Jazz getting punked by [team]

So very satisfying. The Jazz are doomed, and I couldn't be happier.

Interesting fact:

Stockton had 15 points and 11 assists. Those seem to be Francis' dream numbers according to many on this board. Yet, his team still lost.

Fascinating.

 

I hope Terry is ok.Malone gets away with everything. The Jazz play dirty and I'm always glad to see them getting beaten.

 

nah must just be a freak occurrence. everyone knows that even if your teammates suck you should just keep passing it to them no matter what and you will definitely win.

 

I know there are people complaining about some of the Rockets, but it could be worse. You could be an old, worn out, broken down, 1-3 team on a serious downswing! I went over to the Jazz board and they were saying they would rather be in the sorry state they're in now then have Mobley and Francis. In other words they would rather be an old team on the way down and lose like crazy instead of having a dynamite backcourt, a franchise PG, PF and Center. Simply put they would rather fall apart with a couple of old men then have a future. Hey, knock yourself out Jazz fan! You're getting your wish!

 

I dislike the Jazz, infact, I hate them alot, but I hate to see them go out like this.

I am a fan, but I am a respectful fan (most of the time.)

 

Weren't you talking about kicking Kobe between the legs and breaking a broom over his leg or something? I agree though, it is sad in one way to see the way they're slipping, but considering the way they laughed at the slide of the Big Three turnabout is fair play says I!

 

ditto. sometimes i almost feel sorry for them, then i remind myself who they are and i can't help but smile. and they better not turn it around. let this be a slow, oh so painful death.

 

the Jazz players, and coaches...have always showed the rockets a lot of respect. theyve said over and over they respect us in all our playoff series against each other. despite all their flopping and acting and dirty play, theyve never really disrespected us through the media

..their fans on the other hand do not respect us..which is why i hate the team itself...

 

I wouldn't be so quick to count the Jazz out yet. They started out verrrryyyyyyyy slow last year as well and still made the playoffs. But hopefully this is the year they finally flop.

 

It's the Lakers. Atleast they win some championships sometime.

 

Everything about that franchise just repulses me! I can't think of any other team I would not want to play for or associate with in pretty much all of US sports. They always seemd so lame. Stockton and Malone have been great players, and Hornacek, Starks, and ummmmm, and that's it, were decent. They all just really bored me. And Jazz fans have a lot to look foward to with their two geriatric has-beens still sticking around with no outlooks of playoffs in their near future. Seriously, when a player is drafted to the Jazz, how upset do you think they really are? Sure, they're getting a shot at the NBA, but can you think of a worse city to live and play in, if you were an NBA player (not according to fan support or anything, but just the city itself, and its surroundings, and its amenities)?

 

well, watching the Sonics/Jazz game tonight made me realize one thing. The Jazz will not make the playoffs this year. They have nothing. Talent wise, there are 20 better teams in basketball. It was great watching the sonics tear them a new one.

 

Looks like Malone's knee missed the target on this shot...much like 0-7 performance:

 

BY PHIL MILLER
THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE

SEATTLE -- You put on your uniform, you collect a paycheck, you owe a worthy effort -- that's Jerry Sloan's credo. So maybe the Jazz should have played shirts vs. skins Sunday night.

To suggest a listless performance like Utah's 91-77 drubbing at the hands of the SuperSonics had anything to do with their four-time zones-in-five-nights schedule just upsets the Jazz coach. To chalk up the first scoreless night in Karl Malone's life -- not career, but life -- to a virus that had him aching all over, Malone will take issue. To insinuate that a nine-point display of futility in the first quarter had as much to do with airplane food and hotel beds as Sonics defense is to invite an argument from all sides.

"That's what these guys want to hear, because losing is the easiest thing to do in this league," Sloan fumed at the too-tough-a-schedule suggestion.

Honestly, the Jazz, now 1-3 for the second straight season, didn't make it look so easy. It almost defies logic that an NBA team, jet-lagged or not, could produce only one basket the first 15 times they had the ball. Or that it could keep up in the second quarter (two scores in nine possessions) and repeat again in the third (one hoop in the first eight possessions).

Malone had a virus, but the Jazz offense has the Asian flu. They just better hope it's not fatal.

"You come out and you don't know what you're doing, you don't know where you're supposed to go, what you're supposed to do," Sloan analyzed. "What do we do? We just shoot the ball."

And not well. Malone's 0-for-7 was only the most obvious problem; DeShawn Stevenson chipped in a 1-for-7 night, John Amaechi was 1-for-6 and even John Stockton hit only one of four shots. The Jazz, who have yet to connect on more than 43 percent of their shots, skidded to a 21-percent first quarter, when they dug themselves a 20-9 hole.

Even more alarming was the way the missed shots set up the Sonics' offense. Seattle had first-quarter problems of its own -- the score was only 8-5 eight minutes into the game -- but began putting together stretches of effectiveness that left the Jazz standing still.

Seattle scored on seven of its last eight first-quarter possessions, its final six of the second quarter, and three of its final four in the third quarter. The pattern was unmistakable: Wait till the Jazz wear out, then run them out of Key Arena.
"We gave them a track meet to run," Sloan said. "That's the way our three [losses] have all begun."

"That was our focus, to run at them and tire them out," said Gary Payton, the all-star point guard who rattled the Jazz with 18 points, five rebounds and five assists. "We knew they played last night, so we did it every time we could."

Trailing 45-29 at halftime, Sloan tried his starters again to open the second half, but it didn't take long to change his mind. Seattle outscored the Jazz 9-3, and Stockton and Malone were soon sitting down to watch the rest of the game. "I needed to get the young guys some playing time, too," Sloan said. "We need to see what they can do."

Some of them did well; Matt Harpring didn't play like he had gone 31 minutes the night before. This time he hit seven of his 10 shots, scored 16 points and collected four offensive rebounds and six total. Andrei Kirilenko was also 7-for-10 for 17 points, and Scott Padgett had 10 points and six boards.

But the numbers that mean the most to the Jazz are 1-3, a dismal start to the season. "We've got to get back to the gym and work this out," said Stevenson, whose shooting percentage has plunged to 29.7 percent. "Seattle played well, but we didn't give ourselves a chance to win."
pmiller@sltrib.com