Preview: Dubliners vs. Miles Davis

Utah at Boston
7:30 P.M.
TD Bank Garden
CSN

Opposing viewpoint: Salt City Hoops

Boston: 108.6 points/100 possessions (11th);

Utah: 107.6 points/100 (15th)

Defensive Efficiency

Boston: 93.0 points allowed/100 possessions (2nd)

Utah: 109.6 points/100 (22nd)

Injury Report:

Celtics: OUT: Bill Walker, Tony Allen, Glen Davis DOUBTFUL: Brian Scalabrine PROBABLE: Marquis Daniels

Nets: OUT: Matt Harpring, Kyle Korver, C.J. Miles  QUESTIONABLE: Deron Williams, Ronnie Price

Last week in a comment on a piece written by Brian Robb about the upcoming schedule I wrote, “Don’t sleep on Utah.”  Well, to take a page out of Brian’s joke book, it might just be bedtime.  The injury report today reads like a winning lottery ticket to a Celtics fan: “Whether the Jazz will have Williams and/or Price for tonight’s game against the Celtics remains to be seen.” I could risk hyperbole and say the Jazz have no chance in this game without Deron Williams, but without a point guard?  No chance.  Who’s bringing the ball up the floor?  Ronnie Brewer? Wes Matthews?  Most likely Eric Maynor, a rookie I’m not sold on, but we’ll get to that a little later.  For now, on with the preview.

WHAT THE JAZZ DO WELL/DID WELL LAST YEAR

Rebounding. The Jazz have two walking Double-Doubles waiting to go off at anytime in Carlos Boozer and Paul Milsap.  They’re tough, gritty and just clean glass all day.  Unfortunately for them, not a lot of those boards are offensive and they’ll need a lot of second chance points to hang around tonight.

WHAT THE JAZZ DO POORLY/DID POORLY LAST SEASON

Be Tall. The Jazz only have three players over 6’10 and only play one of them in Mehmet Okur.  Okur is also not exactly the guy to get down there and use his height.  Look for him to love defending ‘Sheed because he’ll be right where he wants to be around the arc.  On a related note, I refuse to believe Kyrylo Fesenko and Kosta Koufos exist, so perhaps we’ll find out tonight.

PLAYER/S WHO MAKE ME WORRY:

Paul Milsap and Carlos Boozer. And that is only if they fall on Garnett and break his leg.  They are both solid players and they’ll get their points and rebounds, but without a healthy Deron Williams on this team, no one scares me at all.

PLAYER/S WHO DO NOT MAKE ME WORRY:

Eric Maynor.  Yes this could be his coming out party, especially if Deron Williams and Ronnie Price is out.  This could also equate to giving the reins of the Detroit Lions to a rookie by the name of Joey Harrington, and we all know how that turned out.  The major difference is that Harrington was a better relative player than Maynor.  He went to a big time program and was very highly touted whereas Maynor went to Virginia Commonwealth and got most of his recognition making Greg Paulus look stupid in the tournament two years ago.  Unfortunately, making Greg Paulus look stupid, while I’ve never personally done it, is not exactly hard to do (just consult here, here, here, and them).  The bottom line is, while Maynor has great point guard height (6’3″) and a high basketball IQ, he’s got a lot to prove.  Oh, and he won’t prove it on Rajon Rondo.

What to look for and a prediction, after the jump

WHAT TO LOOK FOR TONIGHT:

This is where I wish the C’s had Michael Sweetney.  Wouldn’t you love to see Sweetney vs. Carlos Boozer.  Both are short for their position but can throw their weight around (albeit in very different weighs (ooh just awful, even for me)).  Alas, not to be, not to be.  Tonight I look for the C’s to get their groove back Stella style- looking for much younger men.  The C’s youngin’s should get a good run tonight as Utah is hurt and not playing well this season at all.

• PREDICTION:  While Tommy will fall in love with Mehmet Okur’s nickname “Memo” the C’s should be able to pull this one out.  Let‘s ballpark it around 102-76 Boston.  Too broad?  Alright, how about A Lot to A Little C’s.

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