"You Gotta Love It Baby" Official Jazz thread

[whoneedscorners?]

Would the world be sad if Steve Javie got ran over by a bus?

I hate that bastard...

[Surfah]

Would the world be sad if Steve Javie got ran over by a bus?

I hate that bastard...

He's actually my favorite official. I am glad he is back. He has some serious knee issues like Brandon Roy and missed most of last year. His career was actually in doubt and he didn't know that he would ever call another game.

[BGRTHNUMEGO]

OKC playing w/o Jeff Green and on the 2nd night of a b2b, and playing their 3rd game in 4 nights. Bad home loss.

Of course, Utah was playing w/o their crappy starting SG and last year's starting center. So just wait until they get that crappy player back and a crippled previously immobile center back.

[Blueintheface]

Despite late turnovers and poor end of game decisions this game was decided by the Thunder putting the ball through the hoop both from the floor and at the line. The 3rd quarter was ridiculous. Mostly jumpshots, many contested, and they just went in. Sometimes that happens. AK played good 2nd half D on Durrant but Westbrook finally went off.

Those two take 51% of the shots for that team which is staggering compared to 41% last year. Tonight those shots fell.

On to the next game.

[MarkGrace]

I hope Raja never takes 14 shots again.

[Donuthole]

I hope Raja never takes 14 shots again.

I wish Anthony Morrow were our starting SG.

[Hot Lunch]

The Jazz got some great production from their bench tonight. I only watched a few minutes but after looking at the box score, the bench killed it.

I think this will hurt the Jazz down the stretch. C.J. will have a good performance 1 out of every 4 or 5 games but after him there is nothing.

[BGRTHNUMEGO]

I wish Anthony Morrow were our starting SG.

I was surprised to see how much he seemed to be a really intelligent player on the court. I wasn't expecting that. When the team started pressing to take the ball out of Deron's hands, Avery Johnson was sending in the defensive calls to Morrow and he would let the rest of the team know what they were doing. He pulled Devin Harris over multiple times in the 4th to go over the offensive and defensive sets/strategy.

I'd always just taken him to be a jump shooter and nothing beyond that. It was interesting to watch him from up close and see it differently.

[MarkGrace]

I wish Anthony Morrow were our starting SG.

He was one of the biggest steals of the off-season. How Wes landed a deal worth twice as much as Morrow I'll never know.

[MarkGrace]

Paper is saying this morning that Sap might not be on the AS ballot.

Jazz reps are apparently Deron, Al, AK and Memo.

[BGRTHNUMEGO]

Maybe Al could go to Logan and get some tips on how to hit the little one-handed push shot that Wesley has perfected and Al keeps attempting like he's perfected.

[happyone]

Paper is saying this morning that Sap might not be on the AS ballot.

Jazz reps are apparently Deron, Al, AK and Memo.

Memo?

Pardon my ignorance, who selects the players on the ballot?

[Sizzle]

At this point in the season, the Jazz are tied with Atlanta for the most road wins (5). That's a good thing.

On the flip side, they currently also have the same home record as the Timberwolves (3-2). That is something that they should hopefully fix.

[Commando]

Okay- went to the game last night. They had some promotion on the floor between the 3rd and 4th Q. that had 2 kids, 11 yr old and a 14 year old, inside inflatable "hamster balls." They were to race the length of the floor around a construction cone and return to the starting line. At the whistle, the 14 year old jumps out in front of the 11 year old's path and knocks him down, and proceeds to sprint out to a sizable lead while the 11 year old struggles to get up.

Then, from off the sideline, the Jazz Bear rushes in and blasts the 14 year old and de-cleats him like Pendleton did to Wynn last year. Of course the arena is cheering, but the camera does not leave the 14 year old, who is writhing around on the ground 20 feet from where the point of contact was.

The 11 year old finishes the race, and they help them out of their hamster balls. The 14 year old walks off the court red-faced, pissed off, and clearly cursing out the Jazz Bear and turns to a camera on the floor and gives it the bird.

The whole mishap was awkward, bizarre, and hilarious.

[MarkGrace]

Millsap, my man, we whiffed in leaving you off the ballot


Posted Nov 18 2010 3:04PM

Paul Millsap, I'm taking this opportunity to issue a public apology. This isn't made on the behest of some PR firm or through a bunch of handlers -- as if I had any. It's from the heart. And this apology needs to be made today, right now, as the 2011 NBA All-Star Ballot is revealed.

Voting for the 60th NBA All-Star Game begins today. The showcase of the league's best and brightest, returning to Staples Center in Los Angeles on Feb. 20, 2011, is being broadcast on TNT domestically and to more than 200 countries and territories around the world.

In addition to paper ballots at arenas, fans anywhere can vote in 20 languages on NBA.com and through mobile phones by texting the player's last name to 6-9-6-2-2 ("MYNBA") or by visiting m.nba.com on any wireless carrier.

Balloting in arenas will continue through Jan. 17. NBA.com voting, wireless and SMS balloting concludes Jan. 23. Starters will be announced live on TNT on Jan. 27, during a special one-hour pregame show (7 p.m. ET) before the Miami-Knicks and Celtics-Trail Blazers doubleheader.



All that said ... Millsap, buddy, I hope you make it. For the last 32 days, I've regretted my decision not to be more firm, more passionate, more argumentative about getting you on the ballot. I toed the company line, even though I knew I was wrong. I sat in on a conference call back on Oct. 19 and tried to state my case that you should be on the ballot.

Paul, I let you down.

I didn't stand up to the rest of the panel that selects the names that go on the ballot. But how am I expected to debate ESPN.com's J.A. Adande? The guy is on Around the Horn. Marc Spears? C'mon, those dudes at Yahoo! know everything.

The Toronto Star's highly respected Doug Smith? Ian Thomsen of Sports Illustrated? Helloooo.

I listened and interjected where I could, trying to convince the group to give Millsap has rightful place on the ballot. I suggested placing his Utah teammate Al Jefferson at center, allowing Millsap space to swim in the forward pool.

The belief from at least one of the esteemed panelists was that Mehmet Okur was on the verge of return and needed to be included among Western Conference centers.

No way, I thought. Okur, as far as I can tell, isn't close to coming back from a torn Achilles suffered in the playoffs. Utah officials are privately bracing for post-Christmas when it comes to seeing Okur in uniform.

Millsap was in for a big year. I just knew it. The Jazz let a 20-10 man (Carlos Boozer) walk to open up room for this four-year pro out of Louisiana Tech. Utah knows something about power forwards out of La. Tech. But since he's not Karl Malone, the overriding opinion was Millsap wasn't ready to be one of the West's 24 best forwards.

Well, he's averaging 21.5 points and 9.5 rebounds. He's racked up five double-doubles. He pulverized Miami for a career-high 46 points last week. His scoring rate checks in 19th in the league going into today.

Twenty-five of the top 26 scorers are on the ballot. Millsap is not.

Seventeen of the top 19 rebounders made our list. Millsap did not.

I made a feeble Millsap push, but at least I wasn't completely alone. "I went hard for Millsap," Adande recalled. "I had to give in to the crowd."

As for the rest of the ballot, I don't have many complaints. Picking the names is a handwringing process paring down some lists or coming up with enough names for others. Each team had to be represented at least three times, further complicating matters. Votes and re-votes were taken to come to a consensus on 24 guards and forwards, and 12 centers for each conference, for 120 players.

Mavericks guard Jason Terry, currently averaging 19.3 points, was a tough cut. Looking back, I'm not sure why we included Mario Chalmers, other than being a member of the Heat. A few nods were given more on reputation than actual chances of making the All-Star team. Grant Hill of the Suns comes to mind, as does Lakers guard Derek Fisher.

I hope our little group can go on despite the Millsap misstep. (TNT's Marv Albert participated in the selection process via email, so I'm leaving him off the hook.) In the end, though, I have only myself to blame. It takes a big man to admit he was wrong, even if you're only 5-foot-9, and I've learned my lesson.

If I'm ever given the honor to take part in the ballot process again, I'm going to yell from the mountain top if I have to. Or at least from my cell phone. I owe it to you, Paul.

Art Garcia has covered the NBA since 1999. You can e-mail him here and follow him on twitter.

http://www.nba.com/2010/news/feature...sap/index.html