ronnie Price (it had been a couple of games)… and Fesenko even got 1:46, proving that good games against Dallas & Houston mean jack as soon as someone returns from injury. What exactly is the point of stepping up when you get time then? Anyhow, enough with that. The Jazz won, and they won in blowout fashion. I guess what’s most surprising is that the Jazz were ahead by 15 after 3, and yet only 3 players on the bench seemed to get any real burn. Almond, Price, Fesenko… shouldn’t they be getting some time in blowouts? And it’s not like the Sixers had any huge run in the quarter to make it close. But eh… I guess that’s how J-Slow coaches.

Why the Jazz won…

• Deron woke up, and seemed motivated last night for some reason. And he exploded. He went 11-18 from the field, and finally found his 3-point touch as well (4-6), finishing with 27 points & 6 assists. What’s surprising is that he only took 1 FT… either he’s still not driving (therefore settling for jumpers, which are always a more risky shot), or the refs don’t seem to be calling fouls no matter what. And while it’s not totally on him, Andre Miller ended up fouling out, being held to 5-12 shooting for 13 points in the game. Deron also only had 2 TOs, which is huge.

• AK finally found some semblance of a shot, going 6-12 from the field. He also went 5-7 from the line, finishing with 16 points. He also added 13 rebounds, 3 steals, 3 assists & 3 blocks. On the other side, Thaddeus Young (8-14) & Andre Iguodala (6-12) each had 17 points on at least semi-good shooting nights. How much of that falls on AK, I have no idea.
• Okur was strong in his return, going 7-14 from the field (1-2 from downtown), finishing with 19 & 10. He also had 3 assists & 2 steals. On the other side, Sam Dalembert missed a double-double with 7 & 10, going just 2-5 from the field. Marreese Speights had 10 points (4-7 shooting) and 3 fouls (nothing else on the stat sheet), I’m guessing some of that came at the 5-spot, given that Dalembert only got 22 minutes.
• CJ & Brewer combined to go 9-16 for 22 points, with CJ having the better day stat-wise. Well, save for his 1-4 night from downtown, and the 5 fouls.
• Korver & The Koof were both solid off of the bench. Korver was 3-7 from the field (2-4 from long range), finishing with 12 points & 5 assists. He also had 5 fouls against his former team. The Koof went 4-8 from the field, finishing with 9 points & 6 boards. The 3 TOs are a bit disappointing, but seeing him finish with 0 fouls is nice. The rest of the bench (save maybe Brevin, who went scoreless and had a 3:2 assist:turnover ratio while being the 3rd of 3 bench-guys to get double-digit minutes) played seemingly inconsequential minutes.

Why it was a blowout…

• The Sixers shot 48.7% from the field, which really isn’t that bad. But the Jazz shot 51.2%, which is better. As it is, the Jazz took 4 more shots than the Sixers… and made 4 more as well.

• The Sixers were 1-9 from downtown (Iggy’s 0-3 “led” the way); the Jazz were 8-18 (Deron’s 4-6, Korver’s 2-4).
• The Jazz were 20-23 from the FT line, the Sixers were 18-25.
• The Jazz had 4 more boards, and 5 more assists. Oh, and 1 less turnover… the 14 turnovers for the Jazz seems surprisingly low as compared to recent games.
• The Jazz had 6 blocked shots, the Sixers had 0. 4 of the Jazz starters got in on the action, paced by AK’s 3.

The Jazz are now off until January 2nd, when they will be in LA playing the Kobes. The Kobes are on a 4 game winning streak, with road wins in Memphis & New Orleans being followed by home wins against Boston & Golden State (on Sunday). They’ll have an extra day of rest as compared to the Jazz… which could be either good or bad. The Kobes are averaging 107 points a game, aided a lot by the 17 ppg by Pau Gasol. As a comparison, the 4 players they gave up in the NBA approved highway robbery are averaging 16 points a game… but only 1 of the 4 players is even getting semi-good minutes. And that’s canceled out by the fact that another of the players isn’t even in the league… and wasn’t even in the league during the trade. It’s a good precedent though… I’ve always wanted to 1-up the Mailman for leaving us… maybe we can trade him with others to land LeBron. And the NBA can’t say no… because of the prior precedent set by the Kobes trade. Oh, and as no surprise… the team on top of each conference is the team that pulled off a NBA approved highway robbery. And they’re in big markets with teams that had glory years back in the ’80’s. Hm…

Enjoy the new year. And to the Jazz… please get healthy!

Filed under: Andrei Kirilenko, Brevin Knight, CJ Miles, Deron Williams, Game Recap, Kosta Koufos, Kyle Korver, Kyrylo Fesenko, Mehmet Okur, PHI 76ers, Ronnie Brewer, Ronnie Price

Jazz Host Sixers

The Jazz come back home after the disappointing loss in Houston, as they host the Philadelphia 76ers tonight. The Sixers lost in Denver on Friday, and today’s game is the 3rd road game in a 6 (!) game road-swing. The Sixers will still be without Elton Brand & Jason Smith… the Jazz will be without Booze & ‘Sap, I think. Finally, another team that has some injuries. The Sixers come in at 12-17.

Three Key Players

1. Andre Miller: He scored 25 in the last meeting between the 2 teams (a Jazz win), and had 19 & 8 in the loss to the Nuggets on Friday. He’s solid at finding the open teammates, and while he’s not exactly a long-bomb threat, he can occasionally drain the trey. He only shot 2 FTs in the loss to Denver, so maybe he won’t drive in on the Jazz bigs too often. Hopefully Deron is healthy enough to avoid being dominated by Miller.

2. Mehmet Okur: He’s missed the last couple of game, but should be back tonight. While The Koof & Fesenko filled in admirably the last 2 games, having Okur back will be huge. Plus, it should me no more pick-and-roll with AK, which is huge (13-45 shooting in the last 3 games). And he’ll be going up against Samuel Dalembert, who has been a huge disappointment this season.
3. Andrei Kirilenko: Again, look at his shooting over the last 3 games. Ugh. Maybe he got too used to the bench? Anyhow, he needs to play much better. And if he’s starting, he’ll be on either Thaddeus Young or Andre Iguodala… he’ll need to be a presence defensively while showing back up offensively.

Carnival of the NBA, #62. Check it out… some of the biggest stories of the year.

Filed under: PHI 76ers, Pregame Thoughts

Deron Returns In Jazz Win

Well, the Jazz picked up another road win this season (their 2nd), taking care of the Philadelphia 76ers, 93-80. The team might’ve gotten a boost before the game with word that Deron Williams was going to return to action… 2 weeks earlier than expected. It seems likely that this happened because Okur was ruled out… which is fine as long as Deron didn’t rush back (and therefore risk further injury). Because, while winning on the road is nice, it’s not good if it comes at the expense of your star player.

Anyhow, the game started well, with the Jazz up by 12 at half. And then, keeping up with their recent games (OKC, NY), they imploded in the 3rd quarter. The Sixers outscored the Jazz by 16, taking a lead into the 4th quarter. And then the Jazz re-exploded, going on a 30-13 tear to take the game with a relatively big margin of 13. The game not only featured the return of Deron Williams, but also the first start in the young career of one Kosta Koufos. He played 21 minutes, 4 times what he’d played in the NBA (total) up to that point. Not bad… not bad at all.

Player notes below

Filed under: Andrei Kirilenko, Brevin Knight, CJ Miles, Carlos Boozer, Deron Williams, Game Recap, Kosta Koufos, Kyle Korver, Kyrylo Fesenko, Mehmet Okur, PHI 76ers, Paul Millsap, Ronnie Brewer, Ronnie Price