Archive for the 'Jazz' Category

Pistons are in Salt Lake City

Published by Matt Watson on February 27, 2008 in Jazz and Previews. 84 Comments

What is it about the Jazz that give the Pistons fits? The Pistons couldn’t even beat them in the preseason. In fact, they haven’t beat the Jazz since 2005, and they haven’t won in Salt Lake since 2002. The Jazz just dropped a game last night to the Timberwolves, but I’m not sure what that means — maybe they’ll be tired on the second night of a back to back, or maybe they’ll be amped looking to right their ship.

We’ll find out — the ball’s about to tip (TV20). Leave your thoughts in the comments.

Pistons and Jazz play an early one

Published by Matt Watson on November 25, 2007 in Jazz and Previews. 26 Comments

Pistons and Jazz have an early afternoon matinée at the Palace. I’ll be courtside for HOOPSWORLD — be sure to check out my pre-game, halftime and post-game thoughts. As usual, leave your thoughts and observations in the comments.

Pistons fall flat against the Jazz

Published by Matt Watson on October 13, 2007 in Games, Jazz and Preseason 2007-08. 21 Comments

I was in too much of a rush Friday afternoon to post an announcement here ahead of time, but I covered the Pistons/Jazz tilt for HOOPSWORLD last night, which entailed posting pre-game, halftime and post-game blog entries. That’ll be something I’m doing for most home games this year, in addition to collecting other material for longer weekly features.

In the future, should I forget to remind you guys the night of, you can look for these things by going to Detroit’s home page on HOOPSWORLD and clicking on “Blogs” on the lower-left-hand corner.

The game wasn’t televised, but those of you who couldn’t see it didn’t miss much. Things looked good early for the Pistons before falling apart after halftime, in part because the officiating suddenly got tight. Rasheed Wallace picked up a tech in the first half after making a nice little move through traffic for a dunk and complaining about a no-call (not really complaining to anyone in particular, more like one of those “run down the court and kind of yell” type things). That set the stage for his ejection in the third quarter when he complained about getting called for a foul on defense.

Considering Amir Johnson and Nazr Mohammed were already sidelined, Wallace’s ejection left the Pistons with few front court options, which is why Cheikh Samb saw extensive action. My early report on Samb? Pretty much everything we’ve heard before: he’s got a surprisingly solid jumper that he can nail from 18 feet out, but he gets worked over inside by stronger players — even players a foot shorter than he. But there’s definitely talent there, even if he could use a three-week vacation at the Sveden House (do those even exist anymore?).

For the rest of my observations, check out HOOPSWORLD, and feel free to fire away in the comments if you have any questions about anything I didn’t mention. Also, hate to put up a teaser, but I talked to Amir and Nazr about their respective injuries and should have an update up later this weekend (I’ll tell you this much: Nazr might play Sunday, but Amir won’t.)

Jazz 100, Pistons 85 box score [HOOPSWORLD]

Jazz pick and roll Detroit to death

Published by Matt Watson on January 18, 2007 in Games and Jazz. 1 Comment

[Ed. note — kudos to DBB reader Tim for providing the recap — I put down some of my thoughts at the bottom, and I’ll post a Chris Webber-specific post soon.]

Zone Defense and the Pick & Roll Baffle Pistons

The game tonight started in familiar Piston fashion… in the hole early. The boys in blue couldn’t buy one coming out of the gate, but they didn’t have far to catch the Jazz because of some excellent early D.

Down 5-0, Chauncey & Rip start the show. I start to feel all warm and fuzzy inside as shots start dropping from all over the floor. Rip & Chauncey pour in 17 points and everyone smiling and slapping fives. Chauncey sits down for a well-deserved breather.

Deron Williams abused Flip MurrayFlip enters the game with 4:18 to go in the first. The Jazz demolish the lead and the Pistons start the second with a 26-24 lead. Flip Murray everyone. Flip’s man, Williams, had 10 pts in four minutes with Flip guarding him.

Hunter starts the 2nd and quickly makes an impact turning up the defense and finishing at the rim. The old man!

Chris Webber walks to the scorer’s table and the crowd comes to their feet. The building is full of energy. Chris comes in and makes a few nifty passes. I think this guy is going to fit in just fine. He’d have a few more assists if his teammates could make a few more lay-ups. Despite the misses the Pistons extend the lead 45-33 with under 4:00 to go in the half. Timeout Detroit.

During the timeout Sloan tells Kirilenko to go to work in the post. Flip Saunders makes no defensive adjustments (surprise surprise), and the Jazz close the gap. At the half 46-51 Detroit.

Start of the third, Rasheed is on fire. 16, 9, 7 ft. – Jerry takes a timeout. Sheed is still yelling at someone. Love it. 61-48 Stones. Timeout Utah.

The Jazz return from the timeout with a fresh coat of zone, and the Pistons are baffled. New offensive strategy … jack up outside jumpers. This later morphs into the confused, no movement, turnover attack. 12-0 run by the Jazz. Timeout Stones.

Nice timeout play by Flip. Pistons burned on opposite end by strange new offensive play … Pick and Roll. Continue reading ‘Jazz pick and roll Detroit to death’

Pistons, Jazz and the dawn of the Chris Webber era

Published by Matt Watson on January 17, 2007 in Around the Internets, Jazz and Previews. 13 Comments

Rasheed Wallace challenges Memo OkurThe first one hurt. Remember the first time Detroit played Utah? What a disaster: a two-point loss with former Piston Memo Okur swatting a Rip Hamilton layup at the buzzer. Utah still has one of the better records in the NBA but they’ve played .500 ball in their last 24 games and are losers of four straight. And their fans are getting antsy — from the usually even-keeled UtahJazzBlog.net

The Jazz have lost four in a row. I was so upset watching yesterdays game that I would have punched a baby. I am glad that my nine week old child was nowhere near.

A new starter in the middle? Not yet. Flip Saunders said yesterday that Chris Webber will play but won’t start. I’m guessing they want to give him a few more days so he can digest the playbook.

Mr. Big Shot’s return. Chauncey Billups participated in an entire practice yesterday for the first time since injuring his calf. From the Freep:

“We scrimmaged a little, but we didn’t go up and down much,” Billups said of Tuesday’s workout. “It was a lot of half-court, execution stuff. So it gave me a chance to bump and grind a little bit, get a sweat.

“But as far as full-court, we didn’t do too much. That’s the only thing I’m really concerned with. But it felt good, and I’m happy just to be out there a little bit, so hopefully it feels good in the morning.”

By now I’m sure the Pistons know whether or not he’s going to play, but he was still considered questionable as of yesterday afternoon. If I hear of an update, I’ll post it here. [Update: Chauncey is in fact playing.]

That’s all for now — leave your game thoughts and reactions to seeing Webber in Pistons red, white and blue in the comments.

Pistons lose in Utah… again.

Published by Matt Watson on November 7, 2006 in Games and Jazz. 10 Comments

Chauncey Billups tries to drive by Deron WilliamsThe Pistons lost a game in Utah. In other news, the sun rose in the east, politicians will solicit votes on TV today and Oliver Miller likes to eat.

What is it about Utah? The Pistons are now 2-15 in their last 17 games out there. Are the hotel mattresses lumpy? Is the Delta Center haunted? Do our players get lulled into a false sense of security by playing against a bunch of white guys? I don’t have a clue.

What I do know is that Detroit lost a heartbreaker to the tune of 103-101, with Rip Hamilton missing a potentially game-tying layup as time expired. In Rip’s defense, “missing a layup” is understating the situation — he was driving against roughly 14 feet of Grade A shot-blocking ability in Andrei Kirilenko and Memo Okur, and his shot was definitely altered by one or both. But here’s the thing: had Rip tied the game and Detroit gone on to win the game in overtime, it would have been an upset, at least considering how Detroit played for much of the game.

Yet again, Detroit spent much of the evening playing from behind, and the few times they did have the lead they never led by more than two points. Utah, on the other hand, led for three consecutive quarters by as many as 10 points before being outscored 30-22 in the fourth. That’s a nice comeback bid by Detroit, but it wasn’t quite enough. There were opportunities down the stretch, but time and again the Pistons didn’t take advantage: in the final five minutes and change, Detroit had three turnovers, eight missed field goals and three missed free throws (two by Wallace and one by Billups). Despite some ticky-tack technical fouls earlier in the game (including one by assistant coach Dave Cowens that resulted in a four-point play earlier in the quarter), the Pistons had ample opportunity to overcome the officials and take the lead, but mistakes did them in.

Considering the Pistons lost by two, a lot of people are going to talk about Detroit’s three technical fouls, so let me get those out of the way. Was Rasheed’s tech in the second quarter B.S.? Yes, it was, but I disagree with Flip Saunders, who implied after the game that the techs were the difference in the game. That sounds like sour grapes to me: even without the three free throws, Detroit still gave up triple-digits on defense, still registered just 13 assists on 77 field-goal attempts and still threw away multiple opportunities down the stretch. Continue reading ‘Pistons lose in Utah… again.’

Will the Jazz strike again?

Published by Matt Watson on November 6, 2006 in Jazz and Previews. 13 Comments

Memo OkurThe Pistons set a franchise record with 64 wins last year, no thanks to the Utah Jazz. For whatever reason, Jerry Sloan’s merry band of misfits had Detroit’s number last year, defeating them handily in Utah before squeaking by again in overtime during the-rematch at the Palace.

The Pistons beat up the Jazz in the preseason, but the preseason counts for jack. Tonight, as the Pistons travel to Salt Lake City to kick off a three-game road-trip out West, is their first real chance for revenge.

Let’s preview this thing…

Subplots: It’s not just last year’s games the Pistons are trying to avenge — for whatever reason, the Pistons always struggle in Utah. In their last 16 trips to the Delta Center, the Pistons have won exactly two games.

The last time Detroit beat Utah on any floor was March 13, 2005 at the Palace when the Pistons won ugly 64-62. How bad was it? The Pistons and Jazz shot a combined 31.9% from the floor — including just 8% (2-25) from three-point land.

Hey, it’s Memo! Mehmet Okur, everyone’s favorite Turkish unibrow, has blossomed out west — he averaged 18 and nine last year. Man, he’d look good wearing Pistons blue. I can’t blame Joe Dumars for letting him leave — we couldn’t have re-signed Rasheed Wallace had we matched the $50 million, six-year deal Utah gave Memo, and at the time re-signing Rasheed looked like the key to repeating in 2005.

Hindsight being 20/20, and be honest now, what would you rather have right now: a 32-year-old Rasheed Wallace who’s owed $38.22 million over the next three years, or a 27-year-old Memo Okur who’s owed $25.5 million over the next three years? It doesn’t make you a bad Pistons fan if you chose the latter.

Best nickname in the league: Hands down, the honor goes to Andrei Kirilenko and his moniker AK-47. He’s Russian, it’s his initials, it doesn’t get any better.

Jazz owner Larry Miller: Local boy done good or bigoted businessman? Umm… a little bit of both? Not sure I want to touch this one, let’s get back to basketball…

Talk about consistency: In this day and age of disposable NBA coaches, Jerry Sloan is serving his 19th consecutive year as head coach of the Utah Jazz. Think about that for a moment. Ever since Sloan coached his first game for the Jazz, Detroit has used (deep breath) Chuck Daly, Ron Rothstein, Don Chaney, Doug Collins, Alvin Gentry, George Irvine, Rick Carlisle, Larry Brown and Flip Saunders.

Reminder: the game starts at 9pm. Sleep is overrated, drink more coffee tomorrow. And feel free to share your pre-/in-/post-game thoughts in the comments below.