Three things I learned from tonight’s game.

1. We need Mo Williams! Can’t we get him one of those cyborg hands? We don’t need some adamantium Wolverine hand of indestruction, or even the T-1000′s terminating hand. I’d be happy with the golden hand they screwed onto Anakin at the end of Attack of the Clones. Just slap it on him so we can get him back on the court. The Jazz need a point guard who can hit from outside!

I’m cool with the PG spot not producing the assists of old. Some may say we were spoiled with John Stockton and Deron Williams dishing assists like they’re bracelets at a concert. (I say I pay money to see games at the ESA and on Root Sports (DirecTV is not a public option television experience) so how can I be spoiled? Anyway, I get it. As long as the ball’s getting passed it doesn’t matter who’s racking the assists. But Jamaal Tinsley and Earl Watson do not strike fear from 3, and Burks, well, he’s cute and all, but he’s not actually your point guard, is he? He scored a career high 24 points from his more-natural shooting-guard position.

BUT…! Jamaal Tinsley was -11, Earl Watson was -9, and the Jazz lost by 11 points, ergo Burks was +9 when he was at the 1-spot. Have you heard that rumor that the Jazz at one point were looking at trading Burks for Luke Ridnour? Nasty rumor, that.

2. We need Gordon Hayward! When did the Jazz become one of the worst defensive teams in the league? Remember that scrappy 2003 squad that consisted of rookie Mo Williams, AK47, One-Legged Harpring, Mikki Moore’s iguana, and special guest guard Raul Lopez? They managed to get to 42-40 based on defense.

The Jazz made the Kings look like the Heat, if the Heat traded Mario Chalmers and Joel Anthony for Chris Paul and DeAndre Jordan. They seemed to realize that at halftime, so the big men got into a “who can foul out first” contest in the third, and if the Kings weren’t off to the races before, they sure were afterwards. The Jazz could have really used some of Hayward’s patented out-of-nowhere blocking from the weak side.

3. Let the Kings stay in Sacramento! Arco Arena was rocking like a playoff game. Yes, it’s a franchise fighting for its life, but the city is there to support it. Seattle still deserves an NBA franchise, but why not send the Bobcats or the Hawks up there? Not like those fanbases would care as much as most. Then again, as soon as the Kings announced they’re staying, you’d see people bolting for the exits, saying ‘Call me when we’re in the playoffs.”

#FireTy

Where did tonight’s coaching job rank on the FireTy-meter? Going from 0-10, 0 being Ty makes Coach K look like Danny Kaye, and 10 being Tim Floyd with a clipboard of random doodles, tonight he gets a 4.

In a loss, he’s still in the good-coach half because let’s face it, it’s not his fault a referee from half-court whistles a non-existent fifth foul on Paul Millsap in the third. It’s not his fault the Jazz missed so many dunks and layups. (Dunks, people!) And sometimes, in a playoff atmosphere, it really is 6-on-5.

This team is treading water until the trade deadline. Jazz fans are among the most loyal but with so many guys in contract years, we’re ready to be fiercely loyal to whoever is still here after the trade deadline. If no trade happens, then it means we’re still treading water, either for the #14 pick in the draft or to be swept in the first round again. At that point, we debut a new section: #FireKOC!

Other Random Observations:

- Al Jefferson has spent a lot of time mentoring Enes Kanter, but sometimes it looks like Big Turkey is trying too hard to be Big Al. Pass the ball to him down low, watch the other four guys stop moving as much, dribble, fake, dribble, fake, look, spin, force it up through a double-team. Now Al can score 20 a night doing that. Enes needs to be quicker.

- Jimmer Fredette entered the game to all cheers, so the conclusion I draw from this is there are no Ute fans in Sacramento.

- Jason Thompson outplayed Derrick Favors with ease, which made me wonder what happened to him. He looked very promising his first two years, but when they drafted Cousins, instead of sliding Thompson to the 4, they made him a bench player, which hurt his production. Looking at their overall season Per-36′s, it was just a good night for Thompson. Favors is younger and normally the better player.

- Jeremy Evans gave his fans a taste of what it’ll be like for him to defend his title in the SlamDunk competition at All-Star weekend. He’s going to miss his first attempt.