Jazz: Big Win

Last night the Utah Jazz took on the Portland Trail Blazers. The Jazz have won the Northwest Division for the last two years. Mostly because the division is weak but this year it appears to be a much stronger division. Right now the Jazz are in third place in the division. The Denver Nuggets lead the division and going into last night's game, the Blazers were in second place with a one game lead on the Jazz. So last night's game was big. It would either bring us to a second place tie with the Blazers or it would drop us to two games behind. In a close division, these games are crucial. So, with that being the stage:

The Jazz looked great nearly all game long. In the first half, Memo Okur caught fire and provided the offensive fire power for the Jazz. He had 21 points in the first half alone (ended with 27). He was hitting outside jump shots, runners in the lane, and of course the classic "money man" 3-ball. With Deron Williams dishing the ball, the offense had no problem dominating the Blazers in the first half by scoring 57.

Coming out of half time, the Blazers made some clear defensive adjustments. They focused on Okur and slowed him down. Okur had only 6 points in the second half. The Jazz only scored 40 points in the second half. It was clear Utah would have to make some adjustments of their own to win this game. The Jazz quickly turned to their defense. In my opinion, this was one of the best defensive half's that the Jazz have played all year. It was fun watching the Jazz play defense as a team. They would hurry to a double team, then when the player passed out of the double team, the rotation by the Jazz players covered the open men and stopped the Blazers from getting an easy shot. The Blazers have a much bigger team than the Jazz. It was clear that the defensive game plan for the Jazz was to force the ball to the outside and make the Blazer beat them with the jump shot. They did that to perfection and luckily, Portland had a hard time finding the bottom of the net from 3-point land. Portland was only 6-27 (22%) from the 3-point line.

With the powerful offensive first half and a strong defensive second half, the Jazz beat the Blazers 97-88 and moved into a tie for second place in the Northwest division.

Jazz: Boozer's Babies

Last night my brother Tim turned to me and asked me, "Do you think all the Jazz players are really injured and can't play or are they just being babies?" The Utah Jazz have the potential to be one of the best teams in the NBA but you wouldn't know it by their 12-8 record. The injuries have plagued the Jazz all season long. They have hit several role player along with their two stars Derron Williams and Carlos Boozer.

My brother's question really made me think about it. I hate to be the typical Jazz fan but we talked about the Stockton and Malone era. Would Malone come out of the game and sit on the side line while he let his injuries heal? Probably not. Believe me, I don't have a man crush on Stockton or Malone but those guys wouldn't let these small injuries stop them from playing. Even if they weren't at 100% they were still threats that the other teams had to cover.

So, with that mentality I look to several players who are currently sitting out for the Jazz because of injuries. Do you think they could play if they really wanted to? Yeah, I think some of them could. There have been several times when I have heard Boozer say, "When the pain stops, I will start playing again." He's basically admitted that the treatment has gone well but it's just painful for him to play. Are you kidding me? How much are you getting paid? I'm sure Karl Malone would beat the crap out of Boozer for not playing because of a little pain.

Maybe this is coming from a frustrated Jazz fan who is sick of wondering what color of suite the Jazz players will wear to the game rather than what they will be doing on the court that night. Boozer and the other babies on the bench need to step up and start playing. I understand that some injuries require down time. But I'd love to throw Stockton or Malone into some of those situations and see how often they'd sit out. My guess is they wouldn't sit out often.