The Raptors were a tough match up in the first half and I noticed that they had an advantage in the paint. Utah�s inside game didn�t convince me.
The first quarter defense should have been better. The Jazz allowed guards to start at the three-point line and came to the basket to finish with a lay-up. And that happened often, too often. Whenever a guard has the ball you shouldn�t allow him to go all the way to the basket. Those are crucial mistakes and the Jazz should be very happy that Carter wasn�t there to take advantage of that. Especially Russell on Peterson wasn�t a pretty sight to see in the first half. Russell played better in the second half but Peterson just blew past him in the first.
Clark was another problem for the Jazz in the first half. He seemed too athletic and the Jazz weren�t able to defend him. Maybe the Jazz should�ve played a zone when he was hot.
If didn�t like Sloans decision on the players who had the last possession. It was very obvious what the Jazz were going to do and I was very excited at the thought of a late first half basket, since Utah slips the pick like no other team can. But I don�t think that Collins was the guy to do it. He started too late, ran to slow and was blocked by Clark. The idea was very good, but the execution was not as good as the thought.
Talking about Collins, according to the American commentators he �trails� on a fast break and gets the lay-up. The Dutch commentators came a lot closer by saying that Collins was a sort of a trailer, but came from the side cutting to the basket. I like to call it a cutting center. And that�s what it is, in my opinion.
I think Kirilenko had an unpleasant meeting with the rookie wall, since he just didn�t play well. He showed that he was able to do some basic things like being on the right place after a shot (but whenever he was the shot went in).
Stockton and Malone. Malone and Stockton. What a pretty sight to watch. Both were shooting very well and were passing the ball very well.
And what about that long range shot in general? The Utah players hit a very high percentage of long range shots, including some nice three pointers. It looks like Russell is coming out of his shooting slump. Stockton and Malone were on the right side, Malone sets the screen and Stock goes around it, passes it to Starks who immediately passes it to Russell for the three-pointer. They did that twice in a very short amount of time, once on the right side and once on the left, and Russell made both shots. Also my complements to Starks for not taking that shot. Those decisions are very important if you want to win that match and the Jazz players seemed to take the right decision.
Another good decision was that the Jazz took advantage of a height advantage that Russell had when he played against one of the point guard (Childs or Williams). They gave him the ball inside and that is what you have to do.
I also like LaRue�s performance. He has a great shot but he also played good defense. Sometimes (during a fast break) the point guard wanted to go to the basket but LaRue really did a great job, staying between his man and the basket. Something that Sloan likes and it wouldn�t surprise me if he got a contract for the rest of the season.
The Jazz out-played the Raptors in the 4th quarter. They played great basketball. But I think that Malone made a mistake on throwing the ball to Childs. It wasn�t necessary and I personally think he had other options than getting his second technical.