SB Nation - Mehmet Okur

Is Al Horford playing out of position or just creating a new one?

hawksdawgs — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 15:21:05 -0000

More photos » by John Bazemore - AP

As soon as Al Horford came into the league, he was labeled an "undersized center" or a "power forward playing out of position." For people in the Hawks know, it was no big deal. We understood Josh Smith could not guard athletic threes or shoot well enough from the outside to play the small forward position. We knew Zaza made for a perfect backup center and a horribly annoying starting one. Horford had to play center. On the Hawks team, Al was a center. Debating whether he should or not have been in an ideal world was to have a conversation about the impossible.

And while the "what ifs" sprang up from time to time, Al has been able to spend the first two plus years of his NBA career adjusting to playing against bigger guys without the pressure of expectations of domination. After all, Horford was out of position. Could you really expect 20 and 10 by his second year? But Al did not bide his time under this protection. He has learned how to fight for position, box out, and use his athleticism to block shots and beat players to their spots.

Through Horford's first two years, he unceremoniously did the little things to make up for his strategic disadvantage. Woody forced Al to tread water and Al was damn good at it. He consistently put up average numbers at an incredibly efficient pace rate. It felt like a win for the Hawks. Efficient survival is all we asked for.

This year is different though. Al is a different player, a more skilled player, a more comfortable player. I look at the schedule, game after game, and there are only two teams that have a clear cut advantage at the center position, Orlando and Los Angeles. Yet those guys are not "regular" centers. If you hold out for an Andrew Bynum or Dwight Howard, you are holding out for a Magic Johnson. They are players that have a unique combination of size and athleticism. They are not redefining the position, but they certainly do not define the norm. And even with that, six years ago people questioned whether Dwight was a center or power forward (don't get me started on the Tim Duncan thing). For years, centers were Shaqs. Maybe not as good as Shaq (ok, definitely not as good as Shaq), but they were 7 footers pushing toward 300 lbs.

Today, outside of the two names mentioned, Al Horford can dominate anyone by that description. The Roy Hibberts of the world do not scare the Hawks. Do people hope to see future Erick Dampier's and Chris Kaman's in their young players? No. They want guys that will fight for boards and get other bigs in foul trouble but still be athletic enough to play the pick and roll. This league is becoming increasingly a team defense league. You don't need one guy to shut down Dwight Howard. It is impossible for one guy to shut down Howard anyway. Just because Al can't do it, does not make him a center.

Right now, Horford has a PER above 20. He leads the team in win shares, shoots 57% from the field, actually makes his free throws, can shut down Greg Oden's and switch onto point guards. Shoot, he can lead fast breaks like a point guard. If Horford's usage was not below most almost every starter (and even his own backup) in the league, who knows what his offensive stats would be. These days Horford is more than survival, he is a borderline all-star. And as some centers increasingly are moving outside the paint (Andrea Bargnani and Mehmet Okur) having an undersized guy who will battle inside but can guard outside might be the best of both worlds. So with apologies to Mr. Howard, what does the future of the center position look like in the NBA? It might just be the power forward with a seven footers mentality.

Let's Make Deron Williams An All-Star

aramnath — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 19:55:23 -0000

More photos » by George Frey - AP

Even though he's a top-3 point guard in the NBA, Deron Williams still hasn't made it to the All-Star Game. Let's change that. (AP Photo/George Frey)

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I know the man plays in Salt Lake City, but it's time to show Deron Williams some love. The guy has been an absolute beast the past three seasons. Him and Chris Paul are the only 2 point guards in the NBA to average double digits in points and assists over the past three years. Steve Nash would be there, but there was that whole Shaq thing that happened in Phoenix.

Superstars are supposed to elevate the level of play of their teammates around them and there are few that do it better than Deron. This is a guy who's helped turn Carlos Boozer into a 20-10 machine since he's been in Utah. Then when Boozer was injured for much of last year he transformed 2nd round pick Paul Millsap into a 15-8 player. Millsap's good, but you better believe Deron makes him look that much better.

In a league where you need stars to win, no team has less lottery picks on their roster than the Utah Jazz who have two, Deron and the legendary Ronnie Brewer.

The Jazz have no ability to spread the floor, hitting a collective 33.6% of their three point attempts for the season. Still Williams penetrates into a congested lane (that's what she said?) and drops dimes to Boozer, Okur and the rest of his underwhelming supporting cast. Just imagine if they had anybody capable of scoring from outside of 15 feet other than Okur who doubles as their major three point threat.

The real reason Deron hasn't been voted as an All-Star, other than being stuck in the heart of Morman territory, is that he doesn't have a good nickname. D-Will is not a good nick name, I mean you can do that with anybody's name. David Lee's nickname is D-Lee it's just not very creative. Plus you can't just call him Williams because it's the most common name in the NBA.

In my push to get Deron voted to the All-Star game I've decided it's my duty to come up with a nickname for him. Here are a few I thought of . The Mormon Mack Daddy, Ill Will, Dub Weezy and the Shah of Utah. I could use some help.

Vote For Deron Here

Poll

Which nickname do you like the best for Deron Williams

Lakers-Jazz Preview

DexterFishmore — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 22:00:17 -0000

The Los Angeles Lakers aren't the only team that hasn't been getting out of the house much. The Utah Jazz have played seven of their last eight at home. They've won six of those eight to get well after a 4-6 start to the season, but the competition has been squishy: Utah's eight most recent opponents have a combined winning percentage of 0.415. The Jazz tonight attempt a big step up in weight class, facing the Lakers for the first time since the teams' opening-round playoff series last April.

Strength of schedule aside, there's no debating whether Utah's on a good run. They are. Carlos Boozer, the world's second-most famous Alaskan, is putting up All-Star numbers, and his running mate Deron Williams is getting sharp again after missing a couple games to deal with a family medical issue. Center Mehmet Okur, who played little in the playoffs last year, is back as the third option. Wesley Matthews and Eric Maynor are intriguing rooks getting real minutes.

There are new friends and old, in other words. With seemingly half the Lakers' games so far coming against Phoenix, Houston or New Orleans, I look forward to seeing someone new come to town. Let's get to know them a little better.

First, a quick review of who's not playing. Forward Andrei Kirilenko (strained lower back) and backup center Kyrylo Fesenko (stomach virus) did not travel with the team to Los Angeles. So much, I guess, for ratings in the former Soviet Union. Shooting guards Kyle Korver (recovering from knee surgery) and Ronnie Price (foot injury) are out as well. Utah's playing thin, obvy.

Also absent tonight will be our boy Stu Lantz. Stu, it's been announced, will miss the next seven games while his wife Linda recovers from surgery. Hot Rod Hundley, former Laker and longtime Jazz announcer, will be filling in for tonight at least. All our best to Stu and Linda.

Utah's strength is its offense, which tactically hasn't changed in about three decades. They still run that deliberate, half-court pick-and-roll game that drives everyone nuts. Their Offensive Rating of 107.3 ranks seventh in the NBA, and they're top six in both Effective Field-Goal and True Shooting Percentage. You won't see them bomb away from three a whole bunch, and their team three-point accuracy of 35% is only middle of the pack, but Jazz shooters enter tonight's game on a hot streak. Over the past five games they've drained a stellar 41% of their long balls.

After a forgettable, injury-filled campaign last year, Boozer now looks like a man playing for a new contract, which not coincidentally he is. The guy is destroying people. Here are his numbers over the last eight games.

FGs	EFG%	FTs	FT%	TS%	PPG	RPG
82-125	66%	45-56	80%	70%	26.1	10.2

A look at Boozer's shot-location chart shows the engine of his improvement: the midrange game. Away from the rim and out to 15 feet, he's taking the same number of shots he did last year, about four per game. But whereas last season he made only 34% of his attempts, this year he's making 50%. The Laker bigs have the length and quickness to frustrate Boozer, but they'll have to be active and aggressive. If they kick it near the hoop and wait for Boozer to come from them, he'll feast all night on those little 12-foot J's.

Deron Williams, though he's been playing pretty well lately, doesn't seem quite himself this year. His turnovers are up, he's making only 72% of his free throws (after hitting about 80% over his first four seasons), and he's getting to the rim much less than he has in years past. He still presents a difficult matchup for the Lake Show. I'm of the view that Derek Fisher has been better on D than he was last year, but he just doesn't have the muscle to control Williams. With Kirilenko and Korver out of commission, Utah's wings aren't much of a threat, so it's likely we'll see both Kobe Bryant and Ron Artest try to body up Williams at some point.

Who are Utah's wings, you ask? Matthews has been starting at shooting guard, and Ronnie Brewer at small forward. An undrafted rookie out of Marquette, Matthews has been a surprise contributor. He's a low-volume, turnover-prone offensive player, but he's making 38% of his threes, so you can't totally forget about him, and he's been earning positive notices for his D. He'll likely get first crack at guarding Kobe - good luck with that, young buck.

For the second straight game, the Lakers face an opponent with a "stretch 5" - a center who enjoys chucking threes. Channing Frye didn't do much damage on Sunday, and now Okur and his 48% three-point shooting are the challenge. The Lakers are the best in the league at defending the money ball. Their zone-y defensive principles mean Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol don't have to chase guys like Okur all over the court, and there's enough size on the perimeter between Kobe, Artest and Lamar Odom to make drainable looks hard to come by even for the tallest gunners. It seems, therefore, the Laker D is well designed and equipp ed for this matchup.

Eric Maynor is a dude I'm excited to check out. A member of what appears to be an all-time great class of rookie point guards, he comes off the bench for 15 minutes a night. He hasn't found his shooting touch in the NBA yet, but his assist and turnover numbers are fantastic. He should have a long pro career as a backup point.

Also off the bench we'll see power forward Paul Millsap, at $8 million luxury-grade reserve. He hasn't been the same productive force he was last year - turnovers up, rebounds down - but is nonetheless a valuable part of the second unit. Small forward CJ Miles recently made his season debut and could get 15-20 minutes of run.

Not unlike the Suns team the Lakers just got done embarrassing, the Jazz undo a lot of their good work on offense with a pretty terrible D. They control the defensive glass well but are below average in everything else. They're coming off two particularly grim performances, allowing 1.19 points per possession to Minnesota and then 1.16 PPP to San Antonio. Fouling the hell out of their opponents, look a disreputable feature of the Utah D, is again emerging as a tendency. Their opponents have an FTA/FGA of 0.34 for the season, seventh highest in the NBA, and that number has been even higher (0.41) over the past five games.

A central problem with their defense is their starting big men: Boozer and Okur have been terrible at that end of the floor. Their advanced metrics coming into this season weren't bad, but they've both posted defensive plus-minus stats this year that are just putrid. Millsap has been better those guys, as has been Kirilenko. The Lakers catch a break by not having to deal with the latter.

Utah is a perfectly decent team, to be sure. Williams is always fun to watch, and if the Laker big men are sloppy on D, Boozer and Okur could get big numbers. Staples Center, though, has become where perfectly decent teams go to get pounded. Absent a bed-crapping reminiscent of the Miami game, a 10th straight victory for the Lake Show awaits.

	Lakers	Jazz
*RECORD*	16-3	12-8
*NET POINTS PER GAME*	+8.3 (2nd)	+3.3 (9th)
*PACE*	97.8 (5th)	93.6 (22nd)
*OFFENSIVE RATING*	105.6 (13th)	107.3 (7th)
Turnover Rate (Off.)	12.9% (5th)	14.0 (18th)
FTA/FGA (Off.)	0.27 (25th)	0.31 (16th)
Free-Throw %	75.5 (15th)	75.3 (16th)
Effective FG% (Off.)	50.3 (12th)	52.2 (5th)
True Shooting% (Off.)	54.0 (16th)	56.3 (6th)
Off Rebounding Rate	27.8% (10th)	26.8 (18th)
*DEFENSIVE RATING*	97.4 (3rd)	104.6 (19th)
Turnover Rate (Def.)	14.5% (12th)	13.6 (7th)
FTA/FGA (Def.)	0.27 (6th)	0.34 (24th)
Effective FG% (Def.)	46.0 (1st)	50.2 (20th)
True Shooting% (Def.)	50.5 (1st)	54.8 (20th)
Def Rebounding Rate	72.3 (21st)	75.3 (5th)

All statistical terms defined here. Parentheses indicate league rankings. Numbers are courtesy of Basketball Reference and HoopData and, except for record and net points per game, are through Monday night's action.

Perkins vs. Bogut Had an Old School Feel to It

Greg Payne — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 18:26:50 -0000

More photos » by Michael Dwyer - AP

Bogut wins the individual battle, but Perkins team takes the win.

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Heading into last night's game against the Milwaukee Bucks, rookie Brandon Jennings had my attention. It would be my first time seeing the kid play and after a rookie goes off for 55 points, it's difficult not to want to see him for yourself. I figured Rajon Rondo would present a formidable defensive challenge unlike anything Jennings had seen in his still very young NBA career and for the most part I was right.

While the plight of the point guards was entertaining (mainly due to Rondo being one rebound shy of a triple-double and finishing with 11 points, 13 assists, nine rebounds and five steals), the battle of the big men stole the show. Kendrick Perkins and Andrew Bogut did not appear to like each other on the court last night, but Perk was pivotal to Boston's success and Bogut was one of the main reasons Milwaukee kept it close for far too long.

The final lines for the pair:

Perkins: 7-8 shooting, 15 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, 0 blocks, 2 turnovers

Bogut: 11-17 shooting, 25 points, 14 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 steal, 2 blocks, 7 turnovers

Advantage to the Aussie, I suppose, and give him credit for playing so well against one of the NBA's premiere interior defenders. But the tussle itself between these two was worth watching, as the paint proved to be quite the battleground last night.

I missed out on the '60s, '70s and '80s when the vast majority of the NBA's big men actually played in the paint and brought legitimate offensive repertoires down there with them. Hook shots abounded, along with the five to seven-foot turn around and didn't the '80s serve as the 8-10 foot jumper's hay day? I've watched a ton of footage from the decade and I swear EVERYBODY had that shot, including the majority of the league's big guys.

Now come back to last night and with Perk and Bogut going at it, one might have felt like we had taken a step back in time with the moves we were seeing. Bogut was an absolute whiz with the hook shots, whether they be of the stop and pop kind or of the sweeping brand. It looks like he's turned that shot into his go-to move, although, when the Bucks needed him to utilize that go-to move when they were hanging on for dear life with minutes left, Bogut came up empty on two consecutive possessions, primarily due to outstanding defense by Perk (and a helping hand from Rondo the first time around). But despite Bogut's shortcomings in the final few possessions, he really does possess a nice touch down low, and in terms of old school post moves, he's right up there for tops in the league today (along with guys like Al Jefferson and Pau Gasol).

For Perk, has any NBA center in today's league mastered the short fade away jumper in the lane the way he has? He typically begins his move on the right block, backs his man down and buries him into the paint to the point where his defender is almost under the rim, then plants the right foot, turns, fades, and buries the shot. Speaking of go-to moves, Perk has shown he can fall back on this shot whenever he needs to, particularly early on in games when he's establishing his own rhythm.

I think it's fair to say Bogut is a naturally more gifted offensive player, meaning he did not need to develop as much of his offensive game as Perk did when he entered the league. When Perk first stepped onto an NBA floor, if a dunk wasn't an option, he pretty much wasn't going to score. But it's a testament to Perkins' work ethic, along with Clifford Ray's tutelage when we recognize how Perk has developed into a legitimate offensive threat.

But last night it was nice seeing two legitimate interior players really play where their respective games thrive. Bogut didn't drag Perk out to the perimeter, but instead went at him relentlessly down low, and even though I might be forced to say Bogut got the better of Perk for three and a half quarters, watching a skilled big man with legitimate post moves go up against an equally legitimate interior defender is arguably a rarity in today's game. Many of the 6-10 and up guys in today's league possess outside jump shots, or prefer the perimeter in general. But the paint really was a battleground last night and it was somewhat captivating seeing these two continue to go at it, with the hook shots and the up and unders and the reverses, especially when their teammates cleared the lanes and just let them play each other straight up.

I sure hope Perk treats Rondo to a nice dinner when this team heads off on its next three-game road swing, because of the 13 assists Rondo racked up, a bunch of them went through Perk in the paint. As much as we talk about the unspoken on-the-court chemistry between Rondo and Kevin Garnett when they're executing their alley-oops, the relationship Rondo shares with Perk is equally crippling to an opposing team. With Perk always parking himself down low, whenever Rondo slices through the defense and draws the help defender, he can usually count on Perk being wide open mere feet away from the basket. And if Perk isn't always in pristine position, he's usually lurking somewhere nearby, cutting to the hoop or battling for position for an offensive rebound.

I'm not entirely sure which big men helped spark the wave of the 15-18 foot jumper. Perhaps it was Hakeem Olajuwon or Karl Malone. Or maybe it was those drafted in the mid-to late '90s like Garnett, Rasheed Wallace and Dirk Nowitzki. Whoever was responsible for the transition, Perk's had to deal with a steady crop of perimeter based big men this season, including Channing Frye, Andrea Bargnani and Mehmet Okur, which takes Perk out of his natural defensive element.

But Perkins vs. Bogut proved the NBA can still go retro every once in a while, where the emphasis isn't necessarily on the pure athleticism, but rather on the quickness and the finesse, as well as the intelligence it takes to play quality low post basketball. It's difficult to tell whether the big men of tomorrow will resemble a Bogut or a Perkins as opposed to a Garnett or a Nowitzki, but regardless, games like last night's proved that we can still be treated and reminded of the NBA's low post glory days from time to time.

Preview - Indiana Pacers @ Utah Jazz

Basketball John — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 23:29:27 -0000

Ho, ho, ho, Green Giant

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How appropriate that on the night when the Jazz break out the green and yellow retros that they face the team from the John Deer capital of the world (I can't back that up). The same state where Sloan heads to drive those tractors in the off-season.

The last time the Jazz faced the Pacers at the ESA, they probably should have lost if you look at the box score. The Pacers shot 50% from the floor including 13 of 22 from downtown. They had 34 assists and evened the rebound battle.

But they didn't count on the Turk.

Memo went off for 43 points that surprisingly included only three three-pointers. He lived at the line putting down 14 of his 15 attempts while also going 13 of 19 from the field. Money had to step up as a result of injuries. Check out the starters:

Deron, Price, Memo, AK, and Ronnie B. Nobody on the bench hardly played at all.

This year's Pacers aren't the best offensive team, in fact they're near the bottom. The only reason why they have a relatively high PPG total is that they play at a higher pace than most of the league.

Their defense is solid but because of that high pace, they'll give up a lot of points to other teams. With the Jazz rolling on offense like they are now, we should see a pretty high-scoring game.

The Pacers are led of course by Danny Granger, someone who's capable of dropping 50 on you any given night and especially against the Jazz. He's their biggest three-point threat right now. In fact, he's shooting an almost better percentage from the arc (37.3%) than he is in FG% (41%) overall. Now that we'll have CJ back, hopefully we can slow him down a bit with Matthews, CJ, AK, and Brewer.

The Pacers come into this game struggling having lost 5 of their last 6 and are at the tail end of a 4-game road trip. Hopefully the Jazz stick it to the Pacers early and take care of things. I'm hoping that the layoff hasn't impacted their chemistry too much.

Indy Cornrows for the Pacers side of things.
TBJ
Game Thread @ 6:30

Game 19 Preview: Blazers vs. Jazz

Dave — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 09:23:10 -0000

Game Time: 6:00 p.m. Pacific TV: KGW

The Utah Jazz come into this contest 8-7 and indeed, they're having an 8-7-ish year. Their story is pretty basic. They've beaten most of the bad and mediocre teams they've faced. They've lost to every upper echelon team they've faced. The combination of the 2-3 mediocre team losses plus the elite guys balances out the wins against lesser opponents. And there you are.

The Jazz do a few things pretty well. They share the ball, spread the scoring, and shoot well from mid-range and in. This isn't the devastating offense of a couple of years ago but they can still score. 6 of their 8 wins have come when they topped 100. They also happen to be 6-2 when scoring 100 or more. The Jazz are decent rebounders and their bench is underrated.

Utah has also displayed several shortcomings in the early season. The most glaring one has been a disturbing lack of energy. They slough off their defensive responsibilities. They settle for obvious offense. That makes for some bad nights. Their main players turn the ball over too much. Outside of Mehmet Okur they don't have a good distance attack. They don't have shot blockers. They don't have a lot of team speed. In order to win consistently they have to play Jerry Sloan basketball and they're not always doing it.

Even with all that, the top six guys on this team can be as dangerous as anybody in the league. Carlos Boozer is a scoring machine, hitting 54% of his shots and scoring almost 20 per game plus 10 rebounds. Deron Williams is flirting with a double-double average also, scoring just above 19 and dishing almost 10 assists. Mehmet Okur is not providing All-Star level play but he is shooting 43% from the three-point arc. Andre Kirilenko has good games and bad but he can still defend and he's always been a nuisance to the Blazers. Ronnie Brewer brings athleticism to the two-spot and Paul Millsap scores and rebounds off of the bench plus his all-around game is improving. You don't have to give these guys much of a crack before they'll pound the door down. Their home turf isn't as friendly as it once was (they're 5-3 on the season at home) but it's always been a difficult place for Portland to play. No matter how the two teams are doing currently this is a tough matchup for Portland.

At many positions the strengths of the two teams clash. Deron Williams is a strong, bullish point guard who can score in droves. The Blazers field finesse guys. Okur is a distance-shooting center while the Blazer pivots prefer to camp in the lane. Kirilenko is a rangy, disruptive, defensive small forward while Martell Webster is more of a smooth scorer. Portland's bench plays flashy and tends towards skill players. The Jazz bench is more lunch-bucket. The two positions where you see mirrors are power forward and shooting guard. Aldridge and Boozer are both scorers, though Carlos is more experienced and by far the better rebounder. Roy and Brewer are both all-around guards, though Roy is far superior in talent and effect. Both teams also sport hard-line coaches with definite ideas about how the game should be played. It's just a nice mesh and clash of styles when these squads get together. You can never take anything for granted other than it's probably going to be a grind-out affair.

Pivotal Points of the Game

1. This game will be a real test of Portland's new-found defensive prowess. The Blazers like to shut down the interior. The Jazz love to score inside. Somebody is going to enforce their will on the other. That team will have a huge advantage. If Portland's defense is going to mean something it has to mean something in games like this. Last night's contest was not a positive sign. The Blazers need to turn it around defensively tonight.

2. Listen...please. The Jazz have problems getting back in transition. Repeat, the Jazz have problems getting back in transition. This game could be a clash between proficient halfcourt offenses. In that case you can probably flip a coin. But the Blazers could slip underneath the guard and deliver some stunning jabs simply by running. You can happily grind to a 60-60 standstill in the halfcourt if you finish ahead 20-10 on the break.

3. Can Aldridge stay close to Boozer's production? Will the Blazers let him try?

4. You have to worry about Okur on the perimeter. Somebody has to get a hand in his face. But that somebody doesn't necessarily have to be Greg Oden. It's time for the perimeter guys to help the Big Fella the way he's been helping them all year. Meanwhile what's Okur going to do trying to contain Oden on the other end? For that matter what could Boozer do? Or any of the Jazz big men? The Blazers ought to feed Oden early and often in this one. Draw fouls. Dunk. Get mean.

5. I'm not as frightened of Williams as I probably should be because I think the Blazers' interior defenders can help shut down whatever he does to the point guards. He might be able to post up Blake or Miller, for instance, but we can help with that. Guys like Brewer and Kirilenko scare me though. If they get hot, especially with the jumper, that opens up more possibilities for the Jazz to move the ball as the Blazer defense compensates. The Jazz moving the ball for free scores is probably their best shot at winning easily. I'm not sure the Jazz finish ahead on the strength of their top three alone, but if they bust out with #4 or #5 it could be a long night for Portland.

Final Thoughts and Links

Check out what the Utah folks are thinking about this matchup at slcdunk.com

Enter the Jersey Contest form for this game here. Our Jersey Contest Master says the Minnesota glitch will be fixed by the time the weekend is over so we'll have to wait to see who won this month's contest until then. But a new jersey is up for grabs in December, so play along!

--Dave (blazersub@yahoo.com)

Game 15 Preview: Oklahoma City at Utah

Zorgon — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 23:22:55 -0000

More photos » by David Zalubowski - AP

The X-Factors.

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This also counts as an open thread, so feel free to post your thoughts during the game here.

Time: 8 PM Central Standard Time

Place: EnergySolutions Arena, Salt Lake City, Utah

TV: Fox Sports Oklahoma, Fox Sports Utah

Radio: WWLS The Sports Animal (98.1)

Enemy Blog(s): SLC Dunk, True Blue Jazz, Salt City Hoops

Backstory: Well, after one hell of a road trip, it is certainly great to be back in my own bed. But, more importantly, it's great to be writing about the Thunder again. So, what did they do while I was gone? Well, they rightfully trounced the Wizards, and got stomped by the Lakers in Los Angeles. This, all in all, makes for a 7-7 .500 record that the Thunder can't seem to stray away from, one way or the other.

Meanwhile, the team we're playing, the Utah Jazz, seems to be in a similar boat. They've been flirting from staying at okay to becoming good for years now, suffering minor injuries and while beating some opponents badly and losing to other opponents equally badly. It's a team that works well against some and badly against others.

Below: Matchups, Prediction

Matchups:

Center: Nenad Krstic vs. Mehmet Okur (Possibly Kyrylo Fesenko)

A matchup of two clones if there ever was one. Unfortunately, Okur is a bit more well rounded, so he's expected to win this matchup handily if he does play. But, if Fesenko plays, expect Krstic to have a field day.

Power Forward: Jeff Green vs. Carlos Boozer

Jeff Greens continuing quest to remain the #2 guy on the Thunder doesn't get any easier against one of the leagues top 5 power forwards, Carlos Boozer. He'll have another down day, but hopefully he can cause some problems from Boozer inside, because Nenad Krstic certainly won't.

Small Forward: Kevin Durant vs. Ronnie Brewer

Ronnie Brewer was a nice pick at 14, but he's still just a shadow compared to Kevin Durant. He's not an exploitable matchups, but one that should allow for a good Durant performance nonetheless.

Shooting Guard: Thabo Sefolosha vs. Wesley Matthews

Wait....who is Wesley Matthews? Does he play in the NFL or something? Apparently, he's some undrafted rookie. The Jazz are pretty thin at Shooting Guard, I see. He'll obviously be shut down by Thabo, but the bigger question is whether Thabo can use his weak opponent to springboard him into a great offensive night. It's raining 3s!

Point Guard: Russell Westbrook vs. Deron Williams

Daron Williams is one of the best point guards in the league, and a huge reason for the success of the Jazz. I really doubt Westbrook will have a great night tonight if he tries to score too much. Rather, he should focus on distribution, and if he does that, he should be fine.

Battle of the Benches:

The Jazz have the Thunder easily beat here. Kirilenko and Millsap beat us almost automatically. If Kirilenko can come off the bench and be effective defensively, it will be a huge damper in the Thunder's offensive efforts.

Coaching and Intangibles:

The Jazz have the longest tenured coach in the NBA, are at home, and have been 4-1 over the last 5 games, with wins in the last 3 without Mehmet Okur. That's nothing to sneeze at, especially considering we're coming off of a Lakers pounding.

Bottom Line:

The Jazz are a good team, but they are one with weaknesses. If Okur doesn't play or plays badly, they'll be really weak inside, and their lack of swingman talent can pen huge doors for Durant and Sefolosha. As long as Williams and Boozer can be held in check, the Thunder can win this game.

Prediction: Thunder 89, Jazz 86

A close victory. A lot of this is banking on lack of Okur, but I'm confident the Thunder can rebound after a nasty loss against LA.

How do you think the game will go? Vote in the Poll!

And, again, feel free to drop any comments you might have during, before, or after the game below. I might be here during the game to drop my thoughts as well. Go Thunder!

Poll

Who's going to win tonight?

The Oklahoma City Thunder

22 votes

The Utah Jazz

5 votes

27 votes | Poll has closed

Game 13: Detroit Pistons @ Utah Jazz [Game Thread]

Packey — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 02:00:51 -0000

NBA Regular Season Game 13
	@
5-7 (2-5 away)		6-6 (3-2 home)
Energy Solutions Arena Jazz Blog: SLC Dunk
November 21, 2009 9:00 PM ET
TV: Fox Sports Detroit PLUS Radio: 950 WWJ
Probable starters:
Rodney Stuckey	PG	Deron Williams
Ben Gordon	SG	Ronnie Brewer
Jonas Jerebko	SF	Wesley Matthews
Charlie Villanueva	PF	Carlos Boozer
Ben Wallace	C	Kyrylo Fesenko

You know how the Pistons kind of own the Magic over their last 25 meetings? Well, that's kind of how the Jazz own the Pistons in the Salt Lake City.

The Jazz have beat the Pistons in 17 of their last 19 meetings in Utah and the Pistons have not won there since March of 2005.

Hopefully, the new-look Pistons can put an end to the misery that exists for the Pistons when they step foot in the state. Luckily for the Pistons, they won't have to deal with former Piston, Mehmet Okur, who could have provided plenty of match up problems for the 'stons. He will miss his third straight game due to flu-like symptoms.

Detroit, of course, will be without Richard Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince again. They've made slight progress in their recoveries, but it does not appear that they will be back this month. Will Bynum sprained his ankle in LA, but played in Portland and is expected to play tonight.

Detroit needs to take advantage of their couple days off and hop on Utah early by playing to their strengths. And it seems they aren't at their best until they get three guards on the floor.

Utah is averaging around 20 three pointers per game, so the Pistons will have to be conscious of the kick-back passes from the post and contest the Jazz shots. The Pistons have done a good job keeping opponents field goal percentages low (and rank 4th in points against), but the Jazz are top half in scoring and shooting 36% from beyond the arc and capable of lighting up on any given night with Williams and Kirilenko.

This should be a highly competitive game because these Pistons aren't going to walk into the arena scared and they'll be more focused on trying to end their current three game skid than any futility vs. Utah in the past. And with Phoenix tomorrow (Detroit 0-4 on back-to-back's), Utah is their best bet of winning on this west coast trip.

Tip off is 9 PM EST.

LateCap - Utah Jazz @ Ny Knicks - W - 95 - 93

Basketball John — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 00:02:21 -0000

Man, he's rippped.

View full size photo »

Worst win ever?

I shouldn't complain about wins, especially a road win in NY where we haven't won in 5 years. But when you have a 21-point lead against a team that will be scraping the bottom of the league all season, you have to put that away.

The Jazz were held to 95 points against one of the worst defensive teams in the league. On the positive side, you could say they held an opponent to a season-low 93 points, but 62 of those came in the second half.

After going 0-fer in the first half from the arc, you knew they Knicks were going to come out make some in the second half. They did, going 8/19 though it felt like 15/19.

Still, after giving up 33 points in the third, the Jazz still had a 14-point lead heading into the fourth. This looked all too familiar. They were actually holding off the Knicks for the better part of the fourth until one point where I thought there should have been a timeout taken. Sound familiar?

Ronnie B had just made a jumper with a little under 8 minutes to go that gave the Jazz and 84-73 lead. 11 points was pretty good considering the Knicks had somehow got in a groove in the third and having it carry over to start the fourth.

The next possession had Al Harrington make a three-pointer to cut the lead to 8. Not a huge deal, but it was fine to see how the Jazz would respond in that case.

Deron ended up driving and missing a layup with 17 seconds left on the shot clock. The ensuing Knicks possession ended with a Gallinari three from the top of the arc. Bam, 5 point lead.

That's where the timeout should have been called. Sloan's reasoning for not calling timeouts in those situations is that he's not going to call a different play with a timeout, so let's just let them run the play. But what it does do is slow down or stop the momentum and allows your team to re-group. Instead, the Knicks score the next 4 points to get within 1 when Sloan finally calls a timeout.

Too late.

Here are my notes for the Jazz possessions over about this same time period until the end of the game. The first number is how many seconds were left on the shot clock when the Jazz shot. The shots that come with 10-14 seconds on the clock were good. Those that were earlier or later were missed.

14 - d-will running jumper
00 - shot clock violation
10 - brewer made jumper
17 - deron missed layup
16 - millsap - missed drive and jumper
02 - ak three, offen rebound
18 - brewer TO
12 - memo make
10 - boozer make, ak assist
17 - booze fouled down low
07 - booze to on pass
05 - deron TO, stolen
12 - jumper by brewer
19 - offensive fould on williams, jeffries way late getting there.
21 - deron steal and pass to booze, got fouled, booze 1-2
06 - memo missed long jumper
08 - missed deron jumper
24 - memo follow - 1:12
04 - ak missed three - 39.4 left
05 - brewer missed jumper, 10.6 remaining

The Jazz took a lot of shots way early in the shot clock. This wasn't just a fourth-quarter occurrence. I think that was the primary reason why the Knicks were able to come back in the third and the fourth.

What could have been the biggest mistake late is when Ronnie B took the final jumper with 5 seconds left on the shot clock when he could have taken off a few more. A rushed shot with a second left probably wouldn't have been much better, but he had time to try to drive and/or make an extra pass.

Maybe not making an extra pass was for the better as the Jazz passed terribly against the Knicks' zone defense. They had 6 TOs in the fourth quarter alone. It was funny to see NY open the fourth with a man-to-man and then after just one possession where the Jazz got an offensive board, they went right back to the zone. They were in it for almost the entire game. From what I saw, they had 4 guys in the paint at once for the majority of the game. They were daring the Jazz to shoot just like Kobe has dared Ronnie B to shoot the past couple of years. With Korver and CJ out, there's not even that perceived threat of a shooter.

AK though was and has been the most consistent three-point shooter on the team this season. He was on again last night going 5/8 from downtown while finishing with 23 X 6 X 6. Great line from AK and playing like a man that has nothing to lose. You can tell that he doesn't have any pressure at all. He's pretty confident in his shot right now.

Another reason the Knicks came back of course was the defense of the Jazz. The biggest culprits seemed to be Mehmet Okur and Carlos Boozer. Memo was on Al Harrington and Al would just go right by him. That's a terrible mismatch for him. But he burned Boozer too. David Lee was burning Boozer as well. In fact, had the Knicks been able to make a couple of those threes in the first half, this game probably would have ended a lot differently. Not good.

The other biggest problems I saw with both of them was that they didn't down Toney Douglas coming off the pick and roll at all. Memo usually sagged while Boozer would put out one arm to make it look like he was doing something. Douglas got into the lane at will and had most any shot he wanted. And though he's just a rookie, Douglas already had his career-high of 21 against the Jazz. As it turned out, he fell right into the over-confidence trap that the Jazz laid out for him. He ended up taking the last shot and missed a game-tying jumper. All according to plan.

Actually, Deron played good D on him and didn't go for the pump-fakes. As a result, Douglas had to put up a jacknifed-leapin'-leaner that clanged off the back of the basket as time ran out.

Ball-game. Sort of.

If the Jazz play twice this good against Boston tomorrow night, they'll be resting the starters in the fourth quarter.

Some Individual Accolades

Andrei Kirilenko.had 23 points the last time the Jazz won in NY as well. He turned in a 23 & 6 & 6 performance with almost all of those assists going to Carlos Boozer. AK could probably be co-MVP of the team at this point in the season.

Memo had a quite 18 & 12 on 7/15 shooting. His biggest shot came as a putback of Deron's missed jumper late in the game. That broke a 93-93 tie with a little over a minute left. But please Memo, for all that is holy, could you please practice taking a step back before shooting a three? He has to leave at least 2 points a night on the floor because of that toe on the line. Either that or get a Tom Dempsey shoe:

Deron had a rough game shooting-wise and had 7 turnovers. Nasty stuff. However, he did have a season-high 16 assists. He probably could have had 3-4 more but the receiver couldn't finish at the basket or got fouled hard. One of those was after a steal and dish to Boozer. Booze tried to put it down with two hands but got fouled.

That got me thinking, the only hammer dunk I remember from Boozer came in last year's playoff game against the Lakers at the end where he drove left on Gasol and finished with his left hand. He could be a ferocious dunker/finisher but chooses to go the non-contact route.

I was ready to give Boozer some praise when he had several deflections and hustle point in the first half but he reverted back to having some big turnovers and stupid fouls. Still, he had 23 & 14 and finished +1 for the game. When do you sell on Boozer? Is he going to come crashing back down? I few more games of 20 & 12 and it might be a good time to sell.

Nobody else really stood out either way. Ronnie B did have a couple of big jumpers in the fourth before his last one. Wes Matthews was decent but had a couple of circus-shot attempts that could have been more under control. And Millsap's performance was forgettable.

So does that sound like we won or lost? We won of course and that's all that matters for now. I couldn't imagine what things would have been like had the Jazz lost another one like that. There seriously could have been a couple of jumpers in the SLC and maybe Sloan in NY.

So we'll hope that the Jazz play up to their opponent when they take on the Celtics tomorrow night in the Garden.

Other notes

Posting and Toasting
Cowhide Globe
TBJ
Living and Dying (Mostly dying right now)
CJ Miles
No tweets from D-Will?
Knicks had a lot of rim-outs and missed layups. This game could have been a lot uglier.
We Matthews has the Giricek two-step down pat. Need to lose it.
With 10:30 left in the third, here's Boler's comment,

If there was a question about letting the knicks back in the game, not the case at least not in the third.
Toney Douglas looks like he's straight out of the 70s.
Great camera work as we got to stare at Layden's (Scott's not Frank's) butt during a timeout for a good 5 seconds.
Forgot this, Ronnie B's block with :29 left on Hughes was the game-saver. It came after another failed attempt from Memo to slow down Ronnie's man on a screen. Ronnie fought over the screen and blocked Hughes' shot with the left hand.
Not a good sign when Deron Williams looks like Larry Bird did late in his career. Bird spent bench time laying on his back on the floor. Deron did the same and was stretching out his back the entire game.
Ronnie P left the game after he popped his big toe.

The Downbeat - 26 October 2009 - #86 - The KOOF Is No Longer a Rookie Edition

Basketball John — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 16:36:12 -0000

If you're keeping score at home, the Jazz won 3 road games during the pre-season or roughly three times the number they won all of last year on the road.

They're still a young team, but most of them have been in the league several years now. So as far as having maturity and experience on the road, there are really no more excuses.

We'll see right off if the pre-season success carries over into the regular season when the Jazz open the season at Denver. The Jazz have had relative success there splitting the last 8 games.

With two of our shooters out in Korver and Miles, Deron Williams and Memo are really our only three-point threats. Wes Matthews could be there as well should he stay with the team. He shot 44% from the arc.

Jerry probably won't miss threes being put up as often as he would prefer to get all of the points in the paint. Of course teams can just pack the inside now so somebody is going to have to hit those.

Speaking of Matthews, this station in Madison, WI is reporting that he has officially made the roster,

Former Madison Memorial and Marquette basketball star Wesley Matthews tells WKOW-TV he is officially on the Utah Jazz regular season roster. Matthews wasn't even drafted out of college, but he beat out forward Ronald Dupree and guard Paul Harris to make the roster.

From the interview, they were just talking about surviving the cuts. I don't think anything is official yet and I didn't hear Matthews say anything about officially making the roster.

So how did everyone do during the pre-season? I'll group them into great, good, meh, and bad. II didn't include those that aren't with the team any more or are out with injuries. Let's get the bad out of the way.

BAD: The KOOF and Fess. They're still young, I get that. They both still looked young though. Both had a chance to step it up this pre-season and were disappointing. The KOOF couldn't hit a shot and Fess couldn't stop hacking. Maybe this is more disappointment because I was expecting more out of these two. Still early though.

Also bad, the Jazz getting balls rejected like an old man trying to send back soup in a deli.

MEH: Couldn't really find anyone to put in this category. Ronnie Price could have been here, but 3 games doesn't really give us a good sample size. With his injury, I couldn't really make a fair assessment.

GOOD: Paul Millsap, Ronnie Brewer, AK, Eric Maynor, road victories, and the Jazz D.

Millsap could have moved up to great, but he had a couple of games where he didn't play well.

Ronnie B was on the verge of great. He made some mid-range jumpers but didn't shoot the three well. GIven that's what we're going to need shortly, it knocks him down a bit. I'd like to see him knock some shots down consistently. I could be persuaded to move him up, but right now he was at expectations.

Maynor didn't shoot well but was 50% from downtown. He gets a good because he came in and performed above what most were expecting. Handled the ball and the games well.

GREAT: Deron Williams, Mehmet Okur, and Carlos Boozer.

First up, DWill. Averaged 19 & 6 in 28 minutes. He's also shooting 94% from the FT line. Would like to see the three-point percentage up a bit and the turnovers come down though. He's ready to go.

Memo has been on fire. He's shooting 50% and nailing 2/3rds of his 3PA. Can't wait for Money to start the season.

As has been said many times here, no one has ever doubted Boozer's basketball skills (well, maybe come playoff time). He's been a monster this pre-season and has kept his mouth shut. Have to give credit where credit is due. Let's hope this is what we see for the next 8 months.

The fact that this wasn't caught on video sorely disappoints me. With Deron being a Twitter/Iphone expert, I expect more.