The Utah Jazz | as seen by Basketball John

• 11:46 - Can any of the Jazz players stay on their feet with a pump fake on the perimeter?  The jump into the defender is Manu’s patent move.
• 8:03 - The Jazz are shooting 60% and yet still only lead by 1, 82-81.  The Spurs are only shooting 42%.  The difference?  25 FT attempts v. only 12 for the Jazz.
• Timeout - Highlights of the last time the Jazz won in SA.  Take another drink for the reference.
• 7:28 - Boozer likes the high-fives.
• 7:15 - Man, U suck.  See what I did there?
• 6:42 - 85-84 Spurs.  First lead since early in the first.  Offensive boards are killing the Jazz.
• 5:50 - That’s an MVP play.  The dribbling it and not passing it to Deron, not so much.
• Timeout - 54-18 advantage in the paint for the Jazz.  Amazing.
• 5:25 - Another back-breaking offensive board and a three for the Spurs
• 3:50 - Another three, another offensive board for SA.  Parker makes the two.
• Timeout - Haven’t been able to hear the miced coaches until now.  Fascinating insight from Sloan going to commercial.  “Let’s go!  Come on, let’s go!”
• How can it be this close?  Or should I say, how can SA have the lead?  91-87.  19 turnovers, that’s how.  8 by Boozer.  Ouch.
• 2:37 - Ginobili with the block of the night on Booze.
• 2:03 - Okur is terrible at defending the pick and roll as Manu gets a free ride to the basket.
• 1:30 - Big miss by Bonner.  Gives the Jazz hope.
• 1:20 - Boozer’s only attempting his 3rd and 4th FTs.  There’s your difference.
• :59 - Parker picked a lousy time to get hot.  Good D by the Jazz on this trip.  Clutch shot by Tony.
• :43 - Big miss by Booze at the line.  Did you know that the Jazz haven’t won here since ‘99?
• :41 - Timeout.  96-94 Spurs.
• :30.8 - Manu gets to the line again.  Four-point game.
• :23.8 - Williams on the foul line.  Misses the first.  Haven’t had a field goal in six minutes.  Makes the second.  Three point spread.
• :17.1 - WILLIAMS!  THREE!  One-point game.
• :17.1 - Two Manu free throws.  Only a three point game.  101-98.  Timeout.  Watch for the foul so that the Jazz can’t get a three off.
• :15 - Offensive on Booze.
• 13:9 - Bonner 1-2.  Four point game.
• 5.2 - Fitting that Manu grabs the last board to put the game away.

More on this ugly second half later.

Boozer is dominating as expected.  He’s already got 23 & 14.  Millsap has only played 5 minutes.  Can’t figure that one out.  And say what you want about Sloan’s rotations, but as far as knowing which lesser players to play, he’s usually right on.  Right now Miles is playing pretty well.  Let’s hope that Jazz keep up this play in the fourth.

• 11:07 - Nice D from Deron taking the charge from Mr Longoria.  Tony has to sit now with three fouls early.
• 10:00 - Deron for two.  Let’s hope the Jazz can go on a nice run in the third without Parker to put this away.
• 9:16 - First reminder of the 16 straight losses.
• 8:56 - Vaughn will not be intimidated!
• 7:55 - Okur gets the roll.  No three-point attempts yet?
• 7:26 - Aahhh, the first flop for Manu.  I was getting worried.  And two F bombs from Sloan.  The NBA should designate the movie rating on fans’ tickets.  The area behind the Jazz bench would be NC-17.
• 6:20 - Home cookin’.  Manu gets the clear lane to the basket call even though Okur got his hand on the ball.  How can one player keep his team in the game like that?
• 5:30 - Man, that was some nice D by Manu.  It looked like Brewer clearly had him beat on a backdoor and he was still somehow able to pickoff the pass.
• 4:55 - Someone tell AK that he has to call the bank to make sure they’re open before taking that kind of shot.  What would have been 3 feet off, goes in off the glass.
• 3:51 - Spurs have the best record in the last 10 years of all the major sports.  Is the NHL suppose to be on that list?
• 3:40 - Brewer with what seems like his 10th dunk of the night.
• 2:40 - Boozer with another turn-around.  There’s your MVP.
• 2:19 - Timeout - 70-68 Jazz.
• 2:04 - How many more points could Malone have had if he could finish with the left like Boozer?
• :43 - No FG from Longoria since 7:03 in the first.  Has to be the surprise that of the night

I couldn’t find any stats to back it up, but it seems like the second quarter is always the worst for the Jazz.  The Jazz shooting percentage is down to 56% at the half.  The Spurs are shooting an amazingly low 39%.  But the Jazz have just a 51-50 lead, mainly in part to the Spurs going 12-13 from the stripe and making 4 more threes.  If you’re Sloan, you have to be satisfied (well, maybe Sloan is never satisfied).  Outside of the spawn of Argentina’s 20, the D is looking good.  But even that has come on 6-14 shooting.  He’s gone to the line 7 times, making them all.

So now that they’ve weathered the second quarter storm, let’s hope they can return to first quarter form for the rest of the game.

• Talk about being in the right place at the right time.  Robert Horry with 7 rings.
• 9:15 - Jacque Vaughn is having nightmares
• CJ Miles coming in early in a big game?  Has anyone taken Sloan’s temperature recently?
• 7:55 - CJ! Feeling it!
• Sloan has to be happy with the number of three pointers and jump shots that the Spurs are taking.
• The only thing keeping the Spurs close, 5-11 on three-point shots.
• 5:00 - Nothing falling for the Jazz
• 3:09 - Boozer finally gets a put-back
• Surprise stat of the night?  No flops.
• Is Sloan’s hair slicked?  Looks like he put a little something extra into it.
• 2:42 - Memo with the charge, looks like Oberto was in the circle
• Unfortunately, Manu cutting his hair hasn’t taken away his powers.
• Who else thought that last three was going in for the Spurs?
• Got to like the shot chart:

This is exactly the start the Jazz needed.  They have typically gotten behind in the first and don’t recover.

• Deron Williams is getting whatever shot he wants.  5-5 shooting to along with 5 assists for 11 points.
• Without Duncan, the Jazz are dominating on the inside.  Brewer is getting dunks and Williams is getting layups.
• ESPN main page link: Host Jazz facing Duncan-less Spurs.  Host Jazz?
• The D is looking better tonight.  The Spurs are having to settle for jump-shots.

Couldn’t ask for a better start.  The Jazz are shooting 70% while holding the Spurs to only 42%.

The Jazz head into San Antonio looking for their first win there this millennium.  I can’t even begin to explain what a win against the Spurs would mean.  We wouldn’t have to hear anymore that Utah has lost 16 straight games there.  It would give us a glimmer of hope that if we meet up with them in the playoffs, we could beat them on their home court.  I would be able to watch the recap tonight and want to record the videos for all of my beloved followers on YouTube.  And I would be able to rub it in the face of the lone Spurs fan in my office.

Duncan is 50/50 for tonight’s game.  Here’s hoping that he plays so that if we win, I don’t have to hear/read, well, we were without Duncan.  Well, we saw that you dispatched the Mavs last night without him, so we know that the Spurs are still a really good team with him out.  Duncan doesn’t concern me.  It’s Parker and Ginobilli that do.   They could both go for 30.

I don’t know what it will take to get some interior D from Boozer and Okur, but if they ever wanted a game to start knocking people to the hardwood, this would be the time.

And why is it that if things were reversed (we were at home and SA had lost 16 straight), that this game would terrify me?  But I guarantee the Spurs are under no pressure.

Other previews:

• Jazzfanz.com message board
• Spurs Report
• Sports Network
• NBA.com
• TheTrib
• ESPN

Before we get to the links, I’ll be starting a small series on Monday about the top Jazz news stories of the year.  It won’t be a cheesy top-ten list.  By the time the first link is over, it could be included.

• Open mic night - Get those censor buttons ready.  I hope they’ve hired a Morse code expert to keep up with Sloan. (Bonus link)
• For all you Paul haters out there
• Breakdown of one of Utah’s bread and butter plays
• “A day may come, when the courage of men fails, when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of Fellowship, but it is not this day!”
• Should the real debate be Williams v Parker?
• Malone-esque
• If you want to talk trash on a Spurs blog for tonight’s game
• UConn tells us who the best PG is
• News Flash!  Lame title - Old news, but it’s official today
• Ratings the MVPs
• When the Jazz go up for sale, I’m there. - Can a borrow a few hundred…  million?