First I’d like to offer my condolences to the family of the late president, Gerald Ford. He was a stand-up guy throughout life, and was a great president.

Final Score: 102-92, Jazz Win.

I think I was bad luck for the Jazz, as AK47 went down with a mild concussion and did not return. No news on him yet.

Leading Scorers (Jazz)

1.  Carlos Boozer — 26
2. Mehmet Okur   — 24
3. Deron Williams — 21

Leading Scorers (Clippers)

1. Elton Brand 21
2. C. Maggete 19
3. C. Kaman/ C. Mobley  13

PLAYER OF THE GAME: CARLOS BOOZER — 26 Points, 10 Rebounds

Dissappointment of the game: Not really a disappointing preformance, but Deron Williams was pretty horid from the floor. Going 7-18, but seemed to miss alot more shots.

Clippers @ Jazz

The past two games of this matchup have been won by the Jazz, by an average of 20 points. The Clips have been pitiful on the road this year, going 2-9.

             Clippers:             Jazz

PPG          95.4                102.3

OPPG        99.0                 98.6

Player to watch: Deron Williams  — Watch for him to have atleast 20 points and 10 assists against the Clippers tonight

First off, welcome to the Utah Jazz Blog. I’ll start by just summarizing this season for the Jazz thus far.

Utah leads the Northwest divison of the Western Confrence with a 20-8 record while being 3rd in the Western Confrence(Based on Win %)

Carlos Boozer has been everything for the Jazz this far, leading the team in both rebounding and scoring. He has preformed like the all-star that he is, while remaining healthy throughout the season. He works hard on both ends of the floor.

Deron Williams, a product of the Fighting Illini has been huge this season, being in the top 5 in assists with 8.7 APG. Williams has also been a huge scorer for Utah, with 18.1 PPG. These numbers have helped Deron gain many comparisons to the legendary Jazz player, John Stockton.

Foreign FirePower

Andrei Kirilenko, one of the best defenders in the league, is also a key contributer on offense. Besides being in the top five in blocks in the entire NBA, he also averages 4 assists per game, an impressive feat for a big man. AK47 also averages 9.3 PPG and 5.7 RPG.

Mehmet Okur — ‘Memo’ has averaged 16.1 points a game this year along with 7.1 boards a game. He has provided help to Carlos Boozer by being the secondary option in the scoring and rebouding portions of the Utah game.

Veteran Influence

Derek Fisher, a ten-year veteran, has sped up the maturation of many of Utah’s undeveloped players as well as talented players such as Deron Williams. Fisher has been the precedent of efficiency and consistency throughout his entire career, averaging 10 PPG off the bench for 6 out of the last 7 years of his career

The Legend.

Once again, legendary coach Jerry Sloan has masterfully guided his team to atop their division. This year, Mr. Sloan won his 1,000 game, an amazing feat rarely seen in any sport. Sloan leads this fairly young team with 40 years of NBA experiance under his belt as a player and a coach.

Championship Aspirations

As this team continues to improve, the question remains; Contender or Pretender? This teams shot depends on

if they remain healthy as most of their players have histories of injury and whether this team can act as a collective defensive unit