| 30 December 2011
(Photo by Melissa Majchrzak/NBAE via Getty Images)
The Utah Jazz generally go as the point guard goes, at least that's how it has been for the past 25 years or so. And so it was last night. Here are the Pros and Cons of last night's game.
Pros
New Old School Jerseys--They are very similar to the throwbacks a few years ago, but these have dark green. I know that they will be wearing them on St Patricks' Day, but probably another few times throughout the year. 
Devin Harris-He got pulled early because of tempo issues and mistakes. He got the message and came out in the second half and played very well. He dictated the speed of the game and the speed of our players. He made his free-throws when they counted and got to the line nine times, which is more than any other Jazz player.
Derrick Favors- Derrick finished with 20-11 and only had one turnover in 39 minutes. Last night's game showed what a lot of us see Favors becoming; a consistent 20/10 guy with an attitude. I think that is what a lot of us think has been missing or have wanted to see over the past few years, a mean attitude. Favors has the mean streak. He showed that tonight.
Josh Howard- He had a +16 last night and helped the Jazz keep the balling moving. Howard had a calming effect on the team no pun intended and was part of two best stretches of the game. See in the Raja Bell graphics below.
Gordon Hayward- Hayward was intense and ready to go tonight. He showed up on both sides of the floor and gave everything. He also hit what would potentially be one of the biggest shots of the game late in the fourth. In the post game interview he mentioned coming home and connecting the fact that most of the players are young and that they will grow together. Brian T Smith.
Coaching- Corbin really showed some balls last night when he benched Harris after 4:25 of bad play. He stuck by his decision and it payed off. Harris came back into the game with more fire and intensity, which showed in his play and leadership. He also stuck with Favors for 39 minutes of a close game, and left him on the floor in the closing minutes.
Player Introductions- Via @monilogue aka JazzFanatical
Being In High School
Cons-
Fans- The game did not sell out. It's only the second time in the past 10 years that the Utah Jazz haven't had an opening night home sell out, the last time being in the post Stockton to Malone year of 2003 via Luhm.
No#FreeAlecBurks tonight. I know that it was a close game and that Burks is young, but as stated on twitter by many fans, "What is Raja Bell doing that Alec Burks can't do?" Interesting thoughts by @diggitbrother 
I don't know the answer, I just know that it made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Okay really, fundamentally you can work on lots of stuff on a daily basis, passing, conditioning, plays and so forth, but really you can't just throw all five rookies or sophmores on the floor together. Realistiaclly part of developement is situational. Different players will develop in different situations. Maybe Ty put Burks in so he could learn from Kobe on the floor not just by watching.
Raja Bell- I know I can't trade him or keep him off the floor, however the two best stretches that we had tonight a +9 in the first half and +8 in second half were when he was on the bench. You can also look to see that Howard and Favors were also in both of the lineups. While this is not exact science, because I don't have the 76ers that were on the floor, this trend will most likely continue. 
For those of you that were at the game... What were your impressions?
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