Williams getting his groove on?
NBA Blog
A couple of things before heading over to this morning's shootarounds at EnergySolutions Arena:
* It will be interesting to see how Deron Williams plays tonight against Andre Miller and the 76ers. I thought he was struggling to the point of losing a little confidence for a couple of games — and even during the first half of Monday night's win over Portland. But in the third quarter, Williams got into a lane and made a 12-footer. It rattled around a little before falling through, but Williams immediately became more aggressive and made two more jumpers during the decisive stretch of the game. In the second half against the Trail Blazers, Williams played like he did during the Jazz's 12-5 start.
* Like everyone else, I was intrigued by coach Jerry Sloan's decision to use Kyle Korver in the fourth quarter instead of Ronnie Brewer, who played over 38 minutes in the Jazz's loss to Boston on Saturday night. But Brewer was involved in that game's most crucial possessions and he did not distinguish himself. With the game tied, 98-98, the Celtics got the ball to Paul Pierce. Isolated against Brewer, Pierce easily drove to his right, got the baseline and scored the kind of a layup an NBA defense might allow in the first quarter but should never give up with the outcome of the game hanging in the balance. At that point, Brewer has to make Pierce go over the top and make a jump shot. He can't allow such an easy basket. It reminded me of some Jazz-Lakers games in the past. In the final minutes, Karl Malone would switch onto Shaquille O'Neal and the two would battle like a couple of angry bighorn sheep. Despite outweighing Malone by 60 pounds, Shaq rarely backed him under the basket. He made a few jump-hooks over Malone during those confrontations, but the easy dunks didn't happen too often when the game was being decided. That's what Brewer needed to do against Pierce and, for whatever reason, he played him without much determination. Perhaps that's why Korver got those fourth-quarter minutes against Portland.
* I know Jimmy Clark as well as I know any NBA referee. I did a feature story on him for the NCAA Tournament basketball program in the 1980s when Jimmy worked college games. Ever since, we've always talked when we bump into each other. But I didn't get a chance to say hello to him on New Year's Eve when he worked the Jazz-Blazer game because the Jazz's seating arrangement for the media is ridiculous. We don't get close enough to see some of what transpires on the court, much less talk to anyone involved. Still, I was happy to see Jimmy working on a night that might have been difficult for him. He endured the unimaginable tragedy of having his son pass away last spring, and it was probably a difficult day for him. As usual, he did an outstanding job during the game. I hope he realized that many of his friends were thinking about him.
— Steve Luhm
A couple of things before heading over to this morning's shootarounds at EnergySolutions Arena:
* It will be interesting to see how Deron Williams plays tonight against Andre Miller and the 76ers. I thought he was struggling to the point of losing a little confidence for a couple of games — and even during the first half of Monday night's win over Portland. But in the third quarter, Williams got into a lane and made a 12-footer. It rattled around a little before falling through, but Williams immediately became more aggressive and made two more jumpers during the decisive stretch of the game. In the second half against the Trail Blazers, Williams played like he did during the Jazz's 12-5 start.
* Like everyone else, I was intrigued by coach Jerry Sloan's decision to use Kyle Korver in the fourth quarter instead of Ronnie Brewer, who played over 38 minutes in the Jazz's loss to Boston on Saturday night. But Brewer was involved in that game's most crucial possessions and he did not distinguish himself. With the game tied, 98-98, the Celtics got the ball to Paul Pierce. Isolated against Brewer, Pierce easily drove to his right, got the baseline and scored the kind of a layup an NBA defense might allow in the first quarter but should never give up with the outcome of the game hanging in the balance. At that point, Brewer has to make Pierce go over the top and make a jump shot. He can't allow such an easy basket. It reminded me of some Jazz-Lakers games in the past. In the final minutes, Karl Malone would switch onto Shaquille O'Neal and the two would battle like a couple of angry bighorn sheep. Despite outweighing Malone by 60 pounds, Shaq rarely backed him under the basket. He made a few jump-hooks over Malone during those confrontations, but the easy dunks didn't happen too often when the game was being decided. That's what Brewer needed to do against Pierce and, for whatever reason, he played him without much determination. Perhaps that's why Korver got those fourth-quarter minutes against Portland.
* I know Jimmy Clark as well as I know any NBA referee. I did a feature story on him for the NCAA Tournament basketball program in the 1980s when Jimmy worked college games. Ever since, we've always talked when we bump into each other. But I didn't get a chance to say hello to him on New Year's Eve when he worked the Jazz-Blazer game because the Jazz's seating arrangement for the media is ridiculous. We don't get close enough to see some of what transpires on the court, much less talk to anyone involved. Still, I was happy to see Jimmy working on a night that might have been difficult for him. He endured the unimaginable tragedy of having his son pass away last spring, and it was probably a difficult day for him. As usual, he did an outstanding job during the game. I hope he realized that many of his friends were thinking about him.
— Steve Luhm
9:50 AM
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1 Comments:
Luhm you and Hot Rod need to get over the fact that your seats were given to paying customers. When you get your ticket for free you shouldn't complain.
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