great thread man!!!! many people are slightly worried about okur or boozer or williams. You guys are all right, but i'm sure JVG will devise a good plan to stop them all. Heck, I bet shane will get some spot duties on Okur or even williams at some point in the series. I'm not worried about our defense against them at all.
The Jazz have better interior passing than people give them credit for, mostly from Deron Williams. He showed some of it in the 2nd quarter for some easy baskets. Boozer seems like a pretty good passer too. I know those two are our main problems, and the fact that they can pass makes them even more dangerous. -We should have Shane guarding Williams. Williams is very strong, but he won't be able to muscle Shane around. Shane's length should help contest Deron's deadly jumper. Deron might be a little bit quicker, but Shane's our best perimeter defender and should step up to the challenge. -Fisher is pretty much a gunner and Alston should have a breeze guarding him, although it will limit his opportunities to provide help D. Fisher can shoot, Alston can't just flat out leave him unless it's for a strong double team. -AK just sucks offensively. Tmac will keep him in check with his eyes closed. That's good for us because Tmac's energy will be saved for the offensive end. Alston can take this guy if needed. Heck, I'd have no problem putting Yao on him. We tried Yao on Josh Howard two years ago and he got burned, but AK really can't shoot for crap. Give him open jumpers all day and we'll win.
we should whip the Jazz. They lost to a Cassell-less clippers team. Also, when Sam gets back, watch out Dallas. Clips are gonna take you to 7.
I think the "get physical" part will be mainly up to Yao/Deke and our PFs (Hayes, Juwon). I think if Yao just bullies them around it will make them fear us and it would give us a huge mental edge over them. The Jazz are tailor-made for Yao to dominate, and I am confident that McGrady will handle his defenders as he usually does against Utah. Against the Jazz, you definitely want to slow things down and pound the ball in. If all we do is hang around the perimeter and take shots then we will be playing into their hands. As I've said before: they're a young, inexperienced team that's mentally fragile. We need to somehow get into their heads and do so early on in the round (In the first game, ideally). That's what MJ and his Bulls used to do. The Bulls used to defeat most of their opponents before they even stepped on the court. Fear is a powerful weapon. Short of injury, we should be able to handle the Jazz.
You're delusional. The Clippers would get swept and humiliated. They would do no better than the Grizzlies in their last playoff appearance.
Good scouting. Lets not forget though, Sloan is a hell of a coach. He had this team running even when he did not have all this talent. A regular coach would have taken a season or two more before getting the Jazz to this level, I believe it started last year with Deron. That being said, the rockets are still getting better but it seems that the jazz are on a decline. THe Jazz will be ready for the playoffs, but I like our chances with or without home court advantage
Yep. Great thread. I am getting the postseason buzz!!!!!!!!! We need to stay healthy, continue to improve offensive efficiency...especially b/t Yao and T-Mac, having them play equally well with little deferring nonsense and have the role players continue to rise up and hit shots.........especially against all the scrubs/teams trying to fight for a playoff spot, finish teams off, exploit weaknesses while minimizing their own, and magnify their strengths and diminish those of the opponent. Ok ramble rant over. We need to sweep the remaining Jazz games..OMG--those will be playoff intensity games and will creat such a great postseason preview..... We also need to beat phoenix, regardless if we win 134 to 102 b/c they decide to rest starters Go Roxs!!!!
Good post tiger. I saw EB slap Boozers arm attempting to slap at the ball as Boozer was about to post him up while his back was turned to EB and the basket. In other words, it was a foul but the ref didn't see or call it either one but we heard the slap in the VIP section so he had to have heard it. They allowed Utah's inside to get roughed up a little bit and that hurt them. It's exactly what we'l have to do.
good read... I like how we have Yao on Boozer... he does intimidate Boozer on Defense... and he bullies Okur on offense..... if Yao can keep this up we will have a short series...
Do you ever add any real basketball sense to any thread besides coming on cf and acting like you're mad at the world like a 5 year old?
