From: jjehlers@flapjack.dsd.es.com (JJ H. Ehlers)
Subject: Re: What happened in last night's Jazz Game?
Organization: Evans & Sutherland
Date: Fri, 20 Nov 92 00:05:52 GMT

In article <19NOV199212131811@bpavms.bpa.arizona.edu>, dolsen@bpavms.bpa.arizona.edu (David Olsen) writes:
|> All I saw was the score that the Jazz beat the Celtics for the first time
|> ever in the Garden.  It was also their 4th straight win on the road after
|> losing two at home.  We need some info as we get nothing here in AZ but
|> Suns and Spurs highlights.
|> 
|> Imagine, the Jazz on a road winning streak and struggling at home.
|> 
|> David Olsen

I think the Jazz are finally begining to play like the team that they
can be.  After the win at home against the Clippers last Saturday, they
seemed to have gotten a wake-up call. They lost their first 2 at home
against Golden State and Phoenix.  They have currently won 4 on the road
against Dallas, Denver, New Jersey, and Boston.  The Jazz have 2 more
on the road, Indiana Friday and Washington Saturday.  Then they will
come home a play San Antonio on Wed. and NJ on Friday.  The Jazz definately
started out the season by playing absolutely no defense.  They also
were shoting around 40%.  There are several things that you could attribute
this to, none of these are really excuses.

1.  Mark Eaton is out injured.  Believe it our not he was a huge part of 
the Jazz defense.  Also, as Larry Brown (LAC) pointed out, when you have
a player who has been around for as long as Mark (10 years) it is very
hard to replace him when he is out.  Just his personality is missed.

2.  New additions of Jay Humphries and Larry K.  They both really struggled
in the first 4 games.  They still haven't reached their offensive potiential,
but they are really starting to fit in and play good defense.

3.  Everyone expected they are going to do great. The expectations here are
that they will go to the finals.  I think that maybe that made the players
feel like they didn't have to try quite so hard because they're so good.  I
think they've had the wakeup call now, and next time they play GS and Phoenix,
it will be a very different game, and hopefully they Jazz will end up on
top.

I really hope the Jazz will continue to play well, but I'll be the first to
admit, that the teams they have beat on the road, are teams that they should
be beating.  Its just that in years past, the Jazz tended to lose alot of 
the games they should have won.  Now they are hanging in there and winning
them.  As far as the Jazz winning in Boston, I don't believe that the team
the Jazz beat last night compares to the teams of old.  They are good, and
it was a good game, but they don't have Larry Bird to pull it out at the
end.  I don't think that we are going to see the Jazz continue to struggle
at home.

An interesting sidenote from all the talk about the foul calling this
season.  In the 2 games the Jazz lost at home, there were more fouls
called against the Jazz than for them (about 10 more each game).  So for
those who talked about the Jazz refs last season, we haven't seen them
this year.

-- 
  Jennifer Ehlers                   
  jjehlers@dsd.es.com  		    
  Evans & Sutherland Computer Corp. 
  Salt Lake City, Utah               
Newsgroups: rec.sport.basketball.pro