SB Nation - Carlos Boozer

Recap: In Victory, Our Fears Realized

Only_A_Lad — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 17:21:31 -0000

More photos » by Tony Gutierrez - AP

about 20 hours ago: Houston Rockets' David Andersen, left, and Dallas Mavericks forward Drew Gooden, right, are shown as Rockets forward Carl Landry (14) holds his mouth after being injured on a play in the first half of an NBA basketball game, Friday, Dec. 18, 2009, in Dallas. Landry did not return to play in the Rockets' 116-108 victory. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

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Carl Landry's been through a lot as an NBA player. A knee injury sidelined him for much of his rookie year, Deke knocked out one of his teeth in practice, its replacement was knocked out by Carlos Boozer in the playoffs, a few routine injuries kept him out of games in 2009, and he got shot one night. And, tonight, he broke five teeth in a collision with Dirk Nowitzki (which was totally a charge, btw, but I digress), leaving pieces of two of those teeth in Dirk. Let no one ever say that Landry didn't give as good as he got.

But prior to this game, Dave noted that the Rockets' main risk right now is injury. How will they handle an injury to the frontcourt (or, for that matter, to one of the point guards)? Chuck, Scola, and Landry are such vital parts of the Rockets' strategy that an even moderately lengthy injury to any one of them could spell a bad slide for Houston. Well, now we get to find out in miniature, as it is unlikely that Carl will return tonight to play against Oklahoma City.

The game was obviously a very physical one. Both teams fought hard for rebounds and position, but the key difference is that - just like the Cavaliers not long ago, and just like Trevor two games back - the Mavs lost their shit down the stretch. Jason Kidd threw an elbow at David Andersen's head, Erick Dampier seemed personally offended by the Rockets' efforts to guard him, and Rick Carlisle was very vocal in his opposition to several calls. Altogether, 7 technical fouls and one flagrant foul were assessed in the game, all but a single technical (Andersen, for taking exception to Kidd's attempt to assault him) and the flagrant (on AB for reasons I can't fathom) went against the Mavericks' players and coach.

As the fourth quarter progressed, it seemed likely that the Rockets would win simply because the Mavericks failed to keep their cool. But Dallas rallied, and in a testament to the value of working on things other than defense, conditioning, or a post game, Tim Thomas hit the game-tying three to send the game to overtime. But the Rockets came out strong, kept their composure, and executed their offense in OT, pulling out the win on the strength of Kyle Lowry and Aaron Brooks.

Now, there isn't really much else to the game beyond that. As I noted in the gamethread, the two teams' stats are weirdly similar: they made the same number of free throws, shot and made the same number of threes, committed the same number of personal fouls, and shot the same number of field goals. Dallas outrebounded the Rockets, but the game ultimately came down to the Rockets' superior efforts on offense. This was a game that was very winnable by either team, and had a few more calls gone against Houston, or had a few Rockets shots rimmed out and some similar shots by Dallas gone in, we'd be the ones feeling jobbed.

Dallas played excellent defense for much of the game, and supreme efforts by JJ Barea and Shawn Marion kept the Mavs in it until the very end. But the Rockets' bench - particularly Kyle Lowry and David Andersen - was fantastic. To put it simply, the Rockets' bench's "better" really was better than the Mavs' bench's "best" (that wasn't really that simple).

Mavs fans will no doubt complain about a variety of calls at the end. First, as I've stated previously, the Rockets weren't getting calls for most of the game, either. And at the start of the fourth, the Rockets got into the penalty quickly off of a series of questionable loose-ball foul calls. Now, unless you want to make the claim that calls at the end of the game are more important than calls at the start (in which case you need to reexamine your understanding of how reality works), this game was called no worse for the Mavericks than for the Rockets. Cuban has a variety of specific complaints about the review process and whether or not more time should have been on the clock at the end of regulation, but my advice to him is to get the stick out of his ass and get over himself.

Three Up:

Kyle Lowry: Monster game for the Bulldog (on the same night Villanova won the FCS Championship Game, too!). 26 points on 13 shots, 10 assists, 6 rebounds, and 5 steals. What more can be said?

Aaron Brooks: 25 points on 20 shots, 6 assists, 4 rebounds, and 2 steals. Wasn't so great in regulation, turning the ball over in the Rockets' final possession, but AB turned it on in OT. Beyond raw statistical numbers, he (and Lowry, for that matter) penetrated into the paint and broke down the Mavs' defense for much of the game. They're both invaluable contributors to the team.

David Andersen: I'm not entirely sure how to categorize his performance. His basic numbers don't look too great, and he didn't shoot so well towards the end, but he was finding open looks and was destroying his man in the post. And he was +21 on the night. +/- numbers don't mean much on a night-to-night basis, but they mean something. In any case, I think his defense is looking a lot better, and he's getting the hang of the NBA.

Honorable Mention - Trevor Ariza: a very quiet 13 point / 8 rebound effort from Trevor, but he only took one three tonight, and seems to be better able to get into the lane now. He's developing, people! Oh, and Shane Battier deserves mention for playing schoolmarm on the Rockets bench during the Kidd/Andersen/Thomas/Scola scuffle, making sure nobody stood up.

Three Down:

Jason Kidd: Dude, seriously. If he doesn't get a suspension, I'm going to be pissed.

The Officiating: What the hell were they looking for in that review, anyways?

FSN Cameraman: In high-tension situations at the end of the game, I don't particularly care about reaction shots from Jermain Taylor.

Gameday Preview Charlotte Bobcats vs. Utah Jazz

David Arnott — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 15:50:22 -0000

Pump Up Music: Rise Against -- "Give It All"

The Big Picture: The Utah Jazz have been a mixed bag this year. While they still have Deron Williams to lead the way, with Carlos Boozer, Paul Millsap, and Mehmet Okur a fantastic big man rotation, some of their key cogs have missed time and they simply haven't put it all together. The way they've been playing recently, they don't look like a championship contender, but this same cast of characters was a nominal title contender each of the past couple years.

It remains to be seen if their young players, Wes Matthews and Eric Maynor, can be difference makers, but Matthews is starting (and getting starter's minutes!), while Maynor has settled in as the second unit's point guard.

Last night, in Atlanta, Jerry Sloan benched his starters as they were getting blown out by the Hawks in the third quarter, and no starter played more than 24 minutes, so they won't be as worn down as most teams are on the second half of a back to back.

Key to Victory: The Jazz have a couple of fire hydrants in Boozer and Millsap, short-ish, solid, guys who can't easily be moved off their spots. The Bobcats don't have anyone who's made a living by muscling in the post, and I worry that our decided lack of bulk will be a problem in the half court offense when the Jazz work the ball to their big men at the elbows.

Watch how Boozer, especially, gets the ball there with his back to the basket, and then guards and wing players streak past him to the goal, using him as a screen. His defender can either stick with Boozer and let the other guy dive to the basket unimpeded, allowing Boozer to pass him the ball for an easy layup. Or the defender can back off and help on the cutter, allowing Boozer to turn around and either shoot an elbow jumper, pass to another cutter, put the ball on the floor and drive the lane, or kick it back out to start all over again. If Boris Diaw won't be steamrolled by his heftier opponents, and he causes problems for the power forwards as they make decisions in the high post, the Jazz will have to play a different kind of offensive game that isn't necessarily suited to their personnel.

Detail That May Interest .08% of You: Carlos Boozer is one of three NBA players in history to have attended high school in Alaska. The other two? Mario Chalmers and fellow Dukie Trajan Langdon.

Congratulations Utah!!!

Stop-n-Pop — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 04:46:03 -0000

You are now responsible for 1/2 of the Wolves' victories. Well done. A zombie dance for you.

Game wrap in a bit.

UPDATE: Game wrap below the fold.

The Jazz are an interesting team. On one hand, they have some thoroughly non-enjoyable/unlikable talent. Carlos Boozer is a Dookie in preparation for leaving a 2nd team in his wake, Kyle Korver is a silly Iowegan, and Jerry Sloan will continue to coach as if the league were still in the midst of a coked-out pre-80s haze. On the other hand, they have the player I consider to be the best and most entertaining point guard in the game: Deron Williams. As much as I cannot stand to watch a backstabbing Dookie, Coach Cleaver, and the most annoying fellow Creighton Jayhawk in the world, there is no player I enjoy watching more when he is "on" than the former Illini point.

A couple of games ago the Wolves' TV crew ran a poll about who they thought was the best point guard in the game. I can't remember who they ended up picking, but for my money's worth, if I'm putting together a squad to win it all, here are my top 3 picks at the point: Williams, Rajon Rondo, and Tony Parker. Williams, to me, is the greatest surgeon in the game. He's not as flashy as Chris Paul or Steve Nash but he's physically dominant for his position with a balanced game that picks apart his opponent with precision and consistency. From the line, from mid-range, from beyond the arc, in transition, in 1/2 court...the guy does it all. He was playing out of the post of several key possessions in the 4th quarter and it baffles me that Sloan didn't ride that horse hard. Plus, when the game is on the line and time is running off the clock in a must-win playoff game, he can get his shot off in traffic, which is an amazingly important trait that some possess while others do not. Sorry CP3, I want D-Will for that possession.

Anywho, the first thing that should be pointed out about last night's tilt was that Williams was the best player on the court and it wasn't even close. He shot the lights out from the floor, got to the line a ton, dished out 13 assists, and...well, (robot voice on) Jerry Sloan is a fantastic coach and he knows exactly how to use Mr. Williams (robot voice off).

OK, now that we've talked about Utah's point guard, let's take a few minutes to gab about Jonny Flynn. Flynn undoubtedly shows flashes of brilliance. His quickness is world class and while he still needs to learn a thing or two about running a pro offense, his court vision is top shelf. His outside shot is surprisingly serviceable and should he ever develop an ability to dish off of the drive, he'll be damn near unguardable. That being said, the flashes of brilliance are accompanied by stretches of outright boobery. The CP3 inbounds boner in the NOLA game stands out over anything else but he is also guilty of overdribbling, going too much to his right, and inexcusably holding the ball when it is rotated his way on a nightly basis. Adding to our T-Wolves dictionary (first addition: Brewsist) is the Jonny Stop: The way in which a freely moving ball is stopped by an ultra-quick lead guard who uses the opportunity to survey the court and negate his greatest strength, his speed.

Watching Flynn play the point you can practically see his High School/AAU/Syracuse coaching play out in a motion picture thought bubble above his head. This kid has been the dominant lead guard for so long, and he has played for so long against such relatively inferior competition, that his first instinct in close games and/or highly leveraged situations is to do what he has always done: Be the be-all/end-all of ball movement and end the damn possession for his team. At Niagra Falls High, NY AAU, and Syracuse, his speed alone was enough to get the job done. No need for setting up teammates. No need for creating angles. No need for worrying about the shot clock. When the heat was on, it was Jonny, the ball, and his defender. This kind of nonsense will not fly in the NBA for a player like Flynn. He's not that quick. Maybe it will have its time and place in a few years when he gets the benefit of the whistle and learns how to better incorporate his teammates, but not now. While Flynn ended the contest with a career high in points while shooting the lights out from beyond the arc, he stunted several key possessions with the Jonny Stop. Also, while I'm very, very happy that he made the game winning shot, I think I suffered a Randy Foye flashback with the kamikaze drive down the right side of the lane. At least he didn't try and bank it off the shot clock.

Let's wrap this up with some bullet points.

Should the Wolves have lost, Kevin Love and Damien Wilkins would have been my choices for goats of the game. There is no dumber shot in all of basketballdom than the foot-on-the-line 3. There is no excuse for it. It has all the risk of a 3 pointer with none of the reward. Dumb, dumb, dumb, and more dumb. Love and Wilkins both made toe-on-the-line 2 pointers.
While Flynn took some heat earlier this season for an ill-conceived behind-the-back pass attempt, he and Love ran the behind-the-back pick-and-roll twice in the last two minutes of the game and it netted them two wide open three point attempts. It's really not a flashy play and it has the potential to be a nice addition to the offense. I want to see a lot more of the middle pick and roll with Love and Flynn.
The star of the game has to go to Corey Brewer. There were a few points in the game where Brewer reverted to the holy-crap-he's-everywhere kind of player that we got kind of excited about a few weeks ago. He was dunking, sticking shots, rebounding, and holding people up on defense all night long. It really is amazing how different this team looks with competent wing play. Imagine if they had some outside shooting to go along with the competent wing play. Paging Rudy Gay.
If the flash went to Flynn and the star went to Brewer, the workhorse award goes to Big Al Jefferson. The guy is really starting to return to form and he played the role of the bruising running back, grinding out short yardage situation after short yardage situation in order to keep drives alive and his team in the game. This site has been home to a long standing debate over the relative worth of Jefferson and Kevin Love for about 2 years now and my current thoughts on the duo are this: The problem with the Wolves is not Al Jefferson and Kevin Love. Neither has the advantage of playing with a consistently competent wing player or an outside shooter worth his salt. Neither has the advantage of playing with a group of properly-sized perimeter players. There is nothing wrong with having 1 or 2 undersized players in your rotation provided that you surround them with athleticism and length. Al and Love have complimentary skills and they are obscenely skilled on the offensive end of the court. My take on the pairing is that they are still in need of a Joakim Noah/Jason Thompson 3rd wheel and a pair of athletic slashers on the wing. I have been saying this since before Love came aboard. In the front court I want the aforementioned Noah/Thompson type and on the wing I have opined for, in order, Josh Smith, Trevor Ariza, and Rudy Gay. This team can put it together with some competent wing play and for either Flynn or Ricky Rubio to work out at the point...or for John Wall to land at the doorstep of 600 First Avenue. Wings, an athletic backup big, and hashing out the point guard situation, these are the things that need to be worried about before talking about whether or not Love and Jefferson can play together. Rudy Gay, Rudy Gay, Rudy Gay. Please, get 'r done. It has been obvious for over 2 years.

OK, that does it for tonight's wrap. We'll have a very cool announcement on the site tomorrow and then I'll follow that up with a post on the Lynx's choice in the supplemental draft, Rebekkah Brunson.

PS: If you really want to know why the Wolves won, it was because they collected a very large number of their misses:

	Pace	Eff	eFG	FT/FG	OREB%	TOr
Minnesota	98.0	112.2	52.4%	27.7	32.6	15.3
Utah		110.2	53.7%	25.9	17.1	12.2

When you have an eFG of over 50% and you are collecting a 1/3 of your misses, life is good. This is another reason why you don't want to monkey with the Love/Jefferson duo. If you surround them with competent perimeter players, they will destroy the boards. BTW: We need to come up with a Wolves Dictionary term for when Love grabs an offensive rebound in between 3-4 defenders.

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

Utah Jazz 120, Orlando Magic 111

Ben Q Rock — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 07:17:48 -0000

More photos » by Steve C Wilson - AP

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Hot three-point shooting and excellent execution helped the Orlando Magic lead the Utah Jazz by as many as 18 points tonight, but Utah exposed Orlando's soft interior defense to work its way back into the game and eventually win it, 120-111, to snap Orlando's 8-game road winning streak and dash the Magic's hopes of improving to 18-4 for the first time in franchise history. Deron Williams became the latest point guard to exploit the Magic, carrying the scoring load--a team-high 32--with a combination of jumpers and aggressive drives while distributing the ball to tally 15 assists to 1 turnover. Carlos Boozer added 20 points and 14 rebounds for Utah, which rebounded after an atrocious loss to the L.A. Lakers last night. Vince Carter's 34 points paced Orlando, which also got solid production (47 points on 70.3% eFGs), but the Magic's inability to get a stop in the second half cost them the game.

Team	Pace	Efficiency	eFG%	FT Rate	OReb%	TO Rate
Magic	94	117.9	55.3%	35.5	13.2	13.8
Jazz	93	128.5	53.6%	35.7	27.1	6.4
Green denotes a stat better than the team's season average; red denotes a stat worse than the team's season average.

Orlando took its largest lead, 51-33, at the 7:11 mark of the second quarter, when Anthony Johnson drained his 7th and 8th free throws of the season. Utah closed the half on a 19-9 run, then blew the game open in the third quarter, outscoring Orlando by 38-21 to take firm control of the game.

Utah overcame that 18-point deficit with both its defense and offense. The Jazz ran extra defenders at Magic center Dwight Howard all game long, and at odd intervals, so as to keep him guessing. This approach limited Howard to 18 points in 44 minutes, and forced him to commit 3 turnovers. Utah dared Orlando's perimeter scorers to deliver, and some of them did: Carter, as mentioned, had 34, while Ryan Anderson scored 16. Reserve Matt Barnes did most of his work inside and in transition, but ultimately, the Jazz's defensive scheme worked. The Magic were out-of-sorts at times, which isn't always a problem when they're playing great defense.

But that's just it. They didn't.

Williams orchestrated the Jazz's offense beautifully. 15 assists against 1 turnover in 42 minutes? For a point guard who took 18 shots form the field and 15 at the line? He played essentially mistake-free tonight, and it showed. His teammates played well, too. They knew where they needed to be, Williams delivered the ball, and scored. Maybe that's reductive, but goodness, the Jazz made everything look easy tonight. That 18-point deficit had more to do with Orlando's hot outside shooting than it did with anything the Jazz were doing wrong offensively.

Howard was a step slow defending the paint all night, which has become a disturbing trend. Boozer and Williams hooked up on the pick-and-roll successfully numerous times. Williams' dribble-penetration also drew Magic defenders from the weak-side, freeing Jazz wingmen to sneak along the baseline for a layup.

Ultimately, the game came down to which team cooled off first. Orlando's three-pointers didn't drop in the second half, while the Jazz continued apace with their points in the paint and surprisingly effective midrange game.

The lightly regarded reserve swingman C.J. Miles scored the quietest 22 points off the bench I've ever seen, and he wound up icing the game with a three-pointer to beat the shot clock at the 1:03 mark of the game, giving Utah an insurmountable 114-103 lead.

Now, this is not the sort of game where the Magic can say, "hey, we played well, they played better." That's simply not the case. The game wasn't as close as the final margin might indicate, as the Jazz surrendered layup after layup in the waning minutes in order to keep Orlando from bombing its way back into the game with three-pointers. 8 points in the final minute for the Magic, and they were all academic.

Utah just utterly outclassed the Magic tonight. They worked harder, from tip to horn, than Orlando did. Their effort paid off when they locked down on defense, while their offense sustained. For example: Orlando is among the league's worst offensive reobunding teams, and by choice; coach Stan Van Gundy likes to send four men back after the shot's release in order to cut down on the opponent's transition game. But they're much better on the glass than the Jazz made 'em look tonight. In the second half, in which Utah outscored Orlando, 68-51, the Magic grabbed 1 offensive rebound in 21 opportunities. One-and-done for them on offense.

The Magic never really strung together any meaningful stops, and looked overmatched defensively the entire night. This is, in brief, a disconcerting loss. If there's a positive spin, it's that Barnes played solid defense on Williams during the game's closing minutes as Orlando tried to rally. I had no idea Barnes had that defensive skill in 'im, so, uh, yeah. There's that.

In a lot of ways, this game was the polar opposite of the Magic's road win over the Atlanta Hawks on Thanksgiving. Atlanta shot its way to an early lead, but the Magic's shut its offense down in the second half, worked harder in every phase of the game, and won going away. In general--and this is a subject I'd like to cover in better detail soon--the Magic tend to jump out to early leads on the road, then let the opponent get back into it. The TNT cameras cut to Van Gundy tonight after a late-first-half Jazz bucket lamenting his team's "playing the scoreboard;" I'm not an expert lip-reader, but I'm darn near 100% positive that's what he said, because it's one of his favorite phrases and because it applies. Orlando's an excellent road team, but it wasn't going to continue winning 10 games out of 12 squandering leads like that. It caught up with the Magic tonight, and maybe they'll learn from it. Maybe not.

There's no time to worry about the loss, though. Orlando plays again tomorrow night at Phoenix, one of the league's most dynamic offensive teams. Howard (44 minutes) and Carter (38) were pressed into long duty tonight, so it's up for the Magic's other players to pick up the slack, if there is any. Rashard Lewis, who managed 10 points in 27 minutes tonight due to foul trouble and personal preference, is a prime candidate.

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.

Daily Links 12/8

FLCeltsFan — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 17:35:13 -0000

Herald    Young Buck runs wild
Scouting report: Bucks at Celtics
Tim Donaghy has standards, just not high ones Tim Donaghy has standards, just not high ones
Globe     The power of words The power of words
Allen gets defensive
Chat with Gary Washburn right now
Jennings owes a bow to Garnett
Vote for Perk

CelticsBlog     Happy Birthday Larry Legend
Everyone Loves Brandon Jennings
Loy's Place    Celtics Host Bucks Looking for 8th Straight Win
ESPN    Tim Donaghy, disgraced NBA official, sticks to story: Biases helped bets
It's clear Daniels has been hurting
C's climb in power rankings
Garnett named the best in the East
Former Celtic mentored Jennings overseas
Owner sorry for Michael Jordan-Bryon Russell 1-on-1 hoax
Tim Donaghy's claims on trial
Nick Friedell's Blog - What happened?
NBA Basketball Power Rankings
Celtics 17    Iverson scores 11 in inauspicious return
Red's Army     Case of the Mondays: Lakers Lovefest Makes Me Wanna Puke
KG is the Player of the Week
The Morning Dump... Where Ray Gets Defensive
Andre Iguodala nails full court shot
CSNNE    C's Xmas list: Board game
Basketbawful     Happy Birdmas 2009!!
Celtics Hub    Statistical Oddities of Questionable Significance
Everybody Loves Ray
North Station Sports    Dwight Howard has worse hygiene than your garden variety preschooler
Anything Is Possible! KG Wins Player Of The Week
Keep Shooting Ray Ray!
Celtics Town    The Morning Walkthrough: Brandon Jennings was mentored by former Celtic Allan Ray
Is Tim Donaghy lying? Statistics prove it likely
Glen Davis has cast taken off, does 'light work' in practice
Lebron James bashing gone too far
Hardwood Houdini    Kevin Garnett – Hardwood Houdini Player of The Week
Hardwood Houdini NBA Power Rankings
Lex Nihil Novi     Larry v. Magic: Game 6 Preview
Red: Parish Doesn't Take a Back Seat to Anyone
Larry v. Magic: Game 6
Larry v. Magic: Game 6 Post-Mortem
CelticsLife    The decline of the White American NBA Player
More Donaghy
The Rarest of the Rare
What the Hell Happened to...Eric Montross?
Gino's Jungle     Write For Gino's Jungle
One at home then back on the bus.
Celtics Stuff Live    Covering the Celtics the Yahoo! Way V.2
Herald News    CELTIC KNOT:Boston has company at the top of the Eastern Conference
Charlotte Observer    CELTIC KNOT:Boston has company at the top of the Eastern Conference
Newest Bobcat's got your back - always
NESN     Celtics Seeking Eighth Straight Win as Bucks Visit Boston
Bucks' Rookie Star Brandon Jennings Set to Face Celtics
Bleacher Report   NBA Power Rankings: Lakers Still King but Magic, Celtics, Nuggets Closing
How Badly is Rasheed Wallace Out of Shape?
Dimemag      Most Improved NBA Player by Division
Back for the First Time
Slam Online    Phil Jackson on Women in NBA: No Way
Inside Hoops   NBA Rumors: Tuesday, Dec. 8
Patriot Ledger     The Shot heard ’round the Celtics
Cleveland.com    With Shaq and a beefed-up bench, there's plenty to like about the Cleveland Cavaliers
JS Online    Preview: Bucks vs. Celtics
Hoopsworld    NBA Power Rankings
Evan Brunell   The end of the Most Valuable Network, MVN.com
Sports Central     LeBron Develops Kevin Garnett Syndrome
BetUs    NBA Week 6 Hot or Not – Celtics are Back, Cavs Keep Rolling
FanHouse    Rondo Deserves to Be an All-Star
Tim Donaghy on '60 Minutes,' Puts Pressure on NBA
NA Sports     Coach of the Year – Worst. Title. Ever.
Orlando Sentinel    NBA Insider: The New Jersey Nets have sacrificed the present for the future
NBA.com    Kevin Garnett and Carlos Boozer named Players of the Week
My SouthEnd    Last Call for Tony Allen
Mass Live     Celtics buzz: Marquis Daniels out, Tony Allen in, and more
CBS Sports    Bucks-Celtics Preview
Herald Extra     Michael Jordan sighted in Orem for 1-on-1 challenge
American Chronicle      Quite a haul ; The Red Claws open a new era of pro basketball in Maine with a big win in their home opener.
TruFan    Are you ready for Tony Allen?

Jazz 96, Pacers 87: Pacers Leave Win Safe And Sound In Utah

Tom Lewis — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 05:39:33 -0000

More photos » by Steve C Wilson - AP

Deron Williams was channeling Dr. Dunkenstein in the green throwback uniforms for the Jazz.

Browse more photos »

The Utah Jazz led the whole game, but the Indiana Pacers still should have won.

One problem, though -- they only count points if you put the ball in the basket.

If the Pacers had even an average shooting night, they would've swiped a road win in Utah and been rewarded for digging themselves out of an early hole. Instead, at winning time in the fourth quarter, the Pacers came up empty, allowing the Jazz to hang on for the win, 96-87.

The Pacers really dug in defensively, early in the fourth quarter and earned a few stops which they used to cut the lead. Then the Jazz just caught a case of the clanks, themselves, giving the Pacers ample opportunity to not only catch up on the scoreboard but even take control of the game.

Consider it opportunity lost.

With 8:36 left in the game, Brandon Rush hit a three-pointer to draw the Pacers within four at 82-78. They had been stuck trying to get over the 7-point hump most of the half, so this was a breakthrough. Momentum seemed to be fully on the Pacers' side. Warm up the get-a-way plane, a W theft appeared to be in progress.

But alas, all of that good feeling oozed away slowly and painfully until the final buzzer.

When forced to scrape up a shot in the half-court, the Pacers had trouble just passing the ball around, let alone running a set play or any semblance of motion to create a good look. We're talking game-on-the-line, two or three possession game with plenty of time and the Pacers have four guys looking at each other on the perimeter simply trying to pass it to one another.

The spacing is cramped, everyone is easily covered and a contested, off-balance shot seems like a relief. Twice, Danny Granger couldn't even get his shot to the rim as he forced it up while wearing Wesley Matthews. One shot attempt was so bad, Matthews was credited with a steal.

In fact, those two possessions were among the many empty possessions after Rush's hope-lifting three. From that point with 8:36 left in the game, the Pacers only scored two points over the next five minutes of game time.

Incredibly, the Jazz were nearly as bad on offense and couldn't put away the Pacers, which brings us to the final two minutes of the game. The Pacers were down 92-87 after T.J. Ford made a layup with 1:54 remaining in the game. Plenty of time. Plenty of options. Even after the Jazz moved up by seven points on their next possession, there was still a chance.

Of course, you've seen the score, the Pacers didn't score again. Worse, their attempts to do so, again forced the eyebrows to raise along with the blood pressure. They were playing like they DIDN'T have a chance. Dahntay Jones shots a corner three with no one in rebounding position. He's not a three-point shooter. It seemed like a desperation shot. A lot can happen in the NBA with 1:14 left.

Just not tonight.

The game stayed at seven while the Pacers continued to shoot rushed, long 3-balls. In that final 1:14 the Pacers would shoot five three-pointers, all out of rhythm and all making it easy on the Jazz to close out the game.

A few more thoughts:

The game started with a 22-3 run by the Jazz. Utah ran off of turnovers and missed shots, used some crafty interior passing and made oodles of easy buckets. The Pacers meanwhile appeared afraid of the paint and shot jumper after jumper without moving the ball or bodies in search of a better option. By the time the dust settled on the first quarter, the Pacers were down 32-14 and they were lucky it was that close. Not sure if this was rock bottom, but with the lack of energy early and the soft play, it sure seemed like the Pacers had touched some limestone.
The Pacers came to life in the second quarter, working the ball into the lane more and drawing some fouls (funny how that happens). The shots from the line and the field started falling and with 45 seconds left in the half, the Pacers had the ball and a chance to cut the what was once a seemingly insurmountable lead down to five. Instead, the possession ended in a turnover and before the half ended, the Jazz reeled off six quick points to push the lead back to 13. All that hard work climbing back into the game, gone in an instant.
The Pacers started their comeback in the third quarter comeback, but again made it tough on themselves with their poor free throw shooting. At one point, Troy Murphy and T.J. Ford missed 6 of 8 freebies. The second-half free throw woes were an important part of the losing equation.
Last year, the Pacers seemed to always have a random player from the opponent go off for a career or season-high in points. Tonight, rookie Wesley Matthews had a career-high 18 points to go along with some solid defense on Danny Granger. Also, Carlos Boozer had a season-high 35 points along with 13 rebounds.
After a huge game on the glass in Sacramento, the Pacers only gathered three offensive rebounds compared to 14 o-rebs the Jazz utilized quite nicely.

The Downbeat - 2 December - #113 - The B-R.com Sponsored Edition

Basketball John — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 17:12:17 -0000

Over the past 7 games, the Jazz are holding opponents to just 92 points a game while allowing them to shoot 43.8%.

Those numbers are very close to what the top defensive teams in the league are doing right now.

Has Boozer initiated this much contact in his life on defense? Over the past 7 games or so, I've seen give hard foul after hard foul and has *GULP* been our best defensive player?

He has a defensive rating of 102 which means that he's giving up 102 points per 100 possessions. Take a look at the forwards in the league that have played at least 400 minutes,

That's pretty good. He also leads the team with .9 defensive win shares.

Malone's career average? 102.

Some more stats for you. The Jazz are in the middle of the pack when it comes to 3p shooting percentage with 35.4%. They're also in the middle of the pack when it comes to opponents' 3P percentage with 34.8%.

Here are the splits (rounded) for the previous seasons,

Year - Jazz/Opponent
2010 - 35/35
2009 - 35/36
2008 - 37/36
2007 - 34/36
2006 - 34/38

So those numbers are coming down on the opponent side.

I had the date wrong for the first home game for the green unis. They're going to be busted out at the game on Friday. Anybody here have one? Do you like the green and yellow or the one with the purple in it as well?

I made the assumption earlier this year that the KOOF was going to overtake FESS on the depth chart. He just seemed more committed and more basketball-oriented that Fesenko.

It's obviously been the opposite so far. Fess appears that he's worked his tail off to improve his game. I mean, last season, would you have ever envisioned him being able to make a steal and go coast-to-coast with it? Or have some of the moves he has made? Whatever his motivation is (contract, maturity, playing time), I don't think we should overlook the news that he's had a girlfriend since the summer time. We don't know anything about her, but maybe she's helped ground him a bit. Maybe she's his constant. (Sorry, that's a LOST reference - Only two months away!)

I wonder though how the KOOF would do with some consistent playing time. He may get some more PT soon, but it will likely be with the Flash.

The Downbeat - 1 December 2009 - #112 - The PER Edition

Basketball John — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 17:02:19 -0000

Here's why PER (John Hollinger's efficiency tool) gets me sometimes. There's no doubt the contributions that Wes Matthews has made to the team. He gives us an outside shooter, someone that can penetrate the offense, and he's playing pretty good D.

Where a PER rating of 15 is an average NBA player, Wesley scores a 9. Here's a list of similarly ranked guards from this season with at least 9 games.

From what I understand of PER, it looks like his lack of rebounding, assists, and steals. First, he should be rebounding some more and Kevin O'Connor stated on Locke's show that Sloan has said as much. The assists are going to be hard to bring up with his position on the team. He has passed the ball a lot more the past couple of games though. And steals aren't necessarily indicative of good defense.

Are there many from that list above Matthews that you would rather have? If you just take into account the rookies that have played in at least 9 games, Matthews is on the bottom of the list.

But if you watch him each night, I think you would see the value that he brings.

Maynor by the way is at 15.2 and ranked 7th among rookies.

With CJ set to come back on Friday and Korver's return coming soon after that, are we going to see the team get thrown off a bit? Someone's minutes are going to have to go down and it will likely be Matthews. How long is going to take to get them going again? Does Matthews make Korver a trade piece? I don't think he's going to return much by himself, he'd have to be packaged with someone.

Speaking of trades, at this point, I'm firmly in the "They're not going to trade Boozer" this season camp. First, the team is playing so well now and Boozer's one of the biggest reasons for that. He's been unwordly. They're only going to trade him for equal value at this point and they're not going to get that now.

Second, the longer we go without a trade, the likelihood of a trade happening diminishes. The reason is that making changes later in the season decreases the time that a new teammate would have to mesh and gel with the team on the court.

What worries Jazz fans is that we've never had an explanation of what caused the horrendous slide to close out last season. It was the same team that we had that tore it up to close out the 2008 season. And for now, the Jazz are looking like that team. What's in the back of every Jazz fan's mind is is that going to happen again? Because if a slide like that does happen after we could have traded Boozer, we'll have let Boozer walk without getting value in return (other than his money coming off the books) and we'll have lost another year of Deron.

At this point, the Jazz are going to have to be bowled over with an offer to part with Boozer.

If you'd like to win some of Deron's stuff, head to his website for his 25 days of Christmas giveaway. You have to sign up each day.

The Jazz are off until Friday, FRIDAY! Man, it's going to be a long week.