Sweet Music by Ronnie, Milsap

The second year of an NBA career often produces what is called the "sophomore slump" in many players. Fortunately for the Jazz, their two sophomores, Ronnie Brewer and Paul Milsap, led Utah to an exciting 103-101 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers Wednesday night.

Brewer and Milsap are off to great starts in their second seasons, quickly dispelling the notion of a sophomore slump. Brewer is perhaps the biggest surprise and after 5 games is averaging 16 points per game, shooting 60% from the field, and contributing big on defense with just over 3 steals per game. Quite the contrast to his rookie season when he only appeared in 56 games and scored just over 4 points per game. For Milsap, it was a career high in scoring with 24 points, raising his season average to over 11 per game (compared to 5.9 in his rookie year).

You have to credit the Cavaliers for hanging around and staying in the game. You can't argue with the fact that they just didn't play their best game. They were out-shot, out-rebounded, and out hustled for most of the night. However some big shots down the stretch from the perimeter kept them in the game. When Lebron hit a huge 3-pointer with 6 seconds left to tie the game, it seemed like the Cavs where going to win a game they had no business winning. Then a quick inbounds pass caught the Cavs defense relaxing, and Deron Williams drove the length of the court for the winning lay-up with just over one second remaining.

Related Reading: A pretty good Cleveland Cavaliers blog can be found at the MVN.

Quick Shots:

• While Brewer and Milsap stole the show, Boozer and Williams still put up some good numbers. Boozer produced 23 points and 12 rebounds, and Williams posted 15 points and 12 assists. To be fair Williams did have 8 turnovers as he seemed a little out of sync at times and forced a few bad passes.
• One myth is melting away - and that is that old school Jerry Sloan doesn't play young guys. Milsap and Brewer are both making major contributions in their second year, and you have to credit Sloan for building maturity beyond their years in Boozer and Williams. Maybe a more accurate statement is that Sloan doesn't play young players - if they aren't good enough yet.
• At 3-2, the Jazz are off to a solid start. Given that all 5 games have been against NBA playoff teams from last year.
• The Jazz entered this game leading the NBA in scoring with an average of 113 points per game. It's a wonder what playing the defenseless Golden St. Warriors two times can do for you.
  

Up Next: The Jazz travel to Seattle Friday night for their first view of top rookie Kevin Durant. To learn more about the Sonics, read one of the best NBA blogs on the web: SuperSonicSoul - where you'll find some great stats and writing. The Sonics may stink, but this blog does not!

A-Rod, The Jazz, and JC Penney

A few things of note this week. Some are obvious tops, like Alex Rodriguez or the Utah Jazz, but I certainly didn't start the week thinking about JC Penney. A-Rod opted out and I read an amazing stat that is hard to believe, the Jazz kicked off the 2007-08 season, and I bumped into one of the funniest things I've read on the web in many weeks.

To begin, I'm a Yankee fan. I've also been an A-Rod fan, feeling for the most part that the media and fans are doing the same ole, build somebody up, and then tear them down when they fail to live up to the unreal hype. I knew A-Rod was likely to opt-out of his contract, though the Yankee fan part of me wanted him to stay, under the condition he'd let the Yankee's extend his current contract. I understand the business decision he and his agent made to opt-out, but the way they did it has caused me to officially jump off the A-Rod bandwagon. For his agent to leak the story to the national media during the World Series was a selfish and classless move. To top it off, he did so prior to telling the Yankees of their decision. I hope the Yankee management sticks to their pledge to not negotiate any further and use their massive amounts of money to pursue pitching and younger players. As for A-Rod and Boras, I doubt they'll get the wish list they've created: $300 Million, a roster spot with a legitimate pennant contender, and a team where A-Rod can play shortstop. I think I'd prefer to quote that old Saturday Night Live skit with the flight attendants and tell A-Rod, "Buh-Bye". (related link of interest: The New York Times blog shares an A-Rod stat that is hard to believe.)

As for the Jazz, I'll analyze them deeper as time goes on, but I think at this point it's fair to quickly comment on expectations for the season. I think the National media for the most part is correct, the Jazz will have a tough time cracking the top 4 in the Western Conference. Here in Salt Lake City however, I think many people are expecting the team to get close to 60 wins and make another run to the Western Conference finals. I expect the Jazz to be better than they were last season, probably in the 52-56 win range and battle with Denver for the division title. The playoffs however will be very challenging in the West, so I think the Jazz are a probably another year away from being one of the best teams in the conference.

It's not sports related, but....Last mumble for today is about that JC Penney catalog review - that I'm sure many of you have heard about already. It's certainly not sports, but this article will definitely hit your funny bone. Why is a JC Penney catalog funny? Well, the fact that it's the 1977 JC Penney catalog is the main source of the humor.