Wednesday report
As soon as I got to Denver tonight, I made sure to put on my No. 24 jersey, dig out my purple socks and find the Chick Hearn bobblehead I travel with everywhere before cheering on the Lakers to victory in the final stop of their seven-game trip.
Or not.
I just wanted to address the perception that some/one of you has that your Jazz beat writer is a closet Lakers fan. Although I covered the Lakers for three seasons, I write about them in this space only because they are my frame of reference in covering the Jazz now.
If I left tomorrow to cover another team, I'm sure I would annoy their fans by writing about the Lakers and the Jazz in a blog there. If you're interested, I grew up outside of Washington and still follow the Redskins/Wizards/Nationals more than anything.
The one thing I won't do is use the standard sports writer cop-out that I don't care who wins and loses the games. I care deeply. It's my job to care more than anyone about what's going on with the Jazz, although that's hard to do in Salt Lake City.
I also will say that it's unbelievably frustrating to leave your wife at home and get on a plane on three hours' sleep and travel to watch the Jazz lose a game in completely predictable fashion. In that sense, I definitely feel the pain of Jazz fans.
* * *
There was one comment asking about behind-the-scenes problems with the Jazz. From what I can tell - - remember my access is limited - - I have seen nothing to suggest that. Even the guys who seldom play seem to understand and accept their roles.
If anything, the Jazz might be too close. I think four players - - Deron Williams, Kyle Korver, Mehmet Okur and Andrei Kirilenko - - went on vacation together to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, over the All-Star break. That says everything.
I've said it privately, but sometimes I wonder if the Jazz don't need to import some, um, bigger jerks. I think the Jazz, possibly to a fault, look for players who are good with the community and good with the media.
There are a lot of demands, after all, when it comes to playing in Salt Lake City and being the only show in town. It would make my job a lot more aggravating, but my experience has been that jerks also have an unbelievable killer instinct on the court.
* * *
I also got a couple of e-mails in connection with the deflections story that ran in Monday's paper. They were all really positive, but asked the same question: Why didn't you break down deflections per minute?
I did just that for the graphic that ran with the story, but they cut it out for the paper. The numbers have changed with the Jazz having played two games since Monday, but Brevin Knight was your deflections per minute leader on the Jazz.
Ronnie Brewer was second, followed by Andrei Kirilenko. Paul Millsap was fourth and Kyrylo Fesenko fifth, although Fesenko's sample size is admittedly much, much smaller than the other four just because he has played so little.
* * *
With Phoenix beating Houston on Wednesday, the Jazz can't clinch a playoff berth with a victory Thursday over Denver. The Suns still can win out and get to 48-34 while the Jazz could win tomorrow, then lose out and be left at 47-35.
The Mavericks did pick up a half-game on the Jazz by beating Miami on Wednesday. That leaves Dallas 1 1-2 games behind the Jazz, but remember the Jazz have to play the Mavericks on the road next Wednesday, so it's more like a half-game lead in reality.
--Ross Siler
Or not.
I just wanted to address the perception that some/one of you has that your Jazz beat writer is a closet Lakers fan. Although I covered the Lakers for three seasons, I write about them in this space only because they are my frame of reference in covering the Jazz now.
If I left tomorrow to cover another team, I'm sure I would annoy their fans by writing about the Lakers and the Jazz in a blog there. If you're interested, I grew up outside of Washington and still follow the Redskins/Wizards/Nationals more than anything.
The one thing I won't do is use the standard sports writer cop-out that I don't care who wins and loses the games. I care deeply. It's my job to care more than anyone about what's going on with the Jazz, although that's hard to do in Salt Lake City.
I also will say that it's unbelievably frustrating to leave your wife at home and get on a plane on three hours' sleep and travel to watch the Jazz lose a game in completely predictable fashion. In that sense, I definitely feel the pain of Jazz fans.
* * *
There was one comment asking about behind-the-scenes problems with the Jazz. From what I can tell - - remember my access is limited - - I have seen nothing to suggest that. Even the guys who seldom play seem to understand and accept their roles.
If anything, the Jazz might be too close. I think four players - - Deron Williams, Kyle Korver, Mehmet Okur and Andrei Kirilenko - - went on vacation together to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, over the All-Star break. That says everything.
I've said it privately, but sometimes I wonder if the Jazz don't need to import some, um, bigger jerks. I think the Jazz, possibly to a fault, look for players who are good with the community and good with the media.
There are a lot of demands, after all, when it comes to playing in Salt Lake City and being the only show in town. It would make my job a lot more aggravating, but my experience has been that jerks also have an unbelievable killer instinct on the court.
* * *
I also got a couple of e-mails in connection with the deflections story that ran in Monday's paper. They were all really positive, but asked the same question: Why didn't you break down deflections per minute?
I did just that for the graphic that ran with the story, but they cut it out for the paper. The numbers have changed with the Jazz having played two games since Monday, but Brevin Knight was your deflections per minute leader on the Jazz.
Ronnie Brewer was second, followed by Andrei Kirilenko. Paul Millsap was fourth and Kyrylo Fesenko fifth, although Fesenko's sample size is admittedly much, much smaller than the other four just because he has played so little.
* * *
With Phoenix beating Houston on Wednesday, the Jazz can't clinch a playoff berth with a victory Thursday over Denver. The Suns still can win out and get to 48-34 while the Jazz could win tomorrow, then lose out and be left at 47-35.
The Mavericks did pick up a half-game on the Jazz by beating Miami on Wednesday. That leaves Dallas 1 1-2 games behind the Jazz, but remember the Jazz have to play the Mavericks on the road next Wednesday, so it's more like a half-game lead in reality.
--Ross Siler
11:17 PM
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9 Comments:
That guy who left the Lakers comment is a fool, Ross. If he's going to take the frustration of Jazz losses out on you, I'd hate to see how he treats his mother, whose basement he's undoubtedly residing in.
We're lucky to have you covering this team... my guess would be that the overwhelming majority of your readers know it.
It's OK, Ross, Hot Rod stole half of his repertoire from Chick Hearn.
Per minute isn't a bad metric, but if what I've been reading about all these newfangled statistics, the most useful measure would be by possession, not per minute. Still, great job on the deflections article - it was very illuminating.
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Ross, I love your articles and the blog. Keep up the good work.
I'll be at tonight's game in Denver. The Jazz haven't yet lost a game that I've attended at the Pepsi Center. Let's hope my lucky streak continues!
Although I'm a Blazer fan, and thoroughly enjoyed the beatdown the other night; I'll be rooting for the Jazz tonight!
I knew Kobe was a "jerk"!!!!
Thanks Ross for the good work - I believe I had mentioned to you once before about the Laker references as an understandable annoyance.
What worries me about this Jazz team as opposed to last year is the road record against winning teams. Last year the Jazz had a very respectable road record against playoff teams, and bombed out against non-playoff teams. I wasn't concerned about winning on the road in the playoffs. This year has been the exact opposite.
The Jazz seem to have been having problems reincorporating Boozer. At first he struggled coming back, but now several role players are struggling in finding themselves with Boozer in the lineup. How long should we give this team a pass based on this? One month? They really need to find a groove going into playoff time.
I don't know if you can offer this opinion, but do you think the Jazz are a better team overall with Boozer? He is a great offensive player, but I am not sure he makes his teammates better. AK sure has been lost since Booz has been in the lineup, and the Jazz record w/Andrei had been really good before that. Brewer has lost a bit of aggressiveness, Miles has been lost altogether for the last month (I still have hope for him!!)...What gives?
See...this is exactly what a newspaper needs.....A reporter who will speak honestly about what he sees....and give the fans a little more of what they ask for. You dust the other guys Ross....keep up the great work. I think the Jazz could use some of your passion on the court right now.
I recently came accross your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I dont know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.
Kaylee
http://grillsblog.com
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