I dont have time to write a full report, but here is an article for the Deseret News.<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>http://www.deseretnews.com/dn/view/0...222324,00.htmlPOINT GUARD Deron Williams: Utah's second-year playmaker has been as good as any point guard in the NBA at times this postseason like in the Jazz's Game 1 win over Golden State when he scored 31 points with eight assists. But Deron Williams has also seen some growing pains during the playoffs. He got into early foul trouble trying to guard Baron Davis in several games and was just 1-for-11 shooting in the Game 5 clincher against the Warriors. Overall, Williams has been outstanding all season long and played at an All-Star level even if he was snubbed when the actual All-Star Team was announced. Tony Parker: San Antonio's Tony Parker was, deservedly, an All-Star this season. He averaged 18.6 points on 52-percent shooting from the field an extremely high percentage for a guard during the regular season. He penetrates and can score on layups or pass the ball back out to an open jump shooter. In the postseason he's averaged 19.6 points and 6.2 assists. The suave Frenchman is also the envy of many men because he's engaged to "Desperate Housewives" star Eva Longoria. SHOOTING GUARD Derek Fisher: has loads of playoff experience, having helped the Lakers to three NBA championships. But he is coming off perhaps the most memorable playoff series of his life having to deal with the cancer surgery of his young daughter while helping the Jazz advance past his former Golden State teammates. Fisher came right off a plane to sink a huge 3-pointer in Utah's overtime win in Game 2 and then was clutch in the fourth quarters of both Game 4 and Game 5 victories. Fisher may not be Utah's best player, but he certainly has already become the team's inspirational leader in just his first season as a Jazzman. Bruce Bowen: has been the ultimate team player for the Spurs since 2001 and was a major contributor to NBA title runs in both 2003 and 2005. He is a hard-nosed defender that has been on the NBA's All-Defensive first team four times including this year and second team three times. His tenacity of defense has led to him being called a "dirty" player by some during the Phoenix series. He can also shoot, having led the NBA in 3-point percentage during the 2002-03 season. He's made 45 percent of his shots beyond the arc during the playoffs this year. SMALL FORWARD Andrei Kirilenko: Reduced to tears after struggling in limited minutes after Game 1 in the Houston series, Andrei Kirilenko has come back with a vengeance to become the Jazz's do-everything man once again. He blocks shots, grabs rebounds, dishes out assists, makes steals and even scores on mid-range jumpers now and then. He scored 21 points on 8-of-12 shooting in Utah's Game 5 clincher against the Warriors with 15 rebounds. While the former All-Star seemed to have lacked confidence for most of the season, he has been at his best in recent playoff run. Michael Finley: was the longtime face of the Dallas Mavericks who has morphed into an outstanding role player for the Spurs. Finley is still a scorer he's averaged 14.5 points during the playoffs but he's not the focal point on his team offensively like he'd been for years in Dallas. Finley actually came off the bench for most of the regular season for the Spurs, but he's been in the starting lineup for all 11 games during the postseason. He's been deadly from 3-point range in the playoffs, making a team-high 34 in 11 games for an average of better than three per game, while shooting .459 from beyond the arc. POWER FORWARD Carlos Boozer: This, of course, is the marquee matchup of the series. Utah's Carlos Boozer, a first-time All-Star this season, averaged 20.9 points and 11.7 rebounds per game during the regular season. Tim Duncan, a two-time MVP and nine-time All-Star, had similar numbers, averaging 20.0 points and 10.6 rebounds per game. Both have elevated those gaudy numbers even more in the playoffs and are again just about even. Boozer has averaged 24.4 points per playoff game and 12.3 rebounds. Duncan has playoff averages of 23.8 points and 12.3 boards. Tim Duncan, a three-time NBA Finals MVP, has the huge advantage in playoff experience, of course. This is, after all, Boozer's first trip to the playoffs in his five years in the NBA. Duncan is also the better defensive player and shot blocker. He was named to the NBA's All-Defensive first team seventh time this season. But Boozer's rise to the upper echelon of NBA players can continue if he is able to hold his own in this series against one of the league's best, most consistent players. CENTER Mehmet Okur: Utah's center and tallest player also happens to be the team's best outside shooter. He showed remarkable ability to make huge 3-point shots at key times for the Jazz prior to the All-Star break. That was one reason Mehmet Okur was named as an All-Star for the first time in his career. While Okur's success trailed off during the second half of the regular season, he still became the most prolific 3-point shooter in a single season in Jazz history, making 129. He's also a strong rebounder, averaging 9.1 in the playoffs. This is one position where Utah should have the clear advantage. Fabricio Oberto, a 6-10 second-year player from Argentina, was a part-time starter both in the regular season and in the playoffs. He averaged just four points and four rebounds per game in 16 minutes per game, but made 63.6 percent of his shots in the first two rounds of the playoffs. He will split time with Francisco Elson, who has also been a part-time starter in both the regular season and the playoffs so far. BENCH Matt Harpring, Paul Millsap, Gordan Giracek, Dee Brown: Utah has had the clear advantage in bench help against both the Rockets and the Warriors through the first two rounds of the playoffs. Harpring, Millsap and Giracek have combined to average 22.8 points per game in the playoffs with Harpring leading the way with a 10.4 average. Millsap and Harpring are strong rebounders as well, as the trio has averaged 11.7 boards per playoff game. Dee Brown was little used against the Rockets and missed two games due to a neck injury against the Warriors, but has played well as a fill-in point guard in five playoff games. Manu Ginobili, Robert Horry, Francisco Elson, Brent Barry, Jacque Vaughn: Manu Ginobili, a former All-Star, can shoot from the outside and drive to the rim better than almost anyone in the NBA. He struggled a bit early in the series against the Suns, but was huge in the Game 5 and 6 victories. Robert Horry is a veteran of 220 playoffs games, having won NBA titles as a member of the Rockets, Lakers and Spurs. He's well-known for many late-game shots mostly 3-pointers over the years, which earned him the nickname "Big-shot Bob." This playoff season, however, he's better known for his flagrant foul on Phoenix's Steve Nash at the end of Game 4. Brent Barry can provide instant offense and ex-Jazz point guard Jacque Vaughn is a veteran backup who averages nine minutes per game. COACHES Jerry Sloan:The respective coaches of the Jazz and the Spurs have a sincere mutual admiration going on. Greg Popovich's team's are the ones with the three NBA titles, but he's quick to praise Jerry Sloan for the way he prepares his team and gets the most out of the talent available to him. Sloan doesn't own any NBA titles, but his teams have won 86 playoff games and gotten to two NBA Finals. He's also a member of the NBA's exclusive 1,000-win coaching club. Sloan has been been the Jazz head coach for 19 years the longest tenure in the league. Gregg Popovich: Guess who is second? That's right. It's Popovich, who has coached the Spurs for 11 seasons. Popovich's teams have 84 playoff wins two fewer than Sloan's total. But Pop's teams have only lost 50 playoff games compared to 85 postseason losses for Sloan. Both coaches instill discipline in their players, concentrate on defense and prefer half-court style games more than run-and-gun affairs. The result will likely make for hard-fought, low-scoring games with plenty of hard fouls.</div>My PredictionJazz 92 Spurs 85
I think this is going to be a great series, with us going to see alot of different matchups. Both of these teams are generally slower teams, but it has been proven that they can run also. Both are multi-dimensional teams that can play the fast paced and slow paced games if need be. If the oppurtunity presents itself, these two teams will get out and run.For the Spurs, they are going to have to keep the Jazz from controlling the rebounding in this game. The Jazz are one of the best rebounding teams in the league because of all of their size and toughness. It will be essential for them to be boxing out and crashing the boards. Especially on defense, as the Jazz can kill with offensive rebounds. Two great matchups will be with Duncan guarding Boozer in the post, and Bowen on Deron Williams on the outside. Bown is going to hound Williams, try to cut off his driving lanes, and cause probles much as he did for Nash in that series. Duncan is going to have to deal with Boozer, who can hit the mid range shots, as well as post up and his shots on the inside He has a very good offensive arsenal, and will be hard to stop. Duncan down low is going to do his thing no matter what, because come playoff time Duncan is a beast. So for the Jazz, they need to stop these Spurs guards from being able to get into the paint easily, Especially Tony Parker. When Parker and Ginobili are able to get into the paint, and drive to the rim, it's hard to stop the Spurs. Something the Suns did, which I think would be worth a try, was put a long armed defender onto Parker in Marion which worked for a couple of games. I would try that same thing, to begin with, and try Kirilenko on Parker just to see if his length might be able to keep control on Parker a little bit. Then you can have Williams guard Bowen on the outside, which will be an easier defensive matchup for the Jazz. Either way, they need to try to cut Parker and Ginobili off from the dribble drive as much as possible.
I think Utah could win this series it's just simply a matter of mentality. If the Jazz think they can win, then they can.
Jacque Vaughn is a solid backup PG. I'd love to have him on the Wizards. Utah is stagnant offensively, and they're not getting good looks whatsoever. Some of the credit does go to San Antonio's defense, however.
Utah needs to go inside, they're not an outside team. but the Jazz need to wake up or this series will be over before they know it.
Spurs are simply killing the Jazz right now. Nobody is doing anything to Duncan on defense, Manu is doing whatever he wants, Oberto is playing solid, and Tony is getting to the whole. The Spurs as a team shot 65% from the first half, so obviously, that is going to last for too long, but the Jazz cant expect to win playing the kind of defense that they are playing right now...Also, they are shooting terribly so that doesn't help either.
As Mike Wilbon just stated, the Spurs are giving their bench guys a lot of minutes because of the tough series the team just had against the Suns. The starters for San Antonio are pretty worn out after that series and guys like Duncan, Parker, Finley and Bowen will need relief from their reserves. Duncan's presence is tremendous for SA right now, but the bench play is just solid and if they're productive like this, the Spurs could end this series in a sweep.
Utah is playing much better in the 2nd half.. but jeez, Boozer is still struggling. They're still within striking range, and that's crucial for them.
This has been the Jazz problem all year long, players like Ginobili give them fits. than the guards always struggle against a Zone and Boozer can never figure it out either. But Utah has to start playing defense and hitting shots. Utah has missed way to many easy ones.The Jazz aren't winning this game. but they need to play hard to atleast hang in there with the Spurs so they know that they can do it.
Deron Williams is playing like an absolute monster...You gotta love his game. Utah is still fighting and only down 7 right now but the game is over pretty much...
I think Utah can prolong the series, remember Utah lost the first two in Houston but took that series 7 and won. Some of what hurt the Jazz today was inexperience, they made a lot of mental errors in the first half. if Utah can cut those down they'll be fine.
The Spurs had 56 points in the paint.. you can't expect a win when you're allowing that many points in the paint. Deron Williams finally came out and just led his team in scoring.. flirted with a triple-double, as well. 34 points, 9 assists, and 7 rebounds. He was the only guy for Utah that really got it going. Fisher 1-7Boozer 7-17Okur 3-15Duncan, Parker, and Ginobili all had great games. It's extremely tough to beat San Antonio when all of those guys have it going for them. Not to mention Finley and Oberto added 14 a piece and that's just gravy for San Antonio. Utah will bounce back. They have a top five coach in the NBA with Sloan, and he has tons of playoff experience. Deron Williams showed up today.. guys like Boozer, Okur, and Kirilenko need to play like they did against Golden State.
If Spurs don't take it in 5 then it be a 7 game series.Jazz will not role over though it will be a hard fought series.
I just don't see Okur having a good series here. He isn't going to just be able to shoot over these guys like he did against the Warriors. These guys are longer, will have hands in his face, will not get the same open oppurtunities from deep, and isn't good enough in the post to really hurt them either. If they want to win, they are going to need Boozer to step up and play better, and the Jazz are going to need Kirlenko to be aggressive. Only 5 attempts is ridiculous, he has the ability to post up whoever guards him. He needs to take advantage of that. They did a good job on the glass tonight, they need to keep that up throughout if they want to win.
Okur actually usually has good games against the Spurs, especially in Utah. the exception to this however is when Boozer also plays Okur does struggle a bit more against San Antonio. Utahs biggest problem was they flat out sucked in the second quarter, and that seems to be a problem with them everytime they play the Spurs, they just suck in the second quarter.
