Battered and beaten, Jazz battle but fall to the Pacers....

  The Jazz took jab after jab from the Pacers and were right there before being knocked out down the stretch 95-86.  This was a hard one to watch.  Jazz played really well the entire game and wanted to see them pull it out, but knowing a loss in the long run is probably better for the team.  This was a "best of both worlds" game for the Jazz.  Hopefully they were able to learn a bit from the Pacers, how to be a gritty hard nosed team.  Lets recap.....

• The Jazz defense and execution early was fantastic!
• Jazz had a number of deflections in the first half.  Very active in the passing lanes.
• Ty called a time out at the 2:19 mark in the first, Jazz were up 5 at the time but were slipping.  Well called timeout, gave the guys a quick breather.
• Jazz win the first quarter 23-17
• Brandon Rush checked in during the 2nd quarter, hit his first jumper from the elbow.  Good for his confidence.
• Team rebounding in the first half was really good.
• Lance Stephenson has really improved, but is still throwing up garbage that is going in???
• Rudy Gobert got some run in the 2nd and there was some definite rust.  Paired with Kanter and looked a little bit lost.
• Alec Burks had a really good first half, and a strong game over all.
• This play stood out....Jazz on defense, 5 minute mark of the 2nd quarter, ball is above the 3 pt line on the left side, Jazz over play defensively not allowing Stephenson to go right.  Tries to go right 3 times stopped every time, completely disrupts Indiana offense.  The end up with a forced shot and miss.  Fantastic team defense.
• Jazz close out the 2nd quarter rough...lead at half 48-47.
• Jazz transition offense made all the difference in the world.  Indiana is not good in transition.  Bigs don't get up and down the floor well.
• 3rd quarter the Jazz looked tired, but continued to battle.
• All the minutes that Richard Jefferson logged early in the season have taken their toll, he just doesn't have any legs right now.
• Kanter played the way he is expected to.  Had a really good game, finished with 20 pts 10 rebs.
• Derrick Favors is going to be a steal at 11 million a year.  His development is really taking off.  Played like a MAN tonight.
• Favors got "jobbed" on his 4th and 5th foul calls.  He clearly blocked Hibbert under the basket got called for his 4th.  The 5th was a box out on Hibbert, should have been a no call.

  

All together there are a lot of positives to be take from this game. The Jazz took everything the Pacers had and gave some back to them, they played tough.  Two things came to mind as I was watching this game, one: the talent disparity is not as bad as many Jazz fans think.  I think the first of the season not having a legit point guard made the talent that this team does have look really bad.  Now with Trey back its almost a completely different team.  If you look at the numbers for all the players and the efficiency numbers, they have increased remarkably.  Two, the Jazz may win a lot more games than people think or may want. The Eastern Conference is so bad. Luckily, the Jazz play in the west and will have to battle the majority of the season.  If they were in the Eastern Conference, I would say the Jazz are making the playoffs.  Jazz are back at it Friday night in Portland.  Not getting any easier...

http://www.nba.com/games/20131204/INDUTA/gameinfo.html?ls=slt

Jazz look to keep PACE tonight at ESA...

  The Utah Jazz take on the leagues best team, the Indiana Pacers tonight at Energy Solutions Arena.  Jazz are riding an unexpected 2 game winning streak and the Pacers are coming of a loss to the hottest team in the league the Portland Trailblazers.  Tonight's game is going to test the young Jazz toughness.  They will have to come prepared to battle this team all night.  The match-up of the night will be early MVP canidate Paul George versus Gordon Hayward.  In the off-season, Jazz fans were upset with the Pacers for signing Paul George to a max deal.  To be honest, I thought that deal was a mistake and felt like it hurt the Jazz opportunity to resign Hayward.  Now we can see why Indiana paid George what they did.  Lets take a look at tonight's match-up.....

Defensively- The Jazz defense the last 2 games has been better.  They seem to have made a philosophy change and seem to be switching everything on defense for the most part.  It seems to be working.  This will be a different test for the Jazz tonight.  Indiana is an "old school" hard nosed team that plays inside out.  The offense will start in the paint with Roy Hibbert and David West.  I think Favors matches up favorably to Hibbert, should be able to play position defense and bother some of his shots.  Favors will have to do his work early and push Hibbert off the block as best as he can.  David West has always been a Jazz killer.  He always torched both Boozer and Milsap.  Tonight match-up plays in his favor.  Marvin does not have the size or strength to battle West.  The Jazz will have to double hard on West.  Look for whoever is guarding Lance Stephenson to be the double man.  Stephenson is not a good shooter and he is the guy that you would want to leave open.  For the Jazz to have a chance, they will need to bring their "hard hats" tonight.

Offensively- I think the only advantage the Jazz may have here is in transition.  They will need to run to be successful tonight.  And that means our bigs need to beat their bigs down the floor.  While West may have the advantage on Marvin, he still has to guard Marvin outside.  Marvin will help spread the floor and can also beat West off the dribble.  Trey Burke will be challenged offensively as he is going up against a bigger solid defender in George Hill.  Look for Trey to put Hibbert and Hill in the pick and roll and use his speed.  I am not sure that Hibbert can defend in the pick and roll, so Indiana may switch a lot, which may cause some confusion and breakdowns.  The Jazz can take advantage of this by making good off ball cuts and motion.  Gordon looked like he came out of his shooting slump a bit last game.  He was extremely effective early, being aggressive and putting the pressure on Harden.  Paul George is a different story.  He is an elite defender and is very long.  I think Gordon will come out feeling like he has something to prove.  This is a bit of a "double edged sword".  Gordon will need to play within the context of the offense as he did against the Rockets.  If he presses and tries to do too much, he will end up turning the ball over.

  Tonight's game will show what kind of toughness and fight the Jazz have gained over the last week or so.  I have been pleased with the progress of both the team and the staff.  They both have made strides in areas they were suffering previously.  Ty is making some good time out decision and substitutions have been solid.  The Jazz have also shown more fight and toughness, not backing down from anyone.  I have also enjoyed the poise this team has developed over this 2 game win streak.  Both games had a chance to go either way and the Jazz were able to execute and not get lost in the moment.  Development!  That's what its all about.....GO JAZZ!

http://www.nba.com/gamenotes/pacers.pdf
http://www.nba.com/gamenotes/jazz.pdf

In the valley of the sun, Jazz fight hard but the sun goes down

  This was not the prettiest game you will ever see but the Jazz battled.  Phoenix just imposed their will a bit more in the 2nd half.  Here is some thoughts from the game...

• Hayward had a great first half.  11 pts in the first quarter.  Struggled in the 2nd half but hit a huge 3 to tie the game.
• Bledsoe hits the shot you want him to take at the end of the game.
• Defense in the first quarter was not good.  Phoenix scored 29 pts.  Second quarter was much better.
• Kanter and Favors were monsters inside.  Kanter had 10 offensive rebounds.
• Alec Burks played in rhythm and had another big second half.  
• Gordon was great on the boards tonight.  The kind of effort that he needs every night to get the contract that he feels he deserves.
• Offensively the Jazz moved the ball really well again.  20 assists as a team.
• Gordon also had the defensive play of the game with a huge block on a PJ Tucker dunk attempt.
• The Jazz really miss Trey.  The point guard situation is costing the Jazz games.
• Jazz have lost the first 2 games by a total of 6 points. 
• Turnovers and Free throws are killing this team. 20 TO and 17-27 FT for 63%
• There was no bench for the Jazz other than Alec.
• Jazz summer camper Dionte Christmas gave Phoenix a real spark.  Jazz weren't ready to match his effort.  Had 9 pts off the bench.
• Jazz had only 3 steals and 1 block, Suns 10 steals and 10 blocks
• Miles Plumlee has really bad hair.

  Not sure what can be taken from this game.  The positives have to be the bigs played well and dominated the way they should have inside.  The Jazz did not exploit the size mismatch in the back court with Hayward and Jefferson.  Not sure if you put that one on Ty and the staff or if the Jazz just chose not to go that route.  Hayward was good on the boards but did disappear in the 2nd half.  Think this loss hurts even more than opening night.  Now the have to turn around and play the Rockets and Dwight Howard tomorrow night.

To pay or not to pay.....

  Paul George and Demarcus Cousin, both players just received extensions on their rookie contracts.  Paul George signed a 5 year 90 million dollar contract.  Demarcus Cousins signed a 4 year 62 million contract.  Wow!  That's a lot of money for a media hyped average player and a complete knucklehead.  Do we really consider Paul George an NBA superstar?  He is a good defender and an average offensive player.  If you look at his numbers they do not justify this contract.  http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/g/georgpa01.html#per_minute::none, http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/g/georgpa01.html#advanced::none.  Don't get me wrong Paul George is a nice player but he is not a guy you build your franchise around and is going to LEAD you deep into the playoffs.

  Cousins, he is a whole different story.  A bad teammate, a shot chucker, terrible defender and a cancer in the locker room.  Does the guy have skills, definitely.  But again, do you want your team built around a guy that statistically makes you worse?  Per www.82games.com

Stat	ON Court	OFF Court	Net
Minutes	2289	1676	57%
Offense: Pts per 100 Poss.	106.3	108.0	-1.7
Defense: Pts per 100 Poss.	113.3	111.4	+2.0
Net Points per 100 Possessions	-7.1	-3.4	-3.6
Points Scored	4726	3493	+1233
Points Allowed	5031	3588	+1443
Net Points	-305	-95	-210
Effective FG%	49.2%	49.0%	+0.2%
Effective FG% Allowed	52.6%	50.5%	+2.1%
Assisted Field Goals	56%	54%	+2%
Assisted FG% Allowed	63%	64%	-1%
Own Shots Blocked	8%	6%	+2%
Shots Blocked	4%	5%	-1%
Rebounding
Offensive Rebounding	29.2%	30.0%	-0.8%
Defensive Rebounding	69.5%	67.8%	+1.7%
Total Rebounding	49.4%	48.9%	+0.5%
Stats
Free Throws Made	17	17	+0
Free Throws Attempted	23	21	+2
Free Throws Made by Opp.	18	18	+0
Free Throws Attempted by Opp.	23	24	+1
Turnovers, on Offense	15	13	-2
Turnovers, on Defense	14	14	+0
Net Turnovers	-1	1	+2
Fouls Committed	20	20	+0
Fouls, Drawn	20	19	+1
Net Fouls	0	-1	-1

  For fans of the NBA and especially Jazz fans this is BAD!  If these two players just received these types of contracts and you are an average or small market team and have the hope of holding on to your young stars, you better hope your teams front office is ready to pony up the dough.  This new CBA was supposed to help level the playing field some.  To help smaller markets keep their players.  Well Sacramento and their new ownership, and Larry Bird and the Pacers just blew up those thoughts.  I hope the rest of the league will be somewhat reasonable when it comes to signing players and stay with in the market value of such players.  Paul George will be making more that James Harden....Cousins will be making more that Al Horford, Joakim Noah and Kevin Love, all All-stars.  For the Utah Jazz's sake I hope Gordon and Derrick both understand how valuable they are to the franchise, but also realize that building a championship is not just about them and the money.  

Call it my "homer wish" maybe they can give us a "home town discount"!