Earl on November 04, 2009 said:

That was frustrating, perplexing, and amazing. Both Dirk’s performance and the Jazz inability to stop him. How many times did Memo get embarrassed on D? That situation called for a couple of hard fouls. Bring Malone out of retirement and give him 5-10 minutes/game in an “enforcer” role.

Four games, three 4th quarter meltdowns. Ugh!

Ames on November 04, 2009 said:

I’m tired of people saying the Jazz players have no heart – everyone was TRYING hard last night. Even Boozer came to life briefly in the fourth … the problem is, whenever someone on the other end goes down and shoots a three, we try to bounce back by making a layup. It doesn’t cut it. If someone like Dirk or Kobe is red hot, that’s when D-Will needs to step up and fire back – match him shot for shot. Problem is, Coach wants him to run the same old Jazz play they’ve been running for 25 years! Dirk makes a three pointer, or wicked slam; Deron comes down and … dishes inside to Boozer, or Milsap, or Okur – who even on a bad knee is forced to go inside – who are then destroyed under the basket by all five Dallas players … I’m not saying we have to be all 3-ball, but there comes a time when layups just don’t cut it. A couple of jump shots will go a long way into opening up the middle …

Woody on November 04, 2009 said:

Based on last years roster, my son or I own either an autographed jersey or signed pair of shoes from EVERY player on the team with the exception of Knight and Collins. Point being, we are huge Jazz fans. It was very challenging not to put it all on Ebay last night in the middle of the fourth quarter. Who usually gets blamed for a loss, the coach right? Typically I start smoking from the ears every time our opponent rattles off 8-10 unanswered points and our “experienced Hall of Fame vetran coach” refuses to call a time out to stop the bleeding. Why is that? BUT, with a group of former All-Star, multi- millionaire atheletes on the floor, is it that difficult to realize that our ONLYgoal last night (after giving it a great turn-around performance the first 36 minutes) was to play tough DEFENSE the last 12 minutes to protect their lead. Instead, they looked like the ball was burning their hands and had to either throw a sloppy pass or an off-balanced shot. I could care less if we even made a point in the 4th quarter. If we would have controlled the pace by running down the clock on each possesion, they would have eventually fouled our guys, sent them to the line, and made at least 6 freebies, and Dallas wouldn’t have had the time to make 44 points. On the other hand, does anybody recall the fits we have given Nowitski the past two seasons. If I’m not mistaken, AK or Harp were in his head so bad the past few matchups that Dirk fouled out of every game. Coach Johnson, please remind Jerry that there ARE time outs and he can feel free to use them any day now. Also, we have earned the reputation of being a dirty team, so play dirtyor at least angry, make a statement and stop the easy baskets. If I were asked to go back in time and coach the 4th quarter of last nights game, after going from 15 up to 12 up I would put in our 5 tallest guys (yes at least one of which has heart) and defended the rim, triple or quadruple teamed Big D, sent my overpaid “flower forwards” to the locker rooms and walked away with a W. (record now 2-2). If we had Kouf as the only player on the floor the final 12 minutes, the MAV’s would have only scored 40 points in the fourth, and we would only have one guy to blame (but not because he didn’t try) Please make me proud again really soon fellas, PLEASE! P.S Jer, if you aren’t paid to motivate, pay someone that will.

JazzNoseBleed on November 04, 2009 said:

I wouldn’t have called it a ‘great’ game by any means. Watching the first half of that game was watching munky’s flinging poo at the Zoo. It seemed that the Jazz were firing on 2 of 6 cylinders, but those were the defense cylinders spinning, and the offense looked slow and cumbersome. It was lacking the flow that I see in the Jazz usually.

The 3rd quarter comes around and I am hoping the Jazz will show me why I am a fan. I see the light! The Jazz are continuing to play D and now shots are dropping. D-Will is starting to heat up and our bench is going to work to. Wesley who? Oh Wesley Matthews showing our Vet’s how to get the job done. AK running straight down the paint. Fes comes directly into the game to block a shot. We are up to 4 1/2 cylinders pumping and I am thinking this is the road play we fans have been waiting for!

4th quarter… O M G. I think Bolerjack called it the best when we saw the 16 point lead wither down to 12 then 10. Bolerjack said ‘If your a follower of the Jazz your probably having a hard time sitting in your seat right now…’ and he couldn’t have been more right. I grabbing my hair and rolling on the couch. Then I saw Dirk do the same play, then the same play, then the same play. Give it to Dirk at the top of the Key, make Okur come out of the pain, try and work the foul, oh Memo’s off balance blow by him, oh a man stepped up dish it out. We all know how that ends.

Those 4 1/2 cylinders got clogged by that nasty gunk that was discharging out of Dirk and it let the complete engine failure and there was no one carrying a triple-A card on the Jazz team. It was like a new team entered the game in the fourth quarter on both sides. On one side you have team Dirk who finally got hot which we all know is a consistent shooter. While on the other side the Jazz starters left the building and their shells were there to hope that 16 point lead could have won the game out.

Final thoughts of the Jazz’s performance:

1. Hell of a job coming from Fes and Matthews off the bench. (Do they sell fesenko jerseys in medium? or at all even?) It seemed like these guys going into the game having to earn their time have an edge over our starters. It seemed like they weren’t trying to make things so complex, just wait for the opening and don’t miss the open shot. Matthews blowing by his defender twice, and working his way to the foul line as well. Fes I see more hustle in you then anyone on the team, I am pretty sure you can run the court faster than Memo and Boozer, keep up the solid effort.

2. If the Jazz don’t learn how to close-out games its going to be one LONG season. There was great hustle for 3/4 of the game, but like the original blog says, if you can’t play 48 minutes then teams that can and do will eat us up. Hopefully *fingers crossed* it will be a learning lesson for our guys and we can get better at playing like we did in the 3rd quarter for an entire 48.

Brad P on November 04, 2009 said:

I sensed a culture shift in the Utah Jazz organization last year, and it’s completely clear now. The Utah Jazz organization is full of buck-passers.

Exhibit A: Since last summer, Kevin O’Connor has gone on the radio and essentially thrown up his arms and said, “There aren’t any players out there who can help us.” What? I think you mean, “I’m not capable of getting any players who can help us.” KOC passes the buck to the coaching staff to suddenly make a fundamentally flawed team a championship contender just by “getting older.”

Exhibit B: Sloan said during pre-game of the Dallas tilt that it’s not his job to motivate players. I constantly hear him talk about how his players just seem to want to cash a paycheck, and then he makes a laundry list of things that aren’t his job? Seriously? Jerry, it IS your job to motivate players. It IS your job to call timeout, make adjustments and out-scheme the opposing coach. Sloan passes ALL the buck to his players.

Exhibit C: Boozer plays yet another garbage game and then blames the refs for calling touch-fouls on Dirk? Look if they’re calling touch-fouls, then get your money’s worth and lay the big German out all over AA Center’s hardwood. Boozer passes the buck to the officials.

Exhibit D: Greg Miller comes out in the home opener and basically threatens Jazz fans by saying the team will always stay in Utah IF fan support remains high. Greg, that cuts both ways. Fan support will be high if you put a good product on the floor. Greg Miller passes the buck to the fans.

The buck WILL stop with the fans is something doesn’t change, because they’ll vote with their wallets and eyeballs.

Jazzfan32 on November 04, 2009 said:

Jazznosebleed and Brad: Excellent comments.

Mal on November 04, 2009 said:

B- ? Wow. That’s pretty generous. That performance wouldn’t make passing standards in my book by any means at all.

Pelon on November 04, 2009 said:

Speaking of Jerry… Was it just me or did Sloan call only one timeout during that abomination?

Bob on November 04, 2009 said:

Talk about a meltdown. Time to get rid of Jerry and maybe some of his boys as well?

French Dude on November 05, 2009 said:

Why taking timeout….. To grow some Guts in these guys, in this game they show us their lack of Honor, and all the Timeouts of the world can’t change that……. And listen me KOC, trade Booz or Paul Now, keeping the two kill this team

Boondock Saint (Zak) on November 05, 2009 said:

I’m with Mal. B- is far, far to generous.

Brian McCann on November 05, 2009 said:

Mal- I know the B- is a bit miss-leading. To explain, I am going to be giving the Jazz a grade on their overall effort for the entire game this season. There isn’t a science to this-just my gut feeling and years of basketball viewership as a guide. Through three quarters against Dallas I would have given them an A- for effort. Sure the shots weren’t falling, but that’s typical on the road. What I was most impressed with is that they were hustling and really trying to keep control of the game. Unfortunately the game isn’t 36 minutes long, so three quarters of excellent hustle didn’t mean anything in the end.

Theoretically they could get an “A” and still lose.

Brian McCann on November 05, 2009 said:

To further emphasize what I mean Mal, Deron Williams said the following:

“You know, we thought we were headed in the right direction, if you watched the first three quarters,” Williams added. “We didn’t shoot the ball well (34.1 percent in the first half), we didn’t score well (37 points through two quarters).

“But the thing is, we were getting stops. Defensively, we were getting stops. We were helping each other out. We were able to force turnovers and get out and run a little bit. All until that fourth quarter.”

Linda on November 05, 2009 said:

Brad………Doesn’t that make you want to do what you can to help the situation rathe than just leave the buck there and watch the Jazz go bye bye? I personally would feel devestated if the Jazz left. We drive 3 hours to each game and try to be cheer leaders. That doesn’t mean we haven’t thought the games were TERRIBLE but I want to do what I can to build on any spark of good that I can find. We will also be in our seats right to the end..

Brian McCann on November 05, 2009 said:

Linda- I think all of us will. We all love the Jazz, and its fans like you that will keep the team in Utah.

Brad P on November 05, 2009 said:

Linda, absolutely. I would be crushed if the Jazz ever left Utah. That’s precisely why this cultural trend I see is so alarming.

I’ve worked in organizations where instead of using energy to innovate and solve problems, everyone from the top down spends that energy covering their backsides, posturing and justifying their existence. It’s a crippling disorder, and it can spread like cancer once it infects an organization. I hope that’s not happening with the Jazz organization, but I’ve see some disconcerting signs over the past year from people up and down the Jazz totem pole.

I will definitely support the Jazz, but there’s a limit to what any fan will do if it doesn’t seem like that commitment isn’t being reciprocated. And to me, spending all this money doesn’t fall into the category of commitment — the Jazz had their hand forced. The next 12-18 months will tell me everything I need to know about what kind of organization the Jazz will become under new leadership.

Shannon in Sacramento on November 05, 2009 said:

I just hope they put up a better showing tonight against the Spurs, who I might add are looking amazing this season. My frustration with Sloan is building and building. Why is it that he can’t call a timeout and why isn’t it his job to motivate players? Yes, these players should want to play hard night in and night out because they supposedly love the game, but, obviosly that aint happening and they need an extra boost. It’s just amazing that players with this much talent and huge paychecks can’t play for 48 minutes. Is it a cardio thing or is it a heart thing? I hope it’s just a cardio thing and things will improve. I would hate for them to be the 8th seed again playing against the Lakers, or even worse, not even making the playoffs.