I want to isolate a couple of two minute segments that we need to try to apply to all our quarters First was the beginning of the fourth quarter where I thought we took our first major jab at Utah's focus. It was the first time after 11 quarters of basketball that they got frustrated. We basically put them in the penalty by playing aggressive and controlling the tempo. Not only that, but we sort of had the ball for quite a while since they kept calling fouls, and this takes a team like Utah out of their rhythm. They are so efficient every time down, they will either score, get fouled, or get second chance opportunities and repeat. If you can control the ball for long spells of time, it disrupts their game. I guess sort of like in soccer they track how long a team has controlled the ball... Secondly, note that Tracy had a 2 min spell where he attempted his shots. I think this works because he is a streaky scorer and just giving him the ball every time down to shoot doesn't work all the time. It was nice to send Battier down to the post a few times and allow TMac to rest himself for that 2 min spurt. If we can replicate these types of spells in each quarter, we will stay in every game with these guys. Up until this last quarter, I think Utah was the team with the better plan/focus with respect to closing out quarters; otherwise we had multiple chances to get double digit leads ending the half and even the first quarter.
