Gameday Pr0phile - Jazz

Utah Jazz

(25-26, 2nd Northwest)

Los Angeles Lakers

(25-25, 3rd Pacific)

Lakers Team Stats
Offense 98.1 ppg, 20.1 apg, 42.5 rpg
Defense 97.0 ppg, 20.5 apg, 41.0 rpg

Opposing Team Stats
Offense 90.1 ppg, 20.9 apg, 42.8 rpg
Defense 92.8 ppg, 17.9 apg, 38.3 rpg

Season Series
Utah leads the series, 2-1.

Last Meeting:

Kobe-less Lakers lost, 80-90

image courtesy AP / Mark J. Terrill

Top 6 Lakers

PG Smush Parker 11.6 points, 3.1 assists, 3.1 rebounds
SG Kobe Bryant 35.2 points, 4.4 assists, 5.5 rebounds
SF Lamar Odom 13.8 points, 5.3 assists, 9.4 rebounds
PF Brian Cook 7.7 points, 0.9 assists, 3.1 rebounds
C Kwame Brown 6.2 points, 0.9 assists, 6.0 rebounds
6th Devean George 6.7 points, 1.0 assists, 4.0 rebounds

Top 6 Opponents
PG Milt Palacio 6.6 points, 3.0 assist, 2.1 rebounds
SG Devin Brown 7.5 points, 1.1 assists, 2.7 rebounds
SF AK-47 15.8 points, 4.2 assists, 8.4 rebounds
PF Mehmet Okur 17.8 points, 2.5 assists, 9.4 rebounds
C Jarron Collins 5.9 points, 1.4 assists, 4.7 rebounds
6th Deron Williams 9.4 points, 3.9 assists, 2.5 rebounds

Key Matchup: Odom vs. AK-47
Look at it this way: AK will destroy Odom. There’s no doubt about that. The question is whether Odom will be able to remain effective nonetheless. He can be effective by making good passes, not making stupid mistakes, and by just getting his body on AK. That’s all he needs to do.

I’ve got to like the matchups at every other position. The Lakers should be able to hold their own everywhere except PF. Cook will need to be explosive if he is to outplay Okur…but he can’t outplay Okur. He just needs to do his best to minimize the damage.

Featured Peformers
Kobe Bryant 33 points, 4 assists, 6 rebounds
AK-47 18 points, 5 assists, 8 rebounds, 3 steals, 4 blocks

X-Factor
Devean George 8 points, 1 assists, 4 rebounds
Milt Palacio 15 points, 6 assists, 2 rebounds

Outlook
Key stats…Injuries: Mihm is out, Odom seems to have recovered more or less; Harpring may not play (back to back), Boozer is back on a limited basis, McLeod didn’t play last night pending medical results (still haven’t heard about it); may not play. Streaks: LA sucks. Utah is a very average team, 5-5 in their last 10, just a game below .500 on the season.

This Lakers team is more frustrating for me personally than they were last season. I just can’t stand it. They’re underachieving this season as where last year they sucked. Can Odom stop Ivan Drago from putting up a quintuple double? Maybe. That’s right, only MAYBE. This team needs to play more intelligently, and Kobe needs to be more aggressive. Forget passing, Kobe. We’ll forgive you. A Lakers win buys some time in the standings. A loss and Utah leapfrogs LA out of the 8th seed.

Lakers 98
Jazz 91