With Lakers beating Golden State last night, Utah avoided playing the defending champs in the opening round. Long timers may remember in 1994-1995 (when Jordan was not in our way) we had the second best record in the league behind San Antonio and we owned the Spurs that year. The slogan going into the playoffs was “It’s Our Year”. We had the 3rd seed in the west (Jazz and Spurs were in the same division) and had to face defending champ Houston who was seeded 6th in the first round. (Rockets had lots of injuries all year long but came back healthy in time for the post-season). Jazz lost 3-2 and Houston ended up repeating.
Now this year you have a defending champ who finished 7th but has all their stars back. Feel bad for the Suns this season who just one game away from the overall top seed deserved a better draw.
But before anything else, Jazz need to worry about the Warriors or Grizzlies and not look ahead.
I remember game 5, the Jazz had like a 10 point lead with 8 minutes left in the 4th. They went into stall mode with Benoit taking 3s at the end of the shot clock. That didn’t turn out so well.
Indeed Jazz forgot that you need to play to win, NOT play not to lose. So true in many sports.
I think Warriors (I assume it will be them and not Memphis) is about as good a draw as we could hope for in the loaded West. All 8 teams look pretty tough.
Meanwhile, as a Laker fan I hope we absolutely don’t see Steph again. I think they are the most dangerous team. Their guys not named Steph and Draymond are coming into their own. The Warriors when they get Clay back next year are scary.
Yeah, they are definitely scary. But look at the West:
- Utah
- Phoenix
- Denver
- LA
- Dallas
- Portland
- LA
- GS
After the Lakers, how can you have a clear favorite? It’s the Lakers and then a 7 way tie for 2nd place. And the gap isn’t as wide as it was last season. The Lakers are still a superteam, but they are still mainly a 2-man show. Everyone not named Lebron or Unibrow has the potential to meaningfully contribute on any given night or the potential to lay a giant egg.
I will say this: I don’t really understand how Phoenix became so good. They are not that good on paper.
A clear leader with great young talent. CP3 with Kobe would have been amazing.
I appreciate how you always represent the opposition. Meaning, the Yankees, Alabama, and The Los Angeles Lakers. We need some more perspective on this board, and you definitely add it. Additionally, there can’t be any coincidence that you cheer for arguably the most successful franchises in popular sports. It must be because of your long term loyalty to the real winners.
Thank you for keeping us posted. We look forward to all the updates you have to offer about Alabama Fall Camp.
Steggy, everyone knows I grew up in LA and that’s my pro sports teams. My Father is from Alabama (I also lived there in my early years of choosing college football) and I spent my youth going to games back in Alabama with them. I took a ton of crap as a kid not picking SC, UCLA or BYU (I lived in a large Mormon area in the Inland Empire).
So miss me with that Yankee crap. I suffered for the past decade with the Lakers losing and prior to Saban it was dark times. I went to games even in the bad years. I am just in a weird era where Alabama, Lakers, and Dodgers are winning titles. Wait till the Rams win this season.
Back to the series though, Jazz should be able to handle the Grizz pretty easily but I think the Warriors are a tough matchup.
I rather dislike the Lakers but will always give a fan a free pass to cheer for the team from where they grew up.
I don’t dislike them really. I dislike how they were formed and the super team idea. But kuz is a laker, and I generally like both Lebron and unibrow as players.
Weirdly, I am this way with most teams. I think the older I get the more I love seeing greatness. I LOVE WATCHING THE JAZZ PLAY. I want to beat them but good lord they have built a championship team. I am the rare NBA over NFL fan.
I like watching the Jazz play, but it’s not as much fun as it used to be. It’s all about creating and taking three point shots. Whichever team makes more 3’s wins the game (I’d actually like to see the correlation on this), and that makes it a bit like watching a cornhole tournament.
Now, there’s obviously great athleticism and tremendous effort on display too. It’s still a great sport for me to watch, but the new style of play hasn’t improved the product for me.
That’s fair. I like it better. Plus, this is probably my fav player to watch:
I guess Ja it is. This should be an easier series for Utah but watching Ja for 4 games will be a blast.
I don’t get the joke?
The only fan base more white than Jazz fans is the BYU fan base.
A Blackout would’ve looked a whole lot cooler.