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Hanginthere

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I didn't expect this... I expected us to sputter a little bit more before things started clicking... But these guys proved me wrong...

At least the basketball team I root for doesn't have a baffoon for a head coach (Whereas my football team, the Vikings, do)... For those of you that seem to have a vendetta with Sloan, let me just say that you wouldn't know a good head coach if he snuck up behind you and kicked you in the ***!

It is a breath of fresh air to have a coach like this guy... If it weren't for a superior Bulls team he would have won about 2-3 championships with Stockton and Malone in the mid 90s.. There was just a better team playing at that time...

Now there may be a few great teams out there this year but I don't think that even this years Lakers were as good as that Bulls team... This Jazz team has the potential to be better than that Jazz team...

Either way, this Jazz team has some serious heart... And I think Jefferson is starting to get clued in that he's not playing for the Timberwolves anymore... He looked to be right in sync with a few pick and rolls tonight in which he's looked lost in previous games.

I know the bench is a bit of a concern right now, but where they fall short on offense, they make up on the defensive end of the court, which to me, is more valuable and will likely keep us in more ballgames while giving our starters a rest anyway... And when Okur comes back he will help shore up the offensive deficiencies this team has... And who knows, maybe the Jazz will make a trade for a Pietrus (who I think would be PERFECT for this team) or somebody else who can give us a boost offensively off of the bench...

All in all... I'm very impressed by this team thus far and although it is early in the season, this is not a fluke... Because if it were we would have rolled over in Orlando and lost that game...

I'm excited at the potential of this team... The sky is the limit...
 
...we got hosed by Dick Brevetta in that one finals...or we would have beaten the Bulls and the mighty Jordan! This team is getting more and more fun to watch, that's for sure!
 
it's been an exciting run and it's nice to see the jazz string together some wins on the road but these are weak victories against vulnerable (though better than average) teams, imo. again, it's encouraging that the jazz are taking advantage of those opportunities but they're a few made free throws away from 0-3 on this trip. top 4 potential! they're good! but i think this slate of games have been a little deceptive.
 
Get Down said:
it's been an exciting run and it's nice to see the jazz string together some wins on the road but these are weak victories against vulnerable (though better than average) teams, imo. again, it's encouraging that the jazz are taking advantage of those opportunities but they're a few made free throws away from 0-3 on this trip. top 4 potential! they're good! but i think this slate of games have been a little deceptive.
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Weak victories? Are you high. They have won on the road against 3 playoff bound teams. The national media is indicating this may be the best series of games we see this season for the whole league yet your saying they are weak wins?

Holy hell you can't be a Jazz fan.
 
gregbroncs said:
Weak victories? Are you high. They have won on the road against 3 playoff bound teams. The national media is indicating this may be the best series of games we see this season for the whole league yet your saying they are weak wins?

Holy hell you can't be a Jazz fan.
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they required multiple three point shots from paul millsap and missed free throws from arroyo and wade to beat a now 5-4 heat team. the magic lost to the raptors at home tonight and completely shut down offensively when the jazz switched to a simple 2-3 zone. the jazz cliched the game tonight on missed free throws from horford and the hawks have now lost 4 in a row. all are going to the playoffs, sure, and they'll all be in the top five in the conference probably, but all are having problems early this season, and the jazz are hardly beating them decisively. good teams win these games, great teams dictate the pace and control the action all game (celtics last night). the jazz are a good team, but i'm not convinced there isn't a ceiling yet.
 
getdown, you did'nt take into consideration that the Jazz could be having their own early season issues as well. They are integrating some new guys. They also dont have a deep bench with Memo out. So they have potential to be better too.
I am not a Kool Aid drinker by any stretch and I understand that there IS a ceiling definitely, but you cant dismiss these victories as weak. Miami and Magic were undefeated at home before the Jazz brought it to them.
And all these teams were healthy too and were'nt missing a player like Memo.

When in the past 3 years have the Jazz reeled off wins like this on a road trip, even on a hot streak? The Jazz are not the Lakers or Celtics yet, but these wins definitely show something besides just luck or a hot streak as you seem to imply.
 
maybe weak was the wrong word. fragile, perhaps? i just mean that, even if millsap missed his putback at the buzzer at miami, i'd be as impressed with that loss as i was with their win (maybe a little less impressed -- they played ot without williams, after all). i'm used to seeing them get blown out on the road, and it's nice that they're in these games. very encouraging, actually. but the difference between a win and a loss in all three of these games have been so slight. i mean the timberwolves probably lose these games by 50+ points combined, and it bodes well for the jazz (with their problems, like you said) that they are hanging with the best. i just hesitate to put too much stock in the sheer 'w' of it all.
 
get down said:
they required multiple three point shots from paul millsap and missed free throws from arroyo and wade to beat a now 5-4 heat team.

and a team undefeated at home up until the jazz beat them. And maybe it was our play and resiliency that led to some miami heat "jitters" as a reason why those free throws were missed... You know... Championship teams have that ability to "strike fear" into their opponent (something the lakers do night in and night out) and i think that's exactly what happened to the heat in that game... We may have damaged their psyche too because they dropped the next one to the celtics... So give us some credit for petes sake...

the magic lost to the raptors at home tonight and completely shut down offensively when the jazz switched to a simple 2-3 zone.

again, the magic failed to make big plays down the stretch... Maybe it was because of the poise the jazz exhuded and that intimidated them a little bit... I'm starting to wonder if the lakers beating on the jazz the last two years helped them to learn a thing or two when it comes to being a champion (ala dwill, millsap, kirilenko, and miles) because those guys seem to step it up big down the stretch of those games... And maybe jefferson is just so thrilled to be playing for a quality team he's worked extra hard to contribute down the stretch too... These are talented teams we played against, that you can't argue..

the jazz cliched the game tonight on missed free throws from horford and the hawks have now lost 4 in a row. All are going to the playoffs, sure, and they'll all be in the top five in the conference probably, but all are having problems early this season, and the jazz are hardly beating them decisively. Good teams win these games, great teams dictate the pace and control the action all game (celtics last night). The jazz are a good team, but i'm not convinced there isn't a ceiling yet.

i think you become a lot more battle tested by winning these games in the fashion that the jazz have as opposed to just blowing teams out because you're dealing with a lot of adversity and when you start putting up ws when doing it, guys confidence only increases... You deal with a lot of adversity in the playoffs and i think the jazz, if they continue to win these big, close games will be more ready than most playoff teams...
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jmo
 
It's been really an exciting run, but I am glad that Jerry Sloan is the coach since I assume he won't let them think too good of themselves even with these victories. Watching these games (3 straight national TV appearances for the Jazz, which is very unexpected), it's very obvious that they have so much work to do. Defensive rebounding is a big one; Bench scoring is a concern when it's not a good day for CJ, etc.

But the most encouraging sign, among others, is the way they obviously have been practicing an effective zone defense. We are still lacking a shut down defender at the 2 and a shot-blocking center, but playing the zone on and off throughout the game helps mitigate the weaknesses.
 
The bottom line is GOOD TEAMS FIND A WAY TO WIN. We are doing that. There are obviously more seasoned teams like the Celtics and Lakers who "look good" simply because they have been together a few years. The Jazz and the Heat have many new, KEY components to their teams; give them a few more games before expecting them to look "as good" as the Celtics or Lakers.
The way I look at it is we ain't pretty yet, but we are gutting out some tough wins, which is a HUGE character-builder for the young guys. That will pay dividends down the road. I am very encouraged by our growth already this early season. If we stay healthy, this is gonna be a special ball club!!!
 
Get Down said:
it's been an exciting run and it's nice to see the jazz string together some wins on the road but these are weak victories against vulnerable (though better than average) teams, imo. again, it's encouraging that the jazz are taking advantage of those opportunities but they're a few made free throws away from 0-3 on this trip. top 4 potential! they're good! but i think this slate of games have been a little deceptive.
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...it's true, some very unusual things seem to have gone our way. That being said, the Jazz are playing some very good defense, they are passing the ball well, shooting pretty good and keeping the turnovers way down! The later, the turnovers, was generally our undoing last year and in the past. I'm still going on the record saying it's the "minus Boozer factor!" He was a turnover machine just about every game last year, played pathetic defense and caused us to lose games we should or would have won otherwise! A missed shot by Jefferson is better than a turnover by Boozer! At least we are getting back on defense and not getting posterized by a fast break dunk! In the NBA the 24 second clock is the great equalizer. And the Jazz are using it to there advantage. Other teams get excited and start launching up shots when things go south. The Jazz just keep setting more picks and screens and end up with good looks all the way to the end!
 
Get Down said:
maybe weak was the wrong word. fragile, perhaps? i just mean that, even if millsap missed his putback at the buzzer at miami, i'd be as impressed with that loss as i was with their win (maybe a little less impressed -- they played ot without williams, after all). i'm used to seeing them get blown out on the road, and it's nice that they're in these games. very encouraging, actually. but the difference between a win and a loss in all three of these games have been so slight. i mean the timberwolves probably lose these games by 50+ points combined, and it bodes well for the jazz (with their problems, like you said) that they are hanging with the best. i just hesitate to put too much stock in the sheer 'w' of it all.
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There's a value in winning games you shouldn't. Previous versions of the Jazz were the opposite - had a mentality of outscoring opponents but couldn't get stops, would get huge leads then squander them - and that really got them nowhere. If I have to choose between a team that shows they close games strong and a team that starts hot and cannot put anyone away, I choose the team that closes games.

And this is all beside the fact that the Jazz have bench players that should get better and an Al Jefferson that has been very spotty. If they can get Hayward to be anything but a freaked out spazz and get Jefferson to play fluidly within the system, this team gets A LOT scarier.
 
zerol said:
it's been really an exciting run, but i am glad that jerry sloan is the coach since i assume he won't let them think too good of themselves even with these victories. Watching these games (3 straight national tv appearances for the jazz, which is very unexpected), it's very obvious that they have so much work to do. Defensive rebounding is a big one; bench scoring is a concern when it's not a good day for cj, etc.

yeah, defensive rebounding is a problem, i agree... But i think it's due to jefferson being late on his rebounding rotations because he's still "thinking" on defense, he's getting better and better each game... I'll give that a little more time...

As i said the bench is a concern scoring wise, but defensively i think they're better than our front 5.... I think you can always generate offense somehow, especially in this offense, but if you can't play defense it will hurt you a lot more...

but the most encouraging sign, among others, is the way they obviously have been practicing an effective zone defense. We are still lacking a shut down defender at the 2 and a shot-blocking center, but playing the zone on and off throughout the game helps mitigate the weaknesses.

i think raja has fit the bill pretty okay defending the 2 spot... You can't win them all you know, but he's hung tough and been right on the guy for the most part... And what about fesenko as a shot blocker?? If these freaking refs weren't so whistle happy with this guy he would probably be averaging about 3 blocks a game (this guy has gotten some horrible calls against him which has negated at least 5 blocks that i can think of...
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jmo
 
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