Jazz 101, Philadelphia 93
Not all assists are created equal, which was why Deron Williams made a play midway through the first quarter that jumped out in my mind.
Eight seconds on the shot clock. Williams takes the ball at three-quarters court off an inbounds pass. He spots the Sixers on their heels, attacks the basket with a full head of steam and wraps a pass to Ronnie Brewer for a dunk.
Just a great play from Williams, who played a great game. It was no coincidence the Jazz hit 12 - - yes, 12 - - consecutive shots and built a 15-point lead with Williams quarterbacking the offense in the first quarter.
"He's stepping his game up," Brewer said. "I just think he's fine-tuning it right now. I think during the course of this season everybody's going to be able to show how great of a point guard he is."
Williams found Andrei Kirilenko and Carlos Boozer for jumpers. He punched the ball inside to Kirilenko, who posted up and scored as part of a three-point play. He set up Brewer for dunk after dunk. Seven assists in seven minutes is impressive even in preseason.
"We have some guys on this team that can do some miraculous things in short periods of time," Boozer said. "We had two guys with double-doubles in less than 25 minutes. It's going to be an exciting year. It's going to be a lot of fun."
Williams wasn't as sharp when he came back in the second quarter - - Jerry Sloan wanted to get his starters used to coming back off the bench in Wednesday's game - - but he basically stuck the knife in the Sixers in the third quarter.
The Jazz stretched a four-pont lead out to 12 points and then 15 as Mehmet Okur hit a three-pointer while being fouled and Williams knocked down two three-pointers and spun to the basket for a layup.
Williams finished with 12 points and 10 assists, making 5 of 6 shots in 22 minutes. According to Jazz owner Larry Miller's favorite batting average formula, Williams hit .727 in Wednesday's game.
The Jazz are somewhere between the team that trailed by as many as 35 points Monday against Phoenix - - their third game in three time zones in four nights - - and the team whose starters were 24 points better than Philadelphia's starters Wednesday.
"We know we're ready and we know we're going to continue to get ready as the season starts," Boozer said.
About the only thing Jazz coach Jerry Sloan wasn't willing to do was anoint Brewer the starting shooting guard. Brewer built his game exactly as Sloan wanted Wednesday, starting with dunks and layups, then shooting his jumper with confidence.
"We don't start for a long time," Sloan said. "I don't know. We'll have to see. Evidently, that's going to be a question we answer every night."
--Ross Siler
Eight seconds on the shot clock. Williams takes the ball at three-quarters court off an inbounds pass. He spots the Sixers on their heels, attacks the basket with a full head of steam and wraps a pass to Ronnie Brewer for a dunk.
Just a great play from Williams, who played a great game. It was no coincidence the Jazz hit 12 - - yes, 12 - - consecutive shots and built a 15-point lead with Williams quarterbacking the offense in the first quarter.
"He's stepping his game up," Brewer said. "I just think he's fine-tuning it right now. I think during the course of this season everybody's going to be able to show how great of a point guard he is."
Williams found Andrei Kirilenko and Carlos Boozer for jumpers. He punched the ball inside to Kirilenko, who posted up and scored as part of a three-point play. He set up Brewer for dunk after dunk. Seven assists in seven minutes is impressive even in preseason.
"We have some guys on this team that can do some miraculous things in short periods of time," Boozer said. "We had two guys with double-doubles in less than 25 minutes. It's going to be an exciting year. It's going to be a lot of fun."
Williams wasn't as sharp when he came back in the second quarter - - Jerry Sloan wanted to get his starters used to coming back off the bench in Wednesday's game - - but he basically stuck the knife in the Sixers in the third quarter.
The Jazz stretched a four-pont lead out to 12 points and then 15 as Mehmet Okur hit a three-pointer while being fouled and Williams knocked down two three-pointers and spun to the basket for a layup.
Williams finished with 12 points and 10 assists, making 5 of 6 shots in 22 minutes. According to Jazz owner Larry Miller's favorite batting average formula, Williams hit .727 in Wednesday's game.
The Jazz are somewhere between the team that trailed by as many as 35 points Monday against Phoenix - - their third game in three time zones in four nights - - and the team whose starters were 24 points better than Philadelphia's starters Wednesday.
"We know we're ready and we know we're going to continue to get ready as the season starts," Boozer said.
About the only thing Jazz coach Jerry Sloan wasn't willing to do was anoint Brewer the starting shooting guard. Brewer built his game exactly as Sloan wanted Wednesday, starting with dunks and layups, then shooting his jumper with confidence.
"We don't start for a long time," Sloan said. "I don't know. We'll have to see. Evidently, that's going to be a question we answer every night."
--Ross Siler
11:40 PM
| 
1 Comments:
Thanks for the blog and including the 'LHM Batting Average'
Post a Comment
<< Home