Game Previews

Game Preview #4 - San Antonio Spurs @ Utah Jazz - Back from Vacation

By CapHill Nov 5, 2009, 9:46am CST

Did everyone enjoy their vacation from the NBA?

And we're back. It's Thursday (for which Lauri is very happy), and after a strange four day break in the schedule, the Spurs are embarking on a little road trip, with the first stop in Utah.

More after the jump.

Welcome to the first truly hack preview of the season. This is much, much harder than it looks (major props to Wayne, Tim, LD, and davis for making this look easy). However, I am excited that our beloved Spurs are on national TV again, since I'm too cheap to spring for League Pass.

San Antonio Spurs @ Utah Jazz
Where: EnergySolutions Arena - Salt Lake City, UT
When: November 5, 2009, 9:30 PM Spurs time
Watch: TNT

How They Stack Up


2-0	Home	1-1
0-1	Road	0-2
103.7	Offense	99.3
94.0	Defense	105.3
50.8	FG%	45.7
34.4	3-pt%	36.6
71.6	FT%	79.6
40.7	Rebounds	40.5
13.3	TOs	14.5
2-1	Last 10	1-3
Won 1	Streak	Lost 2


Country/Time Zone	Game Time
Argentina	12:30 AM
La La Land	7:30 PM
Philippines	11:30 AM
Central Europe	4:30 AM
Palestine/Egypt	5:30 AM
East Coast	10:30 PM
Cap's Place	8:30 PM
Perth, Australia	11:30 AM
Tokyo	12:30 AM
Sydney, Australia	1:30 PM

Spurs (2-1)	Matchups	Jazz (1-3)
Tony Parker Top 5 PG	Point Guard Tony is faster. Williams is bigger. Tony shoots a better percentage. Williams is the better assist man. They are both pretty damn good. Advantage: Jazz	Deron Williams Top 3 PG

Manu Ginobili Argentine	Shooting Guard Brewer has improved each year in the league, but he's not Manu. Advantage: Spurs	Ronnie Brewer Not Argentine

Richard Jefferson Shaved	Small Forward Andrei Kirilenko is known more for his defensive prowess. Jefferson is slowly acclimating to the Spurs. They have similar statistics this year, but I give the edge to RJ for his better offensive game and ability to create his own shot. Plus, RJ's contract looks great compared to AK-47's. Advantage: Spurs	Andrei Kirilenko Schoolboy Hair

Tim Duncan GOATPUFF	Power Forward Even with his down numbers this year, Timmeh is still statistically better than Boozer. Plus, Timmeh actually plays defense. Boozer is shooting an abysmal 35% from the field this year. It's not even close. Advantage: Spurs	Carlos Boozer Bad Chemistry Experiment

Matt Bonner Shooter	Center Bonner has been starting, so he goes in the center spot. He likes sandwiches. Okur not only shoots pretty well, but has been pulling down 8 boards a game this year. Advantage: Jazz	Mehmet Okur Better Shooter

George Hill Mr. PER	Bench & Role Players Millsap is a good player who always hustles. However, Hill should be able to take either Price or Maynor, and Blair and McDyess should have their way with the inexperienced backups. Advantage: Spurs	Paul Millsap Over Achiever

Gregg Popovich HOF Coach	Coach I love Jerry Sloan. Seeing he and Pop match wits should be fun. The fact that between the two of them, they have exactly ONE Coach of the Year award is redonkulous. However, the Jazz are experiencing both injury and chemistry issues, giving the edge to the Beardless One and his crazy lineups. Advantage: Spurs	Jerry Sloan HOF Coach
	images via yahoo.com

	Other Factors
Intangibles
The Spurs haven't played since Saturday, so they should be well-rested and ready to go. Advantage: Spurs
Mojo
The Jazz got spanked in the 4th quarter of their last game. No one was particularly happy with the effort. Advantage: Spurs
Winner
Spurs have gotten plenty of sleep this last week and the starters should come out firing. The BAM squad should build on the early lead, with the Spurs taking the victory. Spurs by 10.

Keys To The Game

Start Fast - The Jazz are 1-3 and coming off that (almost) historic 4th quarter by D-No on Tuesday. The Spurs' need to come out ready to play, even after the long rest, and not allow the Jazz to get their feet under them. Sloan has been scowling at his players for 2 days and should have them ready to go.
Be Aggressive - Utah allows over 105 ppg and doesn't have a lot of front court depth. Boozer had foul trouble against Dallas. We need to drive the lane, and if nothing is available, then kick it out to the 3-pt line, where the Jazz let their opponents shoot 44%.
Bench Play - The Jazz have Paul Millsap - that's about it. Our bench needs to step on the gas when they enter the game and take advantage of our depth.

Last Time They Met

The Spurs last played the Jazz way back on April 10th and Tony had a monster game (boxscore). I don't remember this game, but I did find highlights. It's weird to see Gooden in a Spurs uni.

Some Other Reading

Jazz

SLC Dunk - The Jazz SBN blog. They are not too happy about the start of the season and the Boozer mess.
Salt City Hoops - This is the TrueHoop network blog for the Jazz. I know nothing about this blog, but it looks snazzy.

Spurs

48 Minutes of Hell: Speaking of THN blogs, we're extremely lucky that the best one is dedicated to the Spurs. Tim and Graydon always do an excellent job of breaking down everything that's happening in the Spurs' organization.
Project Spurs: Good independent blog with lots of good content. Spurs fans are lucky to have so many good blogs out there.

Quote of the Day

"That's not winning basketball, that's just taking your paycheck and going home."
- Jazz coach Jerry Sloan on his players' failure to provide help to each other defensively in Monday's debacle against Houston.

Other Thing of No Interest to Anyone but Myself

Since the highlights to the Kings game are not available on NBA.com, I bring you the diverging diamond interchange - it's new, it's different, and it's cool (to me). Be sure to keep arms and legs within the vehicle at all times.

Where to Tune In

TV

This game will be aired nationwide on TNT. Yay for me!

Online

As always, NBA league pass is recommended for those who are willing to pony up the cash. Almost every Spurs game will be broadcast there, which is especially helpful for those of us who aren't in the San Antonio area.

Please don't post links to illegal game feeds in the game thread. Links to illegal feeds are not permitted on SBNation, but you can probably find them out there on the internets if you're resourceful and desperate. In fact, nobody can stop you from googling "atdhe". You can also shoot an email to dmenendez@gmail.com for more assistance.

Spurs League Pass audio is still free this year, so check it out.

Radio

If you're in the San Antonio area and aren't near a TV, tune in to WOAI (1200 AM).