Jazz Buzz Wolves
Friday, March 2, 2007
A crippling snowstorm in the Upper Midwest prevented the Utah Jazz from leaving on time for Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. In fact, the day before, team members were forced to sit in a plane on the tarmac in Memphis for five hours before the flight was ultimately cancelled. Late arrival the following day meant no practice before facing the Minnesota Timberwolves at Target Center.
If the Jazz players were fatigued from the travel ordeal, they did little to show it, dispatching the Wolves by the lopsided score of 109 to 83. The top nine players on the Utah roster probably could have spent the previous 24 hours in a collective coma and still defeated the hapless Timberwolves.
“We think we can win every time we step on the court,” Utah coach Jerry Sloan told a small gathering of reporters following the game’s conclusion. “Most NBA players like to make excuses. If our guys used it [missing out on practice] for an excuse, we would have lost.”
Sloan divided game time minutes fairly evenly among his top nine players, and it did not seem to matter what combinations he used—they all meshed. Starter Deron Williams led Utah with 21 points, closely followed by reserves Gordon Giricek (20 points) and Matt Harpring (19).
Utah leads the Northwest Division with a 39-19 win-loss record. Earlier in the week, Minnesota was blown away by Dallas, 91-65, at the Target Center. Timberwolves coach Randy Wittman offered up the following excuse: “We played two of the best teams in the West. We have to keep fighting. No one will feel sorry for us.”
Minnesota has won only one game since the All-Star break. The storm discouraged fans from showing up to watch the Jazz (announced crowd total: 14,759), and many prominent sports media members also chose to stay close to home. The following morning, both Twin Cities dailies buried game accounts deep in their sports sections, possibly reinforcing the theory of out of sight, out of mind.
The game was delayed for about 30 minutes because the basket height at one end of the Target Center floor could not be adjusted. However, it should be noted that even if the basket had been lowered to, say, eight feet, the Timberwolves would have still had trouble scoring. Minnesota shot only 43 percent from the field compared to 58 percent for the Jazz. The Wolves also were outrebounded by 39 to 25.
After a relatively close first quarter, Utah went on a 22-5 run to bury the Timberwolves. To add salt to the Wolves’ wounds, with the exception of Williams, all of the Jazz scoring in the second quarter was done by Giricek, Harpering, and Paul Millsap. Utah star Andrei Kirilenko did not set foot on the court in the second quarter. The Jazz led at halftime 57-39 and spent the rest of the game toying with the Wolves. Utah played as if flight problems had actually energized the team. Meanwhile, Minnesota performed as if stricken with collective jetlag.
Since the All-Star break, the Timberwolves resemble a group of guys who have never been introduced to one another. The Wolves on offense have trouble finding the open man, and when he is recognized, he frequently fails to hit the shot. The team is playing with all the enthusiasm of prisoners walking the Green Mile to Old Sparky.
Mark Blount, so effective before the break, is shooting only 39 percent after. His point totals have dropped by one-half since. Of course, it doesn’t help him that his teammates have played like refugees from the Land of Misfit Toys.