Jazz 99, Lakers 90
As far as preseason openers go, the Jazz's 99-90 victory over the Lakers probably had more interesting subplots than any I've covered. Chief among them was the possibility of Andrei Kirilenko stepping in as the Jazz's sixth man in Matt Harpring's absence.
Jazz coach Jerry Sloan is worried about not having enough veterans on the second team aside from Kyle Korver. That's why he started C.J. Miles against the Lakers and had Kirilenko come off the bench with 4:45 left in the first quarter.
After the game, Sloan called it a "tough question" as to whether he'd keep Kirilenko in a reserve role if Harpring still was out going into the regular season, but it's clear that he's thinking about it.
Talking to him before the game, Kirilenko seemed fine with things, although I'm not quite sure if he knew Sloan was considering the sixth man role for more than just the preseason, when Kirilenko figured everyone would play irregular minutes anyway.
I'm not sure just how interested Kirilenko would be in coming off the bench full-time in the regular season. His numbers during the 2005-06 season are markedly lower in the games he didn't start, especially when it comes to shooting percentage.
* * *
A lot of what Sloan says is just common sense basketball . . . and a lot of it is right as a result. I thought Tuesday was a great example of a game in which Ronnie Brewer would have benefited from getting an early basket inside, then looking for his shot outside.
Brewer scored 13 points on 6-of-12 shooting, but a lot of that was simply the product of running the floor hard for dunks. When it came to his jumper, Brewer was 0-for-4, including three misses in the first half.
"I think in the early part of the ballgame, he missed a couple shots I think that kind of bothered him, took him out," Sloan said. "It can't take him out of the defensive end. If he's missing shots, he can't let that take away from his game."
Kobe Bryant definitely paid Brewer more respect in the first quarter than he did in the conference semifinals. Bryant abandoned Brewer to try to hit a jumper in that series, but he was guarding him closely enough Tuesday that Brewer ran him off a screen early.
"I feel like what's open's open," Brewer said. "I feel like a lot of guys on the team, if they're open, coach Sloan said take the open shots."
I thought Brewer did a pretty good job defending Bryant, especially in the first quarter. Brewer battled Bryant when he tried to post up; Bryant finished the first quarter 0-for-2 and was called for a traveling violation.
* * *
Sloan wasn't happy with the Jazz's defense in the first quarter, when they gave up 26 points on 12-for-16 (75 percent) shooting with Bryant missing both shots he took. Andrew Bynum had nine points in less than seven minutes off the bench.
There were a couple of possessions in the third quarter that offered defensive examples for the Jazz. Miles tried to go under a screen and fouled Trevor Ariza on a three-point play. He was called for a second foul on Ariza a little later, leading to more free throws.
Brewer was frustrated after Bryant beat him on a drive and Mehmet Okur to arrive with help. Brewer wound up fouling Bryant on a three-point play. Not even two minutes later, Kirilenko left to double-team Bryant, whose pass to Lamar Odom deflected out of bounds.
Take away the first quarter, though, and the Jazz gave up only 64 points in the last three quarters. That would be an 85.3-point pace for a full 48-minute game.
* * *
A couple of odds and ends: Sloan wasn't happy with Miles' defense on Ariza. . . . Miles missed two three-pointers that he felt like he usually would knock down....Bryant and Pau Gasol called out to the press table asking where Kyrylo Fesenko was from and then whether he played for the Ukrainian national team. . . . Pau Gasol played only 5:05 before leaving with a bloody lip. . . . As far as shooters, Kyle Korver went 3-of-10 while Morris Almond went 4-of-6. . . .Attendance was 12,215 but Honda Center was barely a third full for the game. It's not hard to see preseason basketball being a tough sell in a bad economy.
--Ross Siler
Jazz coach Jerry Sloan is worried about not having enough veterans on the second team aside from Kyle Korver. That's why he started C.J. Miles against the Lakers and had Kirilenko come off the bench with 4:45 left in the first quarter.
After the game, Sloan called it a "tough question" as to whether he'd keep Kirilenko in a reserve role if Harpring still was out going into the regular season, but it's clear that he's thinking about it.
Talking to him before the game, Kirilenko seemed fine with things, although I'm not quite sure if he knew Sloan was considering the sixth man role for more than just the preseason, when Kirilenko figured everyone would play irregular minutes anyway.
I'm not sure just how interested Kirilenko would be in coming off the bench full-time in the regular season. His numbers during the 2005-06 season are markedly lower in the games he didn't start, especially when it comes to shooting percentage.
* * *
A lot of what Sloan says is just common sense basketball . . . and a lot of it is right as a result. I thought Tuesday was a great example of a game in which Ronnie Brewer would have benefited from getting an early basket inside, then looking for his shot outside.
Brewer scored 13 points on 6-of-12 shooting, but a lot of that was simply the product of running the floor hard for dunks. When it came to his jumper, Brewer was 0-for-4, including three misses in the first half.
"I think in the early part of the ballgame, he missed a couple shots I think that kind of bothered him, took him out," Sloan said. "It can't take him out of the defensive end. If he's missing shots, he can't let that take away from his game."
Kobe Bryant definitely paid Brewer more respect in the first quarter than he did in the conference semifinals. Bryant abandoned Brewer to try to hit a jumper in that series, but he was guarding him closely enough Tuesday that Brewer ran him off a screen early.
"I feel like what's open's open," Brewer said. "I feel like a lot of guys on the team, if they're open, coach Sloan said take the open shots."
I thought Brewer did a pretty good job defending Bryant, especially in the first quarter. Brewer battled Bryant when he tried to post up; Bryant finished the first quarter 0-for-2 and was called for a traveling violation.
* * *
Sloan wasn't happy with the Jazz's defense in the first quarter, when they gave up 26 points on 12-for-16 (75 percent) shooting with Bryant missing both shots he took. Andrew Bynum had nine points in less than seven minutes off the bench.
There were a couple of possessions in the third quarter that offered defensive examples for the Jazz. Miles tried to go under a screen and fouled Trevor Ariza on a three-point play. He was called for a second foul on Ariza a little later, leading to more free throws.
Brewer was frustrated after Bryant beat him on a drive and Mehmet Okur to arrive with help. Brewer wound up fouling Bryant on a three-point play. Not even two minutes later, Kirilenko left to double-team Bryant, whose pass to Lamar Odom deflected out of bounds.
Take away the first quarter, though, and the Jazz gave up only 64 points in the last three quarters. That would be an 85.3-point pace for a full 48-minute game.
* * *
A couple of odds and ends: Sloan wasn't happy with Miles' defense on Ariza. . . . Miles missed two three-pointers that he felt like he usually would knock down....Bryant and Pau Gasol called out to the press table asking where Kyrylo Fesenko was from and then whether he played for the Ukrainian national team. . . . Pau Gasol played only 5:05 before leaving with a bloody lip. . . . As far as shooters, Kyle Korver went 3-of-10 while Morris Almond went 4-of-6. . . .Attendance was 12,215 but Honda Center was barely a third full for the game. It's not hard to see preseason basketball being a tough sell in a bad economy.
--Ross Siler
2:37 AM
| 
1 Comments:
Does anybody know why the Jazz were wearing white socks and shoes with the road uniforms? Usually they were black.
Post a Comment
<< Home