Maybe I should take a few hours before writing this one.
I’m so frustrated at the moment that I’m not sure I can give a decent analysis of this game. I’m frustrated at a lot of things — the refs, Manu Ginobili, the refs, Tony Parker, every Jazz player not named Deron Williams, the refs, our fans for losing their cool and throwing things, the refs…
See, I’m already doing it and I promised myself I wouldn’t. I promised myself that I would write about how we should have pulled ahead in the third quarter, or early in the fourth. I promised myself I’d write about San Antonio’s stifling, (mostly) clean defense, one of the best team defensive performances I have ever seen. I promised myself I’d write about D-Will’s heroic play, how he would not be denied, how he has proven that he is the best player on EITHER team in this series. I want to write about all these things. I hope my frustration burns out quickly enough so I can.
But I have to say this: 27 Jazz fouls to 17 Spurs fouls. Manu Ginobili made 11 out of 13 free throws in the fourth quarter alone. As a team, the Spurs shot 21 more free throws than the Jazz. One Jazz player fouled out, another was ejected (without saying a single word to a referee, possibly a first in NBA history), another got two fouls in three seconds and then a technical foul as he walked AWAY from the referees. Look at the box score if you don’t believe me, and show me any other statistical category that had an impact on this game. (Okay, turnovers. But not points OFF OF turnovers.)
Whose home court is this, anyway?
Opponents will point to the fact that the Jazz interior defense was too slow, Spur players like Parker and Ginobili too aggressive and too fast. They will say that the Jazz shot fewer free throws because they simply didn’t take the ball in. They will say that Carlos Boozer should have played more like the “Beast” everyone says he is and forced the issue in the paint.
They are right, up to a point. I won’t dispute that.
But the officials set the tone in the first half by giving Boozer two fouls in the first quarter, and by letting San Antonio abuse Paul Millsap inside, making him skittish the rest of the game. The one place the Jazz have an advantage over the Spurs is interior depth. The referees negated that advantage by allowing Parker and Ginobili to throw themselves in the general direction of the basket and bailing them out with fouls on Utah big men.
I know that writing this sort of thing undermines my credibility. It makes me sound too much like a fan and not enough like an intelligent observer. But dammit, I’m sick of shooting fewer free throws than our opponents AT HOME (the fourth time it has happened this postseason). And I’m sick of seeing out-of-control dribble penetration tolerated, even promoted. We saw this sort of play unduly rewarded last year with Dwyane Wade in the NBA Finals. We are seeing it again now. And it’s a shame.
It’s a shame because Deron Williams has the heart of a lion. He owns this Jazz team, and is trying to lead by example, but didn’t get enough help from his teammates, even from Boozer, whose decent numbers belied his impact on the game (he didn’t have much of one). You can see it in his eyes — the hunger. The desire. He reminds me of (and I don’t want to do this, because I know D-Will is his own player and I don’t want to compare, but I’m going to say it anyway) John Stockton, the way his mouth would get tighter and tighter the more he wanted to win, to control the game, to impose his will upon it. With Deron, there’s no visual appearance of that intensity, except in his eyes. To see the defeat in those same eyes as he walked off the court, and to know that it wasn’t his fault, is almost too painful to bear.
If (when) the Jazz go on to lose this series, there will be at least one positive outcome. This series will show, once and for all, that this is Deron’s team. This is the series that will mold him into a leader of men. This will teach him how to motivate his team, to raise their play to a higher level (because it takes more than assists to actually make your teammates better). And it will motivate his teammates to put it all on the floor for him, because they see how much it kills him to lose. And that will make Deron Williams a far more dangerous player, and the Utah Jazz a far more dangerous team.
Hope? Yeah, I still have hope. We have one more game. This loss could be the boost we need to get over the hump in San Antonio. It isn’t over yet. But when it is, win or lose, I can at least look back on tonight and on this series and say, “I was there for the birth of a superstar.”
I guess, in the long run, that’s not so bad.
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Layton Shumway is the chief copy editor for BYU’s Daily Universe newspaper. You can reach him at lss83@byu.net.
May 28th, 2007 at 11:23 pm
I thought there were two points in the game that really made a huge difference. At the start of the fourth quarter the Jazz had two possessions down by a point, with the chance to take the lead with a basket, and couldn’t score. Had the Jazz been able to take the lead, the underlying feeling that the Jazz were always fighting an uphill battle might have been turned around.
The second crucial juncture of the game was in the middle of the fourth. Coming off a timeout, Okur made a basket on the baseline, Kirilenko came from nowhere to block an Oberto lay-up, and the Jazz had the ball with the momentum, down four. But Fisher missed a jumper, then fouled at the other end. By the time the Jazz scored again they were down 10 and the Spurs had enough points to win.
It’s a brutally uphill climb from here. It can be done, but it’s a real long shot. As in, about one chance in 20.
May 29th, 2007 at 9:16 am
I didn’t have the oppertunity to watch the game due to stupid contracts between Disney’s ABC unit and the NBA. That said, I was upset to learn that Jazz fans lost their cool. After all, it is only a game. However, I would like to suggest a conspericy theory…..
Everyone knows that the Jazz play one of the smallest if not the smallest NBA market in the country. Everyone knows that stars tend to get their way. Hot Rod even stated something to this effect while he was calling the game last night by making a comment about a move that Duncan makes in the paint that should be called for walking but the refs don’t make the call. Now for the theory….the NBA would like to see San Antonio be world camps again and have told their refs as much.
May 29th, 2007 at 9:25 am
Maybe if the Jazz were playing a bigger market team such as LA or New York I could buy your “theory.” San Antonio is not that much bigger of a market than the Jazz so that logic is ridiculous. The Jazz had their chances to win the game. The fact is they didn’t. Turnovers, missed layups, and missed free throws caused the loss for the Jazz, not the refs. The Jazz fans and the Jazz themselves showed their inexperience with the playoffs by trying to blame this loss of anything but themselves. Man up and accept it, then maybe they will have a shot next game.
May 29th, 2007 at 9:34 am
The Jazz DID have chances, and they DID miss shots they should have made.
That said, this was one of the two worst-officiated NBA games I’ve seen in 30+ years of watching. The refs were brutal.
May 29th, 2007 at 12:20 pm
What a shame!!!!!!!!!!!! Flopping is a disgrace! It’s ruining the game of basketball. MANU is one of the most ridiculous floppers ever to disgrace this earth! But then again, Fisher is up there too…he’s a flop machine also. HA! Anywho…Utah did not deserve to win this game because they just simply did not show up!
BTW…Utah fans throwing stuff @ the players was really uncalled for. Yeah, I understand that the refs were inconsistent, especially in the fourth quarter, but damn, have a little respect.
May 29th, 2007 at 12:29 pm
You can blame the refs for single or two point loss, but a not a double-digit loss. Take a look at the box score, and you’ll find the reason we didn’t win:
Andrei Kirilenko: 9 pts (3/7 shooting)
Mehmet Okur: 7 pts (3/7 shooting)
Derek Fisher: 9 pts (2/5 shooting)
Tough to win a game when 3 of your 5 starters combine for 25 points on 8/19 shooting. It’s even tougher when your entire bench combines for 9 points on 4/12 shooting. Add in the fact we got out rebounded and turned the ball over 17 times and you’ll see why we didn’t win.
But, what really kills us is our lack of a reliable outside shooter. If had someone roaming the perimeter that could knock down a few threes it would open up the court, and prevent SAS from packing defenders into the paint. Maybe someone can see if Memo is available to play on Wednesday.
May 29th, 2007 at 6:54 pm
I have to agree with Rhino’s view of this game. I would also like to add the possesion when Andrei hit Tony Parker right in stride for an uncontested layup. In a game that is going to be won by the first team that scores 80–you can’t turn the ball over as much as the Jazz did in the fourth quarter.
I do have to say anyone suggesting the Jazz “didn’t show up” last night knows very little about basketball and probably didn’t watch the game.
I also think that it is not outside shooting that was our downfall last night but inside play. With Duncan in the middle the Jazz–including Boozer–seem to resist far too much on the jump shot and not go to the basket. This is part of the reason that the Jazz shot so many fewer free throws last night. You can say want you want about the refs but the Spurs were going to the basket far more than the Jazz and that is why they got more calls. It is amazing though that Steve Javie can give more technicals to our team in one game than we have had in the entire series.
I was at the game and it was too bad the way the fans acted.
Last comment–we are due for a win in San Antonio. Once every eight years–odds have got to kick in at sometime. No matter what happens–beautiful season to be a Jazz fan!!!
May 30th, 2007 at 7:35 am
You guys have said it all. I have nothing to add except to say you’re correct.
May 30th, 2007 at 7:41 am
I Have a feeling the Jazz pull one out tonight. I’m not just saying that because i’m a Jazz fan either. (maybe a little bit..) But the Jazz (Especially Deron) are not going out like this. You can see it in his eyes, he will win. His teamates hopefully will see it too and not allow him to be denied. The Jazz as a unit have come too far to roll over and take one more loss in San Antonio. They didn’t get here on a fluke, they got to this point on skill and heart, sheer will power of D-Will, dominance by Boozer, and cheering of our fans. There is still just enough of this left, they just have to reach way down and pull it out. Look for Deron Williams to carry the team, he will solidify tonight, what all of us Jazz fans have known since late last season, and since the media has come to realize this playoff series, he is a Superstar! Not John Stockton, but his own man, his own legacy begins. Boozer has enough fight, he just needs to show enough courage to handle the double team, not panic, and take it to the rack all night. AK is the X factor, he is frustrated with his recent play, he knows it is now time to put it all out there, and be the AK-47 we all know he is. Memo, if he can continue his aggressive hard defense, and continue to get at Duncan, he will emerge as a defender, not just a clutch money man. Derek Fisher has the most to prove tonight, after losing his cool just a little bit, he will be looking for redemption, and he can do it by stopping Ginobli, who has had his way with the Jazz. Millsap, Giri, and Harpring… they have got to get some points, and at least maintain the pace while our starters take a rest. We need them to boost us.
Win or lose tonight, the Jazz have already proven that they are a force in the NBA, they will continue to be a force for a long time to come. I’m excited and proud to be a Jazz fan, there really isn’t any better team in all of sports to watch .(for me at least)
GO JAZZ!
May 30th, 2007 at 10:49 am
I’m looking for the Jazz to play one of their finest games of the season tonight. But to do this they need:
- Rebounding, especially on the defensive end.
- A good shooting performance from Okur.
- A solid game from AK at both ends of the floor.
- To eliminate the unforced turnovers.
- To take the ball to to hoop in the second half and get easy lay-ups and trips to the foul line.
Williams is banged up. He’s got a hurt shoulder, a tweaked ankle and he’s coming off a BAD case of the stomach flu. With Fisher’s situation uncertain (reported to be in NY with the little girl), Dee Brown could be the wild card.