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Utah Flash battle to overtime but fall in home opener
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JR Giddens had a monster game:
o 34 points (team high)
o 73.3 percent shooting
o 12 of 14 from the free throw line (86 percent)
o 5 blocks (team high)
o 7 rebounds
o 6 assists (team high)
o The key rebound that set the Flash up for their final (albeit unsuccessful) play
JR only missed 2 free throws all night (out of 14 attempts). Unfortunately for the Flash, both of the misses came in the crucial fourth quarter, and one of those misses came with 35 seconds left in regulation.
Nevertheless, JR did everything for the Flash though. In fact, I believe he was selling popcorn during time outs!
If the Celtics ever call Giddens back up to the NBA, the Flash are REALLY going to miss him!
Dontell Jefferson had a good third quarter, but that's it.
The Flash had 3 turnovers in the last 2:14 of overtime, and 2 of them had Jefferson's finger prints on them.
And Giddons grabbed that last rebound with 16 seconds left, and Jefferson just dribbled them away never looking to pass, and hucked up a horrible 3 point brick for the Flash's final shot.
Groan!
Back to the game: I feel like this game was lost in the 2nd quarter.
The Flash defense held the Jam to an average of exactly 21 points per quarter... except for the second quarter. In the second quarter the Flash�s defense gave up 33 points.
If the Flash had not had this defensive lapse in the second quarter, they would have won the game by 12 points in regulation (33 - 21 = 12).
In that second quarter, the Jam shot 60 percent from the 3 point arc (3/5), and 53 percent from floor. The Jam�s shot 32.5 percent the other 3 quarters and OT.
Worse, exactly half of all the free throws the Jam shot all game were in the second quarter. The Jam shot 16 free throws, making 12 of them (75 percent).
Young players need to understand, the first minutes of a game are just as crucial as the last.
Our tickets are on row 2, right behind the guy doing the p.a. system.
Another thing that impressed me about last Monday's game...
The Utah Flash was significantly smaller than the Bakersfield Jam. Specifically, the Flash has one player 6 ft. 9 in. or taller (Brian Jackson), and the Jam has FOUR, and one of them is an NBA player assigned to the Jam.
Nevertheless, not only was the Flash just minus 1 in total rebounds to the Jam, the Flash was plus 2 in points in the paint, and the Flash had a mind bending 10 blocked shots to the Jam�s 2. Wow! That�s INSANE! No wonder the Jam�s shooting percentage was low all game (except the 2nd quarter).
Also, 59.4 percent of the Jam�s rebounds came from 2 guys (Hendrix and Lewis). The next time the Flash play the Jam, they might want to employ a team-wide strategy to keep those two guys off the boards.