Utah Jazz vs. LA Clippers Preview

  The Jazz have their first back to back of the season tonight against the Clippers.  Granted the Jazz get this one at home, but the Jazz get an improved Clipper team.  The Clippers have a number of new additions to their roster but none more important than JJ Reddick and Jared Dudley.  This will be a good chance to see how the Jazz bounce back from a tough road loss.  Lets take a look at some of the keys....


Lineups-
  Ty went with a different starting lineup last night.  He started Burke, Burks, Hayward, Evans and Favors.  The only player that had a solid game was Gordon.  He played 26 minutes, went 5-11 from the field, 8-11 from the line, scoring 20 points.  He was effective getting to the basket and drawing contact.  The rest of his game was not as solid as the first preseason game.  He only had 2 rebounds and 1 assist.  The Jazz will need a better all around effort from their leader if they want to get a win.  This will also be a big bounce back game for Favors.  He had 3 offensive fouls on moving screens.  This really hurt his effectiveness in the game.  He as never able to get into the flow of the game.  It will be interesting to see if Ty goes back to Kanter and Jefferson in the starting lineup with Evans and Burks coming off the bench.

Matchups-
  There are number of them to watch.  The one that I will be watching the closest will be Trey Burke vs. Chris Paul.  Burke struggled from the field last night and was also taken to school by the athletic Damian Lillard.  This is the kind of game that we will have the chance to see what Trey is made of and how he bounces back.  I also look for him to watch Paul closely and attempt to learn some of the leagues best point guards tricks.  Blake Griffin is questionable for tonight's game after suffering a bone bruise.  With Griffin out the Jazz need to focus on getting the ball down low to Favors and Kanter.  DeAndre Jordan is foul prone which can play in the Jazz's favor.

Execution-
  Early against the Blazers the Jazz executed very well.  They were crisp running their offensive sets, as well as their defensive rotations.  When they fell behind, they started to press a little, causing their play to become sloppy.  They also struggled on the pick and roll defense.  If they had a hard time with the Blazers, it could be a long night as they go against the best pick and roll point guard in the game.  Look for Jazz bigs to hedge hard and get the ball out of Paul's hands.  The Clippers will counter with the addition of the two stretch 4's Antwan Jamison and Byron Mullens.  If Griffin does not play, look for the Clips to run a lot of pick and pop, as both players can shoot the ball from deep.  This will be the first real test for Jazz bigs against some effective stretch bigs.

Coaching-
  In the off-season the Clippers brought in arguably the best coach in the league, Doc Rivers.  He has already changed the atmosphere and attitude of this team.  Less clowning around by the likes of Jordan and Griffin and a lot more leadership with Dudley and Paul.  This team very likely could be the team to come out of the west.

  It will be good for the Jazz to be back home and have the crowd behind them.  Back to backs are always tough be the second of a back to back will be a little easier for this young team having it on their home court.  Look for Jazz to push tempo again and get the crowd in the game early.  No TV again tonight, but you can get David Locke and the radio broadcast at 1280 The Zone AM or 97.5 FM.  Here's to wishing I had some tickets for tonight's game!  Lets go Jazz!

Utah Jazz vs Portland Trailblazers Preview

  Friday night the Utah Jazz are slated to play the Portland Trailblazer in Boise Idaho.  Should be a bit of a home game for the Jazz even though they have Portland scheduled as the home team.  This will be another good test for the young point guard Trey Burke.  He had a successful first game against Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors.  Trey's line was 26 mins, 5-14 shooting, 2 rebounds and 3 assists.  That was the kind of start he needed coming of a poor summer league and all the questions swirling about him.  Lets take a look at some of the keys to this game....

Defensively-
  The Jazz are going to need to be strong in their pick and roll defense again.  Portland will look to run that set a lot with the likes of Damian Lillard, Meyers Leonard and new addition Thomas Robinson.  The Jazz will also need to duplicate their work on the boards against the Blazers.  In addition to Robinson, the Blazers added Robin Lopez in the off-season.  Lopez is a work horse on the boards and is a decent offensive rebounder.  The boards will need to be another team effort.  The Jazz should be able to get this win with the likes of Lamarcus Aldridge and Nicolas Batum being out of the line up.  Its things like that that make this a bit of a trap game.  The Jazz will need to come out focused.

Offensively-
  Look for the Jazz to continue to get out and run.  They did a good job Tuesday night against the Warriors pushing tempo.  Trey Burke has really improved that part of his game since the summer league.  This gave the Jazz opportunities for easy transition buckets.  The Jazz also ran a considerable amount of pick and roll, from both the top of the key and the right wing.  I look for that to continue.  Trey, Gordon and Alec were all effective out of that set.  Also look for Favors to establish early position on his man in the post.  He was effective getting down there early, sealing his man and getting a step to the bucket.  Just another facet of his development.

Bench-
  Last season the Trailblazers had the worst bench in the league.  This year they have added some piece to their bench so that guys like Lillard won't have to play 38 minutes a game.  Some of those players are former Jazz men Mo Williams and Earl Watson.  I would look for Mo to come out with an "I told you so" attitude and try to take it to the Jazz.  If the Jazz bench performs like they did against the Warriors, they should win the battle of the bench.  I feel this is going to be the key for the entire game.  Will Jeremy Evans continue to be effective from the perimeter?  Can Alec Burks continue his attacking style as well as setting up others?  Will JL3 continue to hit his jumper?  X-factors, Dominic Mcguire and Andris Biedrins?  It will also be interesting to see if the staff changes the rotations much.  I know that they would like to look at a couple of other players, but they need to focus on developing the "Core".

  This will be a fun one, with a number of former Jazz faces.  Unfortunately it will not be on TV but you can pick up David Locke and Ron Boone and the radio broadcast on 1280 The Zone and 97.5.  Look for the Jazz to come out with energy to continue to work hard and develop.  GO JAZZ!!!

Greatest Sports Movies of All Time!

  "You're killing me Smalls"  Great quote, great movie, the Sand lot.  There are a number of great sports movies out there.  Sand lot is just one of many.  So I thought we could do a Top 10 here on Another Level Sports.

1.Hoosiers
  For me this has to be the best sports movie of all time.  As a basketball player there is nothing better than watching Gene Hackman take his team in to the field house and measure the length of the court, height of the hoop etc.  Then telling his team that its no different than their own gym back home.

2.Rudy
  The original story/movie of the little guy over coming great odds.  Great movie but every time I watch it now, I see Sean Astin as a Hobbit!  Still a great move about a guy with more heart than an entire team.

3.Talladega Nights: The Ballad for Ricky Bobby
  I have to confess, I am a huge Will Ferrell fan and this is one of his best movies ever!  I have seen this movie countless times and laugh every time I watch it.  John C Reilly as Cal Naughton Jr, Ricky Bobby's childhood friend and racing teammate.  The two of them make a wonderfully entertaining pair.  The story of Ricky Bobby's rise and fall and rise again in NASCAR.

4.Rocky
  "Adrian!!!" Not much has to be said about Rocky or the Rocky series.  Stallone at his best.

5.Field Of Dreams
  "If you build it, they will come..."  When I first saw this movie, the first thing I thought was, I want my dad to build a baseball field in our yard.  It was the coolest thing I had seen as a kid.  Kevin Costner and James Earl Jones are fantastic.  As baseball movies go, this is the cream of the crop.

6.Warrior
  UFC fans love this movie, but so should everyone else.  This movie has some grit to it and hits hard with a families struggles.  Tom Hardy, Nick Nolte, Joel Edgerton are fantastic.  This is one of Nolte best films.  Watch this movie if you haven't!

7.Invincible
  This is a very underrated sports movie.  Yeah is another story of a "little guy" and his hard work to make the NFL but I loved it.  Mark Wahlberg is great.  A very good football movie.

8.Remember The Titans
  The story of a African American coaching being hired as a head coach to a high school football team as segregation is being done away with.  Awesome show.  Denzel Washington is fantastic and the high emotion with racial tension is captivating.  Love the way the team over comes the many issues to succeed.

9.Moneyball
  This movie was very interesting.  I had never paid much attention to the intricacies of statistics.  I have always checked box scores and what not. But this movie brought a whole new dimension to statistics and sports management to me.

10.Dodgeball
  "If you can dodge a wrench you can dodge a ball..."  Ben Stiller and Vince Vaughn as mortal enemies.  Love it.  The is movie has a great cast and some of the best comedy commentating in and movie.  Gotta love the "Ocho"

  There are so many others out there.  And I think I have seen just about all of them.  We can also add to the list the new movie Rush by Ron Howard.  Looks great, I will wait for it on Blu-ray.  But if you have some time and want to kill it with some good sports movies, these would be my picks.  How about you?

The greatest the game has ever seen?

  Peyton Manning.  Watching what this man has done already this season is unreal.  I have never seen anything like him from the Quarterback position.  Through 5 games he has 20 TD pass and 1 INT!  His QB rating is 92.0 and he is completing and unbelievable 75.8% of his passes.  The man is amazing!  He is on pace to reclaim the single season touchdown record.  As great as all of the stats are, the thing I enjoy the most about watching Peyton play is his command of the offense.  To watch him stand there take a look at the defense, get a read, run a hard count, watch for a tell and the change the play and have success is incredible.  He seems as if he is playing a game with the defense.  There are times, I swear I can see a bit of a smirk on his face because he knows what the defense is going to do and already has his counter in mind.  The question I have, is he the greatest Quarterback ever?  In all my years of watching football I can't remember ever seeing anything like this.  I was a huge fan of the '85 Bears, loved Mcmahon.  Thought he was the best.  Loved the Joe Montana/Steve Young years with the 49ers.  But none of them ever had the mastery Peyton does today.  Now many are going to argue, he has only one Super Bowl.  For me championship just add to a legacy.  Barkley, Stockton, Malone all great players never got their rings.  Same thing can be said for LaDainian Tomlinson, Barry Sanders....the lists could go on and on.  If he get another ring or two, I don't see any way he is not the greatest of all time.  As a fan I will enjoy this year with Mr.Manning and how ever many he has left in him.  I will enjoy the precision and greatness he brings to the field.  Because we may not have that many left of the one that I would call the Greatest!  Good luck Peyton and the Broncos!

Jazz vs. Warriors Preview

  Tomorrow night kicks of the preseason for the Utah Jazz!  They are immediately put to the test with the Golden State Warriors.  I will try to highlight a few keys to the game.

  The first thing we need to remember is it will be the first game that our "Core 5" will play together.  There will be bumps for sure.  The coaching staff is will want to see how they react to different situations, all while evaluating everyone they have on the roster.  I do not envy the staff at all right now.

  Offensively-
  It will be interesting to see how much pick and roll is run and from what points on the floor.  I believe the Jazz will try to push the ball and let their athletes make plays.  Also look for the corner 3 from the Jazz.  I noticed that they shot a number of them in the scrimmage and they all seemed to come in the context of the offense.

Match-ups-
  There are more than a few good match-ups here.  Burke-Curry, Burks-Thompson, Hayward-Iguodala, Favors-Lee and Kanter-Bogut.  In my opinion, the match-ups to watch will be Kanter-Bogut, Burks-Thompson and one that is not on the list, Jefferson-Barnes.  I look for Kanter to try to play "bully ball' with Bogut, who is a solid defender.  If Kanter can be efficient inside it could be a good night for the Jazz. Burks-Thompson match-up needs to be looked at from a defensive stand point.  How does Alec do chasing Klay of screens all game long?  This is one of the things that Alec has struggled with in the past.  Klay has the green light, but if Alec is able to stay with him off the screen and contest shots we should be in good shape.  Lastly, Richard Jefferson has a bit of a chip on his shoulder.  He has been injured the last couple of seasons and wants to prove that he can still be an effective player in the league.  Look for Jefferson to try to teach his young protege Barnes a thing or two.

Defensively-
  This will be what the staff will evaluate the team and each player on the most.  The Jazz have changed their philosophy some, now instead of forcing an offensive player to the middle, they will force the player to the sideline or baseline.  Also, watch the bigs on the pick and roll.  Do they hedge effectively and make Curry give the ball up?  The Jazz rotations and 3 point contests will have to be solid.  Golden State will put up any open 3 they get, transition or half court.  So players will need to identify shooters early in transition.  Lastly, the defensive boards.  Are the wings crashing the boards helping Favors and Kanter out?  Golden State is a good rebounding team and the Jazz will need a team effort here.  Does Gordon get more than 3 boards?  If he has a 5-6 board night I think the Jazz will have a chance.

  Its an early measuring stick and a good one at that.  I look forward to seeing if the Jazz are starting to put it together.  The Jazz will need to play an efficient game, limit turnovers and win the battle of the boards if they look to come out on top in this one.  Good luck and Go Jazz