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Utah Jazz swat Shaq, dash past Phoenix

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empty seats? | 9:43 p.m. Nov. 17, 2008
What is with all the empty seats? explanation anyone? I give the franchise 3 more years until it folds
jazz fan | 9:45 p.m. Nov. 17, 2008
who cares about the jazz. they are an average team that will be lucky to make .500
Go Jazz | 9:48 p.m. Nov. 17, 2008
They looked good tonight. If they can stay above .500, they will be rolling come Christmas when everyone is healthy.
Comments continue below
jazz fan? | 9:53 p.m. Nov. 17, 2008
I love the sarcasm, ok but really that was a good game, did either of you even watch it? The Jazz played awesome without D-will and okur, what more could you ask for. They beat one of the hottest teams in the nba.
Grateful for Win | 9:54 p.m. Nov. 17, 2008
I am grateful for a win. I just listened to the Coaches defend playing Collins and Price as much as they did. Balloney is all I can say.

We got 0 points and 0 rebounds out of Collins. Koufos played 4 minutes and got 1 block and 2 points.

Price was 1-6 and the team went backwards every time he was in. Further, Sloan put him in the last 6 minutes and tried to lose. Price had 27 minutes.

CJ played great and should have played a lot more. His defense was not worse than Korver or Brewer.

I tend to think Sloan is a very good coach but his game management is really frustrating some times.

No offense to Collins but I wish that KOC would trade or waive him so that Sloan can not play him. Yes Collins did guard Shaq and hold him down some. We got 0 out of the C position from the Centers. Millsap did okay late.

Anyway it is a win. If Sloan can play Price for 27 minutes to "bring him along" as a point guard, he can do the same for Koufos and Fez.

him | 9:55 p.m. Nov. 17, 2008
With AK, Harpring,Millsap the team has energy. AK is everywhere tonight!
Dave | 9:56 p.m. Nov. 17, 2008
What's with the negative comments supposed Jazz fans??? By the way the guy who said he gives the franchise "3 more years until it folds" obviously is clueless!!

This team when healthy is one of the top two or three teams in the NBA not just the West.
Jazz Fan. | 10:02 p.m. Nov. 17, 2008
DWill for President.

Can't wait until he comes back.
did you know... | 10:06 p.m. Nov. 17, 2008
the Jazz sell the most season tickets of any team in the NBA? fold in three years? I think not.
Killer | 10:17 p.m. Nov. 17, 2008
This went a lot better than I thought it would. PHO is a hot team. When DWill and Okur get back and playing well this team will really rock if Sloan will play the hot players. This team is very deep. Booz, DWill, AK and sometimes Brewer are top 5 or 10 players at thier positions. Okur is top 15 and playing like top 10 so far this year. Harp is a specialist who does not need as many minutes this year. He is the enforcer. CJ has had a couple of spectacular games. He needs more development and could play better D but he really is starting to look like a steal at 4 mil a year. Korver is streaky but he has played much better D at times. SAP is a horse. I am impressed. Koufos is off to a great start.

Now if this team will just develop some killer instinct on the road they will go a long way.
Knight | 10:21 p.m. Nov. 17, 2008
Hopefully Knight is not hurt bad and/or DWill heals by next game. Knight is probably the best trade KOC has made in years. Price is doing okay. I wish he would dish instead of shoot. His percentage is bad and not getting better. Knight does not shoot unless he really needs to. That is one reason he is such a decent PG.
Steve | 10:31 p.m. Nov. 17, 2008
Glad to see the Jazz remembers how to play basketball. On the road, they just need to learn to (a) fight through tough stretches and (b) finish games.

Does anyone know what happened to Knight? Did he pull a muscle?
Groin pull | 10:52 p.m. Nov. 17, 2008
Knight pulled a groin. Don't know any more.
Anonymous | 11:05 p.m. Nov. 17, 2008
you would think we lost this game the comments people are saying! wake up so called JAZZ fans we won by double digits to a HOT team in the suns.. and to say MILSAP did ok hahaha he was a monster! go cheer for the lakers if you are going to whine about a great game.
mhelal2 | 11:33 p.m. Nov. 17, 2008
I think the people who so called Jazz fans and complaining, whey don't you write your true identity and say you are suns fan, and by the way did you see your cactus getting blocked three times in a row, only Jazz can do that.

Kofos is going to be all star one day, if he works hard as Sap, this kid will be a steal for the Jazz, he has no fear.
jazz fans? More like RSL fans | 11:37 p.m. Nov. 17, 2008
I think that most of the "folding" comments are spilled over anger from the Real Salt Lake side of the D-News. People are always telling them that RSL is going to fold and they feel the need to retaliate a little against the big boys.

I love both franchises though. :)
YAY!!! | 11:43 p.m. Nov. 17, 2008
We finally got a win. We really needed that after such a bad road trip. They looked great tonight, and that was still without two of our best players. I'm glad Harp is back and playing well... AK too!

Now we just need to figure out how to win on the road. You can say all you want about home court advantage, but I see no excuse for us to lose to the wizards, bobcats, and knicks- then kill the suns. We NEED to be better on the road.

Great win tonight though. That was fun to watch!!

GO JAZZ
Phoenix folds | 11:57 p.m. Nov. 17, 2008
It was nice to watch another team do what the jazz had just done four times on the road. Haha, phoenix folded. What lessons can the jazz take from that? It's good to see it's not only happening to the jazz. Of course, the jazz have the fans behind them at home. Whatever, it was a nice victory, especially no dwill and memo, I don't think it's a game they would've won last year. Maybe lhm should get some earplugs for his team when they hit the road, that road mentality of the jazz needs some work.
magnus | 11:59 p.m. Nov. 17, 2008
Nice win, I wasn't expecting to get this one.
DAB | 12:07 a.m. Nov. 18, 2008
If the Jazz counld find a way to play all of their games at home they would be the best team in the league.

If they can't figure out how to do that, they will continue to break hearts, give false hope, and become insignificant in May.
AK for President! (of Russia) | 12:34 a.m. Nov. 18, 2008
Are you kidding me?!?! Two swats on SHAQ in less than ten seconds of gameplay?! Seriously?! Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the NBA's 2008-2009 SIXTH MAN: ANDREI KIRILENKO.
Collins | 7:28 a.m. Nov. 18, 2008
Collins was all over the place filling the floor with incidentals that don't show up on any stat sheet. The same as any other very average 2nd year college center could do. Of course he is slightly more average than Koufos and Fez. That is why he deserves more minutes.
Jazz win at Home | 7:32 a.m. Nov. 18, 2008
They stink on the road. In places like NY, Washington, Charlotte and Cleveland!
Price for Pres. | 8:04 a.m. Nov. 18, 2008
Hey to Grateful for Win, Why dont you look at the history of the jazz teams Sloan has coached they have all been perty dang good, And Collins is used as a role player he is not going to get 20-10 every night. He came in and made Shaq work and the rest is history. So sit up in the stands and think that you have all the answers cuz you dont.

Miles | 8:05 a.m. Nov. 18, 2008
CJ scores 21 points in 25 minutes. Basically carries the team on his back in the first quarter and some of you are still whinning about his play. Just accept it, CJ is much better than you ever expected. I have been here all season trying to tell you all that and everyone puts him down. So let's hear what you have to say now!! Korver and Harpring will never be better than they are right now. CJ still has tons of upside. That's right, you are only beginning to see what he will do in this league for years to come. So now let's trade him........
re:collins | 8:19 a.m. Nov. 18, 2008
Koufos is the shot blocking center that the jazz desperatley need. When was the last time collins did anything like that?
Shaq | 8:29 a.m. Nov. 18, 2008
You gotta love Shaq's tongue-in-cheek. He went to his finesse game? Has Shaq ever had a finesse game?
Hey Jimmie | 8:44 a.m. Nov. 18, 2008
How about that C.J. Miles? Do you still think us supporters need to brush up on our basketball knowledge? I hate to say I told you so last year but I did. Do you still think we should dump him like an old pair of sneakers?

Milsap and A.K. were awesome down the stretch, so was Brevin. You gotta love it baby!!!
DCH | 8:51 a.m. Nov. 18, 2008
Shaq has a "finesse game?" That's the funniest thing I've read in a long time!

As for those commenters talking down the Jazz, they are the same "fans" wearing all those yellow jerseys when the Lakers come to town... just ignore them.

It will be very interesting to see what sort of rotation and minutes Sloan decides to use once everyone is healthy. I think we will see Knight (if healthy) backing up D-will more than Price. And I would save Harpring (mostly) for the playoffs and give more time to CJ during the season. Can you imagine what the first quarter score would have been without CJ?

FDR | 9:07 a.m. Nov. 18, 2008
Koufos, never get discouraged. You should be playing big minutes. It's just the jazz system. When they let you loose they will be able to contest especially on the road, when they run into long big frontlines. Your presence will desparately be needed. But I don't know if the "system" will allow that. They held back D-Will his first year and he would have led us to more victories. So Kosta your day is coming, believe me!
Brandon | 9:22 a.m. Nov. 18, 2008
I'm looking for all those haters from yesterday's comments. Those that said Jerry was too mechanical in his rotations. Oh? What was that? Jerry left the hot shooting CJ Miles in during the first and instead brought Kirilenko in for Brewer. Oh wait, it was that the Jazz were going to lose by starting Collins. But he simply frustrated Shaq like he always does and played good position defense against the big man. Maybe the one where Boozer was soft and didn't have killer instinct. But all he did was score in the fourth and take it inside hard insteead of shooting fadeaways.

Jerry went with the matchup (Collins)he thought best this time, something he hasn't had the luxury of doing before. Koufus, for as well as he's played, is still a rookie and Jerry felt it was better to go with someone who was guaranteed not to back down from the big man. Koufus wills till get plenty of minutes. His hard work is proving that. Some people yesterday just blew my mind. Now the Jazz need to get healthier and focus on the road.
magnus | 9:32 a.m. Nov. 18, 2008
@ Miles

You know this is what we have been expecting from Miles and he finally delivered. Hopefully this will boost his confidence and he will deliver a little more consistently.

Everybody knows that I love Jerry Sloan but I simply cant stand the decision to give Collins minutes when he has two capable youngsters with the potential to really help the team this year if they can get a little experience. I hear everybody saying that what Collins does doesn't show up on the stat line, no kidding, last night he played 12 minutes and had 0 pts 0 reb 0 stl 0 blk 2 fouls. The guy is, quite literally, the least effective player in the league, he doesn't score, he doesn't rebound, he doesn't create turnovers, so what does he do?

I don't know maybe I am being overly critical, Collins is a great locker room guy and he works hard but he's not getting any better, in fact he is getting worse, and the Jazz have young talent that can do what he does right now and have the potential to do so much more. So why not play them?
Who is this Miles? | 9:40 a.m. Nov. 18, 2008
Why havn't I heard of him before. This guy looks pretty good to me.
Koofus | 9:42 a.m. Nov. 18, 2008
Is a Ball Player! Keep playing him Jerry. I think we found our shot blocker. I am dead serious!
Moto X | 9:50 a.m. Nov. 18, 2008
Do the Lakers win without Kobe and Gasol? Would the Celts be rolling if you took away Rondo and K. Garnet?

The Jazz record is not too bad considering how many go-to players we have been missing.

Brevin Knights passing is fabulous. He drives right into the teeth of the defense and then makes the pass. D-Will could stand to learn a thing or two from Brevin. Instead of always driving for the layup D-Will ought to dump a few more off or kick it back out. Mixing it up a bit more would keep the defense guessing.

Other teams slaughter us with the draw and kick. Brevin has been giving them some of their own medicine and it has been pretty effective.

I hope Brevin is not seriously injured because if we lose any more QB's we will be in some deep trouble.

All you complaining about Sloan?? He went with the hot hand ie. CJ. He played a zone and it foiled the Suns (even though he does not like to). ALL COACHING ADJUSTMENTS MADE BY A COACH WHO IS "SOOOOOO INFLEXIBLE".

AK has been tremendous. What was with Brewers disappearing act last night?
Eddy | 10:34 a.m. Nov. 18, 2008
I enjoy the Jazz most of the time,BUT let's look back to Cleveland. James was hitting 3's,2's, and 1's like falling dominos. He was driving the basket like he was following a county snowplow. If Coach Sloan is a defensive wizard, I have yet to see it.

The Jazz was down 8 with 2 minutes and change left in the game and the Jazz were still running the same old plays. They were walking down the court like there was ten minutes left. And, oh yes, never, never pass the ball to the first cutter to the basket. I could count on one hand the times the first cutter got the ball. It doesn't take a Jr.High diploma to figure that out by the other teams. I run out of fingers and toes counting the times I have seen the first cutter with a clear path to the basket get the ball. And in that last two minutes, not one three point shot was tried. You can't win trading 2 for 2, or worse, 2 for 3.
Want to increase free throws? Make the player donate $5,000 to the food bank or whatever, for every miss.

Skeeter | 10:41 a.m. Nov. 18, 2008
Great win. All you complainers -- playing Collins was the right thing -- he gave Shaq a hard time. The comment above complaining about putting Price back in. Are you unaware that Knight was injured? This was the one game were Sloan managed his personal just right. We are championship contenders when we get healthy.
byron | 10:44 a.m. Nov. 18, 2008
The fact is this: The worst possible thing that could happen to the jazz happened about 10 days before the start of the season. The Jazz are deep enough that they can afford to loose basically anyone and still be a top team except one. Loosing D-Will was a disaster, he's not only our best player, he's the point guard who runs everything, and the point guard position is the only position where we don't have a solid backup. The fact that the Jazz are 7 and 4 with 6 road games, one of their longest Eastern road trips out the way, while playing without Okur Harpring and AK is a very very good sign. Period.
Sloan Lover. | 10:55 a.m. Nov. 18, 2008
Let's not get to carried away with all the Sloan coach of the year Blah...Blah,Blah....Mike D in NY will probably win the award anyway. Jerry will get more rigid with his rotations once he gets Memo and D-Will back just watch. Right now he is filling in with people so it looks like he is more pro-active with rotations that he would be otherwise. Let's not go overboard with a couple of good shooting games out of CJ either. Brewer did the same thing and he is now in a funk. Hopefully, Miles will play D and do other things in order to keep his minutes. Koufos....not important this year but needs minutes, CJ marginal, Brewer maybe?....the Jazz are going to win if D-will,Booz, A.K., Memo & Knight as a back up play up to their potential. Milsap,Brewer,Korver,CJ are in that second group that if they get hot they can help push the Jazz over the top. Right now, early MVP would be AK. Dude is putting up points in the 4th qtr and making plays. Still waiting to see if D-will has improved his game as well. Then we will see all the bandwagon fans saying NBAFINALS!!
Old Port | 11:17 a.m. Nov. 18, 2008
Great hard fought win....why still all the negativity??
reply:empty seats 9:43pm | 11:45 a.m. Nov. 18, 2008
You must be one of those band wagon fans, ann/or one of those fans that thinks all teams will fold and leave.
BJ Jazzy Rasta | 11:47 a.m. Nov. 18, 2008
Great Win. Much of what we lacked in the 4th Quarter on our recent road trip was the ingredient that D-Will gives us. If we had had D-Will and AK for all of our road games, we wouldn't have folded in the end of games.

When D-Will is back and healthy, and Memo is back and healthy, with the addition of Koufos and Knight to the rotation...and CJ finally starting to look like the money we're paying him - We will be a VERY tough team to beat!

The guys who are going to win us road games this year, are our time-tested starters and veterans. Guys like Kirilenko, D-Will, Memo, Knight, Harpring, and maybe Booz have enough big-game experience to make the difference in close games on the road.

CJ, Price, Brewer, Koufos, and Millsap will all continue to develop during the season and will be more consistent by season's end!

I hate watching us lose on the road...but IF we get healthy sooner than later...I like our chances!

Let's go take care of Milwaukee and San Antonio!

Go Jazz!
Millsap | 11:48 a.m. Nov. 18, 2008
Did you guys see that frozen stuff by Milsap in the fourth, it was freakin awesome, PHO has nothing on us again this year.
Negative | 1:00 p.m. Nov. 18, 2008
Here are some more negatives for you that for the first 10 games should be concerning. The Jazz are 19th in the number of Fast Break Points, only two of the teams they lost to last weak have less. For the NBA leaders in scoring, FG % FT % Asts/Gm Steals/Gm and Blocks/Game the only place the Jazz show up is Fg% and Rebounds with Carlos averging .572 and 11.4/Gm.

Now I don't want to sound negative but they need more than Carlos to step up on an average. Over all the Jazz are .46%. Right now that is great but to win a championship they will have to be consistant and even raise that percentage in the playoffs.

Last night was a great effort.




Re: Moto X | 1:07 p.m. Nov. 18, 2008
Sloan doesn't like to play zone? Seriously? Do you watch how every team rainmakes threes on us? Everyone knows the best way to beat the Jazz is a hot hand from outside, because a hot hand outside is the best way to beat a zone.
Re: Re: Moto X | 2:02 p.m. Nov. 18, 2008
Uh.. Sloan was against the implementation of zone as a legit defense in the NBA. The guy uses it because sometimes he feels like he has to use it. The Jazz often times just can't get through screens with man to man D.
BUM | 2:25 p.m. Nov. 18, 2008
Okur should have his lower back side kicked for coming back injured.
Seattle Jazzed | 2:44 p.m. Nov. 18, 2008
I say send the Jazz to Seattle. I know I speak for most Utahans when I say that we're sick and tired of having an NBA team here draining our economy.

Larry H Miller, please do Utah a favor and sell the Jazz once and for all. Nobody cares.
Coach T | 2:55 p.m. Nov. 18, 2008
Seattle Jazzed,

Go spit. Jazz rule!
Seattle? | 3:01 p.m. Nov. 18, 2008
That is the dumbest thing I have ever heard. Please go troll some other place. We love the Jazz here.

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Jazz forward Andrei Kirilenko blocks an attempted shot by Suns forward Boris Diaw in Utah's 109-97 victory on Monday night.

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