Mars wrote:

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/recap?gid=2008050413
:P :lol: :laugh:
I don't like Kobe and I don't like the Lakers, but I couldn't be happier about today's results. The fact that L.A. was awful just one year ago shows which direction each team is going. Docking my karma won't take my smile away.

Keep it classy Jazz fans!
http://1280thezone.com/images/uploads/audio/DWill5-1-08.mp3
http://www.thescoreboards.com/forums/utah-jazz/73605-deron-williams-i-hate-mother-f.html

I've never had any negative sentiments or disagreements with your posts before, but this one kinda set me off a bit. I'm not a huge Jazz fan, but I'm a Jazz fan and I'm tired of people saying they "choke" or they "collapse". Keep in mind, Salt Lake is among the smallest markets and will never draw the top-5 players such as Kobe, Labron, Garnette, O'neal, Duncan etc etc. Therefore, this teams has to make the most of what it has and what it gets. In the 97-98 Finals they simply lost to the greatest player of all time, who happened to be surrounded by a pretty good supporting cast...and they had to scratch and claw to win those titles. Last year the Jazz took a young team with a second-year pointguard and oft-injured power forward to the Western Conference Finals only to lose to the multi-championship winning Spurs and their multi-MVP awarding winning center Duncan. Not too shabby. As for yesterday's game, the Lakers had a few days to rest and practice, while the Jazz had less than 48 hours to get back on the plane and get settled in to play. Very little rest and almost no practice time...on the road. The Jazz may not win this series but it will go at least 6 games. Once the players get rested and get their legs back this team will surprise alot of people, including the Lakers. Keep in mind, this being a small market NBA team, how many years have the Jazz been to the playoffs or posted 50+ win seasons? Alot. Much more than most of the big market teams and that is impressive. I look forward to a very competitive series! Go Jazz!

ps- what is the big deal with Pau Gasol? I've watched him for the past few years and can't figure out why he's such a hot topic? He's good, but he's not great.

craigoscarson wrote:

I'm surprised that no one mentioned that the Jazz have the best home record in the NBA bar none. When you win at home, there's no "beginning of the end" after one road loss.

They also lost at home in the playoffs to a Yao-less Houston.

Lakers at home, post-season: 3-0.
Jazz at home, post-season: 2-1.

Did I mention that I dislike both L.A. and Houston as well? Just to cover all of my bases here (I had wanted to see Phoenix beat the Spurs though).

Let me start off by saying I highly dislike the lakers.

But to lose to the Lakers is not a choke. They had a better season record. Additionally, I think the conventional wisdom is that the lakers will win the series. But the Jazz should win 2 or 3 games. So unless they are swept, I would not see a series loss as a choke.

The one thing that I disagree with Mars on is that the Jazz are on a downward swing from last year. Last year, the Jazz shouldn't have been in the Western Conference Finals. Had Dallas just done what everyone thought they could have done last year, the Jazz would have been out in the 2nd round.

The same goes for this year. The Jazz are the 4th or 5th youngest team in the league, and haven't figured out how to win on the road yet. To be thought of as one of the elite teams at this point of their development is astounding. Anybody who paid attention to the whole season would know that if the Jazz had even had a decent December, they would have won the west by 4 or 5 games. They lost like 9 or 10 games on the road during that month.

Sadly, the teams that the Jazz would have to beat to get to the finals (I'm assuming that the Spurs end up winning that series) are the two teams that they can't match up with because they really show how poor the Jazz play defense. The Jazz have been a poor defensive team for years (probably since Mark Eaton retired), and have gotten away with it against mediocre teams that don't run good offensive sets and slowing the ball down to keep scores low. The Lakers and the Spurs run very sound offenses and can hit outside shots. That equals doom for the Jazz.

Mars wrote:

craigoscarson wrote:

I'm surprised that no one mentioned that the Jazz have the best home record in the NBA bar none. When you win at home, there's no "beginning of the end" after one road loss.

They also lost at home in the playoffs to a Yao-less Houston.

Lakers at home, post-season: 3-0.
Jazz at home, post-season: 2-1.

Did I mention that I dislike both L.A. and Houston as well? Just to cover all of my bases here (I had wanted to see Phoenix beat the Spurs though).

Hm...the same "Yao-less" Houston team that won 22 games in a row? If they can do that, they can win a first-round playoff series. But they didn't because they played a team that was better than them. The Jazz are bringing a knife to a gun fight, they always have. To say they choke or collapse isn't fair. You could argue that Malone routinely choked by missing free throws at the end of close games. But the Jazz as a team, and especially now, are not fully matured and are learning. Therefore it would be inaccurate to say they choke. I expect a closer game two, possibly a Jazz victory, and some great games in Salt Lake City. LA didn't have to put up with much resistance from the Nuggets, that won't be the case this round and if they aren't ready they'll lose.

The Jazz will be fine. They did not have home court in the houston series and won in only 6 games. They do not have home court against the Lakers and are not the favorites. They were not expected to win this game and yet they had a chance. If the Jazz play hard in every game they will win 2 to 4 games. There are alot of Laker fans and writers that are really worried after last nights game. An incredible 20 made free throws by Kobe was the difference in the game. I think the series will go 7 games with LA winning and making the NBA millions of extra cash with a BeanTown and Hollywood Finals.