via www.nba.com

I had forgottten that Tayshaun Prince was on the olympic team.  Apparently, so did Boozer, Howard and Bosh.

Yesterday I was reading my latest dose of tweets when i came across this:  D_Will_8_4real In Orlando on the way to the mall with @CJMiles34, Sap, Brew and Hancock aka Wes Mathews!

 In twitter language that means that CJ Miles, Deron Williams, Paul Millsap, Ronnie Brewer, and Wes Matthews went to the mall together.  Other tweets report that some of the same crew went to see Avatar and that Deron and CJ really liked the movie.  But I didn't want to know about the movie as much as, "where was the rest of the team?"  and more importantly, "where was Carlos Boozer?"  As much as the team talks about chemistry, all of the players hang out with one another to some degree, but it seems Carlos Boozer has been missing from a lot of team get togethers.  Might mean nothing.  But then I realized that Carlos was probably just hanging with his best buddy in the NBA, Dwight Howard.

From Ross Siler's blog:

"Boozer dropped into one of his postgame answers Saturday that he would be hanging out with Magic center Dwight Howard at Howard’s home in Orlando on Sunday. The two played together on the 2008 Olympic team.

'I know me and Dwight will be going at it a lot," Boozer said, looking ahead to Monday’s game. "We’re really good friends, so we’ll be talking about it tomorrow at his house.'"

And apparently the feeling is mutual.  From Dwight Howard's blog:

"Heeeeeeyyyyyy Wooorrrrrrrrrld!!!  We've got a really tough back-2-back against my man Carlos Boozer and then Phoenix on Thursday Friday."

Cute.  Now cue the "best of friends" song by that owl lady when the fox and the hound are playing together and enjoy the rest of the preview.

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Where's your bellybutton, Stephen?  Oh, that's close.  Try Again.

"We have to play better at the beginning of games.  We always start slow and use all our energy to get back into the game. You can't do that on the road against any team."  

Sound like a Jazzman?  It's actually a quote by Charlotte Bobcat Forward Stephen Jackson after they dropped a tough loss to Indiana on Wednesday night.  The Bobcats are actually a respectable 10-14 and playing much better basketball since the trade to acquire Jackson.  But like the Jazz, the Bobcats are horrible on the road at 1-11.  But that means that they are 9-3 at home and have won 6 of 7 at Time Warner Arena.  

So what seems like a good chance at a W for the Jazz, may not be.  You know it's bad when ESPN accuscore projections have the Jazz winning only 27 % of the 1000, simulated games between Utah and Charlotte tonight.

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Hey Warrior fans,

You have heard all of the offers pitched.  The Warriors management is obviously looking for a power forward, but I don't know that you are going to find one much better than David West and you are going to have a hard time convincing guys like amare or Chris Bosh to sign extensions. 

Anyways, I have always thought that Andrei Kirilenko just belonged on the Golden State Warriors and I have thought that there was a trade to be made between the Jazz and Golden State.  In fact, I think AK47 for Anthony Randolph is a funny trade, because I see AK as a more mature version of Anthony Randolph; a veteran if you will. 

So my proposed trade is Andrei Kirilenko and Ronnie Brewer, for Anthony Randolph, Corey Maggette, and Raja Bell's expiring contract. 

It obviously adds about $3 million to your payroll this year and $6-10 million next year, but it also takes $21 million of Corey Maggette's contract off the books in 2011-2013.  I don't know if the Jazz management is willing to make a big trade right now, but I think this would benefit both teams.  AK has only one year left after this one, so his contract isn't as bad any longer and I really think he would thrive in your system if he was turned loose again.  He's only 28 years old.

Let me know what you think.

via assets.espn.go.com

No offense to the human highlight, but this might be the best Hawks team in the last 30 years.

As good as Orlando and Miami have been at times this season, I am going to just say that tonight's game is the most loseable of the road trip.  The Atlanta Hawks are very good.  As recently as last year, the Hawks were very good with an asterisk, that if they realized their potential, they could be very, very good.  They have started realizing their potential.  If you haven't seen the Hawks play, you are missing out on a very exciting team.  They have athletes, they have shooters, they have guys who run the floor and they have the second best overall record and best home record in the Eastern Conference.  They are good.  Let's break down what you need to know about the Hawks:

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via grfx.cstv.com

Do you recognize this player for the UAB Blazers?

I had completely forgot about this guy but he seems like an obvious pick for the Jazz if he forgoes his Senior year.  Unless other teams go after him, thanks to his older brother.  He's an athletic swingman who is leading the 25th ranked team in college basketball in scoring and rebounding.  I wouldn't mind the Jazz using a second round pick on him, even if he didn't make the team.  He is also not currently listed on any top 100 draft watch boards that I can see, so maybe he will slip under the radar.

Jay Z is probably the most interesting thing about the Nets right now.

via www.mzeus.com

Well tonight begins the start of the Jazz's annual pre-Christmas road trip.  We talked about the last week's schedule being a "Hell Week" but historically this upcoming trip has been the real hell week.  The Jazz have had a winning record on this trip only once in the last 5 years and have been 8-16 on the trip over that time period.  As Carlos Boozer mentioned, this road trip will give the Jazz a chance to "get our swag back," and by swag, Boozer must mean their dignity after losing to Minny at home.

But the Jazz have no excuse for losing tonight.  The Nets are 2-23.  Let me repeat: TWO AND TWENTY THREE.  They have only beaten the Bobcats at home and the Bulls in Chicago.  And at the time the Bulls looked like the worst team in the NBA.  The Nets create some matchup problems for the Jazz.  But if they were really matchups that were hard to overcome, then the Nets would have won more than 2 games in 25 tries.  The truth is hard sometimes, but jinxing aside, if the Jazz lose, it will be due to a poor effort or gameplan.  More about the matchups:

Devin Harris-  He is one of the fastest point guards in the league and Deron Williams struggles defending speedy guards one on one.  The good news is that almost all point guards have a hard time defending Devin Harris.  So most other teams negate his speed by running effective double teams and showing hard on ball screens.  The bad news:  our bigs have  a really hard time showing effectively on screens AND getting back into low post position.  So don't be surprised if Devin Harris scores 25+ in this game.  

Brook Lopez- Probably the best sophomore in the league as of right now.  Lopez has a very nice offensive game in the post and plays very good defense.  At 7 feet tall, Lopez is averaging 20 points, 10 rebounds and 2 blocks per game.  If you put this guy alongside a productive power forward, it could be one of the best frontcourts in the league.  Carlos Boozer would actually fit really nicely with Lopez.  But Lopez is going to give Boozer and Okur fits defensively and block some shots.

The Rest of the Nets- They aren't very good.  Courtney Lee and Chris Douglas-Roberts are the only other guys on the team who you could call starters in the league.  But Lee is shooting 37% from the field and 22% from the 3 point line this season.  Chris Douglas Roberts is having a career year, but he doesn't have a very versatile game.  At any time the Nets will have 2-3 players who don't know how to score in some combination of Trenton Hassell, Josh Boone, Jarvis Hayes, and Sean Williams.

So what do the Jazz do to win?  Three things:

1. Play with energy and effort-  Any team in the NBA can beat any team if one team doesn't play hard.  But even if both teams play hard, the better team will win almost every time.  I know it sounds stupid and simple, but it's true.  

2. Run the offense- No jumpers unless they come from quick ball movement and penetration, please.  Attack the basket and keep the pressure on this Nets team to play defense.  

3. Make the Rest of the Nets beat you-  If Harris goes off for 25 points, the Jazz can still win handily.  If Harris goes off for 25 and Lopez scores 20 and gets 14 boards, the Jazz can still win in difficult fashion.  But if Harris scores 25, Lopez gets 20-14, AND CDR or Lee hit 4 threes and get 15-20 points, it's curtains for the Jazz.  So just take one or two of those options away.  Hound Harris all night and make other guys beat you.  Or else double Lopez and get him frustrated.  But don't let them all get going, please.  

I know I have jinxed the Jazz a lot this post, but at this point, I don't care about jinxing.  I think the Jazz's super crappy road record is one big jinx enough that the Jazz are going to have to overcome by beating bad teams on the road.  I didn't jinx them the last 5 years when they lost to New Jersey every season.  Let's start what will hopefully be a winning record on this road trip tonight.  See you at 7:30pm.

via cdn.bleacherreport.com

I say we trade for this guy.

December 15th, the first day that most offseason free agent signings can legally be traded, came and went without a single trade.  But even more important to a frenzied trade season was this report by yahoo sports Adrian Wojnarowski.  Other sources have confirmed Wojnarowski's report that no one on the Warriors' payroll is untouchable now and this surely will get GM's calling the Golden State constantly making offers for Warrior players, because no team has young talent that is currently being misused like the Warriors have.

I haven't been able to find this anywhere else, but ESPN insider says "Carlos Boozer, Caron Butler, Tyrus Thomas and David West were all mentioned by league executives as potential trade targets for the Warriors."

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via media.rd.com

The Jazz needed more of this type of defense against the Wolves.  (This picture will never get old.)

Nothing like a loss in Minnesota to bring the Jazz back down to earth.  The Jazz have been playing fantastic ball lately, which has made Jazz fans all abuzz with accolades about Wesley Matthews being the answer at shooting guard and about how Kevin O'Connor is a genius for not trading Carlos Boozer and I think for the most part, Jazz fans have failed to realize that:

A. The Jazz were just re-establishing their dominance at home

B.  The Jazz didn't beat one good team during their recent 6-1 spurt (Blazers aren't a good team right now)

All of the sudden this jazz team is looking awfully reminiscent of the past few years' jazz teams that lost to too many cellar dwellers in the league to be considered a legitimate threat come playoff time.

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I've been doing the math in my head and playing out scenarios, but if you were Jazz GM Kevin O'Connor, what would you do about the logjam at the wing position with Ronnie Brewer, Kyle Korver, Wesley Matthews, and CJ Miles?  The easy answer is just to keep all four and let things wait out, but here is why that isn't likely:

1.  One or two of those guys are going to have their feelings hurt.  Each one of them deserves at least 10-15 minutes of playing time a game and that won't be possible when the team is fully healthy.  Potential chemistry issues could arise.

2.  The bigger reason is that the Jazz will be having $1.2-11 million sitting on the bench doing nothing other than cheering.  The Jazz probably can't afford to do that.

So here are your options: 

a. Waive Wesley Matthews before his contract becomes fully guaranteed

b.  Trade either Brewer, Korver, or Miles for a second round draft pick or cash considerations to a team that can absorb the contract and not have to give a player back in return.

I'm interested to see what you all will say.

According to Howard Beck of the New York Times, the Knicks have "dropped their pursuit" of Allen Iverson.

"Although team officials were highly intrigued by Iverson, a four-time scoring champion, they finally decided that he posed too great a risk because of his long history of problems on and off the court," Beck writes.

For the time being, Chris Duhon is still the Knicks' point guard, with Toney Douglas provided some relief here and there.

Yesterday it was reported Miami was "hot" after Iverson, and there still might be a chance the Bobcats, with Larry Brown at the helm, could take a chance on Iverson.

But his best chance at returning to the NBA appears to have walked out the door.

If the Knicks make no trades for a point guard this season, the draft might bring them Kentucky's John Wall, as their current 2-9 record gives them a shot at a high lottery pick. So a scoring point guard could still be in their future.

I copied and pasted this from an insider article.  Did you see that the Knicks aren't going to sign Allen Iverson?  But funnier still, did you see how the author of this article thinks that the Knicks still have their pick for 2010.  A cbssports.com columnist made the same mistake yesterday.  It is really sad for Knicks fans.