Posted by Clint Peterson on May 16, 2010 in Uncategorized
The Cleveland Cavaliers went through a second consecutive regular season like a “drop-step Tornado.”
Then fizzled out with a whimper.
Lost amid he-who-shall-be-named-daily-until-you-wish-Brett-Favre-would-make-a-media-blitz-come-back is Shaquille O’Neal, a man once so dominant that it prompted the great Willis Reed to quip in 2002,
“Remember the controversy when he was chosen among the 50 greatest players of all-time? I was one of the guys who actually voted for Shaq. If he stays healthy over the next two to four years, he’ll be dominant on top of dominant.”
But now he’s taking heat on top of heat for a diminishing role and numbers. O’Neal, who in classic Shaq style, says he has “3.7 years left,” seems to be on the verge of being forgotten for who he really was. NBA Fanhouse’s Tom Ziller zings his legacy with,
“Look at Shaquille O’Neal, who upon his summer trade to Cleveland said he planned to ‘win a ring for the King,’ referring to James. Shaq had ‘helped’ Kobe Bryant and Dwyane Wade, two of the three best post-Jordan perimeter players in the NBA, get their rings. LeBron, the post-Jordan Jordan, was next.
But the point is that Shaq never merely ‘helped’ Kobe or Wade win. If anything, O’Neal won those rings with help from the guards.”
Hey now, let’s not forgethow truly great the man-with-more-nicknames-than-Kobe-has-field-goal-attempts has been in his 17-year NBA career. I mean, this is a man that is so powerful that the league was forced to strengthen the standard of it’s standard, literally. Multiple times.
Oh, they knew what was coming, thanks to this little bit.
But O’Neal’s strength was such that they never saw this coming.
And the Big Backboard-Breaker wasn’t done yet. If they could fix it, he could break it, such was the legendary power of “Wilt Chamberneezy.”
So they went back to work on them, with Shaq testing their powers of design and structural integrity for years to come.
Go ahead and try to name another player in any sport in the last 30 years, or ever, that’s single-handedly been the catalyst for an entire league to have to reshape the actual goals themselves. It took both Gus Johnson and Darryl Dawkins for the NBA to have to install today’s break-away rims, and of course there’s “Tiger proofing,” but that’s the field of play being extended, not the goal itself.
It would be like an NFL player destroying the end zone upon scoring a touchdown or an MLB player breaking homebase after hitting a dinger. O’Neal caused a notable change to have to take place to all 27 arenas and their 54 basketball standards all by his lonesome. Now they keep spares around just in case.
We were first introduced to a very different and shy Shaquille O’Neal way back in ‘89 by Dick Vitale at the McDonald’s All American Game.
And off to LSU he would go, where O’Neal would become one of the most dominant college players we’d ever seen.
While at LSU O’Neal would come to find that the marketing mantra of the time was that “big men don’t sell.” He’d burst onto the scene in his rookie year in Orlando with that in his mind, set on breaking that tired mold like he was just breaking another old backboard.
I remember Shaq’s heralded entrance into the NBA, where he was an instant All-Star. At the time I collected trading cards, and while I was unable to find anything on it now, I do remember that there was a coveted (Fleer Ultra?) card that you could get that you could send in for a Shaq rookie card. I used to have a pair each of the unsent and cashed in ones, although I couldn’t say where they are now. Sure do wish I did.
I also recall Shaq’s initiation into the league by it’s veteran members at the ‘93 All-Star Game in Utah at the Delta Center. The number one highlight play was Karl Malone blocking an inexperienced O’Neal, but I distinctly remember Malone and Charles Barkley teaming up to stuff him too, although I’ve been unable to find that either. The box score credits Malone with two blocks and Barkley none, but hey, they don’t give out half-blocks like they do half-sacks in football.
These things are out there somewhere, so if you run into ‘em, lemme know, I’d love to reminisce about them.
Shaq had spent considerable time with LA Laker legend Magic Johnson the summer before he was drafted, so it wasn’t a monumental surprise when, after running into Hakeem Olajuwon’s sixth-seeded Houston Rockets and Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls the following year, he signed as a free agent with the Lakers.
Then writer for the Los Angeles Daily news, Marc Stein, now of ESPN.com fame, called the Summer of ‘96 signing “perhaps the biggest summer blockbuster Hollywood has ever seen.”
Lakers executive vice president at the time, Jerry West said, “There’s one word that I’ve always thought was used very loosely, and that is `superstar.’ But today, the Los Angeles Lakers have acquired a 24-year-old superstar.”
Shaq would team up with budding young stud Kobe Bryant, and Phil Jackson would bring his mastery of Tex Winters’ triangle offense three years later, to create a dynasty of dominance that would hold sway for the next three years. O’Neal would lead the league in field goal percentage for four straight years and Player Efficiency Rating for five straight in his Lakers tenure by imposing his will on opposing centers with force such as this.
“The Big Aristotle” would gift us some of the greatest moments of his career here, but alas, this story was not to be bequeathed a happy ending when a highly-publicized feud cut short what could have been a run to rival the storied Bulls and Celtics’ dynasties of the ’90s and ’60s.
The resulting trade would land Shaq about as far away as was possible from LA, without getting snowed on, where he’d narrowly miss a second NBA MVP award, but would nab a fourth Larry O’Brien Trophy, while continuing to give us memorable moments like this humorous moment of smack on the league’s second-best shot-blocker of all-time, Mt. Mutombo.
“The Diesel’s” 3 1/2 years in Miami would see him as a formidable if dwindling force, still able to make you “ooh!” and “aah!” When he did manage to play…
After missing more games in a three-year span than at any other time of his career, Miami team president Pat Riley felt it was time for O’Neal to transplant himself to Phoenix as “The Big Cactus.”
Shaq had been suffering with a mysterious hip ailment, but the now-famous Suns training staff rejuvenated O’Neal and helped whip him back into shape (OK, not literally, they aren’t stupid). SLAM ONLINE writer Vincent Thomas had this to sayabout the seemingly strange situation of adding a lumbering giant to the league’s most notorious run ‘n gunners:
When Steve Kerr traded for Shaq last season, I was a fan. I wrote a column, entitled “Death to Small Ball,” where I extolled the Suns’ virtuous return to basketball that didn’t feature a squad of positional runts. But when I wrote it, I envisioned Shaq merely being a “presence” down low, not a “force.” He would allow Amar’e to return to his natural position and as I wrote, matter-of-factly, “Shaq and 12-14 points, 7-10 boards and 23-28 minutes brings legitimacy to this once semi-bastardized squad.” Instead, Shaq is on the cusp of his 15th All-Star invitation. Quite honestly, if Yao hailed from Hawaii and not China, Shaq would’ve played himself into making a great case to start in the All-Star game. At 36—and only months after appearing to be only a slightly better, more skilled Eric Dampier—he is arguably the second-best center in the League.
While the pairing of O’Neal and the remnants of Mike D’Antoni’s Seven Seconds or Less offense would prove to be a fatal mix leaving the Suns outside the playoff picture looking in and Shaq missing the postseason for only the second time in his career, he was feeling great and playing well. Well enough to make a 15th All-Star Game appearance, even managing to bury the hatchet with Bryant long enough to nab an All-Star Game co-MVP award with him.
His entrance with the Jabbawockeez was vintage All-Star Weekend, class-clown Shaq, and he seemed to really be enjoying himself in Phoenix, even getting a good laugh out of this surprise from Spurs’ head coach Gregg Popovich.
If you’re puzzled by this “Hack-a-Shaq” thing then you’re clearly more than a little wet behind the ears when it comes to NBA basketball. Nevertheless, since it is a part of O’Neal’s legacy, we are required to at least touch on it. First, a little history. Shaq thinks free throws are for sissies.
He can’t wait to get his career .527 percent off the free throw line, he’s so bad at them.
He might as well shoot ‘em blindfolded. It’s true, I checked…
…He hit 5-14 of those.
The Big Blindfold’s done that in a real game more than once, last on March 15, 2007 while playing not far from his hometown of Newark, New Jersey. He did it twice in the ‘03-’04 season, and there’s plenty of 5-15’s and 2-12’s in those game logs. Let’s just say he never met a free throw he liked.
Here again is an instance where one man changed the game itself, from a strategy standpoint this time. Only this time we’re talking about one of Shaq’s forefathers of the game, Wilt Chamberlain. Like Shaq, Wilt was so dominant, but also like Shaq in that he was terrible from the line, that opposing coaches would send players to foul him just so he couldn’t score. In the spirit of competition, and having Chamberlain play actual basketball rather than tag, a rule was implemented that stated intentional off-the-ball-fouls in the last two minutes of a game would result in the offending team forfeiting not only foul shots but possession as well.
Don Nelson, then with the Dallas Mavericks, thought that a variation of this might work over the span of a game, but not in the final two minutes, to try and limit the other team’s overall effectiveness at scoring. he tried it on another heinous FT shooter, Dennis Rodman. It backfired, with Rodman knocking down 9-12.
However, the idea, long forgotten until Nellie resurrected it, was suddenly employed by teams all over the NBA to try and slow down the authoritative O’Neal, and the “Hack-a-Shaq” was born.
While he may not be much for the free throw line, if there’s one thing Shaq has always been it’s entertaining. And not just on the court. By the time he’d done his stint in Phoenix he had a full resume of off-court Shaqtivities ranging from the silly to the serious.
O’Neal may not have fit into the Suns system well, but his resurgent play indicated that he could be the missing piece for a Cleveland Cavs squad that had been stomped by Shaq’s first franchise, the Magic. Or more specifically Dwight Howard. So it was off to crown the king of Cleveland.
Only we didn’t get the chance to actually see if the Dwight-stopper was going to work in the postseason as it was conceived. The eyeball test and the numbers indicate that it would have at least been a wash, leaving LeBron free to take over the rest of the game and head back to the Finals for a second shot at what many, myself included, had penned in as his first title, what would have been Shaq’s fifth. Certainly O’Neal would have been all the more motivated for a June matchup had it been the Lakers they’d meet as anticipated.
Instead we’re left to wonder what happened, while we look on powerless to change the outcome, waiting to find out what fate holds for the Cavaliers and their free agents, a list O’Neal is on.
Many say he should retire, a portion of those asserting that it should have been long ago already.
I for one hope he hangs around and gives it another go.
Shaq has never been one to walk the other way when the chips are down, instead heading right for where all the action is, where the heart of the battle is. It would be strange to see him hang on to the game for too long, should no one with a realistic shot at contending pick him up this summer, the biggest free agent shopping spree yet seen in the game, one in which his name hasn’t been so much as whispered.
Seems strange, really, to think that he could be so easily brushed aside after all he’s given to the game, to us. You don’t have to like him. But don’t belittle the big guy. He deserves better.
Go look up where he stands on the all-time lists, the all-time playoff lists. It’s truly remarkable.
Salt Lake City… for now - It’s no secret the Utah Jazz want Carlos Boozer back. It’s also no secret that they probably can’t do it as presently constituted unless the ownership is willing to gamble on landing in a playoff bracket that doesn’t include the LA Lakers next year, plus pay the luxury tax once again, a prospect not exactly appealing to a franchise and company that prides itself on making smart business decisions. The Jazz brass have said they were willing to pay the penalty provided it ended up in having a shot at the whole pierogi.
Before we continue, you may want to first familiarize yourself with the Carlos Boozer situation as it currently stands with the Jazz’s options. David Locke provided an excellent breakdown of it here.
Locke’s “Most likely scenario” goes as follows, meaning the Jazz will have to look elsewhere to improve.
“Almost no scenario where Boozer goes into free agency without a suitor bidding for him which means no way the Jazz sign Boozer on the cheap, which means no way the Jazz stay under the luxury tax and re-sign Carlos.”
Of course, the draft lottery will play a role in determining which direction Utah takes, but the chances the Jazz land in the 9-slot are even higher than the chances that Pau Gasol holds a block party where Carlos Boozer is the Guest of Honor, so we’ll roll with it as we stand.
So who can the Jazz deal to make the offseason moves that Deron Williams has dictated must be made? And don’t misunderstand me here. I love the Jazz’s players, but something is going to happen –has to happen– if the Jazz are going to get to the level they need to be competing at.
Mehmet Okur is out, more than likely, simply because the Jazz aren’t going to get anything of any real value back for an aging center with a bad road back and a torn Achilles who just re-upped for two more years at $10.4 a pop.
The elephant in the room for several years now has been Andrei Kirilenko’s uber-contract, worth nearly $18 million in the upcoming season. That it expires after the 2010-2011 season makes it an attractive asset to teams, a bargaining chip for Jazz GM Kevin O’Connor in the bid to make the team competitive with LA.
Kirilenko played for new New Jersey Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov for three seasons in Russia, on Euro-powerhouse CSKA Moscow, before becoming the Jazz’s first-round pick in the party of 1999 (although he would play two more years for CSKA before joining the Jazz), then was speculated to be headed back there, foregoing his remaining $63 million, in the fall of 2008.
That was a bitter time for Andrei, even saying he was unhappy playing for Utah, specifically Jerry Sloan.
“I just want to explain to everybody what I think and feel and that I could sacrifice my career with the NBA. The only thing I’m not prepared for is if I’m told, ‘Andrei, we want you to stay anyway.’ I’m sure then the next season would be a repetition of the previous one, and what will the fans say then? How could you possibly rely on a player who wants to leave?”
He told the Russian newspaper Sports Express that he was unhappy playing within the Sloan system, saying at the time, “For the past two years I’ve been going on the court and acting like a robot. When I signed my contract the future looked completely different — I thought I would play, win and get pleasure from it.
“Trust me, I really am prepared to leave NBA. It certainly does not mean that I’m dying to go to Europe. I’m just ready.
“Last year, [I] had a conversation with him, and Sloan said, ‘Andrei, if you don’t like something about the way I conduct training you could always break the contract with the Jazz.’ So that’s exactly what I want to do now!”
And if you want to know what happens to players at odds with Sloan just ask DeShawn Stephenson or Gordan Giricek about it.
However, Jerry and Andrei were able to make amends by giving him a new role on the team, by being the featured 6th-man off of the Jazz bench, one which didn’t work out so well in hindsight.
Kirilenko played much better this year, returning to the starting lineup and posting his best statistical year in several, so he does still have value beyond that monstrous expiring contract.
Mikhail Prokhorov
Enter Prokorov, circa 2009.
As a countryman and former member of Prokhorov’s CSKA squad, Andrei was naturally approached about the man when it was first announced that his attention was to buy the New Jersey Nets.
“I don’t think he will be afraid to spend, but I think his main issue will be building a team, rather than just, you know, throwing the money out. Again, I don’t think [spending] is going to be an issue for him — but he’s always been known to create a great business rather than just get something and get a quick result.
He’s not really involved in the process of ruling the team, because I think he kind of puts it on the coach’s shoulder and the GM’s. But outside the court, if you go somewhere, he might take a few players and hang out with them. But it’s not that he’s gonna be in the locker room and tell them what to do.”
Asked if he thought the New Jersey, soon-to-be-Brooklyn Nets, would be a more desirable place to play with Prokhorov at the reins, Andrei responded, “Definitely, definitely. I think he can really turn around the team. It’s not that he’s gonna get a team and they’re gonna play ‘a little bit better.’ They’re definitely gonna play better — because they aren’t playing good this year. But I think he’s really looking to bring the team to the top, and I’m really happy for the New Jersey fans, because with him owning this team, he’s really going to think about the future of the team.
There’s a huge population of the Russian people in Brooklyn, so I think it’s one more blast for New Jersey, Russian immigrants come to the game.”
So really, more elements for a trade between the Jazz and Nets are there than not. Especially considering how motivated the Jazz are to re-signing Boozer and putting a bonified center behind him, a Brook Lopez-type.
There’s a couple reasons this gets tricky.
Firstly, although Jazz fans would be thrilled to get a young stud like Lopez, they need to realize it would take a third party to get it done since Lopez is still on a rookie contract and the league’s requirements for a trade are at least 75% of the value to even glance at a deal.
There is also Yi Jianlian, but do the Jazz really need another 7-foot 3-slinger? Nope.
Secondly, Prokhorov and minority owner Jay-Z will certainly want to test the waters in the summer bonanza of free agency 2010 with their $26 mill on such super-FA’s as LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, Amar’e Stoudemire, and maybe even Joe Johnson, David Lee, and Boozer himself.
The thing is, there are seven major-to-upper-echelon free agents, and nine teams with at least $11 million that’s just burning a hole in their pockets, so someone’s getting left out.
If one of the two someones is the Nets don’t count out a couple of countrymen with a history having a reunion party in Atlantic City, New Jersey sometime this summer.
Posted by Clint Peterson on May 12, 2010 in Utah Jazz
We’re pretty certain that what was old will be new again for the Utah Jazz. However, details have been fuzzy, so we here at High Note decided to don the Super Sleuth hats do a bit of digging to see what we could find out there.
Q: Is the old logo with the musical note coming back?
A:We are in discussions with the NBA to see if that’s a possibility. We’ve had an outpouring of calls and e-mails this season from fans who support the change back to the old logo, and we’re seeing what our options are with the league to possibly make that happen. Stay tuned!
Jazz President Randy Rigby with Deron Williams (Photo Credit Greg Miller via his Twitter account)
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No, that thumbs up isn’t for some sort of microfiber, textured, super-towel. If you look directly up from the “s” on Williams in the caption, you can see a teensy weensy bit of the new colors peeking out.
Based on the direction of the light shining off of Rigby’s melon (I opted to spare you a closeup of this) we can see that the majority of the light is coming from slightly behind and to the right of them. Looking at the shade of the Jazz Prez’s shirt in the front we can safely assume that there is a slight shadow being cast over the actual peek we get of the new colors, possibly darkening them slightly from their true tone.
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What we surmise
My first thought when I saw those little stripes sticking out was that they reminded me an awful lot of the old stripes and colors from the Jazz uni’s worn from 1985-1996.
See those familiar stripes on Mark Eaton?
Another closeup reveals the a strikingly similar theme to the one just revealed. However, the yellow tone is clearly more golden than the old one, shadow or not.
But what about the rest of the colors? Are they close to the old, or is the whole thing headed in an entirely new direction? More sleuthing was certainly in order to solve this quandary.
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Spence, over at Salt City Hoops, did some color sampling and sleuthing of his own, and what he came up with seems to be as realistic and close to what we can expect as anything else, if slightly drab, most likely due to the shade the samples were in. Curious, I did a little sampling of my own just to see if I got the same results.
Salt City Hoops' color sample
High Note Hoops' color sample
I must have hit on a particularly bright green pixel or something, but the navy-blue is just about right on the money.
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So where did these colors originate?
Jazz '85 uni's color sample
I dug around, wondering if there was a precedent for the new color scheme. Naturally, since the Note seems to be making a return I thought that some combination from the Jazz’s color wheel history may be involved.
Thankfully, the reminiscent-of-Laker-blue-and-yellow is out (for a history of the term “Laker blue” follow the blogroll link on the right to Lakers’ Forum Blue and Gold) in the new uni scheme. That yellow is so bright I gotta wear shades to look in it’s general direction anyhow.
The green is pretty darn close though, so we’ll start there.
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The Green
Jazz legend Adrian Dantley
This vintage picture of Hall of Famer and Jazz legend Adrian Dantley gives us a glimpse of where the forest green may have come from.
These road uniforms worn by the Jazz from 1979-1985 were the inspiration for the Throwback Green uni’s the Jazz were so successful in this season.
I fully expect them to be the primary road uni’s for the upcoming campaign.
You could sample this pic until you were “green” in the face, surely coming up with a perfect match sooner or later with all the shades and shadows.
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The Gold
While the color in the AD photo is a bit dated and washed of color, a look at a modern photo of an Adrian Dantley jersey reveals where the gold may have come from.
Never thought I'd use a Felton Spencer pic TWICE. Bet he didn't either...
The gold was used on all Jazz road uniforms from 1979-1996, quite a span of time, giving the gold a solid leg to stand on in the history of the franchise’s color wheel.
So through a wee bit of searching the archives and the memory, and a little hand from modern technology, we can safely assume that what the Jazz showed us is a sample of the Jazz’s new home uniforms, featuring the striped color theme from the ‘79-’85 uni’s, with the popular green from this year’s throwbacks making an appearance, with the well-chosen gold from the aforementioned era.
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The Blue
The 2004-Present primary uniforms
I think it’s safe to assume that since we’re looking at a combination of color schemes formerly used by the Utah franchise we will find that the current navy blue will be our final missing piece to this puzzle, tying it all together from the past to the future, as is fitting.
I liked the powder blue for a few good years, but too many teams use it these days, including the Jazz’s closest geographical rival the Denver Nuggets, and Deron Williams’ (perceived) nemesis Chris Paul and the New Orleans Hornets. Can’t have that, can we?
This blue is a stronger color, one befitting a team with grit, a tenacious will. It’s called “navy” blue for a reason. It’s a royal tint of blue.
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Putting all the pieces together
There’s a couple of places you can go to get a complete history of the Utah Jazz’s uniforms.
The Jazz logo from the Finals years. Feeling left out?
When you look through them all, with the above information factored in, you’ll find that what is to come has never been found in it’s current form on a Jazz uniform.
We’ll almost certainly see the throwback greens for the road uni’s, most likely in the form we’ve already seen them. As for the primary home whites, I think you’ll see the Navy Blue, Old Gold, and Throwback Green as the colors we glimpsed in the “thumbs up” photo.
If you’ve been paying attention you’ve already seen the new Note logo, colors and all.
Gimme five, dude. You were THE MAN this year! (Deron Williams Photo by Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images)
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Back Down to Earth - Don’t let what may be the most closely contested, entertaining sweep in memory stew for long. There’s much rejoicing to be found in the 2009-2010 Utah Jazz season.
Like many others, this was one my favorite Jazz seasons in franchise history. They scratched and clawed their way to what was ultimately an over-achievement based on where many had them finishing in preseason predictions, some even predicting them to miss the postseason altogether.
The campaign began on a sour note, with a sound trouncing by the rivals over the Rockies, the Denver Nuggets, followed shortly after by a record-setting fourth-quarter performance from the indomitable Dirk Nowitzki in a game the Jazz had virtually put away, up 16 with 10:36 left when the Jazz let him get “started up.”
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Treading Water
Both losses would later be avenged in a forceful manner, but for the time being the Jazz were left with their collective heads under water for the first two weeks of the season, culminating in a 3-5 start with a loss to the Boston Celtics. This loss would prove to be the first catalyst for lighting a fire under the fellas.
Up until the game in Boston the Jazz, as a team, had been averaging 22.86 assists per-game.
A team meeting inspired by the way the Celtics play as one unit, wherein Deron Williams decided it was high time he step up into the leadership role, found an impassioned speech about playing more as a team and less as a collection of individuals.
Throwback Jazz Green played a big part in Utah's success. Will it be here to stay soon? (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
The Jazz would finish the season leading the league in dimes by a wide margin, 26.7 a game over second place, you guessed it, Boston, by more than three more a game.
They’d kick and paddle furiously after the Boston beating, finally taking the Spurs to task in San Antonio, a win that marked the first in over a decade in Alamo Land, to reach the surface, but not breaching it for good for three more games.
However, once they did manage to surface they stayed there, treading the proverbial waters for the next 22 games, an eternity for Jazz fans like myself that had had such high hopes for their chances despite the doom and gloom, hovering at between two and five games above the .500 mark.
There were bright spots, like beating the Orlando Magic on the back end of a back-to-back, and dark places, like losing to the Minnesota Timber Wolves twice in as many weeks.
The mediocrity of it all had many Jazz fans frustrated and apathetic. After a particularly brutal beating in the 3rd quarter of the game on January 4, 2010, at the hands of a team the Jazz generally own, the New Orleans Hornets, that would leave them a precarious pair of games from again drowning, comments such as these from Jazz fans were floating around everywhere:
“I’m pissed. The Jazz officially suck. IDC [I don't care] anymore.”
“As a Jazz fan, I want to know exactly why I should care about this team for the rest of the season? This team lacks passion, hustle, drive and killer instinct.”
Utah would rally in the next game in SLC, beating the Memphis Grizzlies soundly, only to visit Graceland two nights later to find Marc Gasol holding a block party. The Grizz would reject 14 Utah field goal attempts, Gasol the Younger posting five of his own (what is it with these Gasols and their block parties on the Jazz?!), and leave Utah once again clamoring for their life-jackets at 19-17 on the season, 6-11 on the dreaded road.
Things looked bleak, with long-held themes such as losing on the road repeating themselves once again. Folks were bashing the Jazz left and right from all angles.
“This team is ABSOLUTE garbage and are even struggling at home at times this year…better start winning some games…”
That’s when this gritty group of guys would dig deep to do just that.
Wesley Matthews, Gem
Williams would return from a wrist injury just as Andrei Kirilenko would start catching fire, and undrafted rookie gem Wesley Matthews would begin his breath-taking emergence, to thrash the aforementioned Mavericks in Dallas, tipping off a stretch that found the Jazz in the conversation at the water cooler, rather than swimming in it.
The Jazz would go 19-4 over the next seven weeks.
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When It All Came Together
Dirk wouldn’t be dancing again, at least not after playing Utah. The Jazz wouldn’t lose to them again this season, nor would they lose to San Antonio or the Portland Trail Blazers, marking the Jazz’s first sweep of the Spurs in some 15-plus years, and the first time they’d sweep both franchises in the same season.
“Trailing 64-39 with 7 minutes left in the third quarter, Utah staged a shocking rally by outscoring the Blazers 44-19 over the final 19 minutes to send what seemed like a sure Portland win into overtime. Boozer then scored underneath with 3:05 left in OT to give Utah a 87-86 edge and its first lead since it was 9-8.
It was all part of Boozer’s stellar night. He finished with 22 points and a career-best 23 rebounds — eight on the offensive end — as Utah won its seventh straight on the road.”
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But that was hardly the most astounding moment of this part, or any other of the season. This space is clearly reserved for another now-famous Jazz gem, also-undrafted-rookie Sundiata Gaines and his immortal moment in the annals of Jazz history.
Just five days removed from finding their stride in Dallas, the Jazz invited MVP LeBron James and his Cavalier Crew into Energy Solutions Arena for a showdown of epic proportions that will forever live in infamy.
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Deron Williams would find both ecstasy and agony in these weeks, finally finding himself recognized as an All-Star, in front of his home crowd in Dallas no less, and losing a close friend on the roster as the Jazz brass found enough confidence in Matthews to make their second salary move of the season by trading away Ronnie Brewer to Memphis, a move surely made to try and help position themselves to be able to “Bring Booz Back,” who was having one of his best career years despite the belief of many that he would not even see the end of the season in a Jazz uniform.
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Follow this link and go through all the categories at the PF position to see just how good Carlos Boozer was this season. Impressive, huh?
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The Jazz would find themselves at the top of Professor Hollinger’s rankings system, much to the chagrin of the league’s powerhouses and their fans, having found themselves as a cohesive unit and a force to be reckoned with.
The Andrei Kirilenko of old was at long last back in action at a high level as a starter during this glorious time, in one stretch of 13 games putting up consistent numbers of 17 points, 5 rebounds, 2.5 steals and 2.2 blocks a game. He came perilously close to the NBA’s first 5×5 since 2006 coming up only two blocks and one dime shy against the Golden State Warriors.
And then abruptly it ended for him, at least until it was too late for the Jazz to recover.
Korver, .536 from the 3-line
But AK-47’s calf problems presented the Jazz with their second silver lining of the season at the wing position.
Long an Achilles’ heel of the Jazz has been the swing spots, the interchangeable 2 and 3 positions, shooting guard and small forward. Not only had the Jazz already a more-than-capable replacement for Brewer in all-around ace Matthews, who can actually shoot as a shooting guard, but Kirilenko’s going down meant that Kyle Korver would now be able to get the minutes, and shots required, to surpass Steve Kerr’s 15-year-old 3-point-percentage shooting record of .523 percent.
It would also allow a player the Jazz coaching staff had long gambled on, to break out and into the limelight of the league.
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The Jazz weren’t supposed to be able to beat the Denver Nuggets in the first round of the 2010 NBA Playoffs, especially lacking home court advantage. But along with Carlos Boozer and Deron Williams’ best playoff series to date, CJ Miles was able to grow and excel in the absence of Andrei to the point that he earned hard-won praise from ESPN’s Kevin Arnovitz.
Miles, who had never come close to living up to expectations, had himself a little Twitter battle after struggling for the fifth straight year.
He responded not only in text, but also on the court of fan judgment with steadily rising averages leaving us wondering just how good this kid can really be.
There wasn’t much much to cheer about in the Utah Jazz’s final sortie onto the field of battle last night, but CJ Miles gave us one shining moment to remember. A final reminder that even though the season ended on a low note, there were plenty of high notes hit this year as well.
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A special shout out to Mehmet Okur who literally ran the wheel right off of it’s axle and Paul Millsap who out-worked anyone else in the series with the LA Lakers.
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What was your favorite moment of the Jazz’s season?
Posted by Ryan Arnold on May 10, 2010 in Game Previews
The worst month of my life was October of 2004.
I try to pretend that it was actually only the worst month of my life as a sports fan, but I can’t think of any other time period that affected my being the way October of 2004 did. Those 31 days cause me to look at the entire year with disgust. Every other month, every other day, is just guilty by association.
Now nothing separates the events of my life from those of anybody else’s. I’ve fallen on hard times, I’ve struggled. I’ve been cheated on, and have had people close to me die. I’ve even died. For nine minutes, my heart was still. But time always finds a way to make these things affect us less, and less. This is how I justify my argument that the events of that October, no matter how trivial or out of my control, have caused me the greatest amounts of sorrow, and grief. It’s been five and a half years since that October, and I feel the same today as I did on November 1st, 2004.
I am a Yankee fan. I bleed midnight blue.
A playoff elimination is usually forgiven, if not forgotten, by the first game of the following season. 2004’s wasn’t. The manner in which it occurred was so excruciatingly abnormal, that the healing process needs more than future success. It needs paralleled revenge.
The Jazz enter tonight’s Game 4 in a situation that has certainly caused a good portion of even the most passionate fans to shift their attention to the 2010 draft, and the 2010-2011 season. A situation that makes the rest of the series a very troublesome formality. But who cares? It’s only a game, right? There’s always next year!
Even though that certain October gave sports fan a very recognizable precedent, hope is further diminished by the simple fact that basketball is a much different sport than baseball. Far too much is left to judgment. That judgment, and those who are paid to pass it, substantially increases the height of the mountain the Jazz now have to climb. In baseball it’s as easy as saying, “You’re only as good as your next day’s starting pitcher.” In basketball, maybe, “You’re only as good as your team’s motivation to win, your opponent’s overall ability, the building you’re playing in, both coach’s willingness to adjust, and how well the referees slept the night before?”
Again, there’s always next year!
But, as I stick my head above the clouds for a moment, I wonder, “What would October of 2004 mean to me if the Jazz found a way to win this series?” I would have to believe that it would be enough to ease the heartache. Especially considering it’s the Lakers.
The greatest moments in sports usually follow moments of disappointment. No quarterback is going to enhance his legend by marching his team down the field in the last two minutes of a 28 point blowout. What does a ninth inning home run mean if the team has an eight run cushion? Who would know the name Sundiata Gaines if the Cavalier game was already in hand? Would that shot hold the same weight if Deron Williams had taken it? The greatness of that moment is held within the fact that it was the Cavaliers, that they had made a fourth quarter run, and that a newly acquired D-Leaguer made the game winner.
So let’s remember, before we tie the season’s bow, that if any NBA team is going to mount a 3-0 comeback, they first have to lose Games 1, 2, and 3. Then with all the disgust I can muster, I will remember October of 2004, and hope that the next week holds the remedy I have spent over five years searching for.
So with that hope I will say, “there’s only next year, when this year is over.”
Editor’s Note: Before sending this excellent recap over Jake sent me a text saying, “That was the most difficult thing I’ve ever had to write.” We feel you, man.
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Salt Lake City – The Utah Jazz put their best foot forward for Saturday night’s Game 3 of the Western Conference Semifinals.
And it still wasn’t enough.
In the most competitive game of the series thus far, Utah looked poised to win after a solid performance, especially on Los Angeles’ big men. But it wasn’t meant to be, as Utah now faces a mountain which has never been successfully scaled.
Being down 3-0 in a best-of-seven series.
Utah was bolstered by the return of their do-it-all guy, Andrei Kirilenko. And from his insertion into the game, he was making the difference that Jazz fans and coaches had been praying for. Andrei was a factor on both ends early. A block on Kobe. Cutting off passing lanes usually afforded to Laker bigs such as Lamar Odom and Andrew Bynum. Contributing to a defense that limited Pau Gasol to only 4 FG attempts and one make in the 1st half.
Yeah, it was good to have Andrei back.
But then halftime came, and Los Angeles did something Utah has refused to do all series. Adapt.
In Games 1 and 2, the Los Angeles Lakers dominated the paint, getting buckets at ease over the top of a smaller Utah lineup. And while Kirilenko’s addition to Utah’s defensive plans stifled LA’s inside game, it didn’t kill the beast.
LA’s form of adapting was accepting Utah’s challenge to beat them from the outside. And on this night, it was meant to be. An unlikely duo of Derek Fisher and Ron Artest combined for 40 points, many of which were absolute dagger triples.
And let’s not forget our Amish comrade, a certain Kobe Bryant. Going for 35 points, including a devastating three with about a minute left that tied the game at 106, Bryant has now gone 30+ in each game this series. Cold blooded. Los Angeles would not be denied.
Big shot after big shot, the threes kept falling. Time and time again, Utah would answer. More specifically, Kyle Korver answered. Korver went off for 23 points, including 5-5 3 PT shooting, that kept the Jazz alive.
But it was questionable play-calling and turnovers down the stretch that had me scratching my head. Utah allowed a Fisher 3 with :29 to play. I will come back to Utah’s shot allowance a bit later. Back to the task at hand.
Who to blame?
Plenty to spread around, that’s for sure. I’ve heard the typical “this game is on Boozer’s shoulders” pining. I’ve heard some say Derek Fisher got Deron Williams sideways in his mind. Others question free throw shooting. Team defense. You name it, it’s out there, and I agree with all of it.
You win as a team, just as you lose as a team. Especially in a one-point thriller. If only Carlos Boozer had caught that Korver pass. If only Millsap could have converted on one of his many continuation opportunities. If only Matthews had tipped the ball in. If only Deron Williams had driven the lane rather than settle for a long jumper.
If only…
But, as you can see, it doesn’t come down to the last play. Ever. It comes down to how you play as a team. And each member of this Jazz squad needs to shoulder some of the loss. But I will specifically call out a group who has notoriously “allowed” games to slip out of reach.
And, no, it’s not Utah’s bigs (if you can call them that).
Have a look at this.
Notice anything, you know, different about the 3 games? Me too. Los Angeles had a field day from beyond the arc. And like I stated earlier, it came from unlikely sources. Even Laker fans have to be puzzled after this outburst of shooting excellence from the duo.
Now, I can understand when someone is unconscious from outside. There is no stopping that. Watching Bryant for years, I’ve seen my fair share. More than I’d like to have seen, honestly. Neither here nor there.
It’s completely blown assignments and wide open looks that blow my mind. Haven’t watched any replay yet, but I’m fairly sure not ONE of Ron Artest’s 3’s were contested. And yes, 1-10 in Games 1 and 2 would have something to do with that. But again, Utah failed to adapt to a shift in game plan by LA.
Bynum? Absent. 0 points, 4 rebounds. Odom? Not a factor (well, except for an uncontested 3 in the 4th quarter) with 8 points and 8 rebounds. Gasol got his 14 and 17, but remember he only had 4 points at the break, and ended up nabbing nearly half of LA’s rebounds. Speaking of rebounds, the Jazz out rebounded their lengthy foe for the first time in the series, 42-39. The interior game was M.I.A. for LA.
Had you told me this would happen Wednesday, I would have thought Utah was a lock to win. And by double digits. The interior game has crushed the Jazz. Little did I know…
Utah would gamble on the law of averages. NO WAY could they keep hitting these uncontested threes. NO WAY would they abandon their offensive sets that have been so potent. NO WAY would it continue during crunch time in the loudest arena in the NBA.
Ummm…guys. News flash. These are the WORLD CHAMPION LOS ANGELES LAKERS. You dare them to punch you mouth and leave yourself unguarded, you’re gonna get knocked the hell out. And they did just that. A 3-0 deficit is possible, but highly unlikely. Especially against a team this lethal.
Game 3 may have been the knockout punch. I’m just bummed that Utah is proving all the naysayers and Bill Plaschke’s of the world right. Breaks my heart for this group.
Utah’s consistent lack of perimeter defense in order to negate the post presence bit them. Bit them to a tune of 13 three pointers after giving up only 6 combined in the first two meetings. Bit them, and it stings. Stung us fans, too. And I expect this loss to sting for a while.
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Random thoughts of Jake-ness:
· Ron Artest post game on the shoot-out that ensued between LA and Kyle Korver: “I don’t like going back and forth. I have to pay attention more the next game. I guess it was fun for the fans, but we don’t like to make it fun for their fans.” Ron, you ALWAYS make it fun for the fans, unintentionally or not.
· Glad to hear Utah’s players determined to continue to fight. All the post game quotes eluded to the fact that Utah knows what they are up against, but will never back down. Good on ya’, boys.
· Drawing a blank on what to say from the heart. I’m down about this one. My dislike for the Lakers continues to grow, but only because they are so good. Nothing else to it. Sucks being the little brother and always getting picked on. Maybe one day the roles will reverse. But until then, I will continue to curse LA. And Memphis.
Numb Word History: Old English had a number of strong verbs (often loosely called “irregular” verbs) that did not survive into Modern English. One such was the verb niman, “to take.” Although we do not have the verb as such anymore, its past participle is alive and well, now spelled numb, literally “taken, seized.”
Which is exactly what the LA Lakers did to their moments in last night’s Game 3 in Salt Lake City. They literally “seized” the game, taking it away from the Utah Jazz, leaving the franchise stunned, [a synonym for] numb.
They’ve made a habit of this in the series game after late-game moment, leaving Utah shocked, and many fans indifferent. Some Jazz fans are so torpid as to to say they have tickets to Game 4 but don’t even feel like going now.
It wasn’t always this way for me. In fact, the numbness comes as a bit of a shock to my inner Jazz fan. I’ve always been deeply passionate about the Utah franchise, a perennial believer, supporter.
From way back, when as a military brat visiting cousins in Utah, to overhear the excitement in my dad and uncle’s voices upon learning that the New Orleans franchise was moving to Utah, leaving a feeling of building excitement of my own as a young basketball fan, a feeling that I had always believed was yet to crescendo, to some 19 years later in the Utah desert camping with fellow fanatics on a Memorial Day weekend where we had to wrap a radio antenna with leftover tin foil from our tin foil dinners and take turns standing and stretching on a rock over our campsite, holding it up just so, so that we could hear Hot Rod Hundley’s voice echo off the walls of the alcove of tuff as he called out “hippity-hops” and “angle lefts” of the Jazz’s loss to the Houston Rockets in the Western Conference Finals, a pair that weekend actually, that would be avenged a scant few days later to send the franchise to it’s first ever NBA Finals where they would ultimately lose a closely-contested series to Michael Jordan and Phil Jackson’s Chicago Bulls by a total point differential of minus two field goals, to the Age of Instantaneous Information where you can get instant reaction from any angle, I have always been a rabid, deep-feeling fan about my chosen franchise.
Yes, that Jazz "Tramp stamp" is real. We're waiting, PK...
And they keep leaving me hangin’.
I am numb now. I don’t know what to feel anymore.
It’s always sooo close! They are right there, yet just keep bouncing off the wall, floundering for the rope, the rope that they could use to climb the wall, but instead just seem to keep hanging themselves with.
The Jazz have always found ways to come up small in big moments. It’s excruciating to witness as a fan. You feel for them, as they continually fight losing battles against legendary foes, some of the game’s greatest of all-time, falling just a scosche short time after time.
No one can say they didn’t leave it all out there in every game against the Lakers, and from all accounts they will do so again in Game 4. One of my first thoughts after the crushing loss in front of the most passionate of home crowds was, “They’d better not lay down in the next one! Even if the only thing left is to make life as miserable as possible on LA, they’d better not!” I texted the local post-game show with just these thoughts.
And I was rewarded shortly after in the postgame interviews with just such sentiments from every single Jazz player I heard speak.
It seems to be a lost cause, but you have to admire the fight in these underdogs. This team wants badly to win, there’s no denying it. But how? How?!
More minutes from Andrei Kirilenko? I honestly expected Jerry Sloan to lean on him more, especially after he provided such a spark in his first stint.
Another series of texts to “The Long and Short of Sports Show” (those of you that listen to Utah’s flagship sports station 1320 KFAN will get this one, as it was Kevin “Ferg” Ferguson and Tony “Booster Seat” Parks with the OT duties last night, in place of the usual “Big and Tall Sports” of Ben “Bags” Bagley and Ferg) found Ferguson and myself going back and forth on AK’s puzzling +/- stat of minus seven.
Frustrated much, Jazz fans?
I noted that had AK played starter minutes he was on pace for 15 points, 12 rebounds, 2 steals, and 2 blocks, to which Ferg replied that he was -7 in plus/minus for the game.
My response: “I know. A perplexing, imperfect stat”
Ferg: “+/- is a steaming pile”
Me: “Don’t care for it either. It’s more inconsistent than a D Will gamewinner”
Also inconsistent is a player I’ve tried oft times to defend in vain, Carlos Boozer. He wants badly to redeem himself to fans for so much, yet keeps coming up just shy when it counts, time and again, unlike his counterparts on the court. Basketball John speculates, and rightly so, that if Utah cannot somehow win this series that he’s a goner, despite the fact that the Jazz brass have evidently been clearing cap space to bring him back.
ESPN’s Chad Ford (as well as most mocks) has the Jazz taking Greg Monroe (whom I noted some time ago reminded me of Lamar Odom) to replace him in the draft, with the long-ago acquired New York Knicks pick.
Whatever the case, the franchise has some tough decisions ahead of them, though not quite yet. There’s still a task ahead, one which they dare not shirk.
I, for one, have found some solace in this rant. It’s led me to find that the passion of my fandom, forged in the furnaces of failure, is not so easily quelled. There’s something about being the David to the Lakers’ Goliath that inspires those who possess the fortitude to keep fighting the good fight.
And so I believe that Phil, Kobe, and Co. will yet find that fight on their hands.
Down 0-3 the mission may have changed, but that’s no longer important. What is important is that fans and the franchise alike realize that this Jazz team is one that will never lay down like a speed bump on an LA freeway.
This is your team. Our team. And we will not go quietly into the night.
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One more thing, Utah.
Enough with the Derek Fisher persecution boos and classless taunts. It’s the man’s daughter, for goodness sake and it’s serious business. Larry H. Miller gave the entire situation his blessing, even long after the fact, and that’s good enough for me and should be good enough for you. You may not respect Fisher, but you should have respect for Mr. Miller. So for those of you that lack self control and weren’t brought up correctly, if you have an ounce of decency in you you’ll stop acting a fool. If you cannot contain yourself, I would like to be the first to invite you to jump aboard another bandwagon. We don’t want you.
Salt Lake City - Before the mysterious calf strains struck down the Utah Jazz’s Andrei Kirilenko he was playing at a level not seen by his fans since his days as an All-Star when he was a threat for the elusive 5-by-5 on any given night (complete list: five stats in five different categories).
In the month of February he logged 14.4 points, 4.2 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 2.5 steals, 1.6 blocks, and a mere 1.8 turnovers per-game for the Jazz, including a 17 point, 4 block effort against the Lake Show.
He was back! Back to that ridiculously high level we were used to see him playing at. The long awaited return of the 5×5’s couldn’t be far behind…
And then he suddenly kept coming up lame, much to Salt Lake Tribune writer Gordon Monson’s delight (?). What the hay, dude?
While I wanted him to return in Game 2 –and if he had there’s a good chance we’re all talking about how far the Lakers have fallen instead of the tiresome subject of Utah’s ineptness and consistency at losing to LA– I’m glad he waited, in retrospect. All those excruciating days of waiting for fans have been that much longer that the strain(s) have had to heal up.
Much speculation has been made on just how effective he could possibly be after a what has amounted to nearly two months rest, but how can you as a Jazz fan not be excited that he’s coming back?
This is AK-47 we’re talking about here, the longest tenured player on Utah’s roster. So long as he’s finally healthy he’ll be effective at some level, with that ever-present threat to go off on the opposition with some spectacular block or between-the-legs pass for a throwdown.
He knows exactly what he’s doing out there in the Jerry Sloan system.
At the very least he’ll be collecting rebounds with that enormous, spidery wing-span, and getting in defenders’ faces and passing lanes. If he’s feeling good he’ll be a four-inch boost down the stretch in what have ultimately been very close games, even if they haven’t felt like it to fans on either side of the playoff fence.
The Jazz have been right there.
They just need a little boost to hop that fence and change the face of this series. And maybe, just maybe, the Jazz’s Russian Hitman will provide that for them.
A couple of weeks ago we had the opportunity to ask a few questions of a well-honed NBA mind.
The Altus likes what we’ve got goin’ here enough that he’s agreed to return for another special stint, this time with a twist. He will be taking your questions this time around!
This is how it will work:
Comment here, or send your queries to The Altus via email, at TheAltus@highnotehoops.com. We will screen the incoming, sending along only the best of the best, which will be posted in a special series here at High Note Hoops. Leave your name and city and he will answer anything NBA, within his considerable power, so don’t feel obligated to limit your questions to the Utah Jazz, go ahead and hit him up with anything league-wide.
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So study up and bring your best game for what we hope to make a regular series here at High Note!
Posted by Clint Peterson on May 7, 2010 in Uncategorized
Salt Lake City - Here’s what some of the players and a coach had to say after the Utah Jazz played the LA Lakers.
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“Especially in the last four minutes or so nothing was going to be easy.”
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“This was a great chance to show the league we can still play with the best, despite all our injuries.”
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“Missing those free throws looked like it was going to be our Achilles’ heel.”
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“We just didn’t play well defensively. We didn’t play hard enough on defense. We played lazy. They got a lot of points in the paint and some of that may be tired legs.”
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“Hopefully, we can realize what a good team we can be. We can beat anybody if we just put our minds to it.”
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Sound familiar?
It should.
It was a Jazz win over the Lakers that tipped off a 12-game win streak in 2009…
1) The last time there were sweeps of both the Eastern and Western Conferences was 1957. The Boston Celtics would win the title that year
2) In 1957 the semifinals were best of 3, the conference finals best of 5, and only the Finals were best of 7
3) The last team to sweep their conference final series was the 2003 New Jersey Nets. They would go on to lose to the San Antonio Spurs in 6 games
4) The last time the Los Angeles Lakers swept their conference finals series was 2001. They would go on to win the Finals in 5 games over the Philadelphia 76ers
5) The last time the Boston Celtics swept their conference series was 1986. They would go on to win the Finals in 6 games over the Houston Rockets
