Let's start with the highlights, since it's a much shorter list:
- Deron Williams. We all know this guys is a stud. 28 points and 13 assists, he looked as sharp as ever. As long as Deron stays healthy, we will compete in most games.
- Free throw shooting. The Jazz overall had a pretty good showing from the line, finishing 25-29 (86.2%)
- Memo's outside shooting looked pretty good.
- Fes didn't look too bad when he came in for Memo early in the game. He seems to have improved. I'd still like to see more Koufos.
- Carlos Boozer. I think most of us are expecting Boozer to play out of his mind this year, since he's trying to get a big contract. Boozer's all about the $$. Maybe he still will, but last night he looked like crap. Poor shot selection, zero defense, the usual. He blew a couple of assists for Deron by not being ready for the passes. He just looked terrible.
- Turnovers. We had 16 which isn't horrific, but they led to 22 points for the Nuggets. And we only lost by nine.
- Second-chance points. We gave up 14 offensive rebounds that led to 20 second chance points. I don't know how many put-back dunks the Nuggets had, but it was a lot.
- Defense. We didn't get back in transition, we didn't rotate over, and we gave them way to many easy baskets.
- Depth. We were missing CJ, Kyle, and Matt last night, and it showed. I think those guys might have been able to give us the lift we needed.
- Paul Millsap. I never thought he'd be a lowlight, but last night he didn't really do much to show the world why he got such a big raise. I have no doubt that will change as the season progresses, but as for last night, he just really didn't play that well. He's still one of my favorite players, and I don't think anyone (aside from Deron) works harder than him.
