What was AK doing?

[TaylorJ]

Did anybody else see the last drive by Jefferson. What in the world was AK doing? He lets Jefferson drive right by him and then trails by ten feet so he has no chance at the block from behind (his sig move on defense). I normally think AK plays some great d, but that looked pretty pathetic from here. Also, we were robbed on that last play but we never should have let it get to that point. We had multiple chances to put them away and just couldn't hit the shot. We should have kept going inside to Booze, he was on fire and we just went away from him.

[Pai Gow]

gamethread..

And yes, AK shouldn't have taken that gamble. It worked against Redd, but it didn't against Jefferson.

[de2nd]

AK lost us the game in the stupid stupid 3 he took, and then raced down the other end and sent RJ to the line. AK is a great player, but he makes very poor decisions from time to time. Unfortunately for the Jazz, they were two poor decisions in a row in the final minutes of a close game on the road.

[Duiz]

There is a gamethread for this

[The Sheik]

AK lost us the game in the stupid stupid 3 he took, and then raced down the other end and sent RJ to the line. AK is a great player, but he makes very poor decisions from time to time. Unfortunately for the Jazz, they were two poor decisions in a row in the final minutes of a close game on the road.

but he needs touches.

[kebutah]

AK is a lousy on ball defender as he demonstrated again tonight.

[Reckless]

When AK is ineffective on offense it also has a really bad effect on his defense. You saw he played well offensively in MIllwaukee and he made the big plays defensively down the stretch. Tonight he never got going offensively and defensively he just was non-existent

I cant blame this loss on AK, he wasn't as involved as Memo was. Memo sucked and got benched for most of the 4th for good reason

[Malone Strong]

AK lacks mental toughness. He's a pouty, whiny, little biatch when he is struggling....and Sloan even had to look at him and ask him if he wanted to come out of the game during the 3rc quarter (you could see Sloan's words during a closeup on NBA league pass).

I say we bench AK and play CJ more until he gets things figured back out. Kirilenko lost us this game........

[Reckless]

AK lacks mental toughness. He's a pouty, whiny, little biatch when he is struggling....and Sloan even had to look at him and ask him if he wanted to come out of the game during the 3rc quarter (you could see Sloan's words during a closeup on NBA league pass).

I say we bench AK and play CJ more until he gets things figured back out. Kirilenko lost us this game........

If you think Kirilenko lost us this game you have lost your mind

[Malone Strong]

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If you think Kirilenko lost us this game you have lost your mind

Care to explain why? Because if you saw the same game I did, then how did you not miss AK's ill-advised three late in the 4th which permanently shifted the momentum away from Boozer, who had been having a monster game. And it case you missed it, Andrei decided to take the easy way out on the last defensive stand, preffering to reach and let Jefferson go around him rather than getting tough and staying in front of him.

I'd love to hear how you will try to justify AK's all-around stinkfest performance last night.......

[karizma87]

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Care to explain why? Because if you saw the same game I did, then how did you not miss AK's ill-advised three late in the 4th which permanently shifted the momentum away from Boozer, who had been having a monster game. And it case you missed it, Andrei decided to take the easy way out on the last defensive stand, preffering to reach and let Jefferson go around him rather than getting tough and staying in front of him.

I'd love to hear how you will try to justify AK's all-around stinkfest performance last night.......

you're right. but what about the 2 wide open looks korver had? or the fast break to take the lead, 3 on 1, and poor decision by dwill to not cap on it or the refs not calling memo getting hit in the final shot (even nets commentators said he fouled him). that last play...everyone knew rj was gonna just blow by AK, and I believe we had much better flow when AK was out of the lineup.

[Neon Black]

AK's lateral defense is mediocre just like every other Jazz player's, though not quite so much.

and how can you blame it all on AK when our interior D made Josh Boone look like a superstar, just like it did with Drew Gooden, Mikki Moore, Charlie Villanueva....etc etc etc etc

[Duiz]

Malone Strong... I know you are fan like all of us.. How can you blame AK's poor decision of one minute rather than 48 minutes full of pathetic team defense. The Celtics would have kept this team with 77 points and they would have scored 88 points.

Now that is how we should, at least we should strive to keep less than 90 a team that averages 93 PPG

http://www.nba.com/games/20080111/BOSNJN/boxscore.html

Just look at the Cs, they play like real man. It was all throughout the game that we were getting raped. We can't blame that Korver or Boozer didn't come to take the charge, or make him win the game from the foul line.

How about Sloan setting up the play to have a shooter get screened by Boozer whom they were double teaming and have Kirilenko do the inbound pass that way rather than risk the turnover.

Malone Strong, we can't blame Kirilenko for one minute of poor choices. This is a team game, and we should have dominated this team from the first quarter.

CJ Miles by far played the best defense and should have been in rather than Kirilenko or Hapring.

[GP]

I watched the game tonight and all I can say is "meh". AK did not lose the game for us, the jazz as a whole just play down to teams. They win when they feel motivated. The reason why I could care less about this loss is the fact that they played so well the night before in Boston. That was the important game of the road trip. On to the next game.

[TaylorJ]

Yeah, I don't blame the loss on AK just like I don't blame it on Korver for the missed 3's. However, I still don't know what he was doing at the end on defense. It's easier for me to handle a missed shot that is within the offense than it is to handle poor effort. Also it is only one game and so I'm not planning on jumping off any bridges.

[Malone Strong]

AK's lateral defense is mediocre just like every other Jazz player's, though not quite so much.

and how can you blame it all on AK when our interior D made Josh Boone look like a superstar, just like it did with Drew Gooden, Mikki Moore, Charlie Villanueva....etc etc etc etc

To answer you and Karizma both....because every other player found ways to contribute. AK did nothing to help us last night.

Dont get me wrong, I like AK as much as the next guy....but he cost us that one. He's been having a rough stretch....

[Malone Strong]

Malone Strong... I know you are fan like all of us.. How can you blame AK's poor decision of one minute rather than 48 minutes full of pathetic team defense. The Celtics would have kept this team with 77 points and they would have scored 88 points.

Now that is how we should, at least we should strive to keep less than 90 a team that averages 93 PPG

http://www.nba.com/games/20080111/BOSNJN/boxscore.html

Just look at the Cs, they play like real man. It was all throughout the game that we were getting raped. We can't blame that Korver or Boozer didn't come to take the charge, or make him win the game from the foul line.

How about Sloan setting up the play to have a shooter get screened by Boozer whom they were double teaming and have Kirilenko do the inbound pass that way rather than risk the turnover.

Malone Strong, we can't blame Kirilenko for one minute of poor choices. This is a team game, and we should have dominated this team from the first quarter.

CJ Miles by far played the best defense and should have been in rather than Kirilenko or Hapring.

See my last post. Everyone else did things to help. AK did nothing. And AK had the "bad luck" of having two of his biggest mistakes (including the BIGGEST mistake of the entire game IMO) happen in crunch time. Sorry, but I'm allowed to express my opinion as much as anyone. I dont think when people think of Jordan's shot to beat the Jazz that they say things like "yeah but before that shot, Steve Kerr hit a 3!!!!" Its crunch time that matters. Boozer, Memo, DWill, nor anyone else performed as poorly in crunch time last night as AK did. Game over.

[Neon Black]

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To answer you and Karizma both....because every other player found ways to contribute. AK did nothing to help us last night.

Dont get me wrong, I like AK as much as the next guy....but he cost us that one. He's been having a rough stretch....

This time, carlos was able to make up for his lack of effort defensively with 41 points, but lately all the points and rebounds have only been deceptive to the average jazz fan...he's been giving up more than he's been contributing.

He rarely averages a double double lately, his field goal % is way down, his scoring is way down, he rebounds less, he settles for jumpshots more often than he ever has before and his defense has been repulsive. I'm more worried about Carlos than Ak; he's not playing like someone that we whould throw a max contract at anytime soon.

[Duiz]

See my last post. Everyone else did things to help. AK did nothing. And AK had the "bad luck" of having two of his biggest mistakes (including the BIGGEST mistake of the entire game IMO) happen in crunch time. Sorry, but I'm allowed to express my opinion as much as anyone. I dont think when people think of Jordan's shot to beat the Jazz that they say things like "yeah but before that shot, Steve Kerr hit a 3!!!!" Its crunch time that matters. Boozer, Memo, DWill, nor anyone else performed as poorly in crunch time last night as AK did. Game over.

Save your comments about about being allowed to express your opinion. I love it when people come up an express some different angle, and through conflict and discussion we can come to better conclusions if we are constructive in our attitudes and rethorics. Not only foul trouble kept Kirilenko benched for most of the first half, but also mismatches affected the second half.

Nothing can be said though about Boozer letting his man and anyone coming into the paint having a bryantesque night. Let's not speak about Devin Harris who raped Deron Williams all night long. Matt Hapring also allowed the lead to inflate to like 12 when he was on until he was switched with CJ.

You win games in 48 minutes, and not one minute. One minute on the end is important, but good defense and executing throughout the whole game should give you a comfortable lead that you don't have to defend for a last second layup or attempt a three pointer. That is being in desperation due to not playing good for 48 minutes.

I like you malone, but honestly I am tired of people blaming it on one person right at the end because he didn't do this or that. Look at the rockets win against the lakers, they didn't win with a last second jumpshot by McGrady, they won by 14 with stiffling defense, and executing on the lsat stretch.

This time, carlos was able to make up for his lack of effort defensively with 41 points, but lately all the points and rebounds have only been deceptive to the average jazz fan...he's been giving up more than he's been contributing.

+1 He has been the big blackhole in our team for consistency this year on the defensive end. It is kinda like having Cheeseburger Eddy playing in our team.

He rarely averages a double double lately, his field goal % is way down, his scoring is way down, he rebounds less, he settles for jumpshots more often than he ever has before and his defense has been repulsive. I'm more worried about Carlos than Ak; he's not playing like someone that we whould throw a max contract at anytime soon.

+20 Boozer's game has been collapsing, with the exception of the last game. He is not near as dominant anywhere on anything. I remember when he was top 3 in rebounders, and he began the season in top 5 scoring. He has become a big time liability, and at times, we feel that him being injured helps us more to be consistent than not.

Carlos Boozer is also worrying me to. I can survive with his grotesque defense as long as he puts those 25+ PPG, but he is lucky now to hit 20 as of late, and very much lucky if he gets 8+ rebounds.

[Malone Strong]

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This time, carlos was able to make up for his lack of effort defensively with 41 points, but lately all the points and rebounds have only been deceptive to the average jazz fan...he's been giving up more than he's been contributing.

He rarely averages a double double lately, his field goal % is way down, his scoring is way down, he rebounds less, he settles for jumpshots more often than he ever has before and his defense has been repulsive. I'm more worried about Carlos than Ak; he's not playing like someone that we whould throw a max contract at anytime soon.

Im not going to argue with you about Boozer. In fact, in another thread, I said Boozer's lack of hustle and general apathy on defense is why we are so bad on the road.

But anytime Carlos scores 41 points, then, as I said, he's doing something to contribute. AK did nothing.