I’m just trying to figure out how this happens. Ok, so the Jazz play one of the most complete games that we have seen in the last two years against one of the NBA’s best teams (San Antonio) the other night. Two nights later, they lose for the second time this year on their home court to a team that they should have beat by twenty with their strong arms tied behind their backs and with eye patches on. What?

I seriously don’t get it, but I have a hunch that they lost that game so badly because they were supposed to win.

For some reason the Jazz lack killer instinct. Sure they get up for all the big dawgs of the league. If San Antonio, Boston, LA, or Cleveland comes into town, the Jazz usually get up for it. They hustle after lose balls, are active on D, and run their offense almost perfectly. But when Sacramento, who many predict will be the worst team in the league this year, coupled with the fact that Kevin Martin, far and away Sac’s best player, is out with a broken wrist, or Golden State with only seven players even able to dress, or Minnesota, or the Knicks, or any of the other bottom-of-the-pack franchises in the league play the Jazz, its almost as if Utah wants to lose they play so horribly. I mean, I’m ok with a loss if the Jazz are playing their hearts out and the other team just gets hot, but that is not what happened in Utah on Saturday night.

Don’t be delusional and convince yourself that the Jazz “just had one of those nights”…I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the Jazz deserved to lose that game because they gave up in the second quarter. You could see it in their eyes. They wanted to go home, get ready for the road trip, see their families, whatever. What they didn’t want to do was take care of the Kings, THE KINGS, on their home court nonetheless, and rack up another “W” to even out their record.

Question: If you lose to San Antonio the other night, but blow out the Kings on Saturday, is it really any different than the situation we are in? Do wins against top-tier teams count for more in the win column? The answer is of course no, but for some reason some of our guys can’t figure that out.

The Jazz played hard for about 15 minutes in a 48 minute game. They have no excuses. They should have won by twenty rather than being down by twenty in the fourth. They made a great come back at the end when they started caring again, but even then, they weren’t full-court pressing, the bigs in the paint weren’t rotating to stop lay-ups, and Ronnie Brewer let the wings do whatever they wanted (don’t they teach you in high school to “pop the bubble” between you and your man? Why wasn’t he in a defensive stance? He just stood their and gave his guy plenty of room to shoot). Why did he let the shot-clock run completely down at the end without fouling?

I don’t mean to be negative, but something’s got to give. This team is losing not because they aren’t talented enough, but because they aren’t trying, and that makes them very hard to watch. They looked unmotivated and cocky Saturday night, and that type of attitude won’t win you many ball games.

Effort grade: D+

Next up: New York tonight @ 5:00. The Jazz haven’t won in NYC since CB Jack was in eighth grade, so hopefully tonight they really go out there and try. Every time the Jazz play the Knicks (especially in NYC) they don’t seem to really get up for it, so hopefully tonight they’ll actually play like they want to win.

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