Sunday, February 21, 2010
New Location!
TornBySports.com has relocated to its permanent home at www.tornbysports.com. Please come visit us there for a local opinion on BYU, Utah, and the Jazz!
Friday, February 12, 2010
Stop the Jazz Music...?
I couldn't help myself I had to jump in on all this Jazz talk.
So, I have had moments in this last winning streak the Jazz have had where I put on the Jazz blue (or green, they have been wearing the throw backs a lot) glasses. I have also taken them off and here I go.
Here is my prediction for the rest of the season: 2nd Round Playoff Loss.
The Jazz have consistently been the 4 or 5 seed in the playoffs the past 3 years. Thanks to the Rockets, the Jazz have made it to the second round of the playoffs. The same thing will happen this year. The Jazz will be a 4 or 5 seed, make it into the 2nd Round and lose to the Lakers. Yes, It is going to give Jazz Fans a deja vu moment as the Lakers celebrate making it to the Western Conference Finals.
So, what about a trade... Boozer and Miles for Bosh... I'm sorry I don't seeing this happen. It is rumored that Mr. Bosh actually likes Toronto and would like to stay there. If the Raptors' organization thinks there is a chance of resigning their franchise player. No Deal! What does intrigue me about the deal is that both Boozer and Bosh are free agents this summer. So, neither team will be worried about the player they traded for leaving them. They were going to lose them anyway.
In my opinion, it is time to deal Boozer for salary cap clearance. Greg Miller and the rest of management need to remember that Salt Lake City is a small market. Also, if my prediction is right, if the Jazz are bound for a second round exit, why not trade for salary cap relief?
Fox, I cannot agree with you more when it comes to Miles. Why in the world did we resign him anyway? Why did we match the offer that Oklahoma City gave him? I would much rather watch him throw up bricks for the Thunder. Then the rumbling he would hear would be from the fans in Oklahoma City.
Playing soft is a good point Fox. That is who the Jazz have become. This brings me to a problem with the way that Kevin O'Connor has constructed this team. He has put a young, offensive, soft team together to be coached by Jerry Sloan. What is Sloan known for? Hard nose basketball, physical defense and offense, and elbows flying. So, how can we expect the Jazz to fulfill their potential when they are the exact opposite of the philosophy that Jerry Sloan implements? It reminds me to some extent of when Scott Skiles was with the Chicago Bulls. He was a hard nose, defensive coach with an offensive, young team. Eventually the young Bulls team stopped listening to Skiles and he was fired (You might remember that he was fired on Christmas Eve 2007).
Now, I don't think Jerry Sloan will lose this team. With veteran players like Boozer and Williams who have been coached by defensive coaches with Team USA. You would have thought that such experiences would turn these two into prominent leaders with the Jazz. This just hasn't developed in a way that I am happy. If you want Deron Williams to step it up, he needs to do it as a leader. When the team gets into a tough spot, instead of trying to carry the team himself I would rather see him rally the team behind him and work through it. Let me remind you of the last time the Jazz made it to the Western Conference Finals. Early in that season the Jazz could be down big and come back to win. That was when the Memo Okur became the Money Man (which he no longer is). There is one player I can think of that has been missing ever since, Derek Fisher. Since the Jazz have lost the leadership from a veteran player with championship experience they no longer seem to regroup when they get down big.
Like I have said before. This is the same Jazz from the past years. Second round defeat in the playoffs. Insanity is doing the same thing over again and expecting different results. The Utah Jazz organization is insane and I hope Greg Miller and Kevin O'Connor can see it and make a deal before the organization loses millions to the salary cap.
So, I have had moments in this last winning streak the Jazz have had where I put on the Jazz blue (or green, they have been wearing the throw backs a lot) glasses. I have also taken them off and here I go.
Here is my prediction for the rest of the season: 2nd Round Playoff Loss.
The Jazz have consistently been the 4 or 5 seed in the playoffs the past 3 years. Thanks to the Rockets, the Jazz have made it to the second round of the playoffs. The same thing will happen this year. The Jazz will be a 4 or 5 seed, make it into the 2nd Round and lose to the Lakers. Yes, It is going to give Jazz Fans a deja vu moment as the Lakers celebrate making it to the Western Conference Finals.
So, what about a trade... Boozer and Miles for Bosh... I'm sorry I don't seeing this happen. It is rumored that Mr. Bosh actually likes Toronto and would like to stay there. If the Raptors' organization thinks there is a chance of resigning their franchise player. No Deal! What does intrigue me about the deal is that both Boozer and Bosh are free agents this summer. So, neither team will be worried about the player they traded for leaving them. They were going to lose them anyway.
In my opinion, it is time to deal Boozer for salary cap clearance. Greg Miller and the rest of management need to remember that Salt Lake City is a small market. Also, if my prediction is right, if the Jazz are bound for a second round exit, why not trade for salary cap relief?
Fox, I cannot agree with you more when it comes to Miles. Why in the world did we resign him anyway? Why did we match the offer that Oklahoma City gave him? I would much rather watch him throw up bricks for the Thunder. Then the rumbling he would hear would be from the fans in Oklahoma City.
Playing soft is a good point Fox. That is who the Jazz have become. This brings me to a problem with the way that Kevin O'Connor has constructed this team. He has put a young, offensive, soft team together to be coached by Jerry Sloan. What is Sloan known for? Hard nose basketball, physical defense and offense, and elbows flying. So, how can we expect the Jazz to fulfill their potential when they are the exact opposite of the philosophy that Jerry Sloan implements? It reminds me to some extent of when Scott Skiles was with the Chicago Bulls. He was a hard nose, defensive coach with an offensive, young team. Eventually the young Bulls team stopped listening to Skiles and he was fired (You might remember that he was fired on Christmas Eve 2007).
Now, I don't think Jerry Sloan will lose this team. With veteran players like Boozer and Williams who have been coached by defensive coaches with Team USA. You would have thought that such experiences would turn these two into prominent leaders with the Jazz. This just hasn't developed in a way that I am happy. If you want Deron Williams to step it up, he needs to do it as a leader. When the team gets into a tough spot, instead of trying to carry the team himself I would rather see him rally the team behind him and work through it. Let me remind you of the last time the Jazz made it to the Western Conference Finals. Early in that season the Jazz could be down big and come back to win. That was when the Memo Okur became the Money Man (which he no longer is). There is one player I can think of that has been missing ever since, Derek Fisher. Since the Jazz have lost the leadership from a veteran player with championship experience they no longer seem to regroup when they get down big.
Like I have said before. This is the same Jazz from the past years. Second round defeat in the playoffs. Insanity is doing the same thing over again and expecting different results. The Utah Jazz organization is insane and I hope Greg Miller and Kevin O'Connor can see it and make a deal before the organization loses millions to the salary cap.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Where Do We Go From Here?
Well folks, the first half of the Jazz season has come to a brutal end.
Are the Lakers a better team without Kobe? Does Charlie Daniels play a mean fiddle?
The Lakers sent the Jazz in to the break with a HUGE victory in Utah last night, and don't you dare try to blame it on a back-to-back game night. It looked like Utah didn't even show up, considering they were the second hottest team in the NBA entering the game. Their free throws and 3-point shooting were pathetic, heck, there overall shooting was just terrible. It was a bad loss. Let's not forget, however, that we are still 9-1 in our last ten games, which is amazing! Even though we will enter the break with a tough loss, we must go in with our heads held high... here is why: 1. We are third in the West 2. We DOMINATED many teams on our win streak, and good teams too! 3. Kirilenko is starting to play like he used to 4. Finally, there are no back to back games in the playoffs, so that excuse will be out of the question.
The second half of the season is actually looking very promising for Utah. We really have a chance at passing Denver and moving in to second place in the West (Let's face it though, we aren't going to catch the Lakers). My expectations, however, aren't even that high. If the Jazz can go in as the 5th ranked team I will be happy, but they can do better, we've seen it. But, for the Jazz to be real contenders they need to make some adjustments. Here is what I expect (or would like to see) from the Jazz after the break:
1.USE THE TRADE DEADLINE
As the other writer Grant once pointed out to me, the Jazz are definitely an OK team, but they are not contenders... yet. While on trade is not going to make all the difference in the world, it would definitely help. I think the Jazz need to seriously consider trading Carlos Boozer. I know, I know, he has been playing great, but we can get a solid, maybe even more consistent player if we trade him now instead of holding out. An interesting trade I ran for fun in the ESPN Trade Machine was Carlos Boozer and C.J. Miles for Chris Bosh.... logistically it worked... would the Raptors do that, though? Who knows... but isn't it worth a shot?
2. LITTLE LESS MILES, LITTLE MORE KORVER
I won't lie, I was not a big Korver fan. I always thought Miles would be better. As time goes on, however, Miles keeps getting more and more minutes, and yet doing more and more of nothing. He was supposed to be some sharp shooter that would be a "deep threat" but he hasn't proven himself any better than even Memo from beyond the arc. Korver on the other hand is shooting a very respectable 61% from 3 Point Land, yet Sloan refuses to give him minutes. If Miles is not traded, I would like to see Korver given a chance at proving himself.
3. WILLIAMS MUST TAKE OVER
The nine game win streak was nothing short of amazing for Utah. Each player had his big night (Boozer, Okur, Kirilenko, Millsap, and Price all had huge games). D-Will also played great throughout the whole thing, passing the ball like we have never seen, but he didn't need to take over like he used to because other guys were doing it. Last night against the Lakers, nobody could step up, not even Deron, but I don't blame him. He was in a zone of comfort where he had many games where his heroics weren't needed, so when push came to shove, no one was ready. Deron needs to be the scorer the Jazz haven't had since Karl Malone. He can still get his assists, but I would also like to start seeing 20 points out of the young man as well. When that starts happening, the Jazz will be scary (add Chris Bosh to that line-up and we've got a championship team... just saying....)
4. STOP PLAYING SOFT
The last thing I want to see this half of the season is the stopping of this soft play by the Jazz. I don't know if other teams do this, but Utah does it all the time. You know, someone drives the lane, but instead of going up strong looking to score, Utah goes up soft looking to get fouled, missing the shot, then looking at the refs in disbelief when no foul is called. This needs to end. Take a page out of Lamar Odom's book and look to score first and get fouled second. The Jazz defense is also greatly undersized. Millsap can't defend most guys in his position because they are all bigger than he is and Boozer is too soft. Okur is getting there, but his lack of speed is what kills him, not strength. The Jazz need to be more physical.
The second half of the season is like a whole new season. Nobody can really predict how things may go. But, no matter what happens, just remember: No matter how bad it gets, we are not the New Jersey Nets.
Are the Lakers a better team without Kobe? Does Charlie Daniels play a mean fiddle?
The Lakers sent the Jazz in to the break with a HUGE victory in Utah last night, and don't you dare try to blame it on a back-to-back game night. It looked like Utah didn't even show up, considering they were the second hottest team in the NBA entering the game. Their free throws and 3-point shooting were pathetic, heck, there overall shooting was just terrible. It was a bad loss. Let's not forget, however, that we are still 9-1 in our last ten games, which is amazing! Even though we will enter the break with a tough loss, we must go in with our heads held high... here is why: 1. We are third in the West 2. We DOMINATED many teams on our win streak, and good teams too! 3. Kirilenko is starting to play like he used to 4. Finally, there are no back to back games in the playoffs, so that excuse will be out of the question.
The second half of the season is actually looking very promising for Utah. We really have a chance at passing Denver and moving in to second place in the West (Let's face it though, we aren't going to catch the Lakers). My expectations, however, aren't even that high. If the Jazz can go in as the 5th ranked team I will be happy, but they can do better, we've seen it. But, for the Jazz to be real contenders they need to make some adjustments. Here is what I expect (or would like to see) from the Jazz after the break:
1.USE THE TRADE DEADLINE
As the other writer Grant once pointed out to me, the Jazz are definitely an OK team, but they are not contenders... yet. While on trade is not going to make all the difference in the world, it would definitely help. I think the Jazz need to seriously consider trading Carlos Boozer. I know, I know, he has been playing great, but we can get a solid, maybe even more consistent player if we trade him now instead of holding out. An interesting trade I ran for fun in the ESPN Trade Machine was Carlos Boozer and C.J. Miles for Chris Bosh.... logistically it worked... would the Raptors do that, though? Who knows... but isn't it worth a shot?
2. LITTLE LESS MILES, LITTLE MORE KORVER
I won't lie, I was not a big Korver fan. I always thought Miles would be better. As time goes on, however, Miles keeps getting more and more minutes, and yet doing more and more of nothing. He was supposed to be some sharp shooter that would be a "deep threat" but he hasn't proven himself any better than even Memo from beyond the arc. Korver on the other hand is shooting a very respectable 61% from 3 Point Land, yet Sloan refuses to give him minutes. If Miles is not traded, I would like to see Korver given a chance at proving himself.
3. WILLIAMS MUST TAKE OVER
The nine game win streak was nothing short of amazing for Utah. Each player had his big night (Boozer, Okur, Kirilenko, Millsap, and Price all had huge games). D-Will also played great throughout the whole thing, passing the ball like we have never seen, but he didn't need to take over like he used to because other guys were doing it. Last night against the Lakers, nobody could step up, not even Deron, but I don't blame him. He was in a zone of comfort where he had many games where his heroics weren't needed, so when push came to shove, no one was ready. Deron needs to be the scorer the Jazz haven't had since Karl Malone. He can still get his assists, but I would also like to start seeing 20 points out of the young man as well. When that starts happening, the Jazz will be scary (add Chris Bosh to that line-up and we've got a championship team... just saying....)
4. STOP PLAYING SOFT
The last thing I want to see this half of the season is the stopping of this soft play by the Jazz. I don't know if other teams do this, but Utah does it all the time. You know, someone drives the lane, but instead of going up strong looking to score, Utah goes up soft looking to get fouled, missing the shot, then looking at the refs in disbelief when no foul is called. This needs to end. Take a page out of Lamar Odom's book and look to score first and get fouled second. The Jazz defense is also greatly undersized. Millsap can't defend most guys in his position because they are all bigger than he is and Boozer is too soft. Okur is getting there, but his lack of speed is what kills him, not strength. The Jazz need to be more physical.
The second half of the season is like a whole new season. Nobody can really predict how things may go. But, no matter what happens, just remember: No matter how bad it gets, we are not the New Jersey Nets.
Saturday, February 6, 2010
BYU Basketball
Sorry BYU basketball... You can't win the big games and you're going to make another first round exit in march madness.
Friday, February 5, 2010
Jazz
Basically, you'll only hear from me on the Jazz, so hopefully you can handle it. I was just reading articles on ESPN about the Jazz. They are the team to beat so far, but let's see how they handle the next week. True tests for sure! Luckily we get Denver off a back to back with no less than the Lakers. Then the Lakers Wednesday. What a week! GO JAZZ!
Shout out to Wes Mathews and AK. DANG GUYS, you're on fire! I won't complain AK is on my fantasy team. Earlier this season when he got injured I was totally bummed because he was on fire then. Then he came back from his injury and I almost dropped him. Having him in the starting lineup has been quite the help with stats for my team!
And what about a trade? I'm ready for one, and how about one with the Clippers? Their team is too tall, let's go get a tall defensive stopper for the middle, or two?
I'm happy with how they're playing, but I've been a Jazz fan since 4th grade and I'm not sure they won't let me down this year. I have high hopes as I hope you do, but let's not get too excited until they either beat the Lakers in the playoffs or not even have to face them.
AND are you shocked with this turn around? I was pretty sure earlier this season we wouldn't even make the playoffs!
Shout out to Wes Mathews and AK. DANG GUYS, you're on fire! I won't complain AK is on my fantasy team. Earlier this season when he got injured I was totally bummed because he was on fire then. Then he came back from his injury and I almost dropped him. Having him in the starting lineup has been quite the help with stats for my team!
And what about a trade? I'm ready for one, and how about one with the Clippers? Their team is too tall, let's go get a tall defensive stopper for the middle, or two?
I'm happy with how they're playing, but I've been a Jazz fan since 4th grade and I'm not sure they won't let me down this year. I have high hopes as I hope you do, but let's not get too excited until they either beat the Lakers in the playoffs or not even have to face them.
AND are you shocked with this turn around? I was pretty sure earlier this season we wouldn't even make the playoffs!
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
New Site
Check out our new Site, it is still in the works, but should be fully functional with a blog and merchandise by the end of February. www.tornbysports.com
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Another rivalry moment to be remembered. Marshall Henderson hits Emery as the game was coming to an end.
As a BYU fan who has read the blogs from Utah fans on this blog, I would love to exaggerate and say that Henderson was frustrated and punched Jackson Emery in the face, but that would not be accurate. So after some brief physical contact, Henderson threw the ball at Tavernari in an attempt to keep it inbounds and after a quick exchange of words, the “classless” Henderson turned around and flailed his arm with Emery a few inches too close, he hit Emery in the chin; knocking him to the ground. At that point there was a bit of chaos as Tavernari had to be held back, and even the coaches exchanged some words.
A huge freshman mistake, and unfortunate for Henderson, he will have play BYU 3 more times and will not live this one down. He was kicked out of the game, and there will probably be a brief suspension.
"Marshall Henderson made a mistake, plain and simple," Utah coach Jim Boylen said. "We need to move on now. We're going to handle it."
Recap-
The game reminded us all of the Rivalry Football Game, BYU with a strong first half, Utah comeback, with a BYU win.
BYU starts strong, killing Utah in the first half. Utah made a great comeback closing in on BYU, at one point the score was 64-60 BYU, but then Fredette sealed the win scoring 8 points in a row. He was on fire and scored 36 points during the game. BYU wins, 82-69
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