02 February 2008

Jazz on fire with Korver


After beating the Wizards 96-87 tonight, the Jazz are now 14-2 with Kyle Korver on the team.

And the weird thing is, Kyle's not even shooting that spectacularly for Utah. Okur has finally decided to start scoring again (he chipped in 27 tonight), Millsap has had some great games lately, and Deron has been playing like an All-star (despite not being selected to the West's squad).

There are a few theories that attempt to explain the Jazz's success. One is that Korver spaces the floor for the offense. Even if he's not exactly on fire (1-5, 0-1, 2-5 from the 3 over the past three games), he's still a threat that opposing defenses have to respect.

Another theory is that the Jazz schedule has been easier lately, which is partially true. Yes, some of their wins have come against the likes of New York and Sacramento, but they beat San Antonio, Phoenix and Orlando in the month of January, as well.

We'll see how long they can keep it up, but as of now they've won seven in a row and are sole owners of the first place spot in the Northwest division, fourth place in the Western Conference.

Go Jazz go.

3 comments:

Matt said...

Woot. The West is very tight right now, I think if they want a good seed for the playoffs, they need to put some distance between the other teams now. Not the last 3 weeks of the season, they might not get that chance.

Stu said...

I saw an article (I thought it was in the Tribune, but I can't seem to find it anymore) talking about this. They brought up the point that Korver wasn't playing exceptional great basketball, but yet the Jazz were improving. So is it that the Jazz play better with Korver or better without Giricek?

I personally think the Jazz are better off without Gordon. He didn't mesh well with Salone or the Jazz's general style of play. I think he was upset that Brewer was getting the starts instead of him, and I didn't see that changing without a dramatic increase in his output.

Oh well... Go Jazz!

Stu said...

... and of course I open my fat mouth just as Korver goes insane and goes 6-8 from 3-point land.

Here's hoping he can keep some of that touch!