| 11 February 2009
February 11th - LA Lakers (42-9) at Utah Jazz (29-23)
Booner from True Blue Jazz & I had a bit of a talk about the game tomorrow, I asked him a few questions - and he asked me some (which can be found up at True Blue Jazz!)...
Behind Enemy Lines: Utah Jazz
With Malice (Don): Utah are in a pitched battle for the 8th spot in the West. How can they make it, and do you want them to?
True Blue Jazz (Booner): Some TBJ readers may disagree with me, but I want the Jazz to make the playoffs. I don't care if it's a 4 Seed (Dreaming) or an 8 Seed. I just want them in the playoffs. How are we going to make it? Who knows at this point. The easy answer is to say get healthy and hit our peak at the right time. I'm just not sure if that really happens this year. We just can't get healthy so the only way this is going to work is to win the games we should (such as Sunday's loss to Golden State) and D-Will inspires the role players we have now to get the job done. Besides, unless the Lottery is held at Energy Solutions Arena, we have no chance at winning. In fact, the way the road abuses us we'd get to the lottery only to find out they lost all our ping pong balls.WM : Is it time for a change at the Head Coach position?
TBJ: My opinion here changes day to day. Sloan knows how to win and always has. You really can't argue that. You can argue he can't win the big games all day long, but how many people really beat Michael Jordan. My biggest fear of jumping the Replace Sloan Bandwagon, is who do you get, realistically, that is going to be better? There are a few coaches out there I would love to see on a Jazz sideline but they aren't going anywhere. Besides, very few Coaches can handle the high pace, cut throat lifestyle us Utahns live.
WM: Utah are 20-6 at home, and 9-17 on the road.How can a team be so damned good at home, yet struggle so mightily on the road? Why is playing in Salt Lake City so daunting for opponents?
TBJ: I'm not going to sugar coat anything here. We just plain suck on the road. We have never been a stellar road team but this year has been a complete embarassment. We are never prepared for a road game and we seem to carry an attitude of "well, as long as we win our home games we don't need these road wins." They never play motivated on the road and it starts from the coaching staff down. We see a completely different team at home. Why? There's the common answer that the fans are "right on top of you" and I do think the fans help, no question but the team plays more confident and more motivated at home. Oh, and we actual make an attempt to play defense at home.
WM: Give me 5 words or less to describe the Lakers.
TBJ: Never Should Have Traded Shaq
WM: How can LA beat Utah in Utah?
TBJ: By playing them this week without A.K. & Boozer. Oh and don't foget Brevin Knight. Not that you will win. But... I'm just getting my excuses ready.
*****
The Jazz present a problem when you play them in Salt Lake City. When they come to your turf, no problems. Traveling, Utah are 9-17. But go to the EnergySolutions Arena (gods, but I hate that name) and they're a different proposition entirely. 20-6. Twenty and six. That's damn good.
Perspective: the Lakers are the best hometeam (thus far) in the West (Cleveland lead all comers at 23-1. Guess who the '1' was?) with a 24-4 record at the Staples Center.
The second best home record is shared: Denver & Utah.
So despite the injuries listed above by Booner, Utah are a much tougher team at home than you'd believe. Deron Williams is playing some amazing basketball of late. On his last 3 games he's been 30+ in each. Ronnie Brewer has been damn good, and Mehmet Okur looks like he's only 46 again. Millsap's good - and Utah had better get used to seeing him start in the 4 slot, I can't imagine that Carlos Boozer has too many games left in a Jazz uniform.
Anyway, I digress. Quite simply, the Jazz are better than we think and playing them in Salt Lake City is a tough game whenever.
Ok. So the Lakers. How do they win?
Amazingly enough - given the absence of Andrew Bynum - it's going to come down to LA just being too big.
Even tho' LA's biggest guy is out, both Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom have stepped up big, and are playing the best basketball they've played all year. Sans Boozer/Kirilenko, the Jazz are just going to lack the big bodies to block those two.
Kobe's risen to the challenge - and with his score of 34 became the youngest player ever to get 23,000 points - and the rest of the squad have lifted too. It will be interesting to see if newcomers to the Lakeshow, Adam Morrison and Shannon Brown, take part in the game.
It promises to be a tough one - games in Salt Lake City always are - but LA has the game to take this.
