About that game tonight...

Memo Okur had to leave to Turkey for a family emergency. He might be gone the whole road trip. Jarron Collins is still injured, and Kyrylo Fesenko had to go to Canada to resolve visa issues (although I heard he might try to come back so he won't miss this opportunity to play.) That leaves the Jazz very thin in the middle. They have Koufus, Boozer, Millsap, and Kirilenko to try and fill the 2 big spots. Harpring is also probably still out.

But here is the good news: Deron Williams is a game-time decision. But this time the game-time decision means it is 90% likely that he will start and play tonight. That would be huge! I hope he isn't coming back too early but I'm guessing the Jazz won't let him do that. So I was thinking that without Williams, Okur, Collins, Fesenko, and Harpring, the Jazz would be lucky to win a game on this road trip. But if Williams comes back, even at 85%, I like our chances better. The best center we face on this trip is the Cavs' Z Illgaskus. Go Jazz!

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.

Cuddyer/Atkins rumors

-The Twins are being pretty quiet at the GM meetings. But on MLBTradeRumors.com they are reporting that the Twins are in discussions with the Rockies about 3B Garrett Atkins.

From Denver via http://blogs.rockymountainnews.com/rockies/archives/2008/11/twins_cuddyer_c.html

"An intriguing name to watch in any Rockies talks about sending third baseman Garrett Atkins to Minnesota is outfielder Michael Cuddyer, who missed 2 1/2 months last season with a strained tendon in his left index finger and has fallen into a backup role because of the emergence of young Twins outfielders."

"The Rockies are looking to add a quality starter in the offseason, and the Twins could offer the likes of Nick Blackburn or Kevin Slowey. But the Rockies would also like to add a right-handed, run-producing hitter in a multiple-player package, which is where Cuddyer, a strong clubhouse presence, would fit."

"The Twins have rebuilt their outfield with Delmon Young in left, Carlos Gomez in center and Denard Span in right."

If they would take Cuddyer for Atkins straight up, I would say do it. It would solve the 5 outfielders for 4 positions problem and the 3B hole/lacking a right-handed power bat with just one trade. I didn't think Cuddyer's trade value was that high. I'd much rather lose Cuddyer than Young or even Span and Gomez. But if the Rockies are asking for Blackburn or Slowey I would say thanks but no thanks.

Atkins plays in the most hitter-friendly park in all of baseball, Coors Field. The thing that scares me about him is his OPS has gone down each of the last seasons.
2006 OPS: .965, 2007: .853, 2008: .780.
HR 2006: 29, 2007:25, 2008:21.
RBI 2006: 120, 2007:111, 2008:99
On Base Percentage: 2006: .409, 2007: .367, 2008: .328

He is only 28 years old and his salary is in the $4 million range. I don't know everything about him, but I know he is a good hitting third-baseman, although the downward slope he is on scares me. Still he is a better option than Brian Buscher or Brendan Harris.

Joe Mauer wins first Gold Glove

Joe Mauer won his first Gold Glove Award today. He is the first Twins catcher to receive a gold glove since 1962 (Earl Battey).

Mauer had a .997 fielding percentage. He only committed three errors and he threw out 18 base runners.

He also helped guide an extremely young pitching staff.

Mauer also won his second batting title this season.

He is the best hitting catcher and the best defensive catcher arguably in the game, and now he has the hardware to back it up. Mauer is only 25 years old and one of, if not the most valuable player in the American League. Being able to provide from both sides of the plate at such a hard position is extremely rare, and Mauer has a chance to go down as the best catcher in history.

Congrats Joe!

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.

3-0 Without Deron

-Denver probably just regained the title of 2nd best team in the Northwest Division with the Iverson-Billups trade. I was not impressed with Iverson at all when the Jazz played Denver this year. Good trade for the Nuggets.

-Deron joined Boler and Booner for the 3rd quarter tonight, and he didn't sound like he will be ready for Wednesday's game like he had originally hoped.

-AK does it again – 15 pts 11 rebs 2 assists and 4 steals.

-Jerry Sloan got win 998 as Jazz head coach. When he reaches 1,000 victories with just one team (Utah Jazz) it will join Stockton's assist record as unbreakable records.

-Millsap was an animal with 24 points and 9 rebounds. It will be interesting to see who the Jazz don't sign out of Boozer/Okur/Millsap.

- Jazz were -3 with Price on the floor compared with +19 with Knight on the floor. I doubt that the Jazz would be 3-0 right now if they hadn't swapped Hart for Knight.

-The defense is looking better, only giving up 86.5 ppg so far this season. The Jazz are also 2nd in the league in point differential (13.0).

Good Knight

Observations from game 2:

-Williams shouldn't push himself to play Monday night at the Clippers. The Jazz can fend for themselves
against LA (especially sans Baron Davis and Marcus Camby) without Deron.

-Perhaps the only positive about Deron's injury is being able to listen to him for parts of the game with Bolerjack and Boone. Williams provides good insights and I just like listening to him. He is my favorite athlete in sports right now.

-Kirilenko will make the all-star team if he keeps this up. 11 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 blocks, 2 steals.

-Boozer is playing great so far during his contract year and is carrying the team without Williams.

-Brevin Knight was excellent tonight and gives the Jazz a more pure point guard than Price. The Knight for Hart trade was just amazing by Kevin O'Conner. That along with the Korver for Giricek have been absolute steals for the Jazz.

-Jazz set franchise record for fewest turnovers in a game with 4. Only 1 through 3 quarters.

-The West will be good but the Jazz, Lakers, Hornets, and Rockets should have much better records than the rest this year. It won't be as tight 1-8 this year as it was last year.