Show r k Seven Up But Mostly Down f r Why cant can't the Jazz win Is youth the J answer H it 1 BY NATE DOWDLE T Utah Jazz Beat Writer r. r Have you ever sat on a seef seesaw seesaw see- see f- f saw You know it goes up j then down Up then down rl c a When you were little f jf t k did you ever sit on a seesaw with a really fat and older kid r at the other end while you i struggled to get down dow 1 The seesaw wouldn't move until he finally got up and then you went down so hard that it made your butt hurt Theres There's a fat kid on the Jazz's seesaw Every time they go up they crash back down and stay there Close games have S killed the Jazz this year From the opener against Milwaukee to some of the most recent games against Indiana and Phoenix Utah has struggled with the game gameon r on on the line However there was a breakthrough on December 4 the Jazz came through in a close one Everything was building up to a br breakthrough during the entire week After a blowout win on Wednesday November 28 against Seattle and more Karl Malone trade rumors that ended up being nothing but stupid ramblings of a whore as Deseret News beat writer Tim Buckley called Peter of NBC the Jazz razz took a road trip to Phoenix to take on the Suns The results were trous Final score 98 I am frustrated Malone said We arent aren't even thinking about complete games right now We are down quarter to quarter but we just have to work our way way out of it The culprit was a ISO 15 IS- 0 O third quarter run by the Suns that Utah never came back from After that the Jazz never came within single digits again The Jazz would then h have ve t to come come back t to Salt Lake to face the Indiana Pacers a team that always has explosive offensive power with the never quiet Reggie Miller The game was a close one another that the Jazz should have won But alas Utah was again on the short end of this stick losing in the thelast thelast thelast last minute The Jazz's killer turnovers Utah had 17 of them We certainly didn't take care of the ball again that's the kiss of death said point guard John Stockton According to his back up John Crotty The turnovers magnified when it comes down to it After the Pacers the disappointing Charlotte Hornets visited the Delta Center on December 4 The Hornets are another of the biggest letdowns this year after an awesome playoff playoff playoff play play- off run that ended in Game 7 of a semifinal up match-up with the Milwaukee Bucks last year As of December 4 they only had a 9 7 record mainly due to injuries to key players like Jamal Mashburn This game was tight although Charlotte led by 10 points in the fourth quarter But Utah was resilient and came back to take the lead on ona a Malone up lay-up in the final three minutes But the Hornets wouldn't die taking the lead back with a David Wesley three-pointer three with approximately 1 45 on the clock Howe However er the Jazz did not let this game get away in the final minute making a statement with Crotty's own three-point three bu bucket ket with 32 seconds left in the game It proved to be the nail in Charlottes Charlotte's coffin as Utah emerged victorious Coach Jerry Sloan stated I dont don't have any lem playing midgets if that is what it takes to try to win ball games referring to fo the fact that the winning up line-up w was s Karl Malone Crotty Stockton Scott Padgett and Andrei Kirilenko The two Johns play so well together It was a promising win after a week of It proved that the the Jazz can win a close game It let Utah know that they're still capable of pull pulling ng something something something some some- thing out of nothing But the Jazz face a tough test this next we week k Any team would be scared of this schedule Monday against Dallas Wednesday versus a surprising surprising surprising ing Minnesota t team am and Friday against Portland Will the fat kid sit on on the seesaw For the love of Pete I hope not i A |