Upper Bowl Jazz Fan

Utah Jazz lose to Nuggets; Still Lead Series 3-2

// April 29th, 2010 // No Comments » // 2010 Playoffs

A win here would have been really nice for the Jazz.  It would be a sign to the rest of the Western Conference that the Jazz are still strong.  It would have given the team some needed rest.

After the Nuggets had feuded in the locker room and were all pointing fingers at one another it seemed that an implosion was already underway.  Alas, despite all that the Nuggets came out playing like they had something to lose…which they did.

Nene went out late in the 1st quarter with a knee injury and Birdman was hobbling towards the end of the game.  The Nuggets were offering the game up to the Jazz if they wanted it.  The offer was short lived however.

The Jazz went into the half leading by 2 and then proceeded to give up 36 points in the 3rd quarter and trailed by 5 at the beginning of the 4th.  They couldn’t get the offense going and Denver seemed like they couldn’t miss a shot.

All of Denver’s roleplayers finally came out of the woodworks and came through for the Nuggets.  Arron Afflalo made all 5 of his shots including 2 from long range.  JR Smith went from being invisible on defense and shooting 578 bricks to making 4 of 5 from beyond the arc and 5 of 9 overall.  Kenyon Martin had his best game of the series…basically everything that could have gone right for Nuggets, well, did.

Utah Jazz’ roleplayers couldn’t buy a shot.  Korver looked particularly bad missing all 6 of his shots.  Fesenko turned the ball over 3 times in the first 4 minutes of the game.  Ronnie Price forgot that he knew how to play basketball and was seen blowing bubbles to entertain himself while on the court.

It makes sense.  The roleplayers always play better at home.  Considering how bad the Nuggets have played in Energy Solutions we can rest assured that they won’t drain 8 3-pointers in a row.

Our roleplayers will be playing for a hometown crowd that loves them.  Kyle Korver couldn’t possibly miss 100% of his shots in that scenario.  Ronnie Price still won’t know how to run the offense but hopefully it won’t matter as much.  The crowd will hopefully pressure the refs into baking the Jazz a cake.

Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer played very well.  They combined for nearly 60 points shooting over 50% from the field.  Williams drained 5 of his 8 3 pointers.  Boozer snagged 16 boards.  But, just as the Nuggets realized the Melo & Billups can’t win the game alone, neither can DWill and Boozer.

Of any of the Jazz losses, I wasn’t all that upset about this one.  Yeah, it would have been great to see a win.  I didn’t want to see the Jazz mail this game in knowing they could go back home and win the series there.  However, that puts a lot of pressure on Friday night’s Game 6 in Salt Lake City.

Jazz take a commanding series lead over the Denver Nuggets

// April 28th, 2010 // No Comments » // 2010 Playoffs

Game 4 was a huge game for the Jazz.  It was a chance to take a 3-1 lead on the Nuggets and virtually close the series.  Or, with a loss, it would rob the Jazz of the advantage they gained by winning Game 2 and tie the series up at 2-2.

The Jazz showed up ready to play and scored the win.  Despite losing their nearly 20 point 4th quarter lead, the Jazz held the Nuggets off and secured the win.

Energy Solutions was packed despite the rare Sunday game.  It’s crazy to see pictures from other arenas that looked empty at the start of other playoff games.  I, for one, am glad to live in a city that LOVES the NBA and our team.

Carlos Boozer was huge for the Jazz.  He appeared to have learned from his mistakes in Game 3 and attacked the basket…and often.  His outside jumper was falling for him too which made him nearly impossible to guard.  He went off for 31 points on 13 of 19 shooting, tallied 13 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 steal, and 2 blocks.  Finally!  Power Forward-like stats.

Nene, Birdman, and Kenyon Martin were unable to make a huge difference in the game.  Nene went to the line 12 times but was kind enough to make only 6 of his Free Throw attempts.

Deron Williams dominated again going for 24 points, 13 assists, 4 rebounds, and a steal.  He went to the foul line 12 times making 10 of them.  He was aggressive and, as a result, put Chauncey Billups in foul trouble ending with him fouling out with a few minutes left in the game.  Watch this crossover to 3 pointer over Nene…

CJ Miles played an impressive game and only had a couple of lapses back to “Bad CJ” with 5 turnovers and a few ill-advised shots.  Notwithstanding, he went 8 for 15 from the field and 4 for 4 from the line for 21 points.

Wesley Matthews overcame a poor start to the series by going 7 of 11 from the field, 3 assists, 3 steals, 1 block and 0 turnovers.

Both Matthews and Miles played great defense on Carmelo Anthony.  39 points from Melo might suggest otherwise but his 5 fouls and 9 turnovers are more telling.  He nearly had a triple double…of the bad kind.

JR Smith went 3 for 11 from the field in this game which officially makes him 9 of 890 in the series.  I might have made that last stat up but he’s been terrible all series, this game included.  After the game he called all of the Nuggets’ play selfish which would be as ridiculous as Tiger Woods saying that extramarital sex is bad.

Adrian Dantley seems to not have the confidence of his team and the Nuggets all seem to be feuding with one another as evidenced by Melo chewing out Birdman after he jacked up a 20-footer for no reason.

Now that the Nuggets are down 1-3 I have a hard time believing that they’ll put together as a nearly leaderless team and win game 5.  Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups might have a different plan for Game 5 but if they are the only ones caring the Jazz could steal this series in 5.

Only 8 teams (out of something like 180) have ever come back from being down 1-3.  However, most of the teams that have come back from this deficit have done it having homecourt advantage…as the Nuggets have.  The Jazz can’t afford to get lazy or believe that it’s not a big deal to win game 5 since they’d come back home for Game 6.

Keys to winning Game 4 against the Nuggets

// April 24th, 2010 // No Comments » // 2010 Playoffs

Carlos Boozer can’t come out and miss 12 of his 18 shots.  His midrange jumper was on during Game 2 and that same jumper couldn’t find the basket during Game 3.  I truly hope he realized that too.  He needs to take the ball to the basket a lot more and mix up his shots in order to keep Martin, Nene, and Birdman guessing.

Deron Williams needs to keep being aggressive.  The Jazz played so well in Game 2 when Williams took over every play.  He was either assisting or making the shots.  I’m not advocating that he do this all the time; it wouldn’t be congruent with the flex offense the Jazz run.  However, sometimes you need your star to do his thing.

Wesley Matthews/CJ Miles both need to keep doing what they’re doing on Carmelo Anthony.  Keeping him in foul trouble and playing good defense has been a winning solution for the past 2 games.  Both of them need to get confidence-building shots early in the game, most likely driving layups or short range shots.

Millsap needs to be that spark off the bench like he was in Game 3.  He needs to be smarter than Birdman or Martin and avoiding their shot-blocking.

Fesenko needs to keep up his good defense on Nene.  He has a tendency to foul uncontrollably but during Game 3 especially did a great job playing good defense w/out fouling.  He only had 3 fouls in 23 minutes of play.  What is also important were his 9 points.  He barely was noticeable on offense during Games 1 & 2.

The Jazz just need to keep playing with a chip on their shoulder and punish the Nuggets the way they’ve done for the past 2 games.  We were only favored by 2 points for Game 3.  When we were up by 20 points with 4 minutes left we showed that we have heart.  Let’s play with even more heart in Game 4 and we’ll take the series.

Jazz take the lead in the series 2-1 against the Denver Nuggets

// April 24th, 2010 // No Comments » // 2010 Playoffs, Game Summary

Game 3 is probably one of the easier games for the home team.  I don’t have stats or something on that but it makes sense.  When the Jazz lost to the Spurs and Lakers in 5 games the past 2 seasons the only games the Jazz won was Game 3.

Thankfully, the Jazz didn’t disappoint…except for the 1st quarter.  A slow start had every Jazz fan fearing dropping one at home which would have been devastating.

Carlos Boozer had a rough night missing his first 5 shots and finished making only 6 of his 18 shots.  He also only grabbed 8 boards which is pretty crappy especially for an above average rebounder like Boozer.  He settled for a lot of outside shots and while they fell for him in Game 2, the tide turned the other way in Game 3.  This is exactly why Booze needs to go inside a LOT more inside of relying on his jumper.

Paul Millsap got the Memo and found himself open and often during the 2nd quarter and throughout the game.  Millsap made 8 of 8 shots in the 2nd and finished making 11 of his 14 shots scoring 22 points and pulling down 19 boards.  Both are career highs for him.  It was a treat to watch him.  We have Millsap to thank, in part, for the Jazz play in the 2nd and their lead going into the half.

I’ve been most pleased with CJ Miles’ play in this series.  Despite getting very lucky in Game 2 by not being called out of bounds just moments before Carmelo Anthony committed his 6th foul, Miles has played well.  He has contributed in getting Melo in foul trouble in both of the last 2 games.  While he hasn’t been stellar on offense he has been solid on both ends of the floor.  TrueHoop reported on a number of players who had performed admirably up until this point in the season and Deron Williams and CJ Miles were both mentioned.  You can read that article here.

I cannot stress how important Game 4 is.  The Jazz have an opportunity to take a 3-1 series lead.  In the history of the 7 game series only 8 teams have recovered from being down 1-3 to win the series.  Basically, it means the series win is in the bag.

The Nuggets know this too so they’ll be playing with probably more heart than the Jazz will.  They know it’s a must win because if they can take the game, they’ll have regained their homecourt advantage.