Who would you rather have: Delaney Rudd or Jay Humphries?

Rudd was Stockton’s backup on the first Jazz team to reach the Western Conference Finals (yes, he played ahead of Eric Murdock). Rudd aggravated a lot of Jazz fans, as he was a definite downgrade from Stockton, but who wasn’t? Rudd, however, averaged around three points and two assists in his time in a Jazz uniform, hardly memorable. When the Jazz traded for Humphries, he had been averaging nearly double digits in Milwaukee. That obviously changed when he was backing up Stockton, averaging 8.8 points, 4.1 assists, and 1.3 steals in 26 minutes his first year in Utah. His other full year in a Jazz uniform his numbers dipped slightly.

VERDICT: This wasn’t even close. It has to be Humphries, who played college ball at Colorado, who was a legitimate player and now works as an assistant in the NBA (Rudd runs a basketball clinic in North Carolina where he attended college at Wake Forest). Really, the Jazz got rid of Rudd in favor of Humphries, and it was a good move. Humphries was a big boost to the Jazz.

This concludes Round One of Our Backup Point Guards of the Early 1990s contest.

Next time:

It will be Delaney Rudd vs. John Crotty for third place

And Jay Humphries vs. Eric Murdock for the title of best Jazz backup point guard of the early 1990s.

Who would you rather have: Eric Murdock or John Crotty?

Jazz fans are probably more familiar with Crotty’s line of work than Murdock. Murdock was a first-round pick by the Jazz (No. 21 overall) in 1991. Backing up Stockton, Murdock was unhappy. He averaged 4.1 points in 50 games in his one season in a Jazz uniform before his grumpiness over the Stockton situation forced the Jazz to trade him. He was sent to Milwaukee along with Blue Edwards and the Jazz 1992 first-round pick for Jay Humphries and Larry Krystowiak. The Tribune’s Steve Luhm put him on his All-Time I-Have-The-Talent-But-Don’t-Get-It Utah Jazz team (Edwards was also on the list). Crotty, unlike Murdock, was a team player. In fact, he replaced Murdock on the roster and had three undistinguished seasons in a Jazz uniform. He rejoined the Jazz for two seasons in 2000. Never a standout, Crotty wasn’t someone you’d want to see on the court.

VERDICT: Murdock, bad attitude and all. In the three seasons after he was traded, Murdock averaged around 15 points per game for the Bucks. If the Jazz could have hung onto him, who knows? As for Crotty, he somehow managed to stick around the league for 11 seasons. His best year was in 2001-02 for the Jazz in which he averaged six points and three assists in 20 minutes that year. Murdock hung around until 2000 although he never recaptured the success of those first three seasons in Milwaukee.

Who would you rather have: DeShawn Stevenson or Ronnie Brewer?

Both DeShawn Stevenson and Ronnie Brewer were mid-round selections by the Utah Jazz. Right now, their play is comparable. Clearly, though, Brewer has played much better in his first two seasons than DeShawn Stevenson did in his first two years.

VERDICT: Ronnie Brewer. While Stevenson has carved out a nice career, Brewer will have a better career although it is doubtful that Brewer will ever rip LeBron James the way Stevenson does. Stevenson had a brush with the law in Utah, pleading no contest to having sex with a 14-year-old girl. Brewer, however, seems like a really good guy, so he wins on character as well as on-court play. Brewer could well be a cornerstone, albeit as a role player, on a team that wins an NBA title. Brewer gives you a lot of nice things during the course of the game, as he hustles around, something Stevenson is not nearly as adept.

Plus, trading away Stevenson gave us Giricek, who eventually gave us Kyle Korver. Would any Jazz fan legitimately say they’d rather have Stevenson than Korver?

The true history of Bobby Hansen and the Utah Jazz

HAHA SUCKERS!

That’s what I think whenever I look at this card:

As you see from this 1990 Fleer trading card, someone actually traded for Bobby Hansen! Can you believe someone actually took him? Ok, so he wasn’t that bad, but consider that in trading Bobby Hansen, Eric Leckner and two picks to the Sacramento Kings (as part of the deal that sent former No. 1 overall pick Pervis Ellison to Washington), the Jazz got Jeff Malone. Jeff Malone gave the Jazz several solid seasons before being traded for the great Jeff Hornacek.

Today, we are beginning our look into the vault of Jazz history, starting with Bobby Hansen, who was a guard for the Utah Jazz between 1983 and 1990.

Drafted out of Iowa in 1983 in the third round of the Jazz, Hansen spent seven of his nine NBA seasons in Utah. His most famous game, though, came two years after the Jazz traded him to the Kings, and it came when he was sporting one of those ugly red uniforms of the Chicago Bulls.

In Game 6 of the 1992 NBA Finals, Phil Jackson, either inexplicably or ingeniously, subbed Bobby Hansen in for Michael Jordan with the Bulls down 15 at the start of the fourth quarter. Hansen hit a game-changing 3-pointer and then, seconds later, stole the ball, starting a furious Chicago rally that gave the Bulls their second championship. His 3-pointer has been rated as the fourth-greatest shot in Bulls’ history although that list seems to have originated in the mid-1990s. It was also the last shot Hansen attempted in the NBA.

After making the 1983 Jazz squad, Hansen played sparingly in his first two NBA seasons before becoming a starter in the 1985-86 season. He averaged just under 10 points per game in the next three seasons as the Stockton-to-Malone Era was just beginning to role.

Hansen may have been a rising star. But fate intervened at a New Year’s Eve party. It is for what happened at that party–and not what happened on the court–that keeps Hansen’s name in the minds of Jazz fans. Indeed, he is now more well-known in the Beehive State for being a punching bag than for being a sharpshooter.

Seldom-used Jazz guard Bart Kofoed knocked Bobby out.

Or at least, knocked out his eye socket. The two skirmished at the New Year’s eve party, and Kofoed’s deadly jab struck Hansen, shattering the aforementioned eye socket. Hansen missed over a month of action as a result (Kofoed was released). Hansen was never the same thereafter, noticeably declining in subsequent seasons.

Prior to joining the Jazz, Hansen, as a freshman, helped lead Iowa, under the direction of Lute Olson, to the Final Four. The Hawkeyes, the fifth seed in the East, knocked Virginia Commonwealth, N.C. State, Syracuse and Georgetown to earn their spot in the national semifinal. In the Final Four, Iowa fell to eventual national champion Louisville, which was led by the tournament’s most outstanding player and future Jazz teammate of Hansen’s, Darrell Griffith.

Just a year prior, Hansen led his high school team, Dowling High School, to the Iowa state championship.

Those two years may have been the most successful years Hansen had as a basketball player.

In high school and college, he was amazing; as a pro, he was so-so. His nine-year NBA career, however, was profitable, as he earned $3.2 million over his nine years in the NBA. He started out making $65,000 for the Jazz and finished by making $600,000 with the Bulls. The Jazz paid him $2 million over the course of seven years.

Aside from the fight, Hansen had only a few other memorable moments while playing in Utah.

In 1986, Hansen turned down an opportunity to join the 3-point contest an NBA All-Star weekend because he was getting married that weekend.

He also hit 15 straight shots in the 1986 playoffs.

He was also listed by NBA Hoopsonline as the 27th best player in Jazz History. But it’s a pretty crappy list. See for yourself: http://www.nbahoopsonline.com/teams/UtahJazz/Articles/top50.html.

How is Jeff Malone ahead of Jeff Hornacek?

Anyhow, we’ll be righting that wrong here in a few weeks.

But Bobby Hansen remains entrenched as the starter on the teams that helped establish the Jazz in the state of Utah. That, and as well as Bart Kofoed’s punch, will be his lasting legacy.

Why the Nuggets suck

This is in response to a comment made on the previous article. You can read it, but it was written by the one person who can actually read in Colorado, so it’s very unintelligible and not worth reading. But it was so easy to prove wrong, I couldn’t help myself.

Yes, you are “right”–it sure is “boring” to watch my team win consecutive Northwest Division title; it sure is “boring” to watch my team actually advance in the playoffs; it sure is “boring” to watch a team that averages over 100 points per game in the regular season; it sure is “boring” to watch my team humiliate Denver when they play the Nuggets. Also, it was pretty “boring” to see the Jazz twice in the NBA finals in the late 1990s–a place the Nuggets have never gone (In fact, Denver has only been to the conference finals twice since joining the NBA vs. the six trips the Jazz have made).

See, it’s your kind of thinking that makes the Nuggets, well, the Nuggets, a team that has consistenly been inferior to the Jazz ever since the Jazz relocated to Salt Lake. You think, “Carmelo’s one of the Top 5 scorers in the league; therefore, he must be one of the five best players in the league.” Well, any ballhog can score. The measure of a truly great player is whether he makes his teammates better and whether he succeeds in the playoffs. Does Carmelo Anthony make his teammates better? No. His team is a bunch of underachievers; a lot of nice pieces who combine to suck. While it’s true Carmelo and the Nuggets have made the playoffs every year since he got there, look at what his team has done in the playoffs.

2004: Lost to Minnesota, 4-1
2005: Lost to San Antonio 4-1.
2006: Lost to the L.A. Clippers 4-1. The Clippers?! How do you lose to the Clippers?! And that badly?!
2007: Lost to San Antonio 4-1.
2008: Lost to the L.A. Lakers, 4-0.

Combined record: 4-20 or a winning percentage of .167. Wow! You Nugget fans must be so proud! It sounds like Carmelo Anthony really steps up in the playoffs. In fact, I heard A-game is short for Anthony-game. And despite going through a few rebuilding seasons in which Andrei Kirilenko was our best player, the Jazz have appeared in the Conference Finals during that period.

In fact the last time the Nuggets won a playoff series was in 1994 when Carmelo Anthony was 10 years old and thousands of miles away from the franchise he would one day ruin. The Jazz, by contrast, have won 15 playoff series in that span. I could go on, pointing out that the Jazz have won seven division titles to your two, and that Stockton-to-Malone and now Williams & Boozer have worked out much, much better than Iverson & ‘Melo ever have or ever will or how the Jazz have had just one losing season since 1983 compared to 13 for the Nuggets or how the Jazz have missed the playoffs just three times in that span against the Nuggets’ 11 misses or how when the Jazz won 64 games in 1998, the Nuggets won 11 (which makes the Nuggets’ 17-65 record in 2003 look like a winning season! … the good news is that compared to the 1998 team’s winning percentage of .134, the Nuggets’ playoffs winning percentage of .167 in the ‘Melo Era is actually not completely awful) or how the Jazz have eight division titles to Denver’s three in that span or or how the Jazz winning percentage since 1983 is about 20 points higher than the Nuggets or any other of a million statistics that proves thoroughly, exhaustibly and inarguably how much better the Utah Jazz franchise is than the one on the other side of the Rockies. You might as well be arguing that downtown Baghdad is a better place to visit than Honolulu.

So take your bet? Nah, I won’t. Not because the Nuggets will make the playoffs (they won’t; the West is too good especially with Portland and the Clippers on the rise; AI is aging, ‘Melo is not improving and the rest of their team plays sloppily), and not because it’s immoral and illegal (which it is), and not because gambling leads to people having to downgrade where they live (and, therefore, have to live in a hellhole like Colorado when they could be living in a heaven like Utah). But because you’ve suffered enough. After all, Dikembe Mutombo is one of the all-time greatest players ever to slip on a Nuggets uniform.

That’s when you know your franchise sucks.

So enjoy the $1,000 I’m letting you keep, and also enjoy watching the Clippers become a better franchise. In the meantime face the reality: Carmelo Anthony is a cheap, less effective knockoff of Tracy McGrady: He can score, but he can’t win.

P.S. Why are you such a big fan of armpit hair?

ESPN’s “Road to Redemption”

I had been looking forward to this show, but I only caught one segment–and it highlighted players from the 2004 team who were on the 2008 team–Carmelo, Dwayne, and LeBron.

But no Carlos. Unquestionably, this was no mere oversight. This was an intentional exclusion to highlight three SportsCenter stars. Now, I don’t deny Dwayne Wade and LeBron James have earned their right to be in the spotlight, but ever since leading Syracuse to a national title in ‘03, what has ‘Melo done?

CARMELO ANTHONY IS THE MOST OVERRATED PLAYER IN THE NBA.

I had to write that in bold and in all caps because the message is not getting through, despite subpar season after subpar season in Colorado. And as Denver sits on the verge of no longer being a playoff team (Yes, Denver will not make the playoffs in 2009; you read it here first–they simply will be unable to beat out the Trail Blazers and either the Warriors or Clippers, depending on who gets Brand; and don’t forget this all happening with the “dream pairing” of AI and Melo … sorry, AI, you straight up got traded to a stinker), Carmelo, occupying a place on a team on which he doesn’t deserve to be, is getting serious face time on ESPN. Meanwhile, Deron Williams, a legitimate star, can occasionally be seen in the background. And Carlos Boozer, who should have been interviewed along with those guys, … well, he is basically forgotten.
ONE OTHER NOTE: The show also shows Kobe Bryant telling how moved he was to finally put on a USA jersey, a supposed long-time dream of his. Yeah, it was so a long-time dream and so personally important that he has flaked off the Dream Team his entire career! What a bunch a crap! This is 2,030,232nd reason to hate Kobe Bryant.

Jazz have most Olympic Dream Team selections of any team

The Utah Jazz are the team with most players on this year’s Olympic Dream team with two: Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer.

The selections of Williams and Boozer, however, also push the Jazz ahead of the Phoenix Suns for the most Olympic Dream Team selections of all time. The Jazz now have seven to the Suns’ five.

Think of this stat like this: There have been five teams, each had 12 spots; of those 60 spots, seven, or 12 percent of all rosters, went to Jazzmen. Also, of the 11 players selected to more than one Dream Team, three have been Jazz players: Boozer, Stockton and Malone. And Williams will almost certainly be on the 2012 team, so the Jazz have consistent superstars.

Of the five U.S. Olympic teams since the Dream Team was first put together in 1992, three of those teams have featured Jazz teammates (John Stockton and Malone in 1992 and 1996, and Williams and Boozer this year). In fact, only Boozer, then a newly-signed free agent, has represented the Jazz by himself at an Olympics, in 2004.

That the Jazz have had three teammates on Olympic Dream Teams is staggering, considering that only seven sets of teammates have even played on the Olympic team since 1992; meaning the Jazz own three of the seven teammate pairings in Olympic Dream Team history. (The other teammates who represented the U.S. in the Olympics were Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen of Chicago in 1992; Vin Baker and Gary Payton of Seattle in 2000; Tim Hardaway and Alonzo Mourning of Miami in 2000; and Amare Stoudemire and Shawn Marion of Phoenix in 2004).

Of the seven pairings, only Utah’s three pairings, along with Chicago’s and arguably the Phoenix’s are even legitimate. What were Tim Hardaway and Vin Baker doing in the Olympics anyway?

To put the three teams with Jazz teammates into perspective, consider this: Only nine NBA teams have had a total of at least three players represent them in the Olympics. And three teams–the Clippers, Wizards and Hawks–have never sent a player to the Olympics (although given those teams’ histories, that’s hardly surprising; Duke also has the distinction of having more Dream Team selections than any of these teams, since Christian Laettner was somehow chosen over Shaquille O’Neal to represent the college players on the original dream team. This statistic will no doubt give credence to the idea that Duke could beat the Hawks).

The only year the Jazz did not have a player on the Olympic team was in 2000, when the U.S. sent arguably its least star-studded team to the Olympics in a roster that included Baker, Steve Smith, Shareef Abdur-Rahim, Tim Hardaway, Antonio McDyess, and Allan Houston.

I know what you’re thinking … Steve Smith was on a Dream Team? Was Matt Harpring unavailable? And, yes, the 2000 team somehow won a gold medal, which has to be the biggest insult of all-time to the Europeans that a team with Steve Smith, Antonio McDyess and Vin Baker still won the gold medal.

And it raises the question of, how did the 2004 team lose? I blame LeBronze.

Some other surprising things about the Dream Teams:

• Michael Jordan, Shaquille O’Neal and Tim Duncan have both played in just one Olympics, which puts Abdur-Rahim and Smith somehow in their league.
• Stephon Marbury was an Olympian four years ago? Maybe I shouldn’t be so quick to blame LeBronze.
• Really? Tim Hardaway in 2000? Really? Those shoe commercials had to be at least eight years old by then?
• Sacramento has had one Olympian. Naturally, you would think it was Chris Webber. You’d be wrong. It was Mitch Richmond, whose only real value was being decent enough that Washington decided that giving up Chris Webber for him was a good idea.
• Milwaukee has more selections than Boston does?
• Of the players selected to the Dream Team twice, Jason Kidd is the only one selected in nonconsecutive Olympics. And he is also the only one to switch teams between selections. He was with Phoenix when he was chosen in 2000, and is now with Dallas as he goes to represent the U.S. in 2008. Yeah, and in between, he had an entire career with the Nets.
• Can a Dream Team be a “Dream Team” if it features Antonio McDyess?
• Of the 11 players selected to two Olympics, Carmelo Anthony is by far the weakest player.
• Five of the original Dream Team were on the 1996 team. Only one player (Gary Payton) from the 1996 team was on the 2000 squad, and no player from the 2000 lineup was on the 2004 entry. But this year, four players from the 2004 team (Boozer, James, Wade and Anthony) are again on the team.
• And how has Jerry Sloan never coached the Dream Team?

OLYMPIC DREAM TEAM SELECTIONS BY TEAM

ATLANTA [0]: None

BOSTON [1]: Larry Bird, 1992

CHARLOTTE [1]: Emeka Okafor, 2004

CHICAGO [3]: Michael Jordan, 1992; Scottie Pippen, 1992 & 1996

CLEVELAND [2]: LeBron James, 2004 & 2008

DALLAS [1]: Jason Kidd, 2008

DETROIT [2]: Grant Hill, 1996; Tayshaun Prince, 2008

DENVER [3]: Antonio McDyess, 2000; Carmelo Anthony, 2004 & 2008

DUKE UNIV.[1]: Christian Laettner, 1992

GOLDEN STATE [1]: Chris Mullin, 1992.

HOUSTON [1]: Hakeem Olajuwon, 1996.

INDIANA [1]: Reggie Miller, 1996.

L.A. CLIPPERS [0]: None

L.A. LAKERS [3]: Magic Johnson, 1992; Shaquille O’Neal, 1996; Kobe Bryant, 2008

MIAMI [4]: Tim Hardaway, 2000; Alonzo Mourning, 2000; Dwyane Wade, 2004 & 2008

MILWAUKEE [2]: Ray Allen, 2000; Michael Redd, 2008

MINNESOTA [1]: Kevin Garnett, 2000

NEW JERSEY [1]: Richard Jefferson, 2004

NEW ORLEANS [1]: Chris Paul, 2008

NEW YORK [3]: Patrick Ewing, 1992; Allan Houston, 2000; Stephon Marbury, 2004.

ORLANDO [2]: Anfernee Hardaway, 1996; Dwight Howard, 2008

PHILADELPHIA [1]: Allen Iverson, 2008.

PHOENIX [5]: Charles Barkley, 1992 & 1996; Jason Kidd, 2000; Shawn Marion, 2004; Amare Stoudemire, 2004

PORTLAND [2]: Clyde Drexler, 1992; Steve Smith, 2000

SACRAMENTO [1]: Mitch Richmond, 1996

SAN ANTONIO [3]: David Robinson, 1992 & 1996; Tim Duncan, 2004.

SEATTLE [3]: Gary Payton, 1996 & 2000; Vin Baker, 2000.

TORONTO [2]: Vince Carter, 2000; Chris Bosh, 2008

UTAH [7]: Karl Malone, 1992 & 1996; John Stockton, 1992 & 1996; Carlos Boozer, 2004 & 2008; Deron Williams, 2008.

WASHINGTON [0]: None

VANCOUVER/MEMPHIS [1]: Shareef Abdur-Rahim, 2000

TOP THREE

1. Utah 7
2. Phoenix 5
3. Miami 4

Three-selection teams: Chicago, Denver, L.A. Lakers, New York, San Antonio, Seattle

Two-selection teams: Cleveland, Milwaukee, Orlando, Portland, Toronto

One-selection teams: Boston, Charlotte, Dallas, Duke, Golden State, Houston, Indiana, Memphis/Vancouver, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Orleans, Philadelphia, Sacramento,

Zero seletion teams: Atlanta, L.A. Clippers, Washington

TEAMMATES AT THE OLYMPICS

Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen, Chicago, 1992
Karl Malone and John Stockton, Utah, 1992
Karl Malone and John Stockton, Utah, 1992
Gary Payton and Vin Baker, Seattle, 2000
Tim Hardaway and Alonzo Mourning, Miami, 2000
Shawn Marion and Amare Stoudemire, Phoenix, 2004
Carlos Boozer and Deron Williams, Utah, 2008

PLAYERS WITH MULTIPLE SELECTIONS

Carmelo Anthony, Denver, 2004 & 2008
Charles Barkley, Phoenix, 1992 & 1996
Carlos Boozer, Utah, 2004 & 2008
LeBron James, Cleveland, 2004 & 2008
Jason Kidd, Phoenix & Dallas, 2000 & 2008
Karl Malone, Utah, 1992 & 1996
Gary Payton, Seattle, 1996 & 2000
Scottie Pippen, Chicago, 1992 & 1996
David Robinson, San Antonio, 1992 & 1996
John Stockton, Utah, 1992 & 1996
Dwyane Wade, Miami, 2004 & 2008

PLAYERS WITH MULTIPLE SELECTIONS

Carmelo Anthony, Denver, 2004 & 2008
Charles Barkley, Phoenix, 1992 & 1996
Carlos Boozer, Utah, 2004 & 2008
LeBron James, Cleveland, 2004 & 2008
Jason Kidd, Phoenix & Dallas, 2000 & 2008
Karl Malone, Utah, 1992 & 1996
Gary Payton, Seattle, 1996 & 2000
Scottie Pippen, Chicago, 1992 & 1996
David Robinson, San Antonio, 1992 & 1996
John Stockton, Utah, 1992 & 1996
Dwyane Wade, Miami, 2004 & 2008

Note to Kyle Korver

Hello! We traded for you to make threes! 0-6? Really? I’m amazed you could even jack up that many in Jerry Sloan’s system, let alone miss all of them.

Thoughts from Game Three

§  Show up to play tomorrow, Jazz.

 

§  “Skip To My Lou” became “Kiss Guys Named Carl.” Carl didn’t like it all. Do you think there’s so awkward sexual tension between Landry and Alston in the locker room now?

 

§  If I were going to make a sign and take it to the game tonight, it would say: “Hey, Alston and Landry, get a room!” Alston would totally play the woman in that relationship. We should start calling him “Skip to My Louise”

 

§  According to media reports, there is only guy playing in this series: T-Mac. Despite playing against no one, he has managed to lose two games. Wow. He must suck.

 

§  Did you hear the Houston radio call of that final play? Even the Rockets’ broadcaster thought they were beaten on that last play. I woke up today in disbelief. Does anyone else remember a time D-Will blew a game-winning layup at the ESA? Then I went downstairs to eat my Cheerios and who was on my milk carton? Carlos Boozer. Seems he’s been missing since the regular season ended.

 

§  The Jazz should have called timeout. That final play was totally discombobulated, especially when Korver got trapped in the corner.

 

§  So who gets the blame? Sloan’s team was certainly coasting throughout the game, and it bit them. And, hopefully, this is a tough lesson that sticks with the young team. Perhaps D-Will and Booze just didn’t exemplify intensity correctly prior to Game 3. Tracy McGrady no doubt messed up someone’s beverage order in the stands (how do you confuse Sprite for root beer?); he’s such a ditz. … I blame the protestors outside Energy Solutions Arena. Yes, the Rockets are from Texas, but I don’t think any of them have anything to do with FLDS raid. Except McGrady—he’s to blame. Depending on how you see the issue, McGrady is either (A) the one stomping the Constitution to death by denying the FLDS their Constitutional right to due process in whisking children away from their mothers on the basis of a hoax phone call, or (B) the one who arranged for 35-year-olds to marry their 13-year-old cousins resulting in kids that look like Scola and have the intellectual impairment of Adelman. Personally, I think McGrady shoulders the blame for both sides. … Seriously, though, why protest the Jazz game? I know it’s publicity. But, seriously, don’t distract our fans. The fans were subpar in Game 2, just like our team. These protests are killing our playoff momentum. So protestors: move John Stockton Drive in SLC and instead relocate to Dave Winfield Boulevard in Colorado City.

 

§  Explaining that last comment: Winfield was charged with bigamy in the early 1990s.

 

§  I’ve had a good time poking fun at McGrady for his blame-me-for-everything interview. But let’s be honest, it’s not like he majored in logic at college … or even took a college class, so we got allow him some stupid comments. And also cut him some leeway for not being a team player.

 

§  We went for a near-guaranteed to sweep to what now looks like it will be a six-game series. But we absolutely have to take care of business at home.

 

§  Whatever happened to Ben Handlogten?

Game Two Thoughts

Thoughts from Game Two

 

§  This series as good as over.

 

§  So much for Clutch City.

 

§  On ESPN radio after the game, host Jason Smith said he was forever banning anyone from calling Tracy McGrady a “superstar” on his show because McGrady complained he had no legs to go in the fourth quarter of the second game of the series against a “fresh Kirilenko.” It’s an excuse; and it’s a poor one. And it’s the excuse of a beaten man with no answers. I could go off on T-Mac’s leadership again here (he also took swipes at teammate Luther Head’s shooting and Adelman’s decision to not play someone named Novak), but I won’t. Because I’d prefer to talk about something that actually matters.

 

§  So T-Mac is out as superstar. A new NBA superstar emerged in Houston the night T-Mac’s flimsy claim to that title flickered out. Deron Williams is a superstar. Clearly, he is a better player than T-Mac. He’s beaten him now twice in the playoffs precisely because Deron knows how to step up his game in crunch time. Despite a sore bottom and despite absorbing a clearly dirty cheap shot by Aaron Brooks, D-Will willed his team to the win. He was money down the stretch, while T-Mac disappeared, disintegrated, dissolved.

 

§  ESPN is making a big deal over the call on Scola for fouling Andrei just before Bobby Jackson hit a three-point. I’ll admit Andrei flopped somewhat, but it’s not like he wasn’t touched. Kirilenko was chasing after the man with the ball when Scola reached across his body from behind and clearly grabbed AK by the abdomen. It stopped AK’s progress and allowed the pass to be made unhindered. It gave the Rockets a clear advantage, flop or no flop. It was the right call. Adelman and T-Mac can use it for an excuse if they want; but it’s time for those two to stop finding excuses and start finding ways to win. Here’s a hunch: The Rockets will keep losing and keep finding someone else to blame.

 

§  Is ESPN even aware the Jazz played tonight? They seem to know that the Rockets lost, but do they know to whom the Rockets lost?

 

§  I’m a little sick of this. The Jazz win two games, and after both games, ESPN focuses its attention on the Rockets’ failures and not the Jazz victory. Some good news on that front: No more Rockets stories on ESPN after Friday.

 

§  It’s time though for the Jazz to get some love. After reaching the conference finals last year and the second round this season in the extremely tough West, it’s time for people to recognize the Jazz as one of the league’s elite teams.

 

§  Do you think Jeff Van Gundy is happy that the Rockets are losing?

 

§  The Jazz won tonight despite Carlos not playing his best. Another sign of how completely better the Jazz are than the Rockets.

 

§  Memo was huge tonight; it was clear early that he came to win. After both he and Brewer played unspectacularly on Saturday, both players responded. Brewer has a jaw-dropping dunk in the first half. But Memo came with a determination to rebound that was sorely needed. His 16 points and 16 blocks were really valuable.

 

§  Go Nuggets! Obviously, the Nuggets would be easier to beat than L.A. We own Denver. The problem is the Lakers do too (and for that matter any other viable Western Conference “owns” the Nuggets; the AI and ‘Melo experiment looks much better on paper than it ever has on the court). Realistically, all we can hope is that Denver forces a sixth game so the Jazz can have some extra rest.

 

§  Loved Ronnie Price’s 3-pointer.