A Loss Not Like a Loss

While I was giving a thumbs up to Wes Matthews yesterday (and he also played well today), Eric Maynor may have already earned his All-Star Rookie Team spot today. His fearless floater in front of LBJ at the end of the game is so cool! He is a heck of the player, can create his opportunities easily after a screen. His every little floater or bank shot counts!

LBJ whispered to Maynor after the game. I guess this really tells how good he is playing.

Oh…yeah…by the way, we do have a problem now. Will Ronnie Price lose his place to Eric Maynor again, and retreat to No. 3 PG? I feel sorry for Ronnie but looks like Eric has earned his place today.

Brewer definitely can’t play PG. He can’t create anything other than bringing the ball to the front court. And, he disappeared whole night. He got to step up.

And oh yeah, we lost, but did not feel like a loss.

Others,

- Talking about rookie...Brandon Jennings, 55 pts....Blake Griffin has some contest in the ROY Award.

- Hawks is on a good form, 8-2 now after beating Celtics and Hornets. Well, David West can't really play well without CP3.

Millsap, Price Both Stay with Us!

Hey Jazz Fans! Great News! Both Millsap and Price would stay with us! The last important thing we need to do is planning a right trade involving Boozer!

There is a repor that Marquis Daniels is likely to go to Boston. Oh man, Celtics gets another good player. They really want the Champ back!

The Season Ends

Jazz Game,

- Ronnie Price again gave his best efforts. Please stay with Jazz, we need you as D Will back up.

- Compliments from Sloan -

Why did he stick with Price? "I've never seen a guy play that hard in my life in that situation," Sloan said, before drawing a lofty comparison. "[Price] set seven or eight screens while he was on the floor where he nailed a guy. That's how you play basketball. John Stockton used to do it for years."

- I wrote this piece last October when the season starts, (surprisingly) I did give some good predictions - http://jazzfansinasia.blogspot.com/2008/10/lakers-tells-world-they-are-still.html

Others,

- CP3 did impressed me this season. Not necessarily in regular game but in Beijing Olympics and All-Star Game. I saw his talents. I said I won't say D Will is better than him or vice versa. They are both very talented players.

But let's face it, it would be quite difficult for him to do anything in Hornets. Look at the roster. There are not enough supporting cast to help him do better. David West? Not even close with a "normal" Boozer (from my humble opinion). Chandler? Stojakovic? Both pass their best years.

I think the 58-pt loss today can really give the whole team, from management to player, a nightmare-like wake-up call.

Jazz Won, without D Will, AK, Boozer

Jazz Game,

- I was cautiously optimistic before the start of the game, although we are without three STARS. The reason is they are also playing without Gerald Wallace and D.J. Augustin.

- Price showed his value, Brevin Knight continues to test my nerves. Both play 24 mins, and we can fairly (or unfairly?) compare their contributions by stats. Price is better, hands down. I prefer Sloan to use Price more when we need spark to come from behind, and only use Knight when we are having a comfortable lead.

Expected Loss, but Unexpected Fight by Jazz

Jazz Game,

- Again, we don't have Okur, Millsap and Boozer. We are landslided in rebounds. Yet we fight till 2OT, not bad.

- Fesenko is not playing particular well despite the nice statistics - 12 pts, 11 rebs, 3 blks, 2 asts, 1 stl in 34 mins. His extend minutes is purely because Koufos is in foul troubles for whole game, and he has a sizable body who can stop Yao a little bit plus the fact that Yao started to get tired starting from the end of Q4. For his 12 pts, just simply because the Jazz system creates some easy baskets for him. Nonetheless, we should praise his good effort.

- Knight does well in controlling the tempo of the game, and can give some nice passes. I like it. But when he is wide / relatively open, he needs to shoot better. He is 1-9 in last five games. Am I too harsh?

- By the way, even we are extremely short-handed, Coach Sloan did not play Price and Almond a single minute.

Others,

- Now Diaw is flirting with Triple-Double almost every game, what a versatile player. I wouldn't mind having him in the Jazz squad.

Jazz Celebrated Coach Sloan's 20th Anniversary with a W

Jazz Game,

- Congratulations, Coach Sloan

- Like how Okur plays the game recently, he understood he needs to get a very good balance of attack between long-range jumpers and penetrating for easy shots

- When will our Man - D Will, fully recover from his ankle? He is playing not like he used to play.

- Zero minute for Price today.

- Anyway, we need to thank Kevin Love for his four consecutive misses on FTs. However, he is a very hardworking player that Coach Sloan likes. Look at his offensive boards.

Others,

- Magic had three consecutive three 3-pointers to win the game vs Portaland, thanks.

- Kings upset Lakers, another thanks.

- Shaq got his first 30+pt game since 1.5 year ago.

Jazz Improves to 9-5 by beating Grizzlies

Jazz Game,

- still 3 men down (D Will, Boozer, Korver)

- Okur and Price get back their shooting touches

- AK is still doing everything

- not an exciting game anyway, even we suck in Away Game and we have three men down, we should have won this one

"Shorter-handed", Jazz drops to 6-4

Jazz game,

- Harpring is out for this game, that makes us four men down

- Did not watch the game, but read some online comments about Brewer getting intimidated when facing LBJ. I hope the Coaching Team can do something about it if that's true

- The only thing we should be happy about is that Price and Korver are getting back their shooting touches in the game. They combined for 7 three pointers with 9 attempts. And two buzzer beaters by Ronnie (which he did quite often at the end of last regular season) in the Q1 and Q2

4-0, and counting

Thoughts on Jazz Game,

- as mentioned, deep bench, this time is some clutch plays by Okur and Brewer

- looks like the 19-pound gain by Brewer helped him a lot, makes him have an edge physically over ordinary SGs. With his better and more confident outside shooting, he is (once again) set to be a front-runner in the Most Improved Player Award this season

- Price seems not to be used to the starting PG role, at least his shooting accuracy so far is sub-par.

- If we win the next game vs Thunders, we can celebrate Coach Sloan 1000th Win with Jazz at Home.

- D Will does not need to rush for return in Thunders game (they are Thunders man, we should be able to take them down without D Will), but for this potential memorable game he may consider to play some 20 mins as a warm-up for the road trip?

Other Thoughts of Today,

- ESPN's column writer David Thorpe seconds my support on Rudy Fernandez. He is more than a rookie, and he seems to payback my support by cooling down a bit vs Jazz. Thanks!

- Heats got lucky, Mario Chalmers, very solid rookie, looks like a unsung hero. 9 steals today... Did I mention Heats also have a so-far-alright rookie Beasley?

- Derrick Rose is still keeping his good performance, no matter Bulls win or lose. Another front-runner of Rookie of the Year.

- Last but not least, did the 2OT win by Spurs over Timberwolves convince you that their dynasty is over? You won't believe Spurs needs 2OT (and actually could have lost in 1OT) to beat Timberwolves if I told you in the past few seasons. As of now it is just a 2+1 team (Duncan, Parker, Mason)? You are in doubts? look at the Boxscore and you will know. 78 out of 97 attempts are by them. But credit to Parker, his 55 pts is amazing and his shooting is indeed getting better and more stable year after year.