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.

Jazz: Gaining Momentum

This has been a fun week to be a Utah Jazz fan. The Jazz are still battling through injuries but they are winning! Slowly the team is getting healthy. Derron Williams is the first key piece of the puzzle that has come back. He has played in the last two games and has been amazing. I'll admit that while he was out, I thought that both Ronnie Price and Brevon Knight did a great job and at times I wondered how much of a difference Williams would make when he returned. I'll be the first to say that I was an idiot for even wondering. It is clear that Derron is the heart of this team. He has only played in two games and it is very clear that the team attitude and culture is already making a great change for the better. It is a winning attitude. It's this attitude that will help them become the championship contender that we so desperately want them to be. It is this attitude that will help them win the "easy" road games. And it is this attitude that will inspire everyone on the team to work together to accomplish team goals.

On Wednesday night, the Jazz rolled over the Memphis Grizzlies. The Grizzlies didn't put up much of a fight. The Jazz had really good first and third quarters which pushed them to the win. Tonight the Jazz went back to work against the Sacramento Kings. The Kings have also been fighting through some injuries early this year and they were no match more the Jazz who again had great a good first quarter and an AWESOME third quarter. In the third quarter, the Jazz outscored the Kings 44-17. You'd think that the Jazz are just a good first and third quarter team but there's a reason the Jazz are so good in those quarters...IT'S DERRON WILLIAMS! He is always in during the first and third quarters. In each of his first two games back he dished out an incredible 15 assists.

I don't know about other Jazz fans out there but I can feel the wind changing. The Jazz are starting to look like a team that could be great. Jerry Sloan has said that this year's team is the deepest and most talented team that he has ever coached. Now, that's saying something!

History of BYU vs Utah !!

In preparation for the BIG GAME tomorrow, I thought I'd make a quick post and give my prediction.

Tomorrow's game is set to be a good one. Not only is this one of the best rivalries in all of football but this is the first time that BYU and Utah have been as good as they are. Both teams are good football teams that started the year with high expectations. BYU has only lost one game to TCU and Utah has gone undefeated.

In my opinion it really comes down to BYU's offense verses Utah's defense. BYU has a high powered offense that few teams have been able to stop this year. Utah has a defense that is designed to stop these kinds of high powered offenses. I believe that on most days Utah could probably stop BYU but when you have a rivalry game that is this heated, you have to throw all the stats, figures, and predictions out the window becuase WHO KNOWS!

The last two years, BYU has been favored to win by large number but both years it has come down to the last minute of the game. So, all I can say is I'm really looking forward to tomorrow's game. I feel like I'm 10 and it's Christmas Eve. I can't wait!

My Prediction: Since I'm a die-hard BYU fan, I can't predict against my team. Even if everything points the other way. Soooo....
BYU: 27
Utah: 21

Below is a video showing the history between BYU and Utah Football. It's fun to watch:

Video Courtesy of KSL.com

It's good to be home...

I think everyone on the Utah Jazz team would agree that it's good to be home for a couple of games. The five game Eastern road trip was tough on the team as they lost 4 of 5. Not only are they not a very good road team but they have been injury plagued. There have been several players that have been out because of some type of injury. The injured player are listed below:

• Derron Williams (Sprained Ankle) - He is day to day and could play soon.
• Matt Harpring (Ankle Rehab) - He played in last night's game but was out for several road games.
• Andre Kirilinko (Jammed Finger) - He was out for a couple of games but played last night as well.
• Jerron Collins (not sure) - He was also out for several of the road games but played last night.
• Memo Okur (Out of the country / Back Spasms) - He didn't play in any of the road games because he had to go home to take care of serious family matters. He was back in the country for last nights game but didn't play because of back spasms.

The Jazz should have come off of that road trip with at least 3 wins but as a fan, I'll give them a pass because of all the injuries. It was very nice to see the Jazz come home and get back on track by beating the Phoenix Suns. The Suns have a good team this year with a new coach that is trying to get them to a championship. They are loaded with stars that have more talent than most teams in the NBA.

The Jazz took over last nights game in the 4th quarter. Everyone chipped in to get this win. However, I was mostly impressed by CJ Miles. In the first quarter, the Jazz looked flat and had little hope of keeping up with the Suns. But CJ Miles turned red hot and scored 15 points in the first quarter alone to keep the Jazz close. Miles ended up with 21 points. With CJ knocking down 15 in the first quarter, Phoenix was forced to put one of their top defenders, Raja Bell, on Miles for defensive purposes. This was great because it opened the floor up for Boozer down low and other spot shooters around the perimeter. So with out a doubt, if I were giving out the game ball, I would give it to CJ Miles who kept the Jazz in it and ultimately opened up the offense for us.

Fan Favorite

The obvious choice for the my Fan Favorite award this week is Austin Collie. Collie had a great game for the Coug's who beat up Air Force on Saturday. Collie had 7 catches for 130 yards. Not only are those big numbers but he also had 2 TD catches at crucial times to help BYU seal up the victory against the Falcons.
If that wasn't enough, Collie set a new record for the most reception yards in a season by one receiver. The last record was set 12 years ago! He is also still working on another record for consecutive games with over 100 yard receiving. He has caught over 100 yard in each of the last 8 games.

Good work!

BYU Tops Air Force

The Cougars topped the Air Force Falcons on Saturday. Going into this game, I was expecting a high offensive performance from both teams. Both teams have weak defenses. It was interesting to see how the game played out. There was more defense than I expected from both sides.

In the first quarter, BYU looked great. They took a quick 10-0 lead and looked like they were going to run away with the game. Then in the second quarter, the Falcons took control and scored 14 unanswered points to take a 14-10 lead into half time. At this point, I was worried that Air Force would run away with the game. They clearly had momentum and were executing plays. However, luckily I was wrong. BYU came out of half time and out scored Air Force 21-3 in the third quarter taking a 31-17 lead into the final quarter. Then, the momentum quickly changed again. Air force started driving the ball and scored a touchdown early in the fourth quarter. That was followed by a Max Hall fumble which gave the Falcons a chance to get right back in the game quickly. However, BYU's defense stopped the Falcons and forced them to punt. BYU then marched down the field and put the nail in the coffin by scoring a touchdown.

It was a fun game to watch. It makes me more confident in BYU's ability to play with Utah this weekend. It will be a touch game that BYU will have to play perfectly in order to win but beating up on Air Force was a step in the right direction.

For a video recap of the game, watch the video below:

Video Courtesy of KSL.com