It was me.  At 67-52 in the third, I was done.  I couldn’t watch the Jazz get blown out at home.  They had just played three lackluster games against the Clippers, Hawks, and Timberwolves.  So what happens?  They Jazz hold the Pistons to 0 field goals over the next 12 minutes.  Behind Paul Millsap, the Jazz overcame that 15 point lead by the middle of the fourth and pulled away behind the sharp shooting of the Piston-killer, Memo.

Sloan haters like to rag on Jerry’s rotations.  But even they have to give credit to him last night for leaving Millsap in for so long with Boozer sitting on the bench.  Mansap was hot and was the biggest reason for the Jazz coming back.  He also went with Brewer in the fourth instead of Korver (much to the female fan’s chagrin) and it paid off. 

Memo led the way with 24 & 7, including 4-8 from downtown.  Three of those threes came in the final three minutes to clinch it for the Jazz.  And most of those came on the pick and roll with Williams that leaves Memo wide open.

Millsap had 19 to lead the comeback.  I have to say my Mansap crush has waned a bit this year.  He’s got similar number from last year.  But this is the first game in a long time where it’s been exciting to see him play.  And it was impressive that he was in there instead of Boozer for most of the fourth.  Maybe this game will rekindle the crush.

Deron also played a big part in the comeback.  He started taking over late in the third and found Brewer for easy layups and dunks.  He finished with 14 & 14.

I really don’t know what to think about this team now.  The past three games they didn’t look like like they had enough confidence to beat the Provo 3rd Ward young men’s basketball team.  And then somewhere in the third period last night, something clicked and they were able to pull out the win against a team that had just spanked the Suns and Nuggets.  So everyone talks about this game being a turning point, but they could go on to lose 3 of their next four and it wouldn’t shock me.

But this should be a big confidence booster.  But do the Jazz even know the meaning of momentum?  There’s no gradient from playing well to playing poorly.  It’s all stop and go.  Last night’s game was the perfect example.  They were getting booed by the fans, getting outplayed by the Pistons, and then after the timeout when they went down 67-52, they turned it on.

Or maybe there was a team party at halftime.

Here’s the YouTube video of the last 3 minutes of the game:

Other recaps:

• My Utah Jazz
• Biased Fan
• Need4Sheed

So I have to take back a little bit about what I’ve stated about the All-Star game.  I still think the Deron got snubbed, do doubt about it.  But really, the All-Star weekend turned out as well as you could expect for a Jazz fan.

First of all, we were pretty well represented.  Fesenko and Almond were in the D-League All-Star game.  Brewer and Millsap were on the Soph team that beat the Rookies.  Millsap didn’t have a great game, but he did have the block of the game.  Brewer played well and had a ferocious windmill dunk.  But the biggest non-story that made headlines was him wearing a headband.  Steve Luhm went off about how him wearing a headband disrespected Sloan as Sloan doesn’t allow them.  Why is he trying to make this into something that it isn’t?  Even Sloan didn’t seem to care,

I don’t have any control over that, if he wants to wear a headband when he’s there, I guess he can go ahead and do it. Nobody telling him he couldn’t

Why is he trying to create news?  Like one commenter said, if the headband had said “Sloan Sucks,” then you have an issue.  There are a lot of things players wear that don’t make a difference in their shot, but they wear them for fashion or whatever.  I thought it was funny though that Millsap wouldn’t wear one because he was scared of Sloan.  And Brewer though that he was going to get fined.

We didn’t have anyone in the slam-dunk contest or the three-point shootout.  I though KK could have been in the 3P contest, but they were showing stats and guys were shooting 46% from 3 but were only 7th in the league.  K3 is below that so it’s hard to make a case for him.  Brewer could have been in the dunk contest, but when they only have a field of four, it makes it tough.  I love how Malone was one of the judges though.  He absolutely didn’t want to be there.  He never wanted to be at any of the All-Star games when he was a player.  And they thought he would want to be there for this?  The best part is when he went after Barkley for making fun of his draft-day suit.

And of course Deron was in the PS3 skills challenge.  He squeaked into the the finals when defending champ Wade put on an embarrassing show by losing a dribble out of bounds, missing shots, and then showing that he really didn’t care by missing 2 lay-ups at the end.  He even went as far as just chucking up the last two balls from the jump-shooting portion just so he could go on to the next station.  He didn’t want to be there at all.  And Kidd couldn’t hit a jump-shot to save his life.

That left Williams v. Paul for the final.  And once again we learn that 8>3.  And not only did Deron win it, he posted the event-record, 25.5 seconds.  It was great to hear the media spin on this.  The announcers basically stated that Paul was amazing and it took a record time to beat him.  Not that Deron won, but that Paul only lost because Williams pulled a miracle out of his butt.  Unbelievable.  I also like the following quotes,

Not moving at full speed, Williams clocked 31.2 seconds in the first round

And then for Paul,

Paul, the All-Star point guard of the host New Orleans Hornets, posted a strong final-round time of 31.2.

Paul’s 31.2 was clearly superior.

And finally, Boozer got to play in the All-Star game after missing last year’s with injury.  He posted 14 points & 10 boards in only 18 minutes.  He was part of the West’s comeback, but was taken out after they had tied it up.

So as I was saying, we got to see 5 Jazz players participate in the All-Star festivities.  No one got hurt.  Williams didn’t feel totally left out.  And although he’s stated that he’s over the snub, you know he’s going to use it as fuel for the rest of the season.  And that’s a good thing.

So let’s get ready for the second half of the season with GS tonight.

Other AS notes

• Kobe playing only two minutes so as to not get penalized for not playing is ridiculous.  Does the NBA not have anyone in charge of common sense?  It’s like suspending the Suns players last year for leaving the bench and going back.  How does him playing make sense?
• Does anyone at Getty check for errors with captions? - This isn’t the first time.  Do they have editors that know sports?
• Brewer and Millsap pics from the R/S game
• What’s Malone eating?  The boy next to him looks like he could use a bite.
• Why was Michael Bivins a big part of the AS festivities?  Turn back the clock night to 1993?  I grew up on BBD.  It was just weird to see him again.
• Yahoo Jazz images

GS game blogs

• Biased Fan
• My Utah Jazz
• Golden State of Mind

Morris Almond lost out to Lance Allred of the  Idaho Stampede in the return of HORSE to the NBA’s D-League.  Morris won the first round with a HO.  But in the finals, Almond got beat down by a HO when Allred nailed the patented Harpring jump shot from the left elbow.  He did call out Harpring Sucks though when he shot it.  Mo wasn’t able to match that.

And apparently if you’re white, you have an advantage in HORSE.  That coming from both Almond and Allred.  Did we ever see either Bird or Jordan win? And is the reason why the league capped the games at 5 minutes because they didn’t want players yelling out HOR! when the other guy missed?  Isn’t that the best part of playing HORSE?  You progress from HO, to HOR, and then to HORS (with a z sound).  I guess they’re trying to attract as few groupies as possible.

Millsap and Brewer played in the Soph/Rookie game tonight as well.  Brewer made the most of his 17 minutes going 6-6 from the field and finished with 13 points.  Millsap didn’t do as well.  He only got up four shots in 22 minutes.  He only had two boards as well.  Daniel Gibson won MVP going 11-20 from the three-point line.  And those were the only shots he took.  I don’t think he even crossed the arc.

So tomorrow night we’ll get to see Williams embarrass Paul, Wade, and Kidd in the skills challenge.  No word yet on whether Kobe is going to still play in the All-Star game.  We know Kidd likely won’t be traded now before then due to George and Stackhouse.  So if Mamba can’t go, there’s a good shot Deron could get the call.

First of all, congrats to Brewer and Millsap for being selected to the Rookie/Sophmore game.  I’ll actually have a reason to watch it now.  I would have liked to have seen Brewer in the slam-dunk contest.  The Sophs should dominate this game, especially when you see that Roy and Aldridge and the others are on the team.

Tonight we get to see that train wreck that is the New York Knicks.  Is there anyone outside of NY that wants to see Isiah fired?  He’s got quite the list of accomplishments.  How can a man run so many franchises into the ground, make some of the most unbelievably terrible trades, and offend so many still have a job?  Where else in the real world could you mess up so badly and still be drawing a paycheck?

Jazz fans are especially hoping he sticks around to ruin things even further.  Ross Siler has an article about the upcoming 2010 draft pick we get from NY that could land Utah a very high pick.  So if he can stick around a little longer and sign some more untradeable bad contracts, we could be set.  It would be great to hear some fans tonight cheer “We love Isiah” instead of the usual fire cries heard at MSG.

They Jazz should take care of business at home tonight.  Starbury won’t be in action this time around.  If we lost to this sorry excuse for a team, it kills whatever mo we’ve built up the past month.

Blogs

• Knicks
• Biased Fan
• My Utah Jazz

Still relishing in the win over SAS.  The Jazz have now turned it around so that instead of me thinking, “Are they going to win?” to “How much will they win by?”  It’s a great feeling watching a game and expecting them to win.  More about the Jazz from around the web:

• Mansap gets some love
• Memo moonlights for an alternative band?
• The Mailman gives us 30k
• It’s not even a flesh wound
• The correct statement would have been, “Hell, yes I’m glad I’m playing for the Jazz and not the Spurs.”
• Karl Malone will show the nation why LA is the best place for Karl Malone to go hunting.  No Mexican girls involved.
• 1, 2-4, 5?
• Blaspheme
• An interesting take on the MVP vote
• Another blog, another all-star vote
• Ron Artest lowlight video

Before some links for today, I just wanted to post a late follow up on the AK pictures from Masha’s blog.  Ross Siler was finally pressured into comment on the “provocative” pictures from the Kirilenko’s New Year’s party.  According to the chaperone, “all of the photos were staged.”  He also said that there were kids running around and that he had brought his mother-on-law to the party.  But as the kiddies on the internet say, “Pics or it didn’t happen.”  That may have all been true, but I’m sure they were all tucked away. 

And if an invitation to next year’s party isn’t a contest on utahjazz.com, I’ll be disappointed.  Wouldn’t a live blog of next year’s party be in order?

And on a related note, the deadspin link was to this site.  It took me down in less than five minutes.  I survived a TrueHoop link, but deadspin showed me what high traffic was.  After a few hours of back and forth with my webhost, I finally got back up.  They wouldn’t unsuspend my account until I had fixed it to not use so much CPU.  But they locked me completely out and I couldn’t fix it.  Anyway, here’s the traffic since it hit Deadspin:

The 14th probably would have been higher if not for that downtime.  Anyway, on to some links on a slow Jazz news day:

• 4%? - Isn’t Ron Paul polling better than that?
• AK and Masha visiting the Huntsman Cancer Institute - It’s amazing how much a visit from a Jazz player can boost the spirits of those that are going through something incredibly tough.  Masha’s rockin’ the
• Kemp > Malone? - The all-90’s team from a Sonics fan
• Lang’s Links - Another All-star ballot.  Is it wrong that I’m hoping Deron gets left off?  I would absolutely love to see him go on a vengeance tour for the second half of the season.
• Harpring’s series of tubes are clear to move internets around again (Reference for those that don’t get it)
• Turkey isn’t the only bird Memo likes
• He didn’t give Korver the “Hard Worker” seal of approval yet, but it looks like Jerry’s got another disciple.
• How Carlos handled Carmani’s situation
• Are Carlos and Deron taking away votes from one another?
• 8>3, Can’t wait until 2/4/08
• Super Sophs

I hope you got your fill of Turkey and Booze last week, because you weren’t getting any tonight.  Okur was out with back spasms still and Booze was letting his ankle heal a little more.

No matter as Deron Williams and Andrei Kirilenko led the charge and got a revenge win over the visiting Lakers.  Deron had a career-high 35 points and became the go-to scorer for the night.  He relinquished the assist duties to AK, who had his third career triple-double with 11 assists, 11 boards, and 20 points, not to mention 4 blocks and 6 steals.  Millsap and Brewer added 20 & 14 respectively.

And with two big guys out, the Jazz had to bring up Fess from down the road.  He played in his first official NBA game and didn’t seem to show any signs of being nervous or intimidated.  He went for 6 & 7, already career highs!  If we see much more of him, the ESA is going to start chanting his name when Collins is in.

Full Box Score

The Jazz led by 19 at the break and were never seriously threatened after that.  They pushed the lead to as much as 28, but it didn’t seem to get below 17 from that point on.  The controlled the second half, holding Kobe to only 6 points.  The second half is usually when the Jazz give it up to the elite players, but not this night.  They held LA to 44% shooting and the Lakers could never get in a rhythm.

A couple of glaring stats, one good and one bad.  First the bad.  Deron had a whopping 9 turnovers.  The Jazz only had 3 the entire first half.  But the biggest stat of the night was 70 points in the paint.  I don’t know what the record is, but I don’t remember anything that high.  But an even more astounding 52 of those came in the first half out of 70 total points.  And they say our interior defense is lacking.

Kirilenko had to be salivating to be the man again.  You could see see him mentally going back to the 03-04 season.  He was the dominant AK that earned the max contract.  Although I advocated trading him for Marion before the season started, I’m glad they didn’t.  Those hindsight glasses work great.  Could Marion put on a performance and put up the number like AK did?  AK should be the backup point guard.  He also had a nice full-court football pass to Williams for a layup, reminiscent of the Stockton to Malone pass against the Bulls in the playoffs.

Let’s hope they can keep him and the other parts of the core for at least the next few years.

Overall, a win against the Lakers and shutting up their fans that attend the games at the ESA is one of the sweetest things for Jazz fans.  And it’s especially savory because Boozer and Okur weren’t playing.  We could have Knicked them.

Fesenko Interview - Apparently he didn’t even have time to pack a change of clothes
Kirilenko Interview - AK has been cut.  See, he’s human.
ESPN highlights - The Lakers have a new sensation, Jobe.

Other random notes:

• Crittenton was added to the long list of AK rejections when he tried his best Kobe “going away from the basket, hop, travel, reverse layup” move and got made a fool.  Just like they keep track of how many parks a batters hits a home run in or who they’ve hit them off of, the NBA should keep track of how many unique players have been swatted by a particular player.
• Phil Jackson will have to start earning that new $24 million extension next game.
• Fesenko was hot when he first came in and played pretty solid in the second half in limited action.  But you can one weakness is running up his foul totals quick as do most rookies.
• Millsap looks to be getting back into his 06-07 form.  He had 20 (a career high) & 9.  Maybe because his 10 & 10 are the norm now he’s not surprising anyone this year.  He wasn’t expected to do what he did last year and now we take it for granted.
• Looks like Kobe still prefers the jump shop karate chop to try to make it look like he got fouled.
• And Odom must have just wanted out of the game.  Fouling Brewer on a break-away was understandable.  But then he didn’t let go of Brewer’s arm and threw him to the ground.
• Does Williams have the best crossover in the game today?  It wasn’t fair to Radmanovic.  He got schooled twice.  Try picking on someone your own size Deron.  Oh, that’s right, he crossed up Fisher too.
• The Jazz cannot play transition or fast break D to save their lives.  One guard has got to stay back if the other’s going for the board.
• Sloan was finally forced to play Giri.  I found out what happened.  Apparently Giri was caught reading a New Holland tractor catalog.  There was a whole blue v. green argument with Sloan.  Giri was just staying loyal to his European roots.  People’s mommas came up.  Miller was trying to mediate.  Ugly, ugly.
• Weird note from Ross Siler, Sloan has Flash season tickets.  They made Sloan buy tickets?  Do they make him pay for his Skittles too?  There’s no reciprocity?
• Fisher was surprised by the boos.  Why would he be?  He’s a Laker again, probably the most hated franchise of Jazz fans.  Was he picked on a bit?  Sure.  But he acted like the fans were abusing his daughter or something.  But I thank him for last year and his 1-8 shooting tonight.

I’ll be swapping posts with the guys from 3 Shades of Blue for the upcoming game on Saturday.  Should be up sometime tomorrow morning.  In the meantime, linkage:

• Jazz/Cavs thoughts
• He hasn’t heard of Paul Millsap - More Jazz/Cavs reactions
• The Jazz are on someone’s must-watch list.
• Great Article on Morris Almond
• There go my plans to start my own Jazz radio network
• Williams, Boozer, Brewer, Millsap, sweet music - No offense to Memo & AK
• The question that won’t die.  Who’s better, Williams or CP3?
• Deron Williams message board - If you haven’t visited Deron’s website lately, he has a forum where he replies to most of the questions he gets.  Great stuff.  It’s now a link on the right.

It shouldn’t have been this close, but it made for a great finish.  James single-handedly kept the Cavs in the game.  And had it not been for Deron Williams’ heroics to win the game, the Cavs may very well have snuck out of Utah with a win.

After Cleveland called a time out to set up a game-tying three point shot, LeBron calmly nailed the three with Brewer playing him pretty well.  And instead of calling a time out to set up a play, Utah inbounded quickly to Williams went coast-to-coast for the game winning layup, getting by James and Z.

Williams played a season high 45 minutes and the Jazz needed every one.  Hart and Price played a combined five minutes.  More Deron is good, but when your two free agent signings haven’t instilled enough confidence in Sloan yet, that’s not good.  Especially telling is the fact that Sloan left Deron in there for so long despite not playing that well.  But it looks like Deron might be getting his wish of playing more.

The Jazz relied on the two of their workhorses in Boozer and Millsap.  Carlos went for 23 & 12 while Millsap added 24 (career high) & 5.  Millsap also had the block of the year on Gooden, but got called for the most bogus foul I’ve seen.  Here’s the best picture I could get of said block:

UPDATE 4:00 PM:  Here’s a better picture

And he had another where he swatted the ball straight down.  He could have just snatched it out of mid-air.  I’m seriously considering renaming the blog, BasketBallPaul.com.

Full Box Score

So after an off day, the Jazz will visit the Emerald City to take on Durant and the OK Sonics.  I really hope something gets done to keep them in Seattle.  They’ve been there for 40+ years and to uproot them would tear the green heart of of the city and state.  I couldn’t imaging if the Jazz were going to move.  There would be much fasting and prayer to keep them here.  They’d probably have stake fasts.  Although I’ve heard rumors that if LHM ever decides to sell the team, part of the sale would have a stipulation that the Jazz couldn’t be moved.

Game notes:

• Can we stop hearing about Boozer’s double-double status every five minutes?  “Boozer’s only 5 rebounds away from a double-double,” “Boozer could get his double-double right here.”  “With one more mention of a double-double, Booner could collect a double-double in references to double-doubles and his bald head.”  I’m going to open a store called Double-Double and either get some free advertising or sue.  “This double-double brought to you by Double-Double.”  I feel like Seinfeld talking about McDonald’s stating that they’ve served billions and billions.  I’d like to go up to Bolerjack and say, “Look, we all get it.  Ok?  He’s got a lot of double-doubles, whatever the hell the number is.  Just put up a sign, Boozer, he gets a lot of double-doubles.”
  
• Millsap fouled out and maybe two of those were legitimate fouls.  What ever happened to the crackdown on flopping?
• I think James was permanently affected after getting swatted at the end of the half by Tree.
• Boozer might have the quickest release when he get’s the ball down low.  If he’s in motion and catches it in stride, it’s fired at the hoop before the defender can respond.
• I’m really liking the Williams, Boozer, Millsap, AK, Brewer team on the floor.  No offense to Memo.

Video:

• Paul Millsap Interview
• ESPN Highlights
• Halftime update

I thought I’d mess around with some wallpapers.  Thanks to this cool tool, you can put in an image URL along with text and it generates a web page with the text making up the photo.  It looks pretty smooth, but it will kill your browser.  For whatever reason, it takes a lot of CPU.  The code shows that it’s creating a text with a location, rotation, position, and color.  So this took a bit just to create these three, but I think they look pretty good.  I’ll make up some more. (Click on photos for 1280×1024)