Millsap to return

Steve Luhm of the Salt Lake Tribune is reporting that Paul Millsap participated in practice and will be ready to go tomorrow night in the game at the Lakers. He will have to wear a brace but he doesn't think it will bother him too much. Jarron Collins will also be available for the game tomorrow. Needless to say if the Jazz beat the Lakers at the Staples Center it will be the biggest win of the season so far, and having Millsap back will be a huge help. Surely Boozer isn't milking his injury and he doesn't want to have surgery but perhaps he could get some tips from Millsap on staying healthy, playing through pain, and returning quickly from an injury.

One other note, Millsap actually extended his double-double streak to 16 games while he was injured. It stopped at 15 games but the NBA figured out that he actually got 10 rebounds in his last game, not 9 like had been recorded, so he is up to 16 games. John Stockton has the record for most consecutive double-doubles at 18 games. Millsap's streak is also the longest since Kevin Garnett's streak in 2006. Millsap is a huge part of this team, maybe even it's MVP so far. He has scored more points than anybody else for the Jazz this season.

Ranking my preferences for the NBA teams

From favorite to least favorite:

Teams I love to see do well:
1. Utah Jazz
2. Minnesota Timberwolves
3. Phoenix Suns
4. Cleveland Cavaliers
5. Boston Celtics
6. Miami Heat

Teams I am indifferent about:
7. Atlanta Hawks
8. Golden State Warriors
9. Indiana Pacers
10. Orlando Magic
11. Memphis Grizzlies
12. Washington Wizards
13. Toronto Raptors
14. Sacramento Kings
15. Charlotte Bobcats
16. Oklahoma City Thunder
17. Los Angeles Clippers
18. New Jersey Nets
19. Philadelphia 76ers
20. Milwaukee Bucks
21. Dallas Mavericks
22. New York Knicks


Teams I really can't stand:
23. Chicago Bulls
24. Portland Trail Blazers
25. Detroit Pistons
26. New Orleans Hornets
27. Houston Rockets
28. Denver Nuggets
29. San Antonio Spurs
30. Los Angeles Lakers

Jazz play the blues

Nobody could have predicted what has happened to the Jazz this season. Nobody thought they would have this bad of a record and be in 3rd place in their division at the end of November.

But looking past all the negatives I think there are quite a few silver linings so far despite all the depressing injuries that have occurred thus far.

1. Younger players develop - Out of everyone, I would say CJ Miles has developed the most out of the young players. He is starting to make the Jazz look good for signing him to a four year deal.

2. We are only 1 game out of 2nd place. I don't know if we can catch the Lakers but once everyone is healthy and if we can stay even with the others, then we should be able to lock up the 2nd seed, thus giving us home-court advantage until the Conference Finals, and we wouldn't face the Lakers until then.

3. Andrei Kirilenko's resurgence.

4. The bench/younger players are getting valuable experience, especially in crunch time. Even though Williams/Boozer/Kirilenko played in the Olympics, their time being out should get them some much needed rest. Come playoff time, I imagine Okur/Boozer/Kirilenko/Williams/Korver/Harpring/Knight will not be quite as worn down as the opposition. Really if you are going to be injured, I'd much rather be injured at the beginning of the season than the end and not be 100% for the playoffs.



To conclude, in April when we are looking back at this unprecedented injury problem we have had we might just look at it as a blessing in disguise. The only thing that is negative about it is that we likely can't get the top seed in the west. Other than that, nothing too devastating has happened, that is if we don't fall behind the rest of the competition.

Former Sonics vs Jazz

-Jerry Sloan becomes the first NBA coach to have 1,000 wins with one team. That, my friends, is impressive.

-I had to laugh when Sloan was asked in the postgame interview if any wins over the 1,000 stood out to him. He said no, the games that I remember are the ones we lose. Classic Sloan.

-Easy victory for the Jazz tonight. They fell behind 8-0 early but they cruised most the game.

-The Jazz are ridiculously talented and athletic. They seemed to be toying with the Thunder most the game.

-The Thunder probably have the worst team in the NBA, the worst nickname, and the worst logo. Their unis are okay.

-Towards the end of the game you could hear the crowd chant Jerry Sloan. No big celebration though.

-It is off for a 5 game road trip that will be the first real test this season for the Jazz. Unfortunately it sounds like they might have to do it without Deron Williams.

-Knight had 11 assists in 26 minutes. I think he should be starting soon.

-After a Korver dunk, Williams teased him by clapping with a sarcastic oh wow face. D-Will likes to have fun.

-Looking around the league the Suns and Hornets lost, putting them at 4-2 and 3-2. The Spurs also lost while losing Parker to injury, their record is 1-4. Good to see the Jazz getting early ground on everyone while remaining tied with the Lakers while D-Will is out.

Jazz still perfect

-The Jazz moved to 3-0 at home and 4-0 overall.

-Only the Jazz and Lakers remain undefeated in the West.

-Sloan should get victory 1,000 on Friday vs OKC. Big moment.

-AK, Deron, and Boozer were honored before the game for their participation in the 2008 Olympics.

-Williams was supposed to return tonight, but did not play.

-Good win for the Jazz because only the Blazers and Lakers had winning records vs the Jazz last season, and the Blazers handed us one of our 4 losses at home last year.

-Okur ended up with 22, and Boozer had 20.

-Kirilenko: 17 pts, 4 reb, 4 assists, 2 steals, 1 block. He always has the most interesting box score line.

-Brewer had the play of the game with an awesome reverse dunk. He is so ridiculously athletic. He had a nice game with 16 points and is starting to steal a little of Korver's playing time.

-Knight ended up playing more than Price. Knight had 6 points, 6 assists, and 3 steals. Price's shot just isn't falling this season and Knight looks like a much more pure point guard and can calm the team down.

-Next up: Oklahoma City Thunder (ex-Seattle Sonics) 7PM EnergySolutions Arena



-And Tim's Sports Blog would like to congratulate President-Elect Obama.

Who I'll be rooting for

Here is who I'd like to see win the World Series this year.

1. Tampa Bay Rays
2. Chicago Cubs
3. Milwaukee Brewers
4. Los Angeles Dodgers
5. Philadelphia Phillies
6. Los Angeles Angels
7. Boston Red Sox
8. Chicago White Sox

Something inside me says the White Sox will win it all. Maybe because nobody ever correctly predicts who the eventual winner will be. Take for example, the 2006 Cardinals. Everyone was betting on the Twins, Yankees, or Tigers. The Cardinals were everyone's last choice. And lots of times during the playoffs the team I am rooting most against ends up winning it all, like the '07 Red Sox or the '05 White Sox. Nobody will be giving the White Sox a chance, plus they are the team I hate most. Usually the champsionship team ends up having at least one of those two qualities, hence my prediction.

Jazz/Celtics Finals?

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/playoffs2008/columns/story?columnist=hollinger_john&page=playoffpredictions-080418

John Hollinger, ESPN's stats dude thinks so. It is a good article with statistical evidence. I'm a big stats guy, more so in baseball than in basketball but I like basketball deep stats too. Some things Hollinger says:

Utah has the best chance of coming out of the west at 31 percent.

Jazz played amazingly well over the last fourth of the season. They had an offensive efficiency rating of 116.0, which over a full season would have made them easily the best offensive team of all time.

Jazz were 37-12 after Jan. 1. They had tons of blowout wins over quality teams. Here are some blowout wins this season:

Beat Boston by 18 at their place, the Celtics' worst loss of the season.

Beat New Orleans by 28 and 22, two of Hornets worst losses of season.

Beat San Antonio by 26, Spurs worst loss of season.

Beat Lakers by 24, Lakers worst loss of season.

Beat Phoenix by 22.

Beat Denver by 27 two times.

He points out Utah won 18 games by more than 20 points. The only loss by 20 points for the Jazz was the last game against the Spurs. But can you really think that last game matters, Deron Williams was injured and the Jazz probably lost on purpose, not wanting to face the Spurs in round 1.

Great article by Hollinger, nice to see the Jazz get some love from ESPN. It is about time.

By the way he predicts the Jazz to beat the Rockets in 6, the Lakers in 6, the Hornets in 6, and finally losing to Boston in 6 in the Finals.

Friday Notes

-For all you depressed Cougar fans out there, don't say I didn't warn you. You should be smarter than to expect a first-round win.

-The Jazz looked terrible last night. I think the Lakers just moved to #1 on my teams the Jazz don't want to face in the playoffs list. They won the series 3-1 and they are the first team to beat Utah at home this year. And they did so in a convincing manner. I think Kobe gets up for the Jazz games, he gets riled up over the Jazz booing his ex-Jazz teammates (Malone and Fisher.)

-I don't know how the Twins can take Denard Span over Carlos Gomez for the CF job this season. Ok Span has a better On-Base Percentage but Gomez could end up being the most exciting Twins player ever. The dude already has 9 steals in spring training, a home run, two triples and three doubles. I am starting to wonder how many bases this guy could steal in a whole season. His on-base percentage isn't the best but he scores almost every time he gets on base.

-Boston definitely is my pick to win it all this year after beating Dallas, San Antonio, and Houston all in a row on the road this week. Sure, they have the best record because they play in the East, but they would probably have the best record if they played in the West.

Finishing Strong

Lets take a look at Utah’s last 6 games and see why the Jazz must win as much as they can right now:
Apr. Fri 04 vs San Antonio
Tue 08 @ New Orleans
Thu 10 @ Dallas
Sat 12 vs Denver
Mon 14 vs Houston
Wed 16 @ San Antonio

The one positive I see is that if by that last game San Antonio has it’s playoff seed finalized, the Jazz will have the best shot they’ve had in a while to win a game in San Antonio.



Here is how the Jazz have fared against Western Conference playoff contenders:

Golden State 3-0 Remaining: 0
Denver 2-1 Remaining: 1
Phoenix 2-1 Remaining: 0
Dallas 2-1 Remaining: 1
New Orleans 2-1 Remaining: 1
San Antonio 1-1 Remaining: 2
Houston 1-1 Remaining: 1
L.A. Lakers 1-2 Remaining: 1

Overall 14-8 Remaining: 7

That’s not too shabby. They’ve won 2 season series, they are winning 3 more, and they are tied for 2 more. The Jazz could end up winning all the series except for tying one, or they could end up losing 3 series and tying 3 series. It’s in their hands.

Here’s the Jazz remaining schedule minus those 6 games:

Tue 11 @ Chicago
Wed 12 @ Milwaukee
Fri 14 @ Boston
Sat 15 @ New Jersey
Mon 17 vs Toronto
Thu 20 vs LA Lakers
Sat 22 vs Seattle
Tue 25 vs Charlotte
Fri 28 vs LA Clippers
Sun 30 @ Minnesota
Mon 31 vs Washington

The Jazz better go at least 8-3 over that stretch. These final 17 games will be make or brake for the Jazz. They could clinch home court advantage in the Western Conference playoffs, thus clearing a path to Finals. Or they could completely miss the playoffs. I’m sure Coach Sloan realizes this and will have the Jazz prepared.

2008 NBA Playoffs

I thought it would be interesting to rank the Western Conference playoff contenders from the best to the worst matchups for the Jazz.

Golden State: The Jazz dominated them last year in the playoffs and have scored 123 points on average against them this season beating the Warriors all three times.

New Orleans: The Jazz are 2-1 against them this season. Williams seems to really play well against Christ Paul. Paul has only beaten the Jazz twice.

Phoenix: Utah has played well against Phoenix as they usually do with small-ball teams. The Jazz usually overpower those type of teams inside with Boozer. Shaq is too old to help and Amare and Nash are the worst defenders in the league.

Houston: Now that the Rockets won’t have Yao Ming for the playoffs the Jazz should be able to beat them out in a 7 game series, like last year.


Denver: These two always get physical against each other. But the Jazz are more disciplined and more clutch.

Dallas: Jason Kidd is no match for Deron Williams, as evidenced by William’s 17 point 20 assist game against the Mavs. This series could go either way.

L. A. Lakers: The Jazz won’t be able to slow down Kobe at all. Their game at the Staples Center in December was terrible. This would be a tough series to win.

San Antonio. The Jazz haven’t won at the Spurs place since 1999. Ginobili always kills the Jazz. Utah lost to them 4 games to 1 in the Western Conference Finals last year and the Jazz would be lucky to be able to beat them this year.

Ideally the Jazz would face New Orleans in the first round, then Golden State, then Phoenix in the Western Conference Finals. Then they would beat the Detroit Pistons in the NBA Finals. I honestly can’t remember the last time when the Pistons beat the Jazz.

Unfortunately the Jazz probably won’t be that lucky. To get to the Finals they will most likely have to beat either the Lakers or the Spurs. I’m not so sure the Jazz will.

The key this year will be getting as much home court advantage as possible. The Jazz haven’t lost at Energy Solutions Arena since December and have the best home record in the NBA, only losing 3 games this season. Having been at ESA last year during the playoffs I know firsthand how loud it can get there. It’s tough to imagine the Jazz losing more than one game at home in a series. But, for example, if we have to play San Antonio in the playoffs with the Spurs having home-court advantage, the Jazz would definitely lose the series. Who said the regular season doesn’t matter??