The Demo Site

November 12, 2009 -
The nice thing about being a blogger rather than a beat writer is that I can actually get disgusted and walk away. I don’t have to keep watching the game when it’s not worth watching. And that’s exactly what I did on Wednesday. I just couldn’t endure the ugliness any further after the Jazz allowed a manageable 10-point halftime deficit balloon to 19 less than 4 minutes into the 3rd quarter. Things didn't improve after I stopped watching, as the Jazz eventually lost 105-86.

The only real positive I take away from this game is that Sloan yanked Boozer early in the 1st and 3rd quarters when his pathetic defense became unbearable. I hope this signals Sloan’s awakening to the fact that his lineup combinations are not working. Boozer and Okur should never be on the court together for any significant stretch.

Game ball goes to: Deron Williams. He didn’t have a great game, but I give him props for just being out there, playing through painful back and calf injuries. (Plus no one else did much to deserve it.)

Stat of the game: Utah shot 0 for 10 from the 3-point line. Have I mentioned that they miss Korver and Miles?

Highlight: Kosta Koufos scored 6 points on 3 of 3 shooting and grabbed 4 rebounds in only 6 minutes of play. Of course this all happened in garbage time against the Celtics’ bench players, but in a game like this you take what you can get.

Lowlight: Not only was Boozer’s defense horrendous, the rest of his game was rather anemic as well. He only put up 10 points and 2 rebounds in 27 minutes. He also had 4 turnovers and 4 fouls.

Other items of note:
- Once again, the Jazz faced a considerable amount of zone defense. Once again, they failed to execute well against it.

- Though he didn’t have a great scoring night (9 points on 3 of 8 shooting), Paul Millsap was much more effective than Boozer. He grabbed 13 rebounds in 23 minutes, and he played much better defense.

- This game was the only one of Utah’s 5 losses so far in which they were essentially dominated from start to finish. The Jazz never led in the game.

- I mentioned earlier that I hope Sloan is getting the message on his lineup combinations and substitution patterns. I'll post my suggestions later.