Kibbles N' Shits

Last night's game between our beloved Utah Jazz and that adolescent Nigget team awakened within myself virtually every possible emotion. There was excitement and anticipation for the first game of the season; Anguish and sympathy 24 seconds into the game when Memo tried in vain to take a charge from Nene and instead got stepped on and slightly injured; Fear and anxiety when Okur hobbled into the locker room and was replaced by Fez; Elation and surprise when Fez played not only decent but effectively; Pride and I daresay love for Deron Williams aka Black Jesus in Nikes for his ridiculous play in the game in general, but mostly in the third quarter when he made Chauncy his bitch (like someone named Chauncy could be anything else); Apathy and resentment towards Carlos Boozer who would've had the same affect on the game if he did play in Miami; Agony and woe watching the train wreck that was Paul Milsap's errant pass to Deron that Carmelo stole and then returned in the form of a ESPN highlight dunk in Paul's face; Terror from the disaster that is AK's new do (I hold Masha accountable for this); and lastly confused and vulnerable throughout the whole 4th quarter and for a few hours after the game.

Now that the dust has settled and those emotions have crawled back into the cracks of my soul I come away with just a few thoughts...

Talk is Cheap
The Jazz have said repeatedly that they are committed to the defensive side of the ball and it's easy to say that when it's training camp and the opposition is weak or weeks away. After last night's debacle I think the Jazz got a taste of reality and if they want any chance of going deep into the playoffs it's going to take a lot more than just saying defence is important over and over again. The Jazz are awesome offensively, but if they want to be one of the elite teams in the league then they need to be able to rely on their D when their shots aren't falling. In the fourth quarter we couldn't buy a bucket and instead of buckling down defensively we turned into powder blue cream puffs. After the game Sloan had a great comment that I'll paraphrase, "We would be great on defense if we could score every time." That says a lot about getting back in transition, but I also think that as a unit they get down on themselves when their shots aren't falling and that leads to sluggishness on defense.

Paul Milsap Pop Quiz
Question:What do you do when presented with this situation?

After already hitting a couple of consecutive buckets to swing the momentum their way the other team's star player steals your outlet pass to Deron Williams and now the only thing between them and the basket is you. Now you are no slouch in fact you've created quite a reputation as being a tough hardnosed player. Do you?

a. just let the player go by and dunk the ball?
b. give a hard foul and put the douche bag on his back?
c. pathetically stand there and get viciously dunked on so that not only does he get a free throw, but now has the crowd into the game and you on the ass end of a highlight reel for years to come?

Answer: not 'c'. Answer 'z' for all I care, but 'c' is just not an option. I personally like 'b' because I prefer Melo on his back over pounding his chest and yelling "I'm back!" Back from what is another story alltogether.