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Jazz vs Heat | Wednesday December 8th @ 7:00pm (The Rematch)

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Jazz discuss defending Heat — 'Like double teaming Michael Jordan'

Published on Dec 7, 2010 01:49PM 0 Comments

The Jazz's Jerry Sloan, Deron Williams, Paul Millsap and Raja Bell discussed Tuesday defending the Miami Heat.

Sloan on playing the Heat: "Just play common sense basketball. We can't go out and beat them one on one. We have to play and execute our stuff and stay focused on that. If you lose focus, then your cuts aren't very good; you're not ready to pass the ball when guys are open; you're not ready to help on defense — those things are critical to winning."

Guarding LeBron James: "You're guarding him with a guy that's giving up maybe three or four inches to him, whatever the case may be; his size. He's bigger than Karl Malone. That's a tremendous advantage right there. Plus he's a terrific athlete. I don't think you stop those guys. They figure out a way to get it done; get rid of all the heat that's built up around them. We just have to worry about we have to do, and that's play as fundamentally sound as possible."

Handling James: "If you're going to double team him, that's like double teaming Michael Jordan. You throw the ball to Kerr, and Kerr makes an open jump shot. If you don't, maybe Michael makes it. Same way with this guy. He's a terrific athlete; can do those things. Obviously Dwayne Wade is terrific as well to try to stop. You help, do the best you can; your rule is try to stay between your man and the basket. It doesn't sound very good. But that's what you have to try to do."

Williams on the Heat: "They're tough to defend. I think we have a size advantage on the inside and we'll look to attack it like that."

Preventing James from building up steam and how the Jazz have handled him in the past: "He's had some good games against us. A 50-point game here in our building. But you're right: You can't just let him get easy baskets and just build his confidence like that. You have to try to be physical with him and not let him have those easy layups."

James and Wade together: "It's two of the best players we've got in this game on the same team on opposite wings. You've just got to try to contain them as much as possible, give a lot of help, and hopefully one of them doesn't go crazy."

Bell on what works when defending the Heat: "[Sighs] I don't really know that there's one thing that works. I think it's just, you can tell early in the game whether we're playing together defensively and everybody's tuned in. And against a team like the Heat, you can't have two guys guarding D-Wade and LeBron, or LeBron and Chris Bosh when D-Wade is out, or D-Wade and Chris Bosh. You have to have those other three guys on the court in full support, because those other guys are really too talented to hope to contain one on one. That's the type of effort defensively we're going to have to have. I think they're playing a lot better offensively than they were last time. So, it's going to be even more paramount that we have a team defensive scheme, and everybody be on the same page with it."

Millsap on keys to defending the Heat: "We've got to win the points in the paint. That's going to be key, to try to keep them out of the lane and us trying to get the easy buckets, easy layups."

Being aggressive with James: "You're going to have to put a body on him. Some guys are going to have to sacrifice their bodies to try to take a few charges; try to get in his head mentally. But that's just going to take a lot of our team defense. Not a one-on-one thing. It's going to be a team defense assignment."

— Brian T. Smith
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Fesenko wearing walking boot; doubtful vs. Heat

Published on Dec 7, 2010 01:49PM 2 Comments

Jazz center Kyrylo Fesnko (sprained left ankle) did not practice Tuesday and is doubtful for a game Wednesday night against Miami at EnergySolutions Arena.

Fesenko, who was wearing a heavy protective boot prior to practie, said that his ankle has swollen up considerably since he injured Monday night during the fourth quarter of Utah's home win against Memphis.

Fesenko does not have any idea how long he will be out of action and acknowledged that the injury is frustrating. However, he plans to focus on his conditioning during the interim and will attempt to stay in shape.
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— Brian T. Smith
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"James and Wade together: "It's two of the best players we've got in this game on the same team on opposite wings. You've just got to try to contain them as much as possible, give a lot of help, and hopefully one of them doesn't go crazy."

I hope Kobe didn't hear that.
 
strength of schedules thus far between the two

average of records of teams the jazz (16-6) have played so far
.526

average of records of teams the heat (14-8) have played so far
.498

Jazz have had the 6th hardest schedule in the league so far

we have a better record and have had a much harder schedule the miami teet.
i think we got this.
 
We are currently 16-6. Last year, at this time, the Jazz were 13-9. Are we a better team this year? You decide.
 
This is a game that we could use an Andre Miller type move to push Lebron to the ground.
Jazz by 2
 
A win tonight makes it three straight wins over Lebron led teams. I can see Price getting alot of minutes, Miles just can't handle Wade. And it will be defense by committee on Lebron.
 
I'm hitting up Ahh Sushi tonight, then playing some basketball out in West Jordan. I can't watch this. If we win, HOORAY. If we lose, I'm glad I didn't have to see LeBron put his *EDITED BY JESUS* while Dwyane then proceeded to open up his own *EDITED BY KARL ROVE* to display to all the fans how you're really supposed to *EDITED BY MODERATOR*
 
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