"The drought is over"

After over 10 win-less years, the Hawks were finally able to steal a victory from the Jazz last night. What to make of it? I would argue three things can be concluded from this game: not much, the depth of this Jazz team's bench, and the lack of Ronnie Brewer.

Not Much:
Deron Williams (D-Hulk as he will now be referred to on this and all other blogs) was absent. He is the best player on this team, and arguably the best point guard in the league. He runs this offense and the Jazz would have won without him had they not gone ice-cold for a stretch in the fourth quarter and blown a six point advantage. It is precisely in these moments, when his team needs points and no one can get them alone, that D-Hulk shines. Also, Andrei was out. He is a long, semi-athletic player and could have been used effectively to bother some of Atlanta's guards, one of which (JJ) destroyed the Jazz last night. Thus, does this loss mean much in terms of how good this Jazz team is? Not really.

Depth:
Three players had positive scores (on the [+/-] scale) which is indicative of how deep this team is. Even without two starters, they are able to play a good game against a very good team. If the Jazz can remain healthy this season and secure a two or three seed for the playoffs, they can ride this bench against essentially any other in the league and win by doing it.

Brewer:
Hypothetical guesses about what would have happened had certain key variables (such as Brewer guarding Joe Johnson instead of C.J. Miles or Wesley Matthews) been different in sports is always a little silly, but I honestly agree with D-Hulk that this team is worse without number nine holding it down. His unique combination of speed, strength, legitimate athelitic ablility, and puppy-dog-alacrity is a very useful thing to have in this league. The 2-3 positions arguably contain the best players in the league (Lebron, Kobe, Carmello, Dwayne, Keven (D), Joe (Johnson),.......) and to guard them is difficult. Brewer was no Bruce Bowen (maybe a good thing?), but he certainly occupied an important role defensively for this team. This trade was not endorsed by this blog and I hope that it won't come back to haunt the Jazz in the playoffs when the have to face some of these star players.

For now, no big deal. Who knows if I'll feel that way later. Until then, we will continue to celebrate the humiliation of the Blazers as if last night didn't happen.