Jazz 103, Seattle 101
Everything the Jazz said about the winless Sonics being the most dangerous team they could face came true Friday. Carlos Boozer said it reminded him of his early seasons in Cleveland, when the Cavaliers always played better than their record at home.
The Jazz were one Boozer layup off the pick-and-roll, one Mehmet Okur steal/hack inside and one lucky break (Andrei Kirilenko getting a hand on Kevin Durant's layup bid with 1.9 seconds left) better than 0-6 Seattle.
"They played well enough to win the game, but we were able to make the right plays down the stretch," Boozer said, "and we know how to finish games. Sometimes it's just about winning the game and we just did whatever it took to win this game."
With the Jazz having won their last two games by a combined four points, Deron Williams added, "It's good to grind out wins and know we can do that."
It was a peculiar game in a couple of areas. Jazz coach Jerry Sloan went with Jarron Collins and Gordan Giricek the entire second quarter and didn't bring back three starters. There's your answer to the question I posed after the Cleveland game about how he'd use the bench.
The Jazz led by 11 early, but Seattle turned to a zone defense the last two minutes of the first quarter and the Jazz stalled out. That's the second consecutive game they struggled to break a zone, which means they'll only see more of it in the coming days.
"The zone has given us trouble a couple times because we haven't done what we're supposed to do," Sloan said. "We didn't even enter it properly getting into what we call our zone offense. Then guys are running all over and not running what we wanted 'em to run.
"We went over it yesterday, went over it again this morning and I thought we had stretches where we did a better job with it, but we had stretches where we didn't get what you'd like to get. That's part of going back over it again and starting all over again."
* * *
A couple of other quotes, starting with Boozer talking about that pick-and-roll with Williams that turned out to be the winning basket.
"We mixed up our plays a little bit in the fourth quarter," Boozer said, "but we do feel like with me and D-Will in the pick-and-roll, we're always going to have something available. We have a good chemistry on that pick-and-roll. At the end of the day, that could be our bread and butter."
Sloan said afterward: "This is a team that has tried to make more acrobatic plays than any team I've ever had. They're a lot more athletic, probably, and that's the reason. But we've made some really difficult passes and we've turned the ball over a lot. You can't afford to do that."
* * *
You've got to admire a coach who's still tough as nails at 65. Sloan woke up at dawn Thursday after the Jazz's late game against Cleveland and went for a root canal. He had an 8 a.m. appointment and was talking to reporters at the appointed time of 10:45 a.m. before practice.
We didn't even know Sloan had seen the dentist until he mentioned it before Friday's game. Phil Jackson used every trip to the dentist last season (and he probably made at least three of them) to get out of having to be available to reporters.
* * *
The Jazz are expected to send Kyrylo Fesenko to their NBA Development League affiliate for the start of training camp Saturday. Fesenko's going to get the game experience and practice time he needs, but the Jazz believe there are other benefits as well.
It mostly comes with appreciating how many players in the D-League could be in the NBA if they caught a break somewhere or put a little more work into their games. The Jazz also want their young players to understand just how spoiled they are in the NBA.
Instead of the charter flights and Ritz-Carltons, the Jazz don't think a couple games worth of riding a bus and sharing a hotel room will hurt. With NBA per diem at $100-plus, the Jazz want their youngsters to know a world exists without room service.
* * *
Fesenko has had episodes of stomach problems that the Jazz are starting to get concerned about. He was sent home sick Thursday and had a bout with food poisoning last month.
Some of it could be adjusting to American food - - he and Kirilenko went out for sushi that didn't sit well - - but Fesenko was in the country for weeks leading up to the draft.
* * *
We spent a lot of this trip wondering whether we'd be back in Seattle next season. The Sonics have filed relocation papers to move to Oklahoma City, but it's not going to be easy to break their lease at Key Arena until after the 2009-10 season.
It's a terrible situation: The Sonics have to be hemorrhaging money (our press food was cheeseburgers and baked beans) and it would take years to win back fans (whether it's the Sonics or another team) that have been alienated by the situation.
You have an arena that's a little more than 10 years old and already so dated the team needs a new one. You also have palaces for the Mariners and Seahawks that the local governments found a way to get built.
The attendance at Friday's game was 15,980, which seemed better than expected, all things considered. Sloan offered his two cents at the pregame shootaround, saying his allegiances were with the fans who have cheered on the Sonics for four decades.
"They've always supported their team really well here and you'd hate to see em lose it," Sloan said. "It's been a good NBA city over the years that I've been here, because I was here when they started."
For what it's worth, the Jazz expect the Sonics would remain in the Northwest Division even if they moved to Oklahoma City. Next time we come, I'm going to the Space Needle, just to make sure it's checked off the list.
--Ross Siler
The Jazz were one Boozer layup off the pick-and-roll, one Mehmet Okur steal/hack inside and one lucky break (Andrei Kirilenko getting a hand on Kevin Durant's layup bid with 1.9 seconds left) better than 0-6 Seattle.
"They played well enough to win the game, but we were able to make the right plays down the stretch," Boozer said, "and we know how to finish games. Sometimes it's just about winning the game and we just did whatever it took to win this game."
With the Jazz having won their last two games by a combined four points, Deron Williams added, "It's good to grind out wins and know we can do that."
It was a peculiar game in a couple of areas. Jazz coach Jerry Sloan went with Jarron Collins and Gordan Giricek the entire second quarter and didn't bring back three starters. There's your answer to the question I posed after the Cleveland game about how he'd use the bench.
The Jazz led by 11 early, but Seattle turned to a zone defense the last two minutes of the first quarter and the Jazz stalled out. That's the second consecutive game they struggled to break a zone, which means they'll only see more of it in the coming days.
"The zone has given us trouble a couple times because we haven't done what we're supposed to do," Sloan said. "We didn't even enter it properly getting into what we call our zone offense. Then guys are running all over and not running what we wanted 'em to run.
"We went over it yesterday, went over it again this morning and I thought we had stretches where we did a better job with it, but we had stretches where we didn't get what you'd like to get. That's part of going back over it again and starting all over again."
* * *
A couple of other quotes, starting with Boozer talking about that pick-and-roll with Williams that turned out to be the winning basket.
"We mixed up our plays a little bit in the fourth quarter," Boozer said, "but we do feel like with me and D-Will in the pick-and-roll, we're always going to have something available. We have a good chemistry on that pick-and-roll. At the end of the day, that could be our bread and butter."
Sloan said afterward: "This is a team that has tried to make more acrobatic plays than any team I've ever had. They're a lot more athletic, probably, and that's the reason. But we've made some really difficult passes and we've turned the ball over a lot. You can't afford to do that."
* * *
You've got to admire a coach who's still tough as nails at 65. Sloan woke up at dawn Thursday after the Jazz's late game against Cleveland and went for a root canal. He had an 8 a.m. appointment and was talking to reporters at the appointed time of 10:45 a.m. before practice.
We didn't even know Sloan had seen the dentist until he mentioned it before Friday's game. Phil Jackson used every trip to the dentist last season (and he probably made at least three of them) to get out of having to be available to reporters.
* * *
The Jazz are expected to send Kyrylo Fesenko to their NBA Development League affiliate for the start of training camp Saturday. Fesenko's going to get the game experience and practice time he needs, but the Jazz believe there are other benefits as well.
It mostly comes with appreciating how many players in the D-League could be in the NBA if they caught a break somewhere or put a little more work into their games. The Jazz also want their young players to understand just how spoiled they are in the NBA.
Instead of the charter flights and Ritz-Carltons, the Jazz don't think a couple games worth of riding a bus and sharing a hotel room will hurt. With NBA per diem at $100-plus, the Jazz want their youngsters to know a world exists without room service.
* * *
Fesenko has had episodes of stomach problems that the Jazz are starting to get concerned about. He was sent home sick Thursday and had a bout with food poisoning last month.
Some of it could be adjusting to American food - - he and Kirilenko went out for sushi that didn't sit well - - but Fesenko was in the country for weeks leading up to the draft.
* * *
We spent a lot of this trip wondering whether we'd be back in Seattle next season. The Sonics have filed relocation papers to move to Oklahoma City, but it's not going to be easy to break their lease at Key Arena until after the 2009-10 season.
It's a terrible situation: The Sonics have to be hemorrhaging money (our press food was cheeseburgers and baked beans) and it would take years to win back fans (whether it's the Sonics or another team) that have been alienated by the situation.
You have an arena that's a little more than 10 years old and already so dated the team needs a new one. You also have palaces for the Mariners and Seahawks that the local governments found a way to get built.
The attendance at Friday's game was 15,980, which seemed better than expected, all things considered. Sloan offered his two cents at the pregame shootaround, saying his allegiances were with the fans who have cheered on the Sonics for four decades.
"They've always supported their team really well here and you'd hate to see em lose it," Sloan said. "It's been a good NBA city over the years that I've been here, because I was here when they started."
For what it's worth, the Jazz expect the Sonics would remain in the Northwest Division even if they moved to Oklahoma City. Next time we come, I'm going to the Space Needle, just to make sure it's checked off the list.
--Ross Siler
2:13 AM
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