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QUARTER-BY-QUARTER ANALYSIS
First quarter: Veteran Steve Smith, originally destined to add experience off the bench, took on a starting role when injuries sidelined Charlotte regulars Jason Hart and Brevin Knight. He made the most of it, firing in two early three-pointers and helping the Bobcats get off to a sizzling start that continued throughout the period. The Bobcats missed one shot early and one shot late but converted each of their 14 other attempts, finishing the quarter with 14-of-16 accuracy for 87.5 percent. That paid off with a 10-point lead midway through the period and a 19-point advantage with 1:25 to play. The Jazz, making 6-of-18, trailed Charlotte by 18 (35-17) at the quarter’s close. Eddie House topped the Bobcats scoring with 12. Second quarter: Charlotte continued riddling the Utah defense with basket after basket through the early stages, extending its margin to 22 (44-22) with 8:13 left. That came, fittingly, on a 19-foot fast break jumper by newly-activated Keith Bogans, who was recently acquired in a trade with Orlando. Bogans, who made his first Charlotte appearance with five points in the opening quarter, added 10 more in the second and led the Bobcats overall with 15 at the half. The Bobcats’ shooting cooled a little, with the Jazz closing the gap to 10 at one stage. Charlotte stretched it back to 14, 54-40, at the break. Third quarter: The Bobcats showed no signs of letting up. Utah closed to within 11 early in the period but Charlotte took the lead right back to 17 on an Emeka Okafor jumper with 7:10 to play. At that point, the Jazz put together its best sustained run of the game, riding the scoring and rebounding of Carlos Boozer (16 points, four rebounds in the third) on a 15-4 jaunt in a span of 3:44. That sliced Charlotte’s lead to six at 71-65 and set the stage for the furious battle that would continue to the finish. The Bobcats led 79-74 at the end of the period. Fourth quarter: The Bobcats’ lead was shaky at the outset but went back to 11 early in the quarter and was at 10, 96-86, after Gerald Wallace converted two free throws with 5:32 remaining. The Jazz answered in urgent fashion, scoring nine consecutive points to pull within one, 96-95, with 2:59 left. Utah got it to one again on a Raja Bell three-pointer with 18.4 seconds to play, then went up 106-105 on Bell’s two free throws with 15.5 seconds left. Charlotte had a chance to re-take the lead with the clock running down, but Wallace's jumper from the corner fell short. Boozer capped the scoring with another from the line at 0:00.2. Utah finished by making eight of its last 11 free throws; Charlotte faltered at the line down the stretch, hitting two of its last six, contributing to Utah’s closing 21-9 surge. Bogans finished with a career-high 28 points, Boozer with a career-high 34.
GM & HEAD COACH BERNIE BICKERSTAFF SAYS... (on Utah’s run in the fourth quarter) In basketball, you say there are always three spurts in a game and you try to get two out of three. That’s a very good (Utah) basketball team. They stayed strong. They made their shots. They kept executing. And they made a run. We didn’t get done what we needed to get done, it was that simple. It had nothing to do with Utah. They were in the game. We just didn’t do what we had to get done to win. They’re all painful when you’re talking about losing. (on Keith Bogans’ play in his first Charlotte game) He did one heck of a job. And out of all the things that I appreciate, the (main thing) was the toughness, physically. (on dealing with the early 22-point lead) You know, out of respect for Utah, that they’re going to make a run. But what you have to do is answer runs. We had a chance to and we didn’t. That’s very simple, I believe. We had the game right there for our taking. Gerald (Wallace) went in for his (late fourth-quarter) dunk, we got momentum. We missed a couple big free throws. But at that point, we were doing the right things to get to the free throw line. We went in there because we were in the bonus situation. (do you criticize the players for continuing to take perimeter jumpers) I’m not criticizing anybody. They just have to learn nuances of time and score. Eddie House is making jump shots. That’s one of the reasons we were in the game. Players have to understand who they are and who should be taking them and what their strengths are. That’s what this is all about right now, learning those little nuances, learning who we are, learning what we do. But I don’t have any reason to criticize them. Again, they got us there. What I should be doing is slapping them on the back for getting us in a situation where we had a chance to win. (on the impact of Primoz Brezec’s injury, a right chest muscle strain that limits his ability to raise his right arm) He didn’t want to shoot the ball. He can’t shoot the ball. (on the condition of starting guards Jason Hart and Brevin Knight, who didn’t play due to injuries) Brevin (left wrist sprain) is close. There’s no need to take a chance there. They’re afraid he might get that hit again. He and Jason (left ankle sprain) are day to day. (on the status of forward/center Jamal Sampson, who came off the injured list and was available but didn’t play) We’ll get Jamal a good workout tomorrow and Thursday should be a go. Personally I still believe that when we get all our components we’re going to be a pretty good basketball team. I don’t have any reservations about that.
INSIDE THE LOCKER ROOM
EDDIE HOUSE (on the game’s late stages) Coming to the end of the game, we still executed. We got the good looks that we wanted to get off our plays. We just didn’t knock down the shots.
KEITH BOGANS
GERALD WALLACE |
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