The past couple of  Decembers haven't been very good to the Jazz.  The 2007 December was a complete disaster.  2008 was a little better.  And 2009, despite the terrible losses to Minny and @ LA, has been promising.  A little better record in the final month of the year, the past couple of years, would have been a huge boost for the team seeding-wise.  Here's what we've had the past couple of seasons and a comparison of the first 7 games of the month to this season

2007
5-11 record overall
1-6 (first 7 games)
  0-5 R
  1-1 H

This was just an ugly, ugly month.  A .500 month would have given us a 1 or 2 seed that year in the playoffs.  Geez.  Of course, maybe we wouldn't have traded Gira for KK and go on the 38-12 tear.

2008
8-7 overall
4-3 (first 7 games)
  2-1 R
  2-2 H

A little better last season.  Of course we had that huge come from behind win over the Nets which preceded the Boozer "regardless" comments.  We also had a good win @ Detroit in double OT.  We lost to the Heat and Magic at home.

2009
4-2 overall
4-2 (first 6 games)

  0-2 R
  4-0 H

If we can get a win tonight against Minny, and we should, it would be the best start for the team in December since 2001 when that team went 5-2.  The Jazz just have not been a good team to start the month.  That team also finished out the month 10-5 and it's been bad ever since.

So, a good start to the month.

  Right now a SLC Dunk game night out looks like it would be pretty small, just me and three other people.  I know there are quite a few fans out of state and country and continent.  If you can though, we'd like to have you.

Otherwise, I guess it's a lot easier to plan with just 4 people as opposed to 40.  But I would like to be able to get a significant amount of tickets purchased for charity even if there aren't many people.

Feel out a quick form if you'd like to go.  Thanks.

  Thanks to Alexandria VA for this fine Deron ninja.  I expect it in many game threads

Kobe Blows via www.nba.com

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Not too much more to say since we just played them a couple of days ago.  Here's my preview from that.

The updates are mostly injuries.  Kobe Bryan injured a finger on his shooting hand against Minnesota but returned to the game to play.  He's expected to play tonight.

We could see Price AND Korver AND AK return tonight.  How crazy would that be?  Price has already said he's suiting up while Korver and AK seem to be game-time decisions.  In order of likelihood of suiting up it look like we would start with Price,  then Korver, then AK.  Siler has all the updates.

The past couple of years including the playoffs the Jazz have almost always had three good quarters against the Lakers but have been atrocious in one quarter that does them in.  It's been the first quarter in a lot of cases and of course Wednesday's historically bad collapse.

Maybe I should have renamed this blog CanOnlyPlay36minutes.com.  It goes without saying that the Jazz will have to play 48 minutes to get the job done tonight.

Remember when Kobe sucked in the playoffs?  Those were the days.  I'll relish those airballs forever.

[Note by Basketball John, 12/12/09 3:54 PM MST ]  I should have posted this to start the season.  While we're waiting for the Lakers tonight, here's a quick refresher

The topic of jinxing comes up a lot in SLC Dunk threads, mainly game threads.  As much as I've tried to downplay a jinx, there have just been too many coincidences where I've stated something in a game preview/recap, or only to have the Jazz do the opposite.  I've toyed with fate too many times.

The latest example was my Magic 8 explanation.  Over the 12-game winning streak (which will now be forbidden to talk about), the Jazz were closing out games right and left.  The last 8 minutes of the streak showed the Jazz either pull away in that time or come back for the win.  I also included Deron Williams in that talk because his number is 8.  Actually, I was going to label it the Magic 5 or 6 but 8 sounded better and the Williams connection was too much to pass up.  I could stretch it to 8.  Plus, at the 8 minute mark is normally when he comes back in to finish the game.

That came after the Indiana game back on March 10.

What happened after that?  Well, the Jazz went on to lose the next three in a row because THEY COULDN'T CLOSE OUT A GAME including one of the worst losses in the team's history to Miami.  While they never had a chance to close out the Orlando game, it was directly related to the 3OT loss to the Heat the night before.

Thankfully though, Deron seems impervious to jinxes as he's averaged 20 & 10.6 since then.  Sorry about that.  Strike that, reverse it.

So at this request, I give you the rules of jinxing.  While this may cover some Jazz-specific things, they probably apply to most teams.

This is by no means an all-inclusive list.  Leave your comments below and I'll update this document.  The comments will be open forever and this post will appear permanently on the sidebar.  I'd like to have a section called counter-jinxes as well.  What are some of your best counter-jinxes?

And don't worry about any potential jinxes in this post.  I was worried that an entire post on jinxes would jinx the Jazz forever.  I spoke with the basketball gods about this.  The gods have given me one free pass so that the rules can be set.  At least that's what they told me.  I hope it wasn't a trap.

The do-nots

• The biggest rule of all seems to be that jinxes only apply when they are written or spoken. If you keep your thoughts in your head, the basketball gods cannot read your mind.
• Do not mention a streak of any kind. Whether it be winning, consecutive games without an injury, consecutive free-throws, etc. They will come to an end at the next opportunity.
  
  Examples
  
  "I would love to see the Jazz extend this winning streak to 13!"
  Unnamed announcer: "Deron Williams is 8/8 from the free-throw line tonight."
  
  
• Do not comment on how well someone is playing. They will now turn to suckitude.
  
  Examples
  
  "Memo scored 21 points in the first half! He's going to end up with 40!"
  "Brewer has been playing out of his mind over the last two months."
  
  
• Do not state anything as fact before it happens.
  
  Example
  
  Ross Siler: "There's also no doubt that the Jazz will win out at home - - they have Phoenix, New York, Minnesota, Golden State and the L.A. Clippers left - - and take an 18-game winning streak (one shy of the franchise record) at EnergySolutions Arena into the playoffs."
  
  Thankfully, there are counter-jinxes.

The dos

• You are only allowed to say something good about the team once it becomes fact. You can comment on a 40+ point game and be excited once it's in the box score. Though you now risk jinxing that player for their coming game(s).
• If you would like to comment on scores of other teams, state the scores as fact without bias as to any one particular team less the basketball gods know which team you favor.
  
  Example
  
  "Houston - 90, Minnesota - 106, 1:06 left in the fourth."
  
  
• Reverse jinxing works. It seems as though unintended reverse jinxing works better than intentional reverse-jinxing.
  
  Example(s)
  
  From the PHX game thread, "With the Jazz down 88-81, I pretty much gave up hope and sent the following text to one of my diehard Suns fan friends: You guys deserve to make the playoffs. We do not. This is a completely ridiculous performance."
  
  "Yao Ming always kills us. He's probably going to go for 40 & 20 tonight."
  
  And to the extreme (in a good way)

Counter-jinxes

• Leave your thoughts in the comments and I'll update.

It's almost time for "It's not lame, it the 10 days of Christmas."  I know you've been waiting with ba(i)ted breath.  They'll run M-F for the next two weeks with the final one on Christmas day.

  I hope Fess is well enough to go against LA tomorrow night.  We need his length.  I just don't know why he's not getting more PT.  Sloan has favored a Boozer and Millsap lineup when Memo is out.  

Fess is having a good year.  He's shooting almost 60%, has a PER of 14.2 (15 is an average NBA player), his foul rate is down from previous years, and he has an offensive rating of 118 which ranks him up towards the top of the list for centers.

I don't know if or what question proceeded this statement from Boozer, so I don't know if he was asked about playing with Howard or what.  But this is too close to the radio stunts he was playing over the summer,

Now, Utah Jazz star forward Carlos Boozer has followed suit, saying he’d love to play alongside of Howard, his closest friend in the NBA.

...

``You got that big fella down there on defense because he covers up a lot of mistakes for you when he’s as active as he is,’’ said Boozer, who was in the Magic locker room after Thursday’s game to chat with Howard. ``Everybody in the league would like to be on the same team as Superman.’’

I'll give him a pass on this one unless he just brought it up out of the blue.  Can't imagine even he would this time.

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Deron Williams Vector by ~Cotovelo on deviantART

Consistently inconsistent.  Honestly, I know that teams go cold sometimes and sometimes they hit everything that they throw up.  But there's some middle ground there normally.

The last two games have been mirror images of each other.  With the Lakers they hung in there for three quarters and of course crapped the bed in the fourth. 

Tonight, they start out poorly and find themselves down 18 at home.  Then they turn it around and demolish the Magic starting with about 10 minutes to go in the third.

It was 60-52 at the half for Orlando.  The Jazz then went on to outscore the Magic 68-51.  What's going on?  Why the sudden changes the past couple games?

I could not tell you what's going to happen on Saturday with any kind of authority.  You could tell me that the Jazz would blow out the Lakers by 20 and I would believe you.  You could also tell me that they're going to get beat by 30 and I would believe you.

You cannot get any bearing for this team.

While I can't tell you what the team is going to do, I can tell you what they did against the Magic.

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Sorry, wrong Magic

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• Third Quarter Collapse
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So you know the episode of Friends - come one, you know you watch(ed) it - where they're watching Old Yeller only Phoebe's mom always shielded her from the ending?  Well, here I will do the same for you for last night's game,

[Scene: SLC Dunk Game Thread. clarkpojo enters to see moni, shums, RRR, and DanielleLovesKK cursing on the screen.]

clarkpojo: Hey. How's the game going?

shums: BBJ is making us watch the fourth quarter of this game.

clarkpojo: Why are you guys so upset? It's the Jazz.  They always play well against the Lakers.

DanielleLovesKK: What?

RRR: What’re you talkin’ about?

clarkpojo: C’mon, you know.  Jazz build a lead and play well against the Lakers.

RRR: Yeah but clark, what about the end?

clarkpojo: What? When the Jazz blow out the Lakers by 26?  How's that not awesome?

DanielleLovesKK: That’s not how it ended.

clarkpojo: Yu-huh. David Locke is telling me how well Boozer is playing and that they've got a ton of offensive rebounds.

moni: What about the part where they score only 6 points in the fourth quarter?

clarkpojo: No, with about 6:31 left in the third and the Jazz up by 8, Locke said to change the channel because things are about to get really boring for the Jazz because this game is over for the Lakers.  Then he would say, THE END.

RRR: Uh, clark, I don’t think Locke would want you to see what’s about to happen.

clarkpojo: What, what’s about to happen? [starts watching]  I thought the game was over. Hey, Memo, watcha doin’ with that ball? Oh no, no no Memo, pass the ball. No no no no, pass it back to Deron, he's your point guard, no, no no, the end, THE END. [hears shot clock violation from the TV]

Click on through for the rest of the preview

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Just thought I'd pass this along for those that are interested.  First, I had no idea this event happened every year.  But on Monday, December 21st, the Miller family will host the annual Christmas Sing-a-long at the Energy Solutions Arena.  It's starts at 7 p.m. and is free to the public.  No ticket is required.  They're giving out a bunch of things for free. 

Looks like it will be a good time.  I'm sure it will be a very emotional night as it will be the first Christmas without Larry Miller there.

Click on through for deatils.

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  The Jazz had 12 assists in the first half last night against the Lakers.  How many in the second?  4.  Of course all of those came in the third quarter as neither (can't believe I had to use neither there instead of none) of the Jazz FGs in the fourth were assisted.

Those four assists in the fourth though should have indicated something bad was going on.  That would only equate to 16 assists for a game which is about 10 off we they normally are.  The Jazz completely abandoned their offense.  Give credit to the Lakers for stepping up the D but you could see that the Jazz stopped moving and making good passes.

Overlooked last night was a good game from CJ Miles.  He was a large reason why the Jazz were able to take a lead in the second quarter.  He was 6-12 shooting overall and was 4-5 in the first half for 10 points.  Let's hope he's returning to his pre-season form.

Wes Matthews had one of his worst games of the year missing all of his three-point attempts and just 2-12 overall.

  So how does everyone indoctrinate (or plan to) their kids into becoming Jazz fans?  Strapping them to a chair and taping their eyes open?

Do you think that the current team will attract new fans like the teams of the late 80s and 90s did?

More photos » by Mark J. Terrill - AP

"Did you see that shooting by the Jazz in the fourth quarter?" "No, I didn't see any shooting." "Ha, good one!"

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What do you even say to a fourth quarter like that?

WORST. QUARTER. EVAR.

6 points.  2 field goals.  2 FTs.

Thanks to the Jazz broadcast for digging up the last time the Jazz scored this few points in a quarter.  The record was 5 back in 1981 against the Lakers in the fourth quarter.  We sucked so hard we couldn't even beat that record.

The worst quarter of Jazz "basketball" I have ever seen.

We've seen collapses by the Jazz before, but I don't think you could have seen this coming.  Before the start of the fourth, the Jazz had been playing well.  Low turnovers, they were playing decent D on the Lakers.  At the end of the third, the Jazz found themselves down only 2, 73-71.  Little did the Lakers know that they would only have to score 5 more points for the win.

I guess that poor shooting percentage was bound to catch up to them.  You can't keep shooting in the mid 30s and expect to win when the other team is shooting 50%.  The offensive boards hid that number for the Jazz.  They dried up as well though in the fourth.  But even then you didn't expect the Jazz to do what they did, or didn't do.

I thought the Sloan could have brought Deron and the rest back in a little bit earlier in the fourth.  You could feel the Lakers gaining momentum against the second team.  What's weird is that it was the second team that played so well in the second quarter and helped give the Jazz a lead.

This loss though lays squarely on the head of the Jazz though.  They went from layups and good shot choices to forcing everything, taking shots outside of the offense, and jumpers that had no business being attempted.  And when they did get decent looks, they couldn't get those to fall either.  Nice shot selection,

I said in the preview that the Jazz just don't have the swagger that teams like LA and Boston do.  For the first 2.5 quarters, they looked like they had it.  But panic sets in and everyone starts looking for their own shot.  Confidence then disappears and it's the ballgame.

Not much positive that you can take from this game.

Let's see what magic happens tomorrow night.

• Silver Screen and Roll