Utah Jazz

[clubber_lang]

Win or pack up situation for Sloan's boys...

 

Deron should find his groove on offense. As in big numbers. As in make the Rockets PG cry back to Texas numbers...

[FF]

Jazz Win... Head to Houston for Game 7

 

andrei kirilenko keyed a suffocating defensive effort and memo okur scored 19 points with four three pointers as the jazz lived on for game 7 !

 

here's to hoping that the win re-energizes the jazz .

[revi]

Jazz Win... Head to Houston for Game 7

 

andrei kirilenko keyed a suffocating defensive effort and memo okur scored 19 points with four three pointers as the jazz lived on for game 7 !

 

here's to hoping that the win re-energizes the jazz .

 

Boy! The Utah Jazz are really fighting eh, ff? Forcing a game 7 against a hungry TMac? Wow!!! :cool: Galing!!!

[FF]

Jazz Defuse Rockets ; Win in 7 !

 

Carlos Boozer , Deron Williams and Memo Okur delivered in the clutch as the Jazz upset the highly favored Houston Rockets 103-99 and taking the series 4-3. All the experts ( who also picked the Mavs over the Warriors ) now find themselves getting their feet out of their mouth. Go Jazz !

 

Notes: It's a sad deja vu for the Rockets as it was the jazz who defeated Houston at the Sunmmit in their last playoff appearance in 1997.

[FF]

Charley Rosen ( yep that incredibly schizo guy on fox sports who doesn't know if he loves or loathes the jazz ) came up with the following on why the jazz won game 7 : UTAH

 

Carlos Boozer was The Man — 35 points, 14 rebounds, and five assists. What did he do in the clutch? Come down with two crucial offensive rebounds, and shoot 2-2 from the stripe.

 

Give Boozer the Ernest Hemingway Grace-Under-Pressure Award.

 

Deron Williams was more aggressive with the ball than he had been in recent games. Driving, shooting, assisting (14), and running the offense with a sure hand. To say nothing of his lock-down defense on Alston. Except for a few sloppy passes, Williams played a near-perfect game.

 

Derek Fisher did a fairly good job in defense of T-Mac — using his body and lower center of gravity to frequently lock up McGrady's legs and hips. On offense, he made several important shots (in seventh games, all made shots are important), moved the ball, and avoided making mistakes.

 

Andrei Kirilenko had difficulty staying with T-Mac (who didn't?), and generally scurried around on defense as is his wont. If he only came up with one blocked shot, he menaced at least four others.

 

But AK gets a big kiss from Jerry Sloan for taking and making a gutsy 3-ball that knotted the game late in the fourth quarter.

 

Mehmet Okur pushed, pulled, banged, floored, and fouled Yao Ming, and also latched on to eleven rebounds. In general, Okur's offense was much sharper than it had been in the previous games. And his game glittered for the pair of immensely critical treys that he hit late in the fourth quarter.

 

As ever, Matt Haring hustled and bustled. If his shot was slightly out of synch, he made up for all of his failings by managing a last-minute offensive rebound that helped break the Rockets' back.

 

Gordan Giricek had a turn at guarding T-Mac and hit enough shots (3-for-5, including a big 3) to trump McGrady's less than stellar defense.

 

What did the game come down to?

 

Utah's coming off the mark with more intensity than Houston and not folding when the Rockets made their move late. Utah also maintained its discipline when Houston likewise stepped up the defensive pressure.

 

The clutch triples by Kirilenko and Okur. Boozer's big-time shot-making. Williams' poise. Wearing McGrady down by alternating his defenders. Exposing Yao's flat-footed flaws. And those three huge offensive rebounds at the end.

 

Maturity. Self-knowledge. Confidence. Mutual trust. Playing hard and playing smart.

 

That's what the Utah Jazz are all about.

[howard_the_duck]

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOZER!!!

 

Utah will win Round 2. Bank on it.

[im_tigerwoods]

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOZER!!!

 

Utah will win Round 2. Bank on it.

 

T-Mac is that you? (its on me!)

[clubber_lang]

I think Rosen likes the Jazz when it comes to potential and heart. Not so much with talent and some intangibles.

[peep_tom]

It's hard to call this matchup. Somethings gotta give on this one. Who ever gets an advantage early might very well be the winner of the series.

[FF]

It's hard to call this matchup. Somethings gotta give on this one. Who ever gets an advantage early might very well be the winner of the series.

 

Jazz win game 1. and if it's a preview of things to come the series will be a thriller !

 

Carlos Boozer turned his 20th rebound into the tiebreaking basket with 17 seconds left, and Utah beat the Golden State Warriors 116-112 on Monday night in the opener of the Western Conference semifinals.

 

Utah outrebounded the Warriors 54-36, pulling down 20 on offense to overcome the Warriors' frantic attack while rallying to win at the end.

 

"We've always been a pretty good offensive rebounding team if we take decent shots and get our big people inside on the shots," Utah coach Jerry Sloan said. "It certainly worked that way tonight."

 

Boozer had 17 points to go with his 20 rebounds, Deron Williams finished with 31 points and eight assists and Andrei Kirilenko blocked seven shots for the Jazz, who will host Game 2 on Wednesday night.

 

Game notes : What makes the series interesting is the contrast in styles :

1) Fastbreaking Nellie-ball vs. Sloan's structured offense

2) Jazz score on inside cuts and hustle points ( points off the glass ) while the Warriors bomb away.

 

Go Jazz !

[revi]

Game notes : What makes the series interesting is the contrast in styles :

1) Fastbreaking Nellie-ball vs. Sloan's structured offense

2) Jazz score on inside cuts and hustle points ( points off the glass ) while the Warriors bomb away.

 

Go Jazz !

 

.. and because the inside points are considered as higher percentage points than long bombs, the Jazz are poised to win it all.. Unlike Dallas, the Jazz (IMO) are strong inside with Boozer, Harpring, AK47 and even Memo and the Warriors will be hardpressed to stop the Bigs of the Jazz..

 

Still Game 1 was too close for comfort for the Jazz.. The Warriors are really proving that they can match head to head to any team with their "unstructured offense.." I never thought that being unstructured offensively would be an asset.. B-Diddy, JRich and Barnes were awesome in this game.. They just fell short..

 

I still think that the Jazz would win this series.. But I also think that the Warriors can still pull a 2nd upset.. However, the Mavs ain't the Jazz.. Inside strength is an obvious weakness of the Mavs and in contrast, its the strength of the Jazz.. This should be in Nellie's mindset.. Let us see if Nellie would adjust and how Sloan reacts..

Edited May 8, 2007 by revi

[FF]

.. and because the inside points are considered as higher percentage points than long bombs, the Jazz are poised to win it all.. Unlike Dallas, the Jazz (IMO) are strong inside with Boozer, Harpring, AK47 and even Memo and the Warriors will be hardpressed to stop the Bigs of the Jazz..

 

Still Game 1 was too close for comfort for the Jazz.. The Warriors are really proving that they can match head to head to any team with their "unstructured offense.." I never thought that being unstructured offensively would be an asset.. B-Diddy, JRich and Barnes were awesome in this game.. They just fell short..

 

I still think that the Jazz would win this series.. But I also think that the Warriors can still pull a 2nd upset.. However, the Mavs ain't the Jazz.. Inside strength is an obvious weakness of the Mavs and in contrast, its the strength of the Jazz.. This should be in Nellie's mindset.. Let us see if Nellie would adjust and how Sloan reacts..

 

yup ... stephon jackson had a great look on a three with the jazz up by just two. if that had gone in ... the warriors would've been in great shape to post another upset.

 

re coaching adjustment ... sloan has to tell his boys they're not playing houston any more ( some of those interior passes were just damn easy to pick by the quicker warriors) and to have them practice free throws ( jazz sank 24-32 ) . other than that i don't think sloan will change his game plan ( pick and roll ....high pick and roll ... pick and roll ...high pick and roll ) . it slow and boring but hey ... it works!

 

for nellie ... it'll take a game 2 loss before he'll even think about changing the plan. when the three's come in bunches and the warriors are flying on the fastbreak ... the warriors are a SCARY sight. still he has to reacquaint his boys with the meaning of "boxing out" and weakside rebounding.

[xycho_g]

go utah! your are my friend right now!

[howard_the_duck]

All Mavs fans want Utah to win.

[xycho_g]

you got that right howard!

 

the enemy of your enemy is your friend...haha. kaya chicago ako dun sa heat-bulls series..haha