SIMULBLOG FOR SONICS V. JAZZ

SEATTLE WINS IN DOMINATING PERFORMANCE 113-81

Sonics 91 Jazz 68 at the end of 3 quarters.
Seattle is brilliant tonight.
Brilliant on the defensive end
Brilliant in the opening floor.
Brilliant in the half court
The Jazz are a great match-up for Seattle, but tonight Seattle hit a vibe they haven’t had all season.
AK’s foul trouble was huge he is Utah’s energy.


Sonics 75 Utah 54 with 7:07 left in the 3rd Quarter
AK got his 4th foul at the 9:33 mark of the third Quarter
Seattle is really stymieing the half court game of the Jazz
Some of this is the match-up with Utah but a lot of it is a new energy running through the Sonics that is visibly obvious


Sonics 61 Utah 47 at the half
Sonics lead the fastbreak 21-4. Watson and Ridnour make this team fast, fast, fast
Lewis and Allen have been great
Seattle has had the Jazz on their heels the entire game. Moreover, Utah is not playing their game. Instead of being in the half court slicing and dicing the Sonics the Jazz are playing an up tempo game.
Last time these teams played the Sonics never allowed Utah to get into their sets


Sonics 49 Jazz 35 with 5:08 left in the 2nd Quarter
Seattle has the Jazz number
Nick Collison is out with plantar problem in his left foot and his return is questionable. It happened when he came down after a rebound.
Two great things have happened to Luke Ridnour recently. First the acquisition of Earl Watson has ignited the fire inside of him to keep his job and the National invitation to play for the USA team give him great confidence. These two may lead him into the next sphere for his career.


Sonics 37 Jazz 27 with 8:57 left in the 2nd Quarter
Ray Allen has the range tonight. 5 for 5 from the field and 3 for 3 behind the arch
Wow Seattle looks good. They really play well against this team.
Having Earl Watson on the floor instead of Flip Murray is a remarkable difference.
Chris Wilcox on back to back to plays brought an element this team hasn’t had in sometime. Boozer beat Lewis and when he went for the dunk Wilcox meet him at the apex and effected the shot. Then he ran the floor full blast and Watson hit him with an alley-opp.


Sonics 27 Jazz 20 with :49 seconds left in the 1st Quarter.
Lewis went 1 on 1 at Kirlenko twice in the ball game and both time drew fouls. AK leaves the game at the 4:50 mark with the Sonics up by 10.
Watson and Ridnour are playing together and it brings a lot of energy to the floor.
They really push the ball. Before the game Bob Hill was talking about the team getting used to the speed Watson plays at and how remarkably fast he is with the ball.
If Watson has a weakness it is an in between game, but that has not been evident tonight as he hit a Magic Johnson running hook in the paint.


Sonics 18 Jazz 9 with 6:00 left in the 1st Quarter
Great match-up tonight Rashard v. AK 47 . The Sonics have to keep Rashard moving and occupying AK because he is a dynamite off the ball defender.
Sonics have started fantastically. Hitting 7 of 9 from the field.
The defensive rotation and intensity is terrific
The team held a pre-game meeting on the floor that had a vastly different energy then what I have seen all season. The bad energy has left this team and it is obvious.


Storylines
1) Jazz great offensive rebounding v. Sonics poor defensive rebounding
2) Jazz inability to shoot v. Sonics inability to defend
3) Turnover game. Jazz must have turns to score.