Rocky Mountain Review Day 3: Jazz 71 Spurs 75

By Bran Farschou
NBAHoopsOnline.com

CJ Watson got the Spurs going early with a couple of long shots, one a three, Paul Millsap would be the guy for the Jazz again, scoring four points and pulling down four boards in the first three minutes. Utah would take a lot of long shots which allowed the Spurs guards to get the ball and run with it.

Millsap would continue being a one man wrecking crew for the Jazz, with about five minutes left he had all 13 of Utah’s points, and 6 rebounds. Millsap would give the Jazz a 10-9 lead before Marcellus Sommerville hit a three.

The Spurs would get a lot of open looks with their dribble penetration. Watson was really good at this.

Someone other than Millsap would score for the Jazz at the 4 minute mark when Araujo knocked down a long jumper. Utah continued having ball handling issues into the latter part of the first quarter. San Antonio took a lot of long jump shots again, a lot of their guys aren’t shooters and miss badly.

Utah would build a 3 point lead but gave it up by committing multiple fouls, after the first the Spurs lead 18-17.

Utah committed four consecutive turnovers to start the quarter which allowed the Spurs to turn their 1 point lead in a 7 point lead. Keydren Clark had issues with the ball, he threw it away twice and than got called for traveling.

Keith Langford gave the Jazz problems getting into the lane, he was able to use his size against Clark. However, Langford is a very poor free throw shooter for a guard. Lojeski was able to cut a 8 point lead to 5 with a long trey.

Lojeski would add another free throw to cut it to 4, than Keydren Clark added a lay-up to cut it to two. After a Utah free throw cut the lead to 3, the Spurs reeled of 10 straight points to take a 13 point lead. Rich Melzer found his jump shot, knocking down three of them during this run.

The Spurs did a good job of rotating so that the Jazz couldn’t get open looks. Utah was also very careless with the ball, many times they just threw it right to the Spurs players.

Utah had a run which cut the lead to 8, but after three consecutive t turnovers the Lead was up to 12. Utah would make a run right before the half cutting the lead to 41-33.

Turnover continued to hamper the Jazz in the second half, as they turned it over on their first three possessions. The Spurs continued to play good defense, they switched a lot which kept the Jazz on their toes and the Spurs did a nice job of boxing out, limiting Utah’s offensive rebounds.

The Spurs did have foul problems, on one possession they fouled Utah four times. Rich Melzer’s footwork was a huge problem, he can’t reset his feet quick enough.

Once Utah began limiting the Spurs to one shot and jump shots they began to cut the lead down. After two consecutive Araujo scores, the Jazz had cut the lead to five at 46-41.

Utah began turning the ball over again, which lead to the Spurs building back a double digit lead. Utah lacked any real offensive weapons which simply meant they couldn’t score. Utah also got into the penalty early putting the Spurs on the line a lot.

Utah missed a lot of free throws inside two minutes of the third, Levon Kendall went 2-4. The Missed free throws and turnovers allowed the Spurs to take a 55-44 lead going into the fourth and final quarter.

Levon Kendall came a live to start the fourth, scoring four points and playing hard defense which resulted in two Spurs turnovers. Kyrylo Fesenko would pick up were Kendall left off, Fesensko would score 7 straight points, and get a block shot the cut the lead to two, John Millsap would hit a long jumper to tie the score at 57.

CJ Watson would score six straight for the Spurs, but the lead was cut in half after Paul Millsap made a lay-up and was fouled. Utah committed a lot of fouls again, and got themselves in the penalty early again

Utah was able to tie the game a couple of times because of Paul Millsap who hit another couple of jumpers. But turnovers once again hurt the Jazz, and after two calls which went San Antonios way the Spurs had a 72-67 lead with 27 seconds left.

Spurs would hit their free throws to get a 75-71 victory.

Kyrylo Fesenko: Needs to learn ball control, he gave up many loose balls because he just doesn’t have the hands. Needs to improve his awareness of where the ball is at. He lacks the hands which are required in the NBA.

Keydren Clark: He had turnover issues, most of which were just stupid ones. He does play hard though, and is not afraid of bigger guys in the paint.

Kevin Lyde: He’s a big body but he lacks offensive awareness and is slow.

Paul Millsap: He was really a man among boys in the first quarter, but just like the game on Saturday he didn’t get back into the offense after the first quarter.

John Millsap: He’s a lot like his brother, only not as talented. He is a smart player who works hard on every play.

Eddie Gill: He does ok on the offensive end but defensively he seems like a liability.

Dee Brown: Sometimes he needs to think about scoring, he’s very good at penetrating and is quick, he could get lay ups if he didn’t always look to pass.

Rafael Araujo: he’s a foul waiting to happen, every game he’s played he’s gotten into foul trouble. Like Fesneko, he must improve his hands, he drops way to many passes.

Rich Melzer: He really found his jump shot in the second quarter which helped the Spurs build their lead.

CJ Watson: He’s very good at running the offense and has a nice jump shot. He does try to push it to hard sometimes. He showed a lot of composure being able to essentially take over during a Utah run in the fourth quarter.

Marcus Williams: Moved a lot better without the ball than in previous games. He still has problems on defense and does look lost on offense at times. He also needs to work on his attitude, he almost got ejected because of his comments.

Marcellus Sommervile: He’s been improving but he still needs to be able to knock down a jump shot with some consistency.

Pooh Jetter: did a really nice job of running the offense in the second half, and knocked down a few clutch jump shots and free throws.

NOTES:
I was sitting near some NBA exects today, and I over heard a few things.

Matt Lojeski apparently has a contract in Europe, but that contract will only be good if he fails to make the Jazz roster. They said the Jazz, so I’m just infering that the Jazz may have offered Lojeski some sort of contract.

Marcus Williams has an issue with a few people on the Spurs summer league roster.

Viktor Sankidze, who is no longer with the team due to National team issues, may return to the Spurs this fall for training camp. the Spurs brass were impressed with what they saw of him.

The Bulls really like Dee Brown.

RMR Day 2 - RMR Day 1