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Can the Comeback Kids Handle Durantula?
Posted by: Lowery Johnson on November 14th, 2010
The author's views are entirely his or her own and may not reflect the views of the Utah Jazz.Here’s my thing with the OKC Thunder, they are my second favorite team in the NBA as of last year. They’re such a young group of guys working day in and day out for recognition, and I can’t help but admire their efforts and talents. Tomorrow they come to visit us in Salt Lake City and I couldn’t be more excited. Why? Because last time they were here, things got a little crazy.
But, if Jazz fans are expecting Kevin Durant to just lay down while we continue our winning streak, they are mistaken. In April when the Jazz hosted OKC, Kevin Durant got robbed on the last call of one of the most intense, high-scoring games in Jazz franchise history. In case you’ve forgotten, here’s the clip:
Now I’m not holding this against CJ Miles by any means, but if I were Kevin Durant I’d be ticked.
What to expect:
Tomorrow night I’m expecting Durant to come to ESA with something to prove, and you should too. Currently for the 2010-2011 season, Durant is averaging 28.9 points per game and 6.6 rebound per game. He’s athletic, talented, and with Westbrook by his side the two are a threat to any team, averaging a combined 53.2 points per game.
In April’s high scoring game, Durant scored 45 points, had 7 rebounds, 4 assistss, 2 steals and 2 blocks. It’s no wonder they call him Durantula, the guy’s a monster.
Of course I’m not counting out our boys, they’ve clearly proven that even some of the best players in the league aren’t safe when facing down Millsap, Williams and Jefferson, but I am saying it’s going to be a great game, and I predict a much different one from what we saw on Halloween.
Why we can win:
While the numbers say enough about Kevin Durant’s talent, the Jazz have some strengths OKC doesn’t. For instance, Durant, while he’s tough and long, he’s small in comparison to Millsap and Jefferson.
Millsap, while an inch shorter than Durant, has about 20 lbs on him as well as an extra year of experience. Jefferson as a Center-Forward has an extra inch on Durant and about 50 lbs, and three additional years experience as a pro, but is still trying to figure out Sloan’s offense. Kirilenko is about Durant’s size but out weighs him in experience and his ability to shoot threes.
Durant, while an amazing athlete, is not invincible to the Comeback Kids.
Not only that but we’re playing with home court advantage, and for some reason in Utah that has proven to be something substantial for the Jazz. Not only does Durant remember that controversial call last time he was in Utah, but Jazz fans do too. And they will voice that, as always.
I’ve never been disappointed at the quality of basketball played by these two teams. Win or lose both teams lay it all out on the court. We can win, but it won’t be effortless. Although, I’m hoping it won’t be us clawing, tooth and nail to get back into the fourth quarter but either way, I’ll be wearing my lucky sweater.
We handled the Heat, we fought off some Magic, we hunted a Hawk and we tamed a Bobcat…. What’s a little Thunderstorm after all that?
Replies: 59
Views: 1309
59 Responses
Durant and Westbrook really are quite the dynamic duo, but you’re right about our inside game. We’re strong there right now with just Millsap, AJ and Elson (who has been a nice surprise). I think that Durant might want to show that OKC can win back to back games against winning teams too. Should be interesting to see how they fare against San Antonio tonight.
looked to me like CJ got all ball
@Josh Elson has been a great addition! And that game with San Antonio will be interesting, gearing up to watch it myself.
@Nate In this video it does look like all ball, but from the other angle there is contact and the refs admitted the mistake after.
Don’t Forget we all ready Beat these guys by 21 in there house this year. Jazz by 14 this time.
Sure did, on Halloween 120-99.
there was 1.1 sec left when the play started and u cant call a foul after the game ends, calling a foul 2 secs after a game ends is the same as calling a foul a week later. there is no way that call could hav been made, especially with the initial contact being clean.
I agree Seth. 1:The initial contact was clean. 2: C.J did hit his hand but NBA rules state that the hand is part of the ball. Having the hand-to ball contact disrupt the shot initially then moving to hand to hand, it is still part of the ball.
Here’s a link, you and Seth may be interested in Colby. It includes the statement made by Joel Litvin about the call: http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=5064972
Durant hasn’t been amazing yet this season. Only shooting 42% from the field and 33% from three. AK does about just as good of guarding him than anyone in the league. Paul Millsap had his way against Jeff Green, who will just be coming back from injury.
Deron had just as an amazing game in April with 42 points 10 assists and the game winner. I think that gets lost somehow.
Theres a reason OKC is 5-5 to start the season. They’re the same 8th seed team they’ve always been. There’s just been soooo much hype and excitement about them this season that everyone thinks they are some new good contending team.
amen Joey amen!
Lowery,
I’m disappointed in you! Your a fan of the enemy? OKC is in our division which means that if you are a true Jazz fan you should always route against them (unless they are playing the Lakers, Nuggets, Heat or Trailblazers). Look, I kind of understand, Durrant is a class act and a well liked Erik Maynor is on the team as well but come on, that’s just unacceptable! On the bright side, I can see that you will make a nice writer cause you sure know how to create a little controversy. This post almost feels like you are defending the Thunder. My advice, if you are a Jazzbot, never appear to defend the enemy and never claim to be a fan of the enemy (True Blue Jazz Rules)!
Everyone take a breath. Diana, definitely brings up some great points. I don’t discredit the work Dwill did that night, but I think the reason Dwill’s points are lost and why some are surprised by Durant is Durant’s performance compared to his limited experience. Diana you are right about Durant this season. I do however think it is early in the season and because of that reason anything can happen when they come to Salt Lake it’s not too late for him to catch fire, and I think Durant will play with extra motivation because of April’s game (not cheerleading just trying to fully account for our opponents talent). Secondly, don’t be disappointed Brent! They are by no means a close second to the Jazz, and while they are in the same conference as us I don’t have a problem admiring talents of other players while still bleeding blue (unless those players dress in purple and gold). And as I said above, we can win because of the great work our players are doing this season.
here’s the thing, bad calls (or no calls) happen all the time, and just because that one happened in the final seconds doesn’t mean anyone should get a do-over. if durant was fouled in the second quarter on a three point shot and there was a no call it stands to reason the jazz wouldve won by 3 in regulation, and nobody wouldve said anything about the missed call. this play at the end of the game is no more significant. im not saying there was no foul, but it was an incredibly hard call to make with so little time on the clock (there were three officials on the floor and no one made the call), and its not the first time its happened. heres another example of a bad call; boozer gets called for a tech for looking at someone after a dunk-and-one, and then the game ends up going into overtime, if it werent for that technical free throw (which was made) the jazz win by one in regulation. bad calls happened before that game, before that no call in that game, and will continue to happen as long as we hav humans playing and calling the games, and it doesnt mean anyone got robbed, its just how it goes sometimes.
Do you bleed OKC blue or Jazz blue?
Hope you know, I’m just harassing you a little! Ha Ha Ha!
Seriously though, if your going to pick a second team to route for, you really should pick a team not in our conference, not the enemy! Believe me, OKC fans view the Jazz and their fans as the enemy! I guarantee it!
Definitely no do overs. :] and you’re right it happens all the time and it was a tough call. but I think because of the intensity of the western conference last season Durant could have been upset and have greater motivation to play harder tomorrow so it doesn’t come down to one call. I’m not saying we didn’t deserve the win because we did and that’s how the rules of the game go, but I think he hasn’t forgotten it.
Good call Seth! I remember the game in OKC last year and the Jazz got robbed, robbed I say! Maybe just a little payback.
and brent… funny. :] I can handle it. I’m tough. But I can’t consider myself an OKC fan (afterall my closet is filled with Jazz shirts), but I admire their work. I can’t deny that. And I don’t forsee them contending with the Jazz for western conference finals this year… I don’t consider them a rival like we’ve seen in L.A
Oh they will be, they will be!
Sincerly, Yoda
Awesome post! Im not super worried about them OKC cats. Ak can detain that spiderman durantula dude. N deron can keep westbrook from going off.
Juicy jazz win by 8.
Haha Yoda, that’s awesome. Thanks for all your input Brent. :]
Did anybody actually finish reading her post before they went hell bent for leather!? The whole last half of Lowery’s blog was about how we were going to win. Now I may be blonde, but I know I’m not stupid. Lowery would never have made it to the coveted Jazzbot position if she didn’t bleed Jazz Blue. True Jazz fans can recognize the strengths and weaknesses in their own team, and hope like hell that the other team has more weaknesses than strengths. I’m sure that Jerry Sloan does not sit his team down and only talk about the other teams weaknesses. You have to understand the other team to beat them. Just like the team, Lowery has proven that she is a TRUE fan who can recognize the strengths and weaknesses of her opponents and yet come out of it believing in her team. Thank you Lowery for being a well informed Jazz fan rather than a fan like those of the Lakers- All talk and no action.
Juicy Jazz? That’s amazing. :] 8 huh? hmmm I think that is very plausible.
P.S.
Lowery, we should catch a game sometime
Haha GO JAZZ!!
I don’t know Auslinn, Lowery could be an OKC employed spy trying to get the inside scoop!
Forgot to add the LOL! Sorry about that! My last comment was in humor….
I’m out!
Or you could be a Lakers fan trying to discredit the Jazz one Jazzbot at a time…
What color do you bleed Brent? Purple and Gold perhaps?
Oh.. umm sorry didn’t get the LOL post… Didn’t mean to question the color of your blood Brent!
Oh Brent. haha I talk about the Jazz in my sleep according to my roommate… And Auslinn thanks! You guys are too great. Kyle… Might take you up on that
got tickets to the Heat game? Hehe
now that we r all sufficiently confused as to who works for who and what color everyones blood is…
Love the post and the guts to admit you like watching another team. I said last year I liked to watch them to some co-work and came in a few days later to find a Thunder banner hanging from desk. I hope that a rivalry brews between the two of us and we can witness more epic games like the one last year.
I wish I had tix to that game! Haha, no but really its been my lifelong dream to watch a game with a jazzbot! Lol
Thanks Jefferson, glad I’m not alone. Haha and Kyle, I can assure you I’m just like any other loud fan in the stands. Nothing special.
I just had to jump back in and see what was going on. Just finished watching a show with my wife.
Wow Jefferson! Another trader…
Seriously, though, I do get it. It’s hard to root against a guy like Durant, he really is a class act! I watched an interview with him and Ahmad Rashad yesterday on NBA TV and he really impressed the heck out of me. He’s still the enemy but I would take him on my team in a second if the Jazz ever had that chance. He is so humble and I wish more NBA players viewed life the way that Durant does.
By the way my blood is absolutely Jazz blue.
Jazz Rock!!!!
your a robot that runs off jazz! Definitely no ordinary fan. But yeah orlando rematch the 10th? Portland the 24th? Some great games in january as well.
Email me at brophelia53@gmail if you wanna go:)
Wow Lowery, welcome to Jazzbots, that was a great post and more than that you got things stirred up a little. Lately it seems like many of the posts are getting 4 or five comments and somtimes less than that. I am convinced that even true JAzz fans can appreciate both other teams and other players. Obviously Jazz management, coaches and scouts do that or they would never know who to trade for or who to pick up in free agency. Maybe you ought to give that lucky hoodie at least a quick dusting of Febreze though.
If AK can play D on KD similar to the way he did on Halloween, the Jazz should win this fairly easily. The Thunder don’t really have any good big guys so we should have a field day in the paint just like we did a couple weeks ago. Plus the Thunder don’t really have any scorers aside from Westbrook and Durant. The two of them would really have to go off for the Thunder to win. Either that, or the Jazz would have to play like the “First two games of the season” Jazz
Haha @Brent: I trust the color of your blood, and no longer question your faithfulness to the Jazz if you don’t question mine. @Kyle: How do I know you’re not a creep, or worse a Lakers fan? @Deb: Haha Febreeze, that’s smart Deb. :] And thank you very much. @Tacorev 1) your name is awesome. 2) You make some great points, especially about OKC’s size and AK.
haha your right, what am I thinking? This isnt myspace lol. Sorry my confidence has been sky high this past week thanks to the jazz
Great posts Lowery! Welcome to Jazzbots too. I was at this game and could not have asked for a better one. It was an instant ESPN Classic and should be another great one. Can’t wait until tonight…
Love the post, especially that last line.
Tonight should be an interesting match up for sure. I have a feeling that every game against the Thunder will be a fight this season, though I still feel like the Jazz have an advantage as long as Coach Sloan is on the bench.
Looks like the Spurs beat the Thunder at OKC last night. In the NBA you have to take every team as a championship calaber team. Jazz need to play their “A” game every night. I hope they worked hard on their first half game. They may have used up thier come from behind wins.
Wow you really put it out there! I am impressed that such a young woman has the ability to not let her love for her tweam get in the way of seeing realities of other teams! And I agree whole heartedly that the coachiing staff aren’t going in to the pregame meetings and talking about the opposing team sucking! they get paid to look at the cold hard truth!
It may be good for all of the Jazz fans to read what you have to say> you have a very level headed approach to your blog. I love it!
Wow. 87 comments on this post so far. Nice.
I have to agree. The OKC Thunder are my 2nd-favorite team also. How could you not like them? They’re classy, not arrogant. They’re hard-working, not flashy. They’re talented, young, and have a bright future. Of course, I always want the Jazz to crush them when they play, and of course I want them to have a slightly worse record than the Jazz, but still. I’d rather see OKC at #2 in the NW Division than Portland ‘let’s see what jazz player I can steal this year’ Trailblazers or the Denver Thuggets.
That said, I think the media WAY over-hyped them. I mean they were a 50-win team last year after having NO major injuries all year, and that was coming after a 35-win season. They didn’t make any big changes (picked up some more young guys tho, like Cole Aldrich). They’re still a bit deficient offensively in the paint. And their defense has gotten somewhat worse this year.
But I’m sure they’ll give the Jazz all they can handle tonight.
I look forward to reading more of your posts. Great game last year and I think Miles fouled Durant but there were plenty of no calls late in that game too that didn’t go the Jazz’s way so I just figure coaches are right when they say it evens out (except of course when its our game winner where the foul isn’t call…damn that Michael Jordan push-off). I hate OKC but like you said the kids have talent and like last year I will be at this game cheering loudly against them. Nice post.
I know this has already been said but I just wanted to reiterate this. I highly doubt Durrant is holding onto a game from 7 months ago. If he were holding onto anything it would be the butt kicking the Jazz gave OKC on their home court 3 weeks ago.
I liked the post in general, but wanted to dispute one point.
Although Durant may have “gotten robbed” on that last call of the game, if you were watching the game, you would know the Jazz “got robbed” on at least five or six obviously bad calls late in the game preceding that particular missed call. The NBA purposefully chose to ignore all of those other late-game missed calls that went against the Jazz, when it came out with its official, unprecedented, idiotic statement about how that last-second call was missed. Had the referees called the last part of the game correctly, that last missed call would have been insignificant, because the Jazz would have won the game going away–by about 8-10 points. One missed call rarely is the difference in a basketball game. Therefore, it was silly for the NBA to imply that that particular missed call cost the OKC Thunder a victory. If the NBA had objectively looked at the overall refereeing of that particular game, the NBA should have concluded that the manner in which that game was called clearly gave the OKC Thunder an unfair advantage of at least 10-12 points.
As I have observed to be a regular occurence in the NBA over at least the past 40 years–that “no-call” appeared to be nothing more than a “make-up call” by the referees to off-set all of the other bad calls that went against the Jazz in the waning minutes of the game leading up to that “no-call.”
It’s about time the Jazz got a break from the referees–in contrast to all the times the Jazz have gotten screwed by the “star treatment” of certain players by NBA referees, including Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook in that particular game. Please get over it.
Great insights guys! Thanks for all the amazing input.
Great point Amanda! That’s very true he probably is considering that more heavily, also considering their loss to the Spurs last night and the work they need to do to improve their standing in the West. Paul, I’m not still upset about the call, I actually never was upset by the call. And you’re right about the refs that game so maybe it was a make up for all other things missed by refs. But I just was acknowledging the fact that if I were Durant I would use that as fuel to play a cleaner game with less margin of error for a win because of one foul.
Wow Kyle! I cant believe you asked Lowery to a game from her blog? You really are desperate!
Lowery, maybe you should replace your picture with a picture of Rosie O’Donnell or Yoda… I’m pretty sure that would stop the flirting!
Haha brent, you are easily becoming one of my favorites. I wouldn’t say he’s desperate, he must just have great taste ;] Yoda? again with the Yoda?
First of all, awesome blog. In fact all of your blogs have been awesome. It’s nice to hear the girls take on the Jazz. And I wouldn’t replace your picture with Yoda, Kyle obviously likes yoda. And you should go to a Jazz game with ME! And maybe dinner? We can talk about the Jazz and eat some wings? Let me know. Go JAZZ! Jazz by 12.
Thanks Brice! Kyle? Do you like Yoda?
Wow, between Brice and Kyle, it’s getting hard to breath in here!
Hey Lowery, you have to admit, Yoda is pretty uggly…
Hahahaha…. true that.
Juicy jazz could have used a little more juice towards the end of this one. It was still a very fun game to watch. I guess ill leave game predictions to my good friend yoda, his insight towards the future is unreal.
Lowery, did you wash your sweater? How about we meet up sometime. I live in your area. We could grab a bite and you could teach me something about the jazz!
Bahahahahaha Shut up Benji. That was hilarious by the way. :] Haven’t washed my sweater yet. mostly because I’m afraid of the laundry room, but I’m having our mother dearest wash it this weekend.
Excellent blog. Your writing is awesome. You present a fair evaluation of both teams but you leave your love for the Jazz right out on the table for everyone to see! Keep up the good work! I think I was right when I said you were going to be my favorite Jazzbot. Looks like I’ve got some pretty stiff competition!
Oh, and any GREAT writer will tell you that you’re not really doing it right unless you cause a little stir. Great job! Can’t wait for the next one!