Jazz 105, Bucks 94
There's a lot of reasons why the timing of Carlos Boozer's injury is unfortunate, but here's one you probably didn't consider: The Jazz forward turns 27 on Thursday. I'm sure he didn't want to spend his birthday hobbling around with a strained left quadriceps.
Boozer said he suffered the injury when he came down without bending his leg and hyperextended it. A couple of us waited for him long after the locker room had cleared out. Boozer was walking slowly and stiffly.
He had on a jacket, dress shirt and warm-up pants and was looking for a ride to his car. He said he didn't think the injury was serious, but you'd have to think it's unlikely he'll play in the Jazz's back-to-back games at San Antonio and Memphis this weekend.
There's no story for the Jazz right now other than injuries. They might have to play this weekend without Deron Williams or Carlos Boozer, but you'd still have to think they have a chance to end that 21-game losing streak in San Antonio on Friday.
The Spurs are playing without the injured Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili, leaving them to start George Hill and Roger Mason. Jazz coach Jerry Sloan already has put his players on notice that he's expecting more than they showed in last week's 1-4 trip.
"I'm looking for the question after we play the next game on the road," Jazz coach Jerry Sloan said. "Are we going to be energized or are we going to wait till we get back home to be energized?"
* * *
Andrei Kirilenko dropped some knowledge on us after the game. With the Jazz losing Carlos Boozer to injury yet still beating the Bucks, Kirilenko borrowed from the tale of King Pyrrhus defeating the Romans in 280 B.C. yet losing most of his men in the process.
The victory came at such a cost, Pyrrhus supposedly said, "If we are victorious in one more battle with the Romans, we shall be utterly ruined." That would pretty well sum up the Jazz if they beat another team yet lose another key player.
I'd count it as the second most surprisingly intelligent thing I've heard an NBA player say postgame after Philadelphia-kid Kobe Bryant once borrowed from Ben Franklin in saying, "We must all hang together or we will all hang separately" after a loss to the Clippers.
Ronnie Brewer was still around when Kirilenko was talking about Pyrrhic victories. I told him what Bryant said as well. Brewer promised to share some wisdom from the great philosopher Martin Lawrence the next time he has a big game.
* * *
Bet you didn't expect to see seldom-used Morris Almond as the Jazz's first player off the bench Wednesday. Those of us who were at shootaround and heard Sloan praise Almond weren't all that surprised.
"Mo Almond deserves a chance to play now," Sloan said. "He's been making it tough to sit him down. He's played well in practice, he's worked hard, he's worked in the weight room, he's done other things to try to make himself better."
"I think he's come to the realization he can play in this league," Sloan added, "and end up playing because he's worked on some of the things he needs to work on."
Which, of course, raises the question of why the Jazz declined the 2009-10 option in Almond's contract now that he's in favor a month later? Or how in the world Almond ended up on the inactive list Monday.
* * *
What Ronnie Price did in the second half of Wednesday's game was incredible. I can only think of a handful of times that Jerry Sloan has had Deron Williams go the distance in a game. Price has so much less experience than Williams, but he did the job.
The Jazz did play C.J. Miles and Andrei Kirilenko together in the first half with Price on the bench. They even outscored Milwaukee 25-20 and built a 16-point lead in the time Miles and Kirilenko were in the game together.
Kirilenko was the primary ball-handler while Miles had success posting up Luke Ridnour for baskets inside, knocking down a three-pointer and finishing an alley-oop dunk. Miles scored nine of his 25 points in the second quarter.
You also might never see a more unconventional lineup than the five forwards the Jazz put on the floor to start the second quarter. That would be four small forwards - - Miles, Kirilenko, Kyle Korver and Matt Harpring - - plus power forward Paul Millsap.
* * *
The Jazz would be wise not to repeat the start of their second half Wednesday against the Spurs. Sloan had to take a 20-second timeout only 1:15 into the half after Miles had shot blocked by Andrew Bogut and Price missed on a drive.
Charlie Bell hit two jumpers to give the Bucks a six-point lead. Mehmet Okur missed a shot and Carlos Boozer committed an offensive foul. The Jazz could only watch as Luc Richard Mbah a Moute and Richard Jefferson both hit jumpers against their zone defense.
Jefferson also sneaked behind the defense for a wide open layup. The Jazz trailed by 10 after two Bogut free throws with 7:55 left in the third and could have been in for a long night before they started to come up with all manner of blocks, steals and deflections.
"We can't win games unless we play defense like that throughout the entire game," Price said. "We can't have spurts. In order for us to accomplish the goals that we want to accomplish, we've got to play that type of defense the entire game."
* * *
Remember when Kyle Korver was the Jazz's fourth-quarter closer last season. He came out in favor of C.J. Miles with 8:29 remaining Wednesday. Korver had five points in 16 minutes against the Bucks and is facing increased competition for minutes from Brewer and now Miles.
* * *
The Jazz are now 6-0 at home this season and have won 33 of 34 home games dating to last season. If they can beat Chicago, Memphis, Sacramento, New Jersey, Miami, Toronto and Portland coming up at home, the Jazz would go 40-1 at EnergySolutions Arena for the equivalent of a full home season. Unbelievable.
--Ross Siler
Boozer said he suffered the injury when he came down without bending his leg and hyperextended it. A couple of us waited for him long after the locker room had cleared out. Boozer was walking slowly and stiffly.
He had on a jacket, dress shirt and warm-up pants and was looking for a ride to his car. He said he didn't think the injury was serious, but you'd have to think it's unlikely he'll play in the Jazz's back-to-back games at San Antonio and Memphis this weekend.
There's no story for the Jazz right now other than injuries. They might have to play this weekend without Deron Williams or Carlos Boozer, but you'd still have to think they have a chance to end that 21-game losing streak in San Antonio on Friday.
The Spurs are playing without the injured Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili, leaving them to start George Hill and Roger Mason. Jazz coach Jerry Sloan already has put his players on notice that he's expecting more than they showed in last week's 1-4 trip.
"I'm looking for the question after we play the next game on the road," Jazz coach Jerry Sloan said. "Are we going to be energized or are we going to wait till we get back home to be energized?"
* * *
Andrei Kirilenko dropped some knowledge on us after the game. With the Jazz losing Carlos Boozer to injury yet still beating the Bucks, Kirilenko borrowed from the tale of King Pyrrhus defeating the Romans in 280 B.C. yet losing most of his men in the process.
The victory came at such a cost, Pyrrhus supposedly said, "If we are victorious in one more battle with the Romans, we shall be utterly ruined." That would pretty well sum up the Jazz if they beat another team yet lose another key player.
I'd count it as the second most surprisingly intelligent thing I've heard an NBA player say postgame after Philadelphia-kid Kobe Bryant once borrowed from Ben Franklin in saying, "We must all hang together or we will all hang separately" after a loss to the Clippers.
Ronnie Brewer was still around when Kirilenko was talking about Pyrrhic victories. I told him what Bryant said as well. Brewer promised to share some wisdom from the great philosopher Martin Lawrence the next time he has a big game.
* * *
Bet you didn't expect to see seldom-used Morris Almond as the Jazz's first player off the bench Wednesday. Those of us who were at shootaround and heard Sloan praise Almond weren't all that surprised.
"Mo Almond deserves a chance to play now," Sloan said. "He's been making it tough to sit him down. He's played well in practice, he's worked hard, he's worked in the weight room, he's done other things to try to make himself better."
"I think he's come to the realization he can play in this league," Sloan added, "and end up playing because he's worked on some of the things he needs to work on."
Which, of course, raises the question of why the Jazz declined the 2009-10 option in Almond's contract now that he's in favor a month later? Or how in the world Almond ended up on the inactive list Monday.
* * *
What Ronnie Price did in the second half of Wednesday's game was incredible. I can only think of a handful of times that Jerry Sloan has had Deron Williams go the distance in a game. Price has so much less experience than Williams, but he did the job.
The Jazz did play C.J. Miles and Andrei Kirilenko together in the first half with Price on the bench. They even outscored Milwaukee 25-20 and built a 16-point lead in the time Miles and Kirilenko were in the game together.
Kirilenko was the primary ball-handler while Miles had success posting up Luke Ridnour for baskets inside, knocking down a three-pointer and finishing an alley-oop dunk. Miles scored nine of his 25 points in the second quarter.
You also might never see a more unconventional lineup than the five forwards the Jazz put on the floor to start the second quarter. That would be four small forwards - - Miles, Kirilenko, Kyle Korver and Matt Harpring - - plus power forward Paul Millsap.
* * *
The Jazz would be wise not to repeat the start of their second half Wednesday against the Spurs. Sloan had to take a 20-second timeout only 1:15 into the half after Miles had shot blocked by Andrew Bogut and Price missed on a drive.
Charlie Bell hit two jumpers to give the Bucks a six-point lead. Mehmet Okur missed a shot and Carlos Boozer committed an offensive foul. The Jazz could only watch as Luc Richard Mbah a Moute and Richard Jefferson both hit jumpers against their zone defense.
Jefferson also sneaked behind the defense for a wide open layup. The Jazz trailed by 10 after two Bogut free throws with 7:55 left in the third and could have been in for a long night before they started to come up with all manner of blocks, steals and deflections.
"We can't win games unless we play defense like that throughout the entire game," Price said. "We can't have spurts. In order for us to accomplish the goals that we want to accomplish, we've got to play that type of defense the entire game."
* * *
Remember when Kyle Korver was the Jazz's fourth-quarter closer last season. He came out in favor of C.J. Miles with 8:29 remaining Wednesday. Korver had five points in 16 minutes against the Bucks and is facing increased competition for minutes from Brewer and now Miles.
* * *
The Jazz are now 6-0 at home this season and have won 33 of 34 home games dating to last season. If they can beat Chicago, Memphis, Sacramento, New Jersey, Miami, Toronto and Portland coming up at home, the Jazz would go 40-1 at EnergySolutions Arena for the equivalent of a full home season. Unbelievable.
--Ross Siler
12:50 AM
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1 Comments:
Its great to see Price stepping up to the plate and playing in a more than decent fashion. With that said, I can only image at what time of the year we'll have a full, healthy squad.
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