Jazz let another Fish off the hook

A Promising start ends in 4th Quarter Heartbreak

The young Jazz struggled to complete a promising game in Minnesota on Friday night. In fact after leading by 16, the Jazz let Minnesota wiggle off the hook late in the game and ruined what was nearly a great trip to the Great Lakes Region. Until the NBA starts giving credit for winning partial games, or counting “we almost did its” as victories, the Jazz will have to keep clawing.

In fact to best understand what happened to the Jazz Friday night, we could examine a hypothetical fishing trip made by a group of young fishermen.

The young fishermen showed up to fish the challenging unfamiliar lake in Minnesota. The young fishermen didn’t have much experience, nor did they feel too comfortable, in the strange surroundings. Luckily, they were given some guidance by an old Ranger, who tried to impart all the wisdom and planning needed to obtain a fine catch. The young fishermen were full of youthful energy and spunk, and while not completely sure how to accomplish the task, they marched bravely ahead. Initially following the plan laid out for them by the seasoned Ranger, the fishermen looked to have a great deal of success. In fact, they hooked a big fish and started to reel it in. The fish while not a trophy fish that would garner national attention, it was certainly a conquer worth having and would gain the young fishermen some esteem and acknowledgement within their region. Things seemed to be going very well, but in the excitement of landing the big fish and thinking of all the grandeur and pride that would be achieved, the young fishermen forgot to stay with the plan and tips provided by the Ranger. As the fish got near the boat, the young fishermen were excited but also getting very nervous and caught up in the moment. The fish decided to fight back and try to free himself. The young inexperienced fishermen went ahead and tried to land the fish anyway, but as they were lifting the fish up out of the water and clearly able to see their prize, they neglected to quickly scoop it into the net. The big fish shook and spun and freed itself. Splashing back into the water the fish swam away and left the young fishermen broken hearted. Instead of leaving their adventure to the Great Lakes Region feeling successful, the young fishermen were forced to endure a late night trip home empty handed.

After the game the Ranger…urr Jazz coach, Jerry Sloan, had to feel encouraged by the way his team of young fishermen, battled and attacked early in the game. However, losing composure at the end and not showing the mental toughness required to win, was surely a tough thing to swallow. One thing is for certain, I don't expect Sloan to give up trying to teach these guys how to fish...urr Win.

For a non fishing related recap of the game, you can read the Salt Lake Tribune’s coverage of the game by clicking here.

(originally blogged at the Utah Jazz Blog)

Who do I want to win the Superbowl you ask?

Since I'm not a fan of either team, picking a Superbowl favorite isn't easy.

I was hoping for Payton Manning and Dante Culpepper to make the Superbowl so we'd have guns blazing and something to watch besides the commercials. But the brutal winter weather and solid defenses won out again.

I have no issue with the Patriots. They are a machine and they are perhaps one of the best big game teams ever. They seem to play better when there is more pressure. And forget about giving Belichick too much time to prepare for an opposing QB. I do like the fact that they seem to exemplify the team concept. I think they are like a big bowl of Vanilla ice cream. You know its going to be good, but you probably won't be surprised or really excited either.

It is somewhat hard for me to root for Philly since I grew up a Cowboys fan, and remember the rivalry that started for me during the Ron Jaworski, Wilbert Montgomery, and Harold Carmichael era. Still, I think Andy Reid is a good coach, and I like McNabb. I think McNabb does have enough flexibility that the Patriots won't be able to completely neutralize him. I can picture in my mind a scenario in which the game will be very close and hinge on one turnover either way. So, I'm rooting for McNabb and the underdog Eagles. ***

*** Disclaimer: I retract the support for the Eagles in the event Terrible Owens plays. Does he make them better? Sure. But as they've proven throughout the playoffs, they can win games without him. His attitude and thirst for the spotlight in what is supposed to be a team game is beyond irritating. Of course, I'm one of those people who say lame things like, "I'd rather lose with the right guys, than win with the wrong ones". While I never root for a player to get injured, I can say I was not disappointed that Terrible got hurt, nor could I ignore that there was some kind of justice that occurred since he was hurt at the scene of one of his biggest egocentric displays ever (Parading around on the Star in Texas Stadium years ago).

Shooting and Missing

Shooting Percentages in the NBA : The Best and the worst.

As you know, I love to look at statistics of different kinds. One very common statistic is field goal percentage. Usually the best big men in the league are the best percentage shooters. Looking at the top 5 in the NBA, there are no real surprises:

• Shaquille O'Neal .610
• Amare Stoudemire .572
• Eddie Curry .537
• Carlos Boozer .530
• Udonis Haslem .528

One guy who makes the top ten is somewhat shocking. Jason Terry of Dallas is #10 in the NBA at .521. This is surprising in that he is a guard who shoots mainly from the perimeter, but also, the guy is a career .432 shooter. Something has changed, and I'd guess it's playing on a winning team that features several other great players who are demanding double teams.

One thing that people don't always look at is the worst field goal percentage shooters. I did, and I was surprised to find who was dead last in the NBA for made FG %. The criteria requires that all these players must be on pace to make 300 FG for the season, so for that reason part time players don't appear much in this list. Okay, who is last?

How about Kobe Bryant. Yes, Kobe is ranked #101 and therefore is the lowest ranked player in terms of shooting percentage. It doesn't help that Kobe takes almost 30% of his shots behind the arc, where he only shoots 33%.

Here are the brick-layers (bottom of the FG% rankings):

• Kobe Bryant .406
• Antoinne Walker .409
• Earl Boykins .412
• Allen Iverson .414
• Morris Peterson .415
• Corey Maggette .415

You can see the entire list on ESPN by clicking here.




(originally blogged at the Utah Jazz Blog)

Jazz Show Signs of Life

The Utah Jazz showed signs of life in their 109-100 victory over the Seattle Sonics last night. It might be more accurately stated as "Signs of Health". The two stars of the game for the Jazz were Andrei Kirilenko, playing just his 3rd game back from injury, and point guard Raul Lopez, who has had his career limited by injuries.

Andrei Kirilenko played two 10 minute stretches for the Jazz, as he is still being limited by the trainers who do not want to rush him back too quick. Perhaps no other player is as hard to describe as AK 47, in that when he is on the floor good things happen and you can't always measure them. That doesn't mean he is a quiet player, as when you are finished watching you know his impact is huge, and huge in a way that the box score sometimes misses. I am not sure whether "Jigsaw" is a good nickname for him or not, but its many different pieces that come together to make an effective result with Andrei. Blocked shots, steals, offensive rebounds, deflections, and off the ball movement are things that he excels at. Sure, he delivers points and rebounds and some assists, but he is dominant in those other areas. Kirilenko being back from injury definitely brings hope to the fans. You can sense it.

Raul Lopez was the unquestioned star of the game. Raul played a career high 38 minutes and set season highs of 20 points and 11 assists. Keep in mind, Lopez had averaged only 13.6 minutes per game this season, but was thrust into the starting point guard position due to the trade of Carlos Arroyo and the recent injury to Keith McLeod. Health will be a key, but this guy may not give back the starting position for a while.

Did anyone see this victory by the Jazz coming? The author of the best Sonics blog going, is in tune with pulse of his team and predicted this outcome correctly (click and read for yourself). I for one was somewhat surprised. I thought the fact that Seattle played the night before, while the Jazz were home and resting, meant it could be close. However, after watching the offensive show Seattle put on the Jazz over the weekend, it was hard to imagine them being slowed down by the less than impressive defense the Jazz have been playing.

The Jazz have a home dominated schedule with 4 of the next 5, and 5 of the next 7, being played in the Delta Center. As the season is rapidly ticking away, the Jazz must now start to win if there is any prayer of playoff contention. I shouldn't mention this, but the Jazz are now 15-28 on the season, and would have to finish 26-13 to get to .500 (which still may not be a playoff birth in the rugged Western Conference).

A closing comment on the Sonics (whom the Jazz have finished playing for the year), is that they sure are fun to watch shoot the basketball. Ray Allen might be the purest bomber in Seattle since Downtown Freddie Brown. And probably not since Jack Sikma have they had a big guy step out like Vladimir Radmanovic and bury endless jumpers. It doesn't end there either as Rashard Lewis, Luke Ridnour, and Antonio Daniels all seem to drop daggers when left open.

(originally blogged at the Utah Jazz Blog)

Mumblings from the weekend...

As usual, after a weekend full of sports, I have just a couple of thoughts to mumble...

• It might be obvious to you, but I just realized these Patriots are pretty good. No seriously, do they ever lose a big game? I thought the Steelers where in great position to win as they had the home field, a great coach, and an awesome defense. In the end another big game won and dominated by the Patriots. I think its going to take a huge effort from Westbrook and McNabb to have a chance against New England. I think Philly's Defense is near Pitt's level, and McNabb and Westbrook are upgrades, but I still worry that they can score enough to keep with the Pats. As of now Las Vegas agrees and says Philly is a 6 1/2 point underdog. At least the commercials should be good. Never mind the half time show.
  
• The University of Utah men's basketball program looks like it has rebounded from losing its nationally respected coach (Majerus) and is out to show that the program is bigger than just one man (even if that man was realllly big). Note, the Utah football program faces this same challenge next year. Back on the court, the Utes have won 11 games in a row and are finally nationally ranked (#25 this week). Star center Andrew Bogut is on a big-time roll and could possibly be a top 5 NBA pick next year. The Sporting News has caught Bogut fever and made him the starting center on their Half-Season All American Team. If Bogut is drafted as high as expected (lets assume he'll enter the draft), it leads me wonder if any school has placed a Football player and a Basketball player in the top five of each draft in the same season (Bogut and Alex Smith are both possible top picks). I'll research this in the days to come. By the way, in terms of rolling....against New Mexico, Bogut scored 18 of Utah's first 19 points. When have you ever seen something like that? He ended the game with 24 points and 20 rebounds.
  
• Guess who won a golf tournament this weekend? I didn't see it, but if Tiger keeps winning, golf could become very watchable again.
• They say Randy Moss could be traded this off season. Am I the only one who would like to see him get traded to USC for that Smith kid? Yes that's right, the USC Trojans. C'mon it would be great, Steve Smith of USC has great hands and with Culpepper around could be a good player. Moss, could go back to school and have some time to grow up, learn some discipline, and maybe even just a touch of class to go with all that talent. I'd take Ahmad Rashad catching Culpepper any day over this Moss character.
• Speaking of not missing flamboyant wide receivers....I hope Terrible Owens doesn't play in the Superbowl. McNabb and company have proven they can do it without him, and as good as Owens is, he doesn't deserve to be the only one getting all the credit (even if he is seeking it so very badly). Come to think about it, without Owens, when looking at the final four NFL teams in the playoffs who are the wide receivers? Sure New England's guys are solid, and Burress and Ward for Pittsburgh are good, but chances are the average fan couldn't name a WR on Philadelphia or Atlanta. A star WR is a nice thing to have, but perhaps not as valuable as a few of these guys would like you to think they are.
• The Jazz got Andrei Kirilenko back from injury, but in limited minutes, he was unable to help the Jazz from losing two games over the weekend. The Memphis Grizzlies and the Seattle Sonics both used a heavy dose of offense to keep the Jazz at bay.
  
• Jazz Trade idea; Are there two NBA teams with nicknames that are more un-fitting for their cities than the Utah Jazz and the Memphis Grizzlies? Venture into downtown Salt Lake City and look for some Jazz music. Also, chances are there has never been a Grizzly Bear within 500 miles of Memphis. Therefore does it not make sense to trade the nicknames?
  
• Kudos to the Salt Lake Tribune for running an edited version of my "Fouls Called Differential" statistical review of the Jazz, that I blogged a few days ago.