BYU at TCU

Wow, I've been very inconsistent in my posting lately. I blame the low-quality, knock-off power adapters I've recently bought to replace the one for my laptop that broke after three years. I've had two break on me in about as many months, leaving me without a computer at home while I wait for a replacement to arrive in the mail. 

But on to what's important: big-time game tonight. Win at TCU, and it's another step towards the Cougars getting a BCS berth at the end of the year. Lose, and BYU will find themselves playing a mid-level PAC-10 team in the Vegas Bowl again. Ugh.

The last time BYU won at TCU, John Beck had his breakout game as a college quarterback. He was laser-accurate with his passing, and without that, BYU would have lost, IMO. 

I think the Horned Frogs are going to stack the box and force Max Hall to beat them. I'm not sold on Hall's arm (especially his long ball), but he can make good decisions. If he takes what the defense gives him and doesn't force anything, BYU has a great shot to win.

One more thing, BYU receivers need to run past the first-down marker on third down. Way too often last week the WR's would go four yards on third-and-six or five yards on third-and-eight. Utterly frustrating. It's a very simple thing that has to be fixed.

My prediction: BYU 24-TCU 17.

AK-47's role for the 2007-2008 Jazz

From Ross Siler of the Salt Lake Tribune Jazz blog:

The big story from the Jazz's perspective was Andrei Kirilenko's play off the bench. Even with Carlos Boozer back, Jazz coach Jerry Sloan opted to start C.J. Miles and have Kirilenko serve as the team's sixth man.

I wouldn't read too much into plus/minus in the preseason, when the lineups on the floor are unconventional to say the least, but Kirilenko's numbers were darn impressive.The Jazz outscored Portland 52-39 in the 24:31 Kirilenko played Sunday.
They were especially strong when it came to closing out quarters.

The Jazz outscored Portland 10-6 to end the first after Kirilenko checked in with
4:34 left and 10-2 in the third quarter after Kirilenko checked in with 1:52
remaining.

Kirilenko was all the difference in the first quarter - - he factored into all five of the Jazz's scoring possessions - - and came along for the ride in the third - - when Kyle Korver's three-pointer and Deron Williams three-point play drove the Jazz.

The biggest thing that can be said about Kirilenko was he even made Kyrylo Fesenko look good. Fesenko and Kirilenko have lockers next to each other and Kirilenko made a point of looking for Fesenko whenever he drove the lane.

Fesenko had a 10-point, 10-rebound performance, which Sloan said afterward was the game of his life. Another interesting thing was how much Kirilenko's postgame comments suggested that he was truly thinking about the game as he sat on the bench.

Kirilenko said he wanted to spark the Jazz in the first quarter by getting inside and trying to throw some quick passes around the basket. He also talked to Brevin Knight about taking advantage of the Blazers' overplaying defense and got two backdoor alley-oop dunks.

There's still four preseason games left, but I think Kirilenko is destined to start the season as the Jazz's sixth man.

I love this idea. If we've learned anything about Andrei during his career in Utah, it's that he loves being important to the offense, and when he is, he plays better on the defensive side of the floor as well.

See the 2004-2005 season. Andrei was the man for the Jazz, and he put up great numbers: 15 ppg, 6 rpg, 1.6 spg, 3.3 bpg and 49% shooting from the field.

Since that season, he's tailed off every year, it seems. What changed? Deron was drafted in 2005, and starting then, the Jazz slowly became his team. And with the additions of Boozer and Okur, AK was asked to do it all on the defensive end and mostly keep out of the way on offense.

This makes Andrei feel unwanted and unmotivated. I don't believe he's lost any of the ability he showed in 2004; he always plays very well for the Russian national team... which is a situation where he feels important.

Andrei started every game last season, and while he played pretty well, he's still not an important part of the offense.

But this season, if we give him the keys to the second offense, I can see good things happening. Last season, I always worried when Deron came out, because it seemed that that was when opposing teams made their run.

So instead of running the offense through Ronnie Price or Brevin Knight (though my judgment on Knight is pending), run it through Andrei. Let him bring the ball up the floor. Give it to him in the post. Tell him its his responsibility to get the team performing at a high level whenever he's on the court.

That'd get his competitive spirit up, and I think we'd see Andrei of old return to the offensive and defensive ends of the floor, getting involved on seemingly every play, making opposing players fear him on defense.

I'd like to see that.

Starters:

Deron

Brewer

Miles

Boozer

Okur

Second team:

Knight

Korver

Millsap

Andrei

Fesenko

Let me know what you think.

For my Laker-fan friends

Can't wait for the start of the regular season.

Entitlement

I do not understand the sense of entitlement that has become so prevalent in our country. We demand nice cars and expensive clothes. And if our income is not enough to afford such things, well, that's what credit is for.

And then we have the American dream of home ownership. At some point, it was decided that everyone, regardless of economic situation, was entitles to a home. Loans were given to people with poor credit, income to low to pay a mortgage, and even recent bankruptcies. 

The thousands of people unable to pay mortgages they never should have been approved for in the first place suddenly found themselves, well, unable to pay their mortgages. As far as I know, this is a major factor in the current economic crisis we find ourselves in. 

Who can we thank for this shift in values? It appears much of the responsibility is claimed by a group called ACORN, or Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now. Back in the 1990's, this group made it a priority to get low-income individuals into homes. 

You’ve got only a couple thousand bucks in the bank. Your job pays you dog-food wages. Your credit history has been bent, stapled, and mutilated. You declared bankruptcy in 1989. Don’t despair: You can still buy a house.” So began an April 1995 article in the Chicago Sun-Times that went on to direct prospective home-buyers fitting this profile to a group of far-left “community organizers” called ACORN, for assistance. In retrospect, of course, encouraging customers like this to buy homes seems little short of madness.

Wow. Now look, I understand the allure of buying a home. Mandi and I watch HGTV a lot, and dream of getting out of our apartment and into a larger property. 

The problem is, I'm a journalism major. I expect a starting wage of no more than $30,000 a year, maximum. That means the most expensive house we can reasonably and responsibly expect to purchase is around $65,000, if our math is correct. 

In today's markets, $65,000 doesn't buy a whole lot. It won't even come close to buying our dream home. But you know what? That's okay. We understand that in our current economic circumstance, we can't get our dream home. Maybe one day we will, but for now, we wait. 

Where was this common sense for thousands and tens of thousands of people who signed up for mortgages they knew they could not pay? What is ACORN thinking, giving homes to people who do not have the resources to pay for them?

And where was our government? Where were the people brave enough to stand up to ACORN's bullying tactics?

"In one of the first book-length scholarly studies of ACORN, Organizing Urban America, Rutgers University political scientist Heidi Swarts describes this group, so dear to Barack Obama, as “oppositional outlaws.” Swarts, a strong supporter of ACORN, has no qualms about stating that its members think of themselves as “militants unafraid to confront the powers that be.” “This identity as a uniquely militant organization,” says Swarts, “is reinforced by contentious action.” ACORN protesters will break into private offices, show up at a banker’s home to intimidate his family, or pour protesters into bank lobbies to scare away customers, all in an effort to force a lowering of credit standards for poor and minority customers. According to Swarts, long-term ACORN organizers “tend to see the organization as a solitary vanguard of principled leftists...the only truly radical community organization."

I don't know. Neither Republicans nor Democrats seemed interested in preventing this catastrophe, though at least the right warned of coming problems with these mortgages. Small bragging right when they weren't willing to actually do anything about it. 

We're in big, big trouble, and whoever wins this November is going to inherit a mess unlike anything we've had for a long time. I don't envy them.

Sick of politics

This is a short rant. 

There are no squeaky-clean perfect politicians. Every one of them has flipped on some issue or another. Every one of them makes embarrassing gaffes when speaking to the media. Every one of them has some kind of scandal in their past. 

I made it clear a couple months ago that just because I don't like Obama, that doesn't mean McCain is my guy. Liberals do more to annoy me than conservatives do, but both sides have their moments. 

So I'm willing to admit that McCain is very shaky on the economy. I acknowledge that Palin is terrible at public speaking and interviews. And I dislike Obama even more. It's a terrible election as far as I'm concerned. 

Let's just slog our way to Election Day and get on with working on the many issues facing our country. 

Ugly wins are wins, I guess

BYU looked like the seventh-best team in the country for about twelve minutes tonight. 

Leading 24-0 at Utah State after one quarter is a little more than what's expected, but make no mistake, the Cougars were supposed to be up by at least two touchdowns after one. 

After that, BYU looked disinterested, slow, and ineffective on offense. Max Hall had what is probably his worst game ever... continually forcing the ball into double- and triple-coverage, and it resulted in picks. He's got to settle down and just take what the defense gives him. 

Collie had a great line: eight catches for 132 yards and two touchdowns. Nevertheless, he dropped at least two balls that hit his hands. Can't do that. 

The defense forced turnovers, but when the couldn't get the Aggies to cough the ball up, Utah State's offense moved pretty well on them. As I ranted about after the Washington game, BYU's linebackers need to take better pursuit angles. A better angle means you stop the running back or quarterback for a one- or two-yard gain instead of giving him 10+. 

I worry about teams that can get their players the ball in open space, as BYU's defenders look too slow to deal with them. We'll see.

I hope this loss gave the Cougars the wakeup call they obviously need. Every team they play is gunning for them, and they can lose any given week if they aren't focused.

On to New Mexico. BYU seems to do much, much better at home, and in a conference game, I think they'll be up for this contest. 

October means NBA

It's the first day of October, and you know what that means. 28 more days until Robert Swift plays the season opener with his new team, the Oklahoma Thunder!

I love the NBA.

If you're new to the Frozen Wasteland, you may not know that I'm a die-hard Jazz fan, despite hating the color purple and not really liking Carlos Boozer.

So while I'll be ranting about many different NBA topics, it'll always come back to Utah.

My general sense about this Jazz team is that they'll once again be good, but not great. They'll win 50 games, struggle through the first round of the playoffs, and lose in the second round or the Conference Finals.

Reasons:

1. There were no major changes to the team in the offseason. Get handled by the Lakers in 2008 Playoffs + Make no offseason changes = same result. Besides getting rid of Jason Hart (thank heavens) and picking up Brevin Knight, this is the exact same roster the Jazz trotted out last May.

2. You cannot win an NBA championship with Okur and Boozer as your four and five. Winning it all requires interior defense, and Boozer and Okur are possibly the worst starting power forward and center, individually, in the league. Combine them and it's a disaster. If I'm an opposing coach, I tell my guys to drive into the lane every single play. Either the Jazz will foul you or you'll get a layup.

3. The Lakers are going to be better. Courtesy of the Ball Don't Lie blog:

Here's Andrew Bynum three years ago:

And here he is today-ish. 

Add Sun Yue, and L.A. is set for a good long time. Oh, and don't forget about Gasol and Kobe. 

Man, I hate the Lakers.

Plus, the Hornets and Blazers young and improving.

Then I read a couple articles about how the Jazz look in camp, and developed a little more faith. 

Reasons:

1. Kyle Korver had surgery to rid himself of a bone spur in his foot back in June. I liked the trade when it happened, and if we can get Korver shooting 40% from the 3 this year, the Jazz offense will be ever harder to stop.

2. I've heard good things about CJ Miles. The Jazz gave him a $16-million salary this offseason, and I hope that means the Jazz force Jerry Sloan to play the kid. 

3. Ronnie Brewer has reportedly gained around 20 pounds of muscle, and has improved his shot. 

4. There's always the off chance that Boozer and Okur will decide they are interested in playing defense. I believe they have the ability, just lack the will. Even if those two played up to 60% of their potential on that end of the floor, the Jazz win more games. 

The season opens with a doubleheader on TNT on October 28: Cavs/Boston and Portland/Lakers. Will we finally see Greg Oden play his first ever NBA game? Maybe. 

With playoff baseball, NFL, NCAA football and the NBA right around the corner, I love this month.