Jazz@Phoenix

[George O'Brien]

nba.com/suns/

Jazz versus Suns

After a fast start to the season, the Jazz have cooled off as much as the weather in Salt Lake City this time of year. With the offseason losses of Karl Malone (free agency) and John Stockton (retirement), the Jazz were looking to go into rebuilding mode this year. That plan was "ruined" by mini-winning streaks that surprised just about everybody. The Suns were unfortunate enough to run into the Jazz during one of those streaks. They lost to Utah by nine earlier in the season.
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Jazz Lost to Blazers on Friday

Portland, which posted its seventh win in nine games overall, trailed, 50-47, before embarking on a 13-0 third-quarter run. Wallace gave the Trail Blazers the lead for good, 53-50, on a 3-pointer with 5:35 remaining and capped the burst with a layup at the 2:22 mark that opened a double-digit advantage.

"At halftime, coach (Maurice Cheeks) said we needed to pick up the energy and raise our game to another level," Randolph said. "So that's what we went out there and did."

The Trail Blazers took a 64-54 lead into the fourth quarter and quickly built a 14-point bulge. But after Utah pulled within 72-63 on a tip-in by Mikki Moore with 6:24 to play, Wallace made a fast-break layup and free throw with 5:46 left to start an 11-0 run that put the game out of reach.

"They are a good offensive team," Jazz guard Raja Bell said. "We played well defensively in the first half, we were playing with a lot of effort, we just got into a funk there in the second half, and 10 points turned into 15 and 20 before you knew it."

Andrei Kirilenko had 14 points, 11 rebounds and five blocks for Utah, which shot just 34 percent (26-of-76) from the field as it left coach Jerry Sloan stuck at 899 wins for a fourth straight game.

"They (Jazz) felt sorry for themselves in the second half, like something was supposed to come down out of the sky and give them a big lift," Sloan said. "Well, that's not the way it is. We need to play a little harder and try to defend better."

The Jazz (24-26) held a 22-14 advantage after one quarter but saw its edge dwindle to just 41-39 at the break.

"We just got in a funk and couldn't get out of it," Jazz center Greg Ostertag said. "We're starting to put our heads down a little bit when we miss a shot or get beat for a long layup. That's the time when we've got to take the ball and go right back at it."

 

[Wally]

Bender says the Sun's migt be giving the Jazz the idea they could "steal" one on the road..... he might be more accurate by saying the Sun's might steal one at home. Here we go with CJ comming in for Jake.

 

[Billythekid]

Amare had 6 blocks in the 1st qtr according to Yahoo stats

 

[Chaz]

Originally posted by Billythekid
Amare had 6 blocks in the 1st qtr according to Yahoo stats

I think he had about 3 on Kirilenko in one sequence.

 

[Billythekid]

Amare has to start getting to the boards. Jazz are shooting 35% to our 42% and we're being convincingly beat on the rebounds. Casey and Shawn have 3 to lead all Suns. Where is J White? Has he played a minute tonight?

 

[Wally]

Originally posted by Billythekid
Amare has to start getting to the boards. Jazz are shooting 35% to our 42% and we're killed convincingly beat on the rebounds. Casey and Shawn have 3 to lead all Suns. Where is J White? Has he played a minute tonight?

He's too big for the current plan.

 

[slinslin]

How are we trailing?

We have 21 blocks and steals compared to 2, better shooting, less turnovers, more freethrows and they are outrebounding us by 13.

 

[slinslin]

Rebound the basketball!

Outrebounded by 14 by the Jazz. 15 to 4 offensive rebounds.

 

[slinslin]

Man even in crunchtime the Jazz get the offensive rebound on a missed freethrow.



JJ's streak is also over.

 

[cly2tw]

Someone tells me why Amare is so bad at rebounding the ball? Bad positioning? No boxing out? Bad timing?

 

[slinslin]

Well he does have 10 blocks that's a good excuse for having only 6 rebounds.

D'Antoni needs to quit this small ball crap. Jahidi = dnp , Harvey = dnp, Lampe = dnp, Cabarkapa = dnp, Googs = 4 min.

The only players off of the bench that played were a bad backup PG and SG.

:

 

[George O'Brien]

Small ball ALMOST worked, but obviously playing JJ that many minutes in two games took its toll. 46 minutes tonight after playing 45 last night -- is it any wonder his shooting was so poor?

Shawn's shooting percentage was weak, but I though his shot selection was good. Overall I thought he played a good game.

Stoudemire had 10 blocks and shot 8 of 14 - a huge improvement over Friday night. But while he ended up with 6 rebounds, 3 of them did not come until late in the game.

Best game of the season by Eisley. 3 of 5 from the field, 7 assists and only 2 turnovers in 27 minutes. His 8 for 8 from the line helped to keep the team in the game.

Casey shot 5 of 7 for three pointers and was crucial in keepin the Suns in the game. Unfortunately, although he hit his three's from the corner, he took his last shot from beyond the key where he is far less effective.

It was very frustrating. The Suns actually played pretty good defense only to watch the Jazz hit some really tough shots near the end. None the less, The tale of the game was the Suns inability to control the boards. Some of it was the Suns "small ball", but mostly it is that the Jazz send so many guys to the glass. The Jazz played last night also, so fatigue should not have been the issue.

It was curious how Jerry Sloan pulled Ostertag considering how effective he was: 6-10 and 7 rebounds in only 22 minutes. All I can figure is that Jerry Sloan figured the Suns were going to keep attacking him and draw fouls because he is slow. None the less, he killed the Suns even when Jake was in.

Oh well, another ping pong ball.

 

[slinslin]

Almost worked?

They came close because they had a lot of steals and Amare had a career game in blocks.

Outrebounded by 15 by one of the worst rebounding teams?

 

[George O'Brien]

Originally posted by slinslin


The only players off of the bench that played were a bad backup PG and SG.

I thought this was Eisley's best game as a Suns and Casey shot very well. They played well enough to force the Jazz to go small. Unfortunately, playing JJ and Shawn that many minutes two games in a row hurt their productivity.

 

[Wally]

Originally posted by slinslin
Almost worked?

They came close because they had a lot of steals and Amare had a career game in blocks.

Outrebounded by 15 by one of the worst rebounding teams?

Perhaps if they were playing horseshoes they could have won. That's were almost really counts.

Small-ball is pretty predictible for the most part. Sometimes it works, but not too often. I get the feeling that our coaches are being told to play this style of ball. I remember D'Antoni being real excited about Lampe and he told BC "We really need to talk abut him, he can really play"....The next day Lampe was put on the IL.

The 3 point shot & not very good outside shooting with no rebounding makes for POOR entertainment. The final score was predictable with the players used.

My message to the Suns organization is - Wake up. Small-ball is not the answer to anything.

 

[George O'Brien]

I want the Suns to get bigger too, but I'm not sure what you are suggesting. Ostertag was killing Voskuhl. Googs rebound and steal was hardly a big impact.

Obviously D'Antoni is not planning on playing Lampe in close games. Jacobsen shot well on a night when neither JJ nor Marion were shooting well. Harvey might have done more than Casey's 4 rebounds, but I can't see how he could have scored 18 points.

If anything, the Suns might have had even more problems with the Jazz shooters if the Suns had played big. Also, the shooting by Casey forced the Jazz to go small and remove Ostertag even though he shot 6 of 10.

I'm not really convinced that D'Antoni love small ball. It is just that he does not have enough really good big men. Googs? Harvey? (He's only 6'8"). White is wide, but he is too short to defend against guys like Ostertag who is 7'2" and 280.

I'm on record as saying that the Suns first priority is to get a quality center, but I'm afraid we are going to small ball until that happens.

 

[cly2tw]

White would be useful against Ostertag for sure. The problem with the Suns defense is that they don't have good one-on-one defense throughout with the exception of JJ. So, need a swiftly moving center for weak side help, which White is not. One-on-one, White has no problem with slow centers in this league.

 

[George O'Brien]

Originally posted by cly2tw
White would be useful against Ostertag for sure. The problem with the Suns defense is that they don't have good one-on-one defense throughout with the exception of JJ. So, need a swiftly moving center for weak side help, which White is not. One-on-one, White has no problem with slow centers in this league.

You may be right, but the real problem the Suns had early on was offense. Jake and Amare are not working together very well. At the same time, the Jazz are a team that packs in the paint and dares you to shoot three's. That is why Casey was open all the time.

At some point Lampe may be the answer. He is supposed to be an outstanding three point shooter but is 7'0' 275. I just hope he develops quickly.

 

[BC867]

Originally posted by George O'Brien
I thought this was Eisley's best game as a Suns and Casey shot very well. They played well enough to force the Jazz to go small. Unfortunately, playing JJ and Shawn that many minutes two games in a row hurt their productivity.

As I mentioned in another thread, it looks like the Suns have settled into a 7-man rotation, with two Guards coming off the bench. Two Guards! Unbelievable. And we keep losing.

Not only are the minutes doing us in. How 'bout our Power Forward playing Center; our Small Forward playing Power Forward; and our backup 2-Guard playing Small Forward? Talk about wearing them out and facing uphill battles.

The answer seems to be, as it's been for years. An experienced NBA Head Coach, with fresh ideas, and strong enough to say to the Colangelos, "You hire me, then step aside and let me do my job."

 

[Joe Mama]

It was neither in his interview on the radio or in an article in the paper today where D'Antoni said he would like to get back to a standard lineup. The problem is that the Phoenix Suns have not played well with a traditional lineup. They play their best basketball in the fourth quarter with a small lineup on the floor. The guy the Suns are most in love with off the bench is Cabarkapa. Unfortunately he's been injured most of the year. At least he's a big man though.

Joe Mama

 

[hcsilla]

Originally posted by slinslin


JJ's streak is also over.

Trade him!

 

[George O'Brien]

Originally posted by hcsilla
Trade him!

I know you're kidding. I thought JJ looked tired after playing so many minutes the night before. But we should give Utah credit, they made a point of making sure JJ was hammered every time he came into the paint and stopping him was the main priority.
Inspite of that, JJ had some balls rim out that should have gone in and several fouls on him were not not called.

 

[Chaz]

Originally posted by George O'Brien
I know you're kidding. I thought JJ looked tired after playing so many minutes the night before. But we should give Utah credit, they made a point of making sure JJ was hammered every time he came into the paint and stopping him was the main priority.
Inspite of that, JJ had some balls rim out that should have gone in and several fouls on him were not not called.

Not to mention several questionable calls that were made.