FanHouse Utah Jazz

There's always a danger in reading too much into one pro basketball game. Then again, sometimes one game can be so telling that it's tough not to read something into it.

Warriors 118, Jazz 108.

Let's start reading ...

One of the conclusions you can draw from Saturday night's game -- and the six previous Jazz games -- is that Utah is in trouble.

There's no way around it. Utah is playing its worst basketball of the season right now.

The Jazz learned this weekend that Andrei Kirilenko could be sidelined for two weeks with the injured left thumb he suffered in Friday's game. That would take him through the final six games of the regular season and perhaps into the playoffs.

Without him, the Jazz lost their third in a row on Saturday, dropping a winnable game to the Sonics, 106-103. Even though AK-47's contributions on offense have been sporadic this year, his defense was immediately missed. From the Salt Lake Tribune:

[It's] hard not to imagine that Kirilenko might have had some luck defending Seattle's Rashard Lewis, the 6-foot-10 forward who took the game over and scored 16 of his game-high 35 points in the fourth quarter to hand the Jazz their second straight meltdown loss.

"I don't know what happened," center Mehmet Okur said. "We have to figure out what's going on right now."

What's going on is called a "downward spiral." Pending the results of tonight's game against the Warriors (as this is being posted, the Utah trails by 16 at the half), the Jazz have lost nine of their last 14, not exactly the type of rhythm the team would like heading into the playoffs. The Jazz have already won the Northwest Division and are locked into the No. 4 seed behind the Mavericks, Suns and Spurs, so they literally have nothing to play for between now and the postseason, which sadly is already being reflected in their play.

Previously on FanHouse:
Is Kirilenko Holding Back the Jazz?

Utah Jazz Blog makes a pretty startling claim this morning: that Andrei Kirilenko is the new Jordan. No, not that AK-47 is set to dominate the game for a decade. Instead, he's thinking that it's Kirilenko who will spoil this new Jazz golden age by keeping them from the Finals:

Let me give you a short list of guys this year who are making between $15,000,000 and $17,000,000:

Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan, Michael Redd, Elton Brand, Ray Allen, Shawn Marion, Paul Pierce, Dirk Nowitski, Vince Carter, Antawn Jamison, Tracy McGrady, and Joe Johnson.

Can you imagine what the Jazz would be with one of these guys? With one of these players would the Jazz be a championship team? The answer is undoubtedly, yes! I'm sorry Jazz fans but with AK's salary I don't know if the Jazz will win a championship.

He does have a point. For some reason, I've been obsessed this week with the future of Rashard Lewis; like Kirilenko, he's a tantalizing, multi-talented player who could end up with a max-ish contract over the summer. But whoever signs him would do well to take a look at the Jazz, who have put together a powerhouse around AK-and now might be better off if they had never signed him.

It's an interesting lesson for rebuilding teams, too. Namely, don't be afraid to let your best player walk if he's not a true franchise guy, or at least a consistent All-Star. This might be terrible public relations, but so will having your hands tied with a massive, inessential contract.

We've talked at length about the rampant gambling that goes on among NBA players -- it's gotten so bad that some players are apparently leading fans sitting courtside astray -- but David Stern should be happy to know that not every player in his league is traveling down that sinful path.

Jazz guard Dee Brown made a friendly wager with Salt Lake Tribune writer Steve Luhm, though he refused to make it interesting with any money. From Luhm's blog Jazz Notes in the Salt Lake Tribune:

Two weeks ago after a game, I was talking to Brown. The brief discussion turned to Illinois and the upcoming NCAA Tournament. When I suggested the Illini would be lucky to be a No. 10 seed, he was horrified.

Seeing a chance to fleece a gullible young man who was blinded by loyalty to his alma mater, I suggested a friendly wager.

I suggested betting one dollar that Illinois would be seeded higher than No. 10, if it even got an at-large bid to the 65-team tournament. Perhaps because he doesn't make superstar money, Brown wanted to bet something other than one George Washington.

His idea: If Illinois made the tournament as something better than a 10-seed, I would have to bow down to him and his wisdom. On the other hand, if Illinois made the tournament as a 10-seed or higher, he would have to bow down to me.

Because the Jazz immediately embarked on a four-game road trip, I didn't see Brown until this week. Yes, he paid up. He walked out of the locker room prior to Monday's practice, bowed down, shook my hand and laughed. Typical Brown, although I would have preferred the $1.

Considering the league's crackdown on Gilbert Arenas over a ten-spot, it was probably a good idea for Brown to avoiding putting even a single buck on the line. And, on a side note, here's to hoping he put that dollar saved into a jar so he can save up for another totally awesome sport coat like the one pictured above.

After reading out Salt Lake Tribune beat writer Phil Miller's recent travel nightmare, I was feeling kind of sorry for the Jazz, who recently lost at every stop of a "four games in five nights" road trip. Traveling through the night hopping from one city to the next can be tough, no matter if you're flying coach or a chartered plane.

But from the sounds of it, maybe the Jazz didn't try make it any easier on themselves, enjoying a night on the town last Monday on the eve of their first game in Miami. From the Miami Herald:

Visiting from Sin City, the expert in champagne wishes and caviar dreams, Robin Leach, had dinner at Prime 112 on Monday night. In the house, all the Utah Jazz players with, according to Leach, ''a collection of UM blond beauties.''

Maybe I'm jumping the gun -- players need to eat, don't they? -- but I'm curious just how many of those players immediately hit the sack after dinner or perhaps joined the University of Miami co-eds for a nightcap at one of Miami's numerous hot spots (and I'm not talking Wi-Fi). On the other hand, it's hard to blame them if they did -- a night in South Beach must feel like an exotic vacation after being cooped up in Salt Lake City for most of the winter.

(I admit, this post isn't exactly heavy in substance ... but Miller's piece is an interesting read, and at the very least I got to use that pic of Robin Leach and Monique Benevento.)

Andrei Kirilenko played just 17 minutes during Tuesday's loss to the Heat. In year's past, such little playing time would likely cause panic in Salt Lake City, as it surely would have signaled some type of injury. AK-47 averaged a career-high 37.7 minutes per game last season. That number is down to 29.8 minutes per game this year, and he hasn't played more than 28 minutes in over a month.

A Miami reporter asked Sloan if he was trying to send a message to Kirilenko with his paltry playing time on Tuesday. From the Deseret News:

Sloan bristled at the suggestion, saying he doesn't use games for that purpose. And then the Jazz coach delivered his message.

"I've got to do a better job getting him to play better, and that's just part of it. I don't know how to do that," Sloan said. "I can't do anything about him running the floor and that sort of thing.

"He's got to be able to do that, and keep himself involved. And if he's got shots, I don't have a problem with him taking shots. It has to be within some of what we're trying to do in the offense. I mean, I don't feel like I can give him the ball and let him play 1-on-1."

To the outside observer, it's hard to see what Kirilenko is actually doing different this year. For one, his .459 field goal percentage is nearly identical to his .460 mark last year, so shot selection can't be the issue. He's not making as many three-pointers, but (pro-rated for the minutes, at least) he's just as active rebounding and blocking shots.

Andrei Kirilenko became a father (again, he already has a four-year-old) on Tuesday when his wife Masha gave birth to a baby boy. From Phil Miller's blog in the Salt Lake Tribune:

As we walked down the hall, I noted how gangly his new baby is -- 8 pounds three ounces, but more than 24 inches long! So I asked him, who does the infant look like, him or his wife Masha?

Without missing a beat, Kirilenko cocked his head as though puzzled and said, "Mmmm -- he looks like neighbor."

Awesome. He's kidding, I assume ... unless, of course, he lets Masha have her one night a year, as well...

As far as I'm aware, Kirilenko is the fourth NBA player I've heard of that's either had a child in the past couple of weeks or expects to have one any day: Carmelo Anthony's fiancee had a baby boy Wednesday, Gilbert Arenas is expecting a baby boy any day and Flip Murray's girlfriend (talk about swinging to the other end of the Q-rating scale) had a baby girl last week. Heck, even the D.C. Sports Bog's Dan Steinberg went on paternity leave last week.

Which begs the question: what exactly happened nine months ago that got all these sports figures so randy? By my calculations, we're talking about early June. Was it the start of the NBA Finals? Maybe all of those players (or in Dan's case, "playa") couldn't bear watching the Finals from home and opted for something a bit more, well, fun, to distract themselves.

I started this post with the intent to congratulate Andrei Kirilenko and his wife Masha on the birth of their second child -- and well, I still do, congrats, Russians -- but something else also caught my little brown-eyed retinas a bit further down the page. From Phil Miller at the Salt Lake Tribune:

Carlos Boozer's summer is now officially spoken for. Boozer has been contacted by Jerry Colangelo, USA Basketball's managing director, and has committed to play for the national team in its Olympic qualifying tournament this August in Las Vegas.

"He said, 'We want you there,' and I told him I'd be thrilled to play," said Boozer, who won a bronze medal with the Americans at the Athens Olympics in 2004. USA Basketball has not announced his addition to the team yet, but Boozer said that should come shortly.

To automatically qualify for the Beijing Games, the U.S. must finish first or second in a 10-team tournament made up of Western Hemisphere teams, with the gold-medal game in the Thomas & Mack Center on Sept. 2.

Ah, see, now we're talking, Papa Colangelo.

One of the major problems with last year's bronze-winning squad, besides not having an available Kobe and Billups backcourt, was the inconsistent play Team USA got from their big men. I mean, sure, Bosh had a few solid games, but other than that, Brand, Dwight and Brad Miller all struggled to hit the glass and find any sort of touch around the net. Boozer, a bronze medal winner at the '04 Olympics, should be able to help step in and solidify the team's inside presence immediately.

So, to quickly recap what we know about Team USA's summer roster: Boozer in; Wade probably out, LeBron maybe; and Ron Artest . . . well, no comment.

You know that Rafael Araujo foul on Marvin Williams from Monday that got Atlanta Hawks announcer Steve Holman's undies all in a knot?



Well, the Salt Lake Tribune reports that upon further review the league rescinded the Flagrant 2 foul initially assigned to Aaraujo, essentially downgrading the foul to a run-of-the-mill blocking infraction.

Seriously, how much would have paid to be in the same room as Holman when he learned the news? If David Stern really wants to appeal to middle America, he should just go the way of professional wrestling and put that sort of thing on camera.

At least, that's the gist you get from the commentator there. The audio and the video don't quite sync up (you hear Holman reacting to Araujo getting tossed long before you see it), but you get the gist of what's going on.

That's Rafael Araujo fouling Marvin Williams, and Hawks radio play-by-play guy Steve Holman reacting like he just witnessed the particularly bad scene in A Clockwork Orange.

At first glance, it doesn't look like much more than a hard, but perfectly reasonable foul ... but you don't get the perfect angle of it until about the :40 mark. There you see Araujo come across the lane, make body contact like a frieght train, and also put his elbow up into Williams' face. That's illegal.

At that point, the rage of Holman becomes a little more understandable. Still slightly insane, but understandable, nonetheless.

And pay special attention at the 1:30 mark, where Hawks coach Mike Woodson has a special Valentine's Day message for you.

Big thanks to Awful Announcing, via Lion in Oil.