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

Jazz: Here we go again!

The Jazz have picked up right where they left off last year in regards to playing on the road. The Jazz were not a good road team last year. Last year they had 28 losses and 22 of them game on the road! Not good! They Jazz could have easily been the best team in the West if they just would have won another 10 games on the road. But, with last year in the past, let's focus on this year. With that in mind, all I can say is...."Here we go again!"

They Jazz have opened this season with a strong 6-2 start. With only losing 2 of the first 8 games seems to be a pretty good start but when I look at the two losses I can't help but think that they Jazz should be 8-0 right now. Both losses have come from sub par teams (Knicks and Wizards) while playing on the road.

The Jazz were handed their first loss by the New York Knicks. The knicks are a better team this year. They have a quicker offense which can score a lot of points on a defense that struggles. Utah has always struggled against a team that shoots a lot of three point shots. The Knicks average nearly 30 three-point shots a game! For those of you who don't know...THAT'S A LOT! They hit us hard and the Jazz crumbled. So, I might even be able to get past the fact that we lost to the "new and improved" Knicks. What I can't get over is the loss to Washington...

The Jazz lost to the Washington Wizards on Wednesday. Washington is NOT a good team right now. In fact statistically they are the worst team in the NBA. When Utah arrived in Washington, the Wizards were THE ONLY team that didn't have even a single win. What happened? They Jazz choked. They were playing short handed because Memo had to leave the team and go to Turkey to be with his family but that isn't an excuse for losing to this team. Washington will be a better team later in the season when they get healthy but this should have been an easy road win for the Jazz. It was a hard game to watch.

So, with those two losses, I can't help but think "Here we go again!" The Jazz are still on the road tonight against Charlotte. The Bobcats are only 5-2 this year and the Jazz should take care of business tonight. But, you won't see me counting any eggs before they're actually in the basket. We'll see if the Jazz can dominate them the way they should.

Fan Favorite

David Nixon (Line Backer)

This weeks Fan Favorite award could go to a few different players but this week I had the most fun watching BYU linebacker David Nixon. The guy was everywhere! He had multiple sacks on San Diego States quarterback. He was often times the first to make contact with San Diego States running backs as well. However, I was most impressed with his pass defense and his open field tackles.

San Diego State likes to run quick inside slants and they like to pass the ball to their running backs. Nixon often times had the assignment to cover those quick slants and short passes. On nearly everyone, if the ball was thrown to a receiver that he was covering, Nixon was right there to knock the ball down or make the quick tackle.

There were also a few times where Nixon make it into the back field and had the one on one opportunity to drop the running back for a loss. He made the best out of almost all of those opportunities by making those open field tackles.