[Will637]

vs.
Utah Jazz (24-13) vs. Washington Wizards(20-16)
Date: January 15th, 2007
Time: 1:00 P.M. Eastern
TV: CSN and FSN
Place: Verizon Center

Wizards Starting Lineup



(G. Arenas, D. Stevenson, C. Butler, A. Jamison, B. Haywood)

2006-07 Wizards Stats
Leading Scorer: Gilbert Arenas - 29.7 PPG
Leading Rebounder: Antawn Jamison - 8.3 RPG
Leading Assist Man: Gilbert Arenas - 6.3 APG

Points Per Game: 107.2
Field Goal Percentage: 45.9%
3-Point Field Goal Percentage: 37.0%
Rebounds Per Game: 40.9
Assists Per Game: 19.9

Backcourt

Gilbert Arenas
PPG: 29.7, RPG: 4.3, APG: 6.3




Deshawn Stevenson
PPG: 9.9, RPG: 2.6 APG: 2.4




Frontcourt
Caron Butler
PPG: 20.8, RPG: 8.2, APG: 3.8




Antawn Jamison
PPG: 19.0, RPG: 8.3, APG: 1.7




Brendan Haywood
PPG: 6.6, RPG: 6.6, APG: 0.5[/center]

Jazz Starting Lineups

(D. Williams, G. Giricek, A. Kirilenko, C. Boozer, M. Okur)

2006-07 Jazz Stats
Leading Scorer: Carlos Boozer - 22.2 PPG
Leading Rebounder: Carlos Boozer - 11.8 RPG
Leading Assist Man: Deron Williams - 8.6 APG
Points Per Game: 101.4
Field Goal Percentage: 47.4%
3-Point Field Goal Percentage: 33.1%
Rebounds Per Game: 42.6
Assists Per Game: 24.4

Backcourt

Deron Williams
PPG: 16.8, RPG: 3.5, APG: 8.6




Gordan Giricek
PPG: 5.7 RPG: 1.7, APG: 1.3




Frontcourt
Andrei Kirilenko
PPG: 9.2, RPG: 5.2, APG: 3.6




Carlos Boozer
PPG: 22.2, RPG: 11.8, APG: 3.1




Mehmet Okur
PPG: 16.0, RPG: 7.3, APG: 2.0

Keys To The Game

• Hold The Big Three – If the Jazz can the big three to shoot at a poor percentage and hold them to under 50 points, there's no question that Utah can easily take this game. Washington's bench hasn't been contributing much scoring, so Utah must take advantage of Arenas' recent slump.
• Take Care Of The Ball – The Wizards will beat you in terms of hustling and fastbreak points and as Utah stands as one of the top teams in turning the ball over with 16.5 turnovers per game, while the Wizards are third in steals. They cannot let the Wizards create easy buckets and
• Pound The Ball Inside – With a frontcourt like Okur, Boozer and Kirilenko, it's almost a must to go inside on a weakling like Jamison, with an exception that the Wizards are the worst team in defending the 3 point. That big three will also need to crash the boards and take advantage, while slowing the game down and doing so will win the game for Utah.
• Quality Shots – Arenas since his birthday bash hasn't been shooting like he did the entire season. In the 3 games after his birthday, he has had 20, 17, and 23 point performances leading the Wizards to a 1-3 week, while he has only made 8 of his last 29 three pointers. The Wizards need him to get out of his shooting slump, if they want a chance at this game.
• Defend The Perimeter – The Wizards still stand as one of the worst defensive 3 point shooting teams in the NBA and it has shown the entire season, mainly this past week though. They let the depleted Hornets shoot 8-16 from downtown and the Bulls shoot 13-27 from the 3. Even if the big three can get it going, it's important for the Wizards to locate the 3 point shooters and make sure they don't shoot lights out or they will struggle during crunch time.
• Ssecond Chance OpportunitiesThe Spurs did a great job for the most part of the game of limiting this team to only one shot a possession as the Wizards kept struggling to sink a basket consisently. Haywood and Jamison have no easy task trying to box out Kirilenko, Boozer and Okur who lead the Jazz into 6th best in the rebounding category.

Prediction:Jazz win, 106-93.

[byrondarnell66]

Very nice game thread, I would repp you if I knew how and welcome to the board.

[Will637]

Thanks. I had to adjust it from another forum I post at because it couldn't divide the section in half. This is what I'm talking about:

[AK-47]

so will agent #0 go for 50 or 60 points tomorrow?

[Big Mike]

Originally Posted by AK-47

so will agent #0 go for 50 or 60 points tomorrow?

Gils been in a slump lately so im not sure about that. Should be a close game could go either way, Wizards need to rebound with this team to have a chance.

BTW thread looks good Will

1:00 game

[Will637]

I doubt Arenas will have a 50 or 60 point game. His shoulder has been hurting and just reported he wanted some rest. EJ sit him out entirely unless he won't be able to go fully, but the main reason he's been on a shooting slump is because of his shoulder.

[afireinside]

Thanks for posting in my absence. This game thread is very in-depth. Where did you get it from? I'm guessing it was a table that was made using HTML and BBF.com is going through some weird times with HTML.

Anyways, it's a 1PM game so who knows what's going to happen. Since it's at home, I think we have the slight advantage. A 1PM game on the east coast is a 11AM game on the west coast for the Jazz. So hopefully we can take advantage of that.

Oh yeah, and welcome to the forum. Bring some more Wizards fans if you wouldn't mind.

[Will637]

Lol, thanks for the comments guys. The other forum I post at uses this game preview format, so I usually just copy it from them.


Anyway, Arenas has shot lights out thus far, but we have been letting up way too many easy buckets in the paint. Utah has a good advantage taking Okur out behind the perimeter luring Haywood out and therefore driving to the basket easily. It looks like one of those games where we'll have to beat them by scoring, and they have no problem doing that so far as long as Haywood is there putting back slams and Butler and Arenas making their shots.

[#1]

Whoa Boozer is on fire at the moment, ripping you guys apart.

[Big Mike]

Originally Posted by canyoufeeltheheat

Whoa Boozer is on fire at the moment, ripping you guys apart.

True. What in the world is wrong with Jamison, hes showing no effort out there and its been like that the last few games also.

[Will637]

Antawn Jamison only gets it going when his shot goes down. Does anybody else think he looks like a bird when he shoots? He really needs to seperate his feet for more balance on his shot because it definitely isn't going down. He's gotten a lot tougher and active in the paint than he was last year, but he hasn't shown it recently.

If the Wizards can get their shots going down like in the first quarter, it will trim the lead down even more, but the main thing they should try working is forcing turnovers and getting easy buckets on the other end. On defense, just force Utah to shoot long range shots instead of easy uncontested shots in the paint.

[Premier]

The Boozer-Okur tandem is too difficult for the Wizards to guard. They each have sixteen points about mid-way through the third quarter. Gilbert is carrying the team, but Brendan Haywood is also performing nicely with almost a double-double.

[Premier]

Wizards up four at the end of the third quarter, 82-78. Gilbert has 35, Caron has 19, and Haywood has 10/10.

UTAH JAZZ
STARTERS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	PTS
Deron Williams, PG	26	3-8	1-4	0-0	0	4	10	3	0	0	4	7
Derek Fisher, PG	16	1-5	0-1	0-0	0	3	4	0	0	1	4	2
Andrei Kirilenko, F	26	0-4	0-2	4-4	1	1	2	1	1	1	2	4
Carlos Boozer, FC	28	10-15	0-0	1-1	6	10	2	0	0	3	1	21
Mehmet Okur, FC	28	9-16	1-4	4-6	3	7	1	0	0	0	3	23
BENCH	MIN	FGM-A