Hello, fellow rock-pounders. We have a game tonight. Forgive me if I tone it down a bit from my previous blasphemy and negative-mojo-filled game thread. It got out of hand, but there's nothing like seing your team's title hopes end before the playoffs begin to bring you down a notch.
Looks like another spurs fan just found out Manu's season is over.
Nothing like the smell of depression in the evening. Even the Admiral says the Spurs have no chance without Manu. Preview after the jump.
Breakdown - Point Guard - Tony is one of the top 3 PG's in the league. Unfortunately for him, so is D-Will. This will be the marquee matchup, obviously. Whoever wins this battle probably wins the game.
- Off Guard - Mason needs to step it up, and play like he did when Tony and Manu were both hurt. Ronnie Brewer apparently starts for Utah, but I'd be more worried about Korver.
- Center - Tim Duncan just isn't TIMMEH! lately. Okur is a noted Spur-killer.
- Power Forward - Red Rocket is simply a horrible matchup with Boozer. Kurt and/or Drew can be expected to do slightly better against Boozer, but will still be outmatched.
- Small Forward - We start Michael Finley, they start Andrei Kirilenko. *sigh*
- Bench - Gooden's offense could be useful, especially since the Booze doesn't play much D. That said, they have Millsap and Korver coming off the bench, and we don't have a certain Argentine coming to our rescue.
- Coach - Pop is a great coach, there's no denying that. But I would argue that Sloan's been making it happen with much less for the past 3 years or so. Tie.
- Intangibles - Utah hasn't won in SA since... hell, even Jerry Sloan can't remember. That would be 19 straight.
- Mojo - I could be wrong on this one. Marcus Williams could lead us to a title. Oh, wait...
- Winners - What the hell, I'll pick us.
Keys To The Game - 3-pointers - Somebody needs to make them for us. Mace? Rocket? Findog? Ime?[laugh]
- Defense - Bruce, Kurt, and George need some minutes in this one. We can't win games like this with our Manu-less offense
- Marcus Williams - Call me "intrigued" to see what this guy can do. Will Pop play him tonight?
Some other reading SLC Dunk - SB Nation blog with a lot of activity, but not neccessarily a lot of active members. JazzBots - Official team blog, with some pretty good content. 48 Minutes of Hell - recommended reading, as always. They also have a ton of recent articles, for a change. Other things of possible interest - RC - Just when I thought I could trust Pop, Buford does something I don't agree with one bit. Malik and Pops will likely abuse us, Scola-style, next season.
- Trends - I'm sensing one here. Note to self: start selling shoes.
- Vanity Plates - Be careful about double-entendres.
- Flash Games - this one builds on the theme of a previous classic.
Game feeds Check this game thead at gametime for specific links to good quality feeds. If you arrive late in the game, there game feed links are usually among the first 50 posts of the thread. ATDHE.net PPNBA MyP2P BitTorrent Davka (A torrent site where you will find most of the latest games in the league. Bookmark.) Recap: The hell if I know. |