Preseason Game 4: Los Angeles (1-2) vs Utah (3-1)

[mj_shoefanatic]

dj with 16 boards

[mkwest]

96-94 Clippers win. CrawFTW taking care of the offensive responsibilities to close this one out. I expected us to be a little off tonight. There were some lulls, but there were also a lot of highs. I like that the team didn't give up and continued to press through. In the first 3 games, we were averaging 20+ turnovers, and we were able to trim that down to about 12.

Some notable statlines:
Blake - 23 points (11/20 FG, 1/3 FT), 5 rebounds, 5 assists & 5 steals
DJ - 11 points (3/9 FG, 5/13 FT), 16 rebounds, 2 steals & 3 blocks
Crawford - 18 points (4/10 FG, 10/11 FT)
Hollins - 5 blocks
Paul - 6 points, 4 rebounds, 9 assists, 1 steal & 1 block
Green - made 50% of his 4 shots! Both miraculous numbers based on this preseasons standards.

[mj_shoefanatic]

Just imagine when LO, Hill & Billups get out there oh me oh my!!!

[Don Tommy]

My sister's husband is a huge Jazz fan, and we both hate the Lakers, so we have a pact to root for each other's teams when they aren't playing each other. The Jazz can be really good this year, but they need to have someone other than Foye taking the last shot. The first one was good, the second attempt is why he has had problems sticking with a team. He is a great catch and shoot player, but he, like Heyward, cannot create their own shot. This is why I have come around on Crawford. I don't see him disrupting the offensive flow to force shots, but when we need a basket, he will find a way to get a good shot off. Mo might just be that guy for the Jazz this year, but if they trade Al for a better guard that team could be good for years to come

[mkwest]

My sister's husband is a huge Jazz fan, and we both hate the Lakers, so we have a pact to root for each other's teams when they aren't playing each other. The Jazz can be really good this year, but they need to have someone other than Foye taking the last shot. The first one was good, the second attempt is why he has had problems sticking with a team. He is a great catch and shoot player, but he, like Heyward, cannot create their own shot. This is why I have come around on Crawford. I don't see him disrupting the offensive flow to force shots, but when we need a basket, he will find a way to get a good shot off. Mo might just be that guy for the Jazz this year, but if they trade Al for a better guard that team could be good for years to come

They have a good team. From what I have read, most people say that OKC, SAS, the LA teams, Mem and Den are locks with the last 2 spots being up for grabs. I'm pretty sure that the Jazz are good to go barring any unforeseen circumstances. They just need to be looking for a pg. The west is stacked and it's going to be a dogfight to gain positioning. The 8th seed is the only one that I'm not confident on atm. It's hard to envision Dirk not making the playoffs, but if he's injured...Then you have a few younger up-and-coming teams, but they have injury issues of their own. Minnesota looked good before this morning. Now, it's all about how they start the season while Love is out.

[mkwest]

Some postgame quotes...

“We came out slow and Coach [Vinny Del Negro] got on us at the half,” said Chris Paul, who had six points and nine assists in 25 minutes. “The third quarter, we came out strong and our defense started up our offense.”

“You can play tired, but it’s a mindset of really coming in and being ready,” Griffin said. “In the second half, I thought we did a much better job of coming out and getting stops defensively. That’s going to be our whole key, just like last year, when we get stops defensively it leads to offense.”

“We’ve got to be better,” Hollins said when asked about the bench’s performance in the first half. “They (the Jazz) were the aggressors. They were getting to the free throw line, getting tip-ins, kind of out working us. That’s our job, that’s what we’ve got to do.”

“I want us to compete,” Del Negro said. “When you compete you give yourself a chance to win. Obviously you want to win, if you’re a competitive person you want to win, but I want to see the development of the team as we move forward. How to execute down the stretch, how to execute out of timeouts, all things we have to do.”

Clippers.com

Postgame Report (Video)

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Y-NAP3pa4g[/youtube]

[mike3]

The thing i did like about this game was our energy, even though we were playing horribly for the most part, scoring being the main part, we kept hustling and going after it. Main guy being DJ, you could tell he wasn't giving up, shooting terribly at the FT line but kept attacking on the post and 2nd chance pts.

Our bench really needs to improve defensively though, Turiaf and Hollins jumped non stop at bit on everything. Yes they both got nice blocks but I'd rather no highlight blocks and stopping easy baskets.

[Sofia]

Forgot about this game. Go team!