Jazz 98, Bucks 87
The boss thought I should blog about the photos from Andrei Kirilenko's New Year's Eve party that made their way onto the Internet and I agree with him that it's a subject that probably deserves some comment.
Masha Kirilenko posted the photos on a Russian blog and they made it to Deadspin.com Monday, under the headline "The Utah Jazz Had More Fun On New Year's Eve Than You Did" with a photo of Kirilenko that only can be described as provocative.
It took about four days between when readers started e-mailing me the pictures and when they hit the mainstream. I mentioned it to Kirilenko before Monday's game and he said that it was a great party with the whole team where "nothing criminal" happened.
Kirilenko also said New Year's Eve is also a huge deal for Russians and is bigger than the birthdays that Americans celebrate. Jarron Collins said not only did he feel comfortable bringing his mother-in-law to the party but that there were kids running around.
When we talked in generalities about the photos that were posted, Collins immediately knew the one that was getting all the attention. It was staged, but that doesn't change the fact that somebody who sees the photo on a Web site has no idea the context.
* * *
Walked into the locker room Monday to find an FC Barcelona jersey on the back of Kirilenko's chair. It turns out that Deron Williams and Kirilenko both got to know French soccer player Thierry Henry at Tony Parker's wedding this summer.
Henry in turn sent a personalized, autographed jersey from himself, as well as another one from Brazilian star Ronaldinho, who also plays for Barcelona and is a two-time FIFA World Player of the Year.
They might not be well known here, but Henry and Ronaldinho are on the short list of the world's biggest sports stars. Henry sent the jerseys to Kirilenko and Okur; Okur said he would get them framed.
This would, of course, be Exhibit 12,765 of why it's incredible to be an NBA player.
* * *
Next time I have a Foster's, I'm drinking it in honor of Andrew Bogut, who was so impressive in Monday's game (23 points, 10 rebounds) that he had a couple of us reporters asking if he was really left-handed or right-handed.
The answer came when he shot free throws right-handed in the fourth quarter. Before that, Bogut was hitting hook shots with his left hand and driving left from the top of key to the basket for a left-handed layup. He passed out of the post left-handed a couple of times.
Jazz coach Jerry Sloan suggested after the game that his players were confused about which direction to force Bogut on defense.
"He obviously takes the ball to the left side of the floor and he goes to the left," Sloan said, "and our guys got confused which was right and which was left.
"When you get that confused and let a guy go to his left when you know that's the way he's going to go, then somewhere along the line you have to make an adjustment. We can't play it for them. We just tell them."
Bogut also made one of the most remarkable plays I've seen from a 7-footer in a while, blocking Mehmet Okur at one end in the third quarter, pushing the ball up court and whipping a behind-the-back pass (right-handed) to Mo Williams for a three-pointer.
* * *
Sloan disagreed with the premise of my question after Monday's game that the Jazz won ugly against the Bucks. Not sure what else you would call it when the Jazz struggled to create separation until Milwaukee went 2-for-18 in the fourth quarter.
"I don't think that's an ugly win," Sloan said. "No, not at all. The game doesn't have as many high-flying plays in it, because they execute and that's what makes it difficult to go out and run and hide from them.
"Hopefully, you can make some plays as you come down the stretch, which we did, and stay after them. We got a little bit more aggressive in the fourth quarter defensively and they missed some shots and we defensive rebounded them.
"I've been involved in tons and tons and tons of games like that in my career. I thought they played pretty good basketball."
* * *
The Jazz next will play a regular season game that sure feels different than the rest at Denver on Thursday. It's not only the first chance for the Jazz to see if their four-game home winning streak carries over on the road, it's also a key Northwest Division game.
The Jazz have yet to play the Nuggets this season (they also haven't played Washington, Chicago, Minnesota and the L.A. Clippers). As long as they can win the division, the Jazz are assured a No. 4 playoff seed and the Nuggets are their primary challengers.
Denver lost on Monday at Charlotte and will play the second game of a back-to-back set Tuesday at Atlanta. If they lose that game, the Jazz could pull even with the Nuggets in the standings with a victory Thursday.
You never know what kind of game you'll get out of the Nuggets with that kind of quick turnaround after returning home. At the same time, Sloan didn't even want to venture a guess as to what kind of momentum his team has built.
"We haven't been able to win on the road. I can't answer that question," Sloan said. "I don't know what our motivation is on the road or what it has been. It hasn't been what we'd like for it to be because we don't defend as well as we got to and we got to do a better job of executing our offense and not just taking shots."
--Ross Siler
Masha Kirilenko posted the photos on a Russian blog and they made it to Deadspin.com Monday, under the headline "The Utah Jazz Had More Fun On New Year's Eve Than You Did" with a photo of Kirilenko that only can be described as provocative.
It took about four days between when readers started e-mailing me the pictures and when they hit the mainstream. I mentioned it to Kirilenko before Monday's game and he said that it was a great party with the whole team where "nothing criminal" happened.
Kirilenko also said New Year's Eve is also a huge deal for Russians and is bigger than the birthdays that Americans celebrate. Jarron Collins said not only did he feel comfortable bringing his mother-in-law to the party but that there were kids running around.
When we talked in generalities about the photos that were posted, Collins immediately knew the one that was getting all the attention. It was staged, but that doesn't change the fact that somebody who sees the photo on a Web site has no idea the context.
* * *
Walked into the locker room Monday to find an FC Barcelona jersey on the back of Kirilenko's chair. It turns out that Deron Williams and Kirilenko both got to know French soccer player Thierry Henry at Tony Parker's wedding this summer.
Henry in turn sent a personalized, autographed jersey from himself, as well as another one from Brazilian star Ronaldinho, who also plays for Barcelona and is a two-time FIFA World Player of the Year.
They might not be well known here, but Henry and Ronaldinho are on the short list of the world's biggest sports stars. Henry sent the jerseys to Kirilenko and Okur; Okur said he would get them framed.
This would, of course, be Exhibit 12,765 of why it's incredible to be an NBA player.
* * *
Next time I have a Foster's, I'm drinking it in honor of Andrew Bogut, who was so impressive in Monday's game (23 points, 10 rebounds) that he had a couple of us reporters asking if he was really left-handed or right-handed.
The answer came when he shot free throws right-handed in the fourth quarter. Before that, Bogut was hitting hook shots with his left hand and driving left from the top of key to the basket for a left-handed layup. He passed out of the post left-handed a couple of times.
Jazz coach Jerry Sloan suggested after the game that his players were confused about which direction to force Bogut on defense.
"He obviously takes the ball to the left side of the floor and he goes to the left," Sloan said, "and our guys got confused which was right and which was left.
"When you get that confused and let a guy go to his left when you know that's the way he's going to go, then somewhere along the line you have to make an adjustment. We can't play it for them. We just tell them."
Bogut also made one of the most remarkable plays I've seen from a 7-footer in a while, blocking Mehmet Okur at one end in the third quarter, pushing the ball up court and whipping a behind-the-back pass (right-handed) to Mo Williams for a three-pointer.
* * *
Sloan disagreed with the premise of my question after Monday's game that the Jazz won ugly against the Bucks. Not sure what else you would call it when the Jazz struggled to create separation until Milwaukee went 2-for-18 in the fourth quarter.
"I don't think that's an ugly win," Sloan said. "No, not at all. The game doesn't have as many high-flying plays in it, because they execute and that's what makes it difficult to go out and run and hide from them.
"Hopefully, you can make some plays as you come down the stretch, which we did, and stay after them. We got a little bit more aggressive in the fourth quarter defensively and they missed some shots and we defensive rebounded them.
"I've been involved in tons and tons and tons of games like that in my career. I thought they played pretty good basketball."
* * *
The Jazz next will play a regular season game that sure feels different than the rest at Denver on Thursday. It's not only the first chance for the Jazz to see if their four-game home winning streak carries over on the road, it's also a key Northwest Division game.
The Jazz have yet to play the Nuggets this season (they also haven't played Washington, Chicago, Minnesota and the L.A. Clippers). As long as they can win the division, the Jazz are assured a No. 4 playoff seed and the Nuggets are their primary challengers.
Denver lost on Monday at Charlotte and will play the second game of a back-to-back set Tuesday at Atlanta. If they lose that game, the Jazz could pull even with the Nuggets in the standings with a victory Thursday.
You never know what kind of game you'll get out of the Nuggets with that kind of quick turnaround after returning home. At the same time, Sloan didn't even want to venture a guess as to what kind of momentum his team has built.
"We haven't been able to win on the road. I can't answer that question," Sloan said. "I don't know what our motivation is on the road or what it has been. It hasn't been what we'd like for it to be because we don't defend as well as we got to and we got to do a better job of executing our offense and not just taking shots."
--Ross Siler
1:15 AM
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