Well, we’re already two games into the annual tradition that is the Jazz/Lakers playoff series. You know… That special time where we gather ’round to watch three 7 footers toss basketballs over the heads of our beloved Jazz while listening to Lakers fans heap all the credit upon Kobe’s shoulders.

I can’t help but feel as if I’ve been somewhat detached from this series in comparison to the opening round drubbing of the Nuggets. True, I spent game one of the Jazz/Lakers game 33,000 feet in the air watching a horribly choppy slingbox feed and explaining to the S0uth African girl next to me how the game of basketball worked — and I spent game 2 in a sports grill in Miami, where it felt like more people were paying attention to the Kansas City Royals/Chicago White Sox game than Jazz/Lakers, giving the place all the electricity of a wheelbarrow (yes, I don’t get that reference either, just move along please) — even considering those less-than-desired viewing situations, I’m still unsure why I’ve been unable to become as emotionally invested as usual.

I mean, it’s the Lakers. We are absolutely expected to be waltzed over in 5 games, and anything better would be considered progress, so the ride shouldn’t be as stressful this time around. Right?

Then the series starts… All those irritating fans who were in MJ jerseys 15 years ago come crawling out of the woodwork clad in their Kobe jerseys (and don’t worry, their LeBron jerseys are all ready to order as soon as Kobe’s game starts to slip)… We get to listen to ABC announcers fall over themselves in adoration for Kobe and the Lakers while trying to discern the difference between Paul Millsap and CJ Miles… We get to be constantly reminded about how annoying it is that the Lakers even have to bother themselves with this mildly annoying, yet restful matchup before the playoffs get back on track… All of these things dig deep into the psyche of every Jazz fan, making each loss hurt that much more.

Series opens up in LA.. Lakers leave town up two games to none. Each game I seriously started to feel like I was watching one of those lame cop/investigatory tv dramas. We’ve seen the same thing 16 times in a row now, sure a few of the minor details might change from one game to the next, but you can always count on the main plot points to stay pretty much the same, with everything wrapping up in a neat little package at the end. Lakers go up, get bored, Jazz come back, Lakers wake up and make a push – getting the crowd somewhat into the game for one of their 3 times to get noisy, Jazz fight to come close, Lakers win. Rinse and repeat.

Game 1 felt like the Jazz truly had the opportunity to pull one out while game 2 felt like the game wasn’t as close as the score indicated, but still, the Jazz had every chance to be right there. Still, same story. Same result.

So what’s up Justin? Are you here to spew doom and gloom? Tell Jazz fans to toss the towel in and avoid all their Laker “fan” friends?

In all honesty, I haven’t the foggiest clue… But I will tell you this much:

After game 1 in Denver, I was feeling incredibly depressed. The Jazz had just lost Okur, Denver looked dominant – and while the Jazz were right there, they simply had no answer for Carmelo, Nene, and even JR freaking Smith. I settled in for another early playoff end… Then, shortly before game 2, I felt that while Jazz fan’s confidence was deeply shaken, that the team had a trick or two up their sleeves. That we were absolutely going to see something different out of them in game 2. Now, I didn’t know if that meant a win in that game or the series, but the depressing sobriety that haunted my fanhood had disappeared.

I didn’t get that feeling after game 1 of this round, but I can’t help shaking the fact I have that feeling now. Deron was an absolute no show in game 2, and while it’s evident the Lakers have been in his head for a very long time I can’t help but feel he begins to shake that in game 3.

Listen, I understand that the Lakers are just about as bad a matchup as you could imagine for this Jazz team, and the fact we’re relying on Fesenko and Koufos to bridge that gap would be laughable if it wasn’t so sad, but it just feels like this series isn’t as grim as it felt on Tuesday night.

Call me a homer. Call me a blind fan. Call me “that one moron from Jazz Hype” (I much prefer option 3, but feel free to chose any or make up your own favorite), really no difference to me, but if I’m following my gut, I’d really suggest all Jazz fans wipe the tears and get their jerseys out of the closet, because it’s not over til someone wins 4.

There’s already going to be enough yellow shirts in the ESA on Saturday to provide as much noise as the Staples Center does on an average regular season game, get out there and have some fun with this.

I’ll close by saying that this Lakers team has proven to be vulnerable. Their bench is utterly non-existent, Ron Artest is Ron Artest, Kobe isn’t what he used to be… Yes, odds and wisdom say they ride Gasol, Odom and Bynum to a series victory in 5, but to Jazz fans I say: if you’re feeling sorry for yourself, stop it.

Just stop. Get to the ESA, get in front of your TVs, toss your Jazz gear on, and don’t mope your way through whatever games the Jazz have left, because as clichéd as it sounds, it simply isn’t over until it’s over.

Related posts:

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3. Road Warriors.

82 games are in the books, and we have finally arrived at playoff time. 2009-2010 has certainly been a roller coaster ride season for the Jazz, but let’s be honest here, are there any of you who expect anything but?

Part of that roller coaster season involved a rather tepid finish, huge wins (OKC) interspersed with terrible defeats (Houston) – the only thing we had to keep our hopes shining was watching the Nuggets finish the season in an absolute tailspin. Every time you thought the Jazz had given up all hopes of the NW Division title, the Nuggs would drop a couple straight games.

Then the Phoenix suns came into town and decide to rain on everyone’s parade. I was in the ESA for the Jazz/Suns debacle, and after the game the collective mood was so bleak it was palpable. After a couple of days to collect a few rational thoughts from the pool of Jazz fan despair, it’s time we take a look at the first round matchup ahead of us.

The Overview

Denver’s semi-recent emergence from perennial suckitude has reignited a long stale rivalry for these bordering states. It’s a shame these two teams haven’t met in the playoffs since 1994, because you have to love how heated a series between these two teams can get. Especially from the standpoint of us fans. Speaking for myself, I’ve had a deep seeded hate for the Denver Nuggets that is rivaled only by my hatred for the Lakers. Is it because of Denver’s smug “we’re the only rocky mountain town that matters” attitude? Is it because during the NFL season, I can’t watch a Colts Patriots game because I’m forced to watch a Broncos Chiefs game? Is it because Denver is close enough for most of their Mormon jokes to actually have a whole lot of accuracy and legitimacy to them? Is it because they think they’re a better ski town despite the fact you have to drive for 3 hours to get to a legitimate resort?

Yeah, it’s all of those things and more.

All half-joking aside, all of these things are what make playoff series great, make sure to follow us on twitter as we’ve joined forces with other Jazz fans to let the great smack talk war begin.

Point Guard

Deron Williams / Chauncey Billups

As a basketball fan you simply have to love this matchup. Deron is constantly proving himself to be the future in the league at his position, and Chauncey is the classy leader who’s career you can’t help but admire. As a Jazz fan, if I were to pick a singular point guard I’d like Deron to watch and emulate, it would be Chauncey Billups.

For some reason, I wanted to start this paragraph by saying that Chauncey had slipped a little bit this season, but taking a quick look at his statistics revealed otherwise. It’s quite clear that Chaunce isn’t just the glue that holds this team together, but the guy can still light you up on any given night.

As for DWill? He finally made his highly coveted All Star team this year, and after suffering through a sub-par February, has been bringing his game back up to level (for the most part) as of late. Now, he certainly hasn’t been perfect, as recently he’s had flashes of brilliance (42 points against OKC, 19 assists against G State) interspersed with bouts of inconsistency (7 TOs in 27 min against Houston, shooting .294 against Phoenix in the biggest game of the year)… So which Deron are we going to see against the Nuggets? It’s fair to say that this is the top question in Jazz fans’ minds. I’m leaning towards believing that as much as Deron loves performing on the big stage, he steps it up.

All in all, I feel I have to give the edge here to the Jazz, but come playoff time you can only discount Mr. Big Shot at your own peril.

Shooting Guard

Wesley Matthews / Aaron Afflalo

Not sure what to think about this matchup. I’m not going to pretend that I’m anything resembling an expert on Aaron Afflalo, but upon quick glance, both guys are putting up similar numbers, although Wesley has obviously had a much stronger second half than Afflalo.

In the head to head matchup between the two teams, neither guy was all too significant, with Afflalo averaging exactly 6 points a game, and Matthews averaging 5 and a half (this is pretty deceiving as Matthews played a full 5 minutes in the first meeting between the teams, and the last time these two teams played was before the Ronnie Brewer trade.

Wesley Matthews is one of my favorite stories of this NBA season, after hearing his story and watching his play, it’s impossible not to pull for the guy. If he can continue to play beyond his experience and give the Jazz a strong performance, it goes a very long way.

In the end, I’m gonna give the advantage to Utah on this one, although it’s not a large one. If either of these guys is a big story it’s going to spell disaster for the other team.

Small Forward

CJ Miles / Carmelo Anthony

So much for interesting matchups…

Not a whole lot to say about this one. Anthony has been having a banner year, and as we all witnessed last year, he’s gangbusters come playoff time. A healthy Kirilenko would have been huge for the Jazz and this matchup, but even with CJ’s recently improved play, there’s not much you can hope to do here.

I’ve read a lot about Utah’s propensity to double-team being a possible cause of frustration to Carmelo, but that just makes me nervous about JR Smith getting a thousand wide-open looks at 3. Despite what the Jazz do, you can bank on Carmelo scoring big throughout this series.

As for CJ? He’s one of Jazz fans’ favorite whipping boys, but in all honesty I feel like he’s been fairly consistent as of late. If he continues taking the ball to the rack and starts hitting open jumpers, it would go a long way to mitigating Melo’s looming presence.

Advantage? Denver in a landslide.

Power Forward

Carlos Boozer / Kenyon Martin

Boozer expects to play on Saturday, which is fantastic news for Jazz fans. With both Carlos and Kenyon playing at less than 100%, you have to give the edge to Boozer here. In fact, I believe this is a significant edge for the Jazz.

Before his injury, Kenyon Martin was having one of his better seasons in recent memory, but he missed a pretty significant chunk of time, and hasn’t looked the same since coming back. Injured Carlos is probably going to give a little on defense, so we’ll probably see some flashes from Martin, but I have a hard time seeing sustained high level play out of him for the series.

As for Carlos? He’s had the best season of any player on the Jazz this season. Yes he gets way too much flak from Jazz fans – for a guy who’s missed 4 games all season to hear Jazz fans talk you’d think he’s missed half the season. Fact of the matter is, without AK, a lot of this team’s success in the playoffs is going to hinge upon Carlos Boozer. I’m interested to see how he looks with this injury, but he’s come back strong from all the other games he’s missed this season. I don’t expect dominance, but I’d be surprised if he doesn’t win this matchup.

Edge goes to the Jazz here.

Center

Mehmet Okur / Nene

This is one of those classic matchups where the only thing the players have in common is their position. You can tell just by looking at these two that they’re bringing completely different things to the table for their respective teams.

Nene is one of those long, athletic big men who give the Jazz absolute fits. His defensive presence in the post is my top concern in this game. This season the Jazz have been able to cope with getting scored on by guys like Carmelo, it’s when the lane gets clogged up by guys like Nene and Odom that their offense bogs down and everything starts to fall apart.

Memo has been playing with a whole lot of toughness and determination lately. He was the only good thing in the crap-fest that was the season closer against the Suns earlier this week. It sounds as if his minutes are going to be kept limited by his nagging achilles injury, but if we see the kind of fire out of him that we saw on Wednesday, the series gets much more interesting.

Advantage goes to the Nuggets on this one. Memo has the ability to spread the floor and create a lot more offense than Nene, but the D that the big Brazilian (not Rafael Araujo, come on now) brings to the Nuggets is one of their biggest assets in the series.

Bench

For the Jazz, you’re main bench guys are likely going to be Paul Millsap, Kyle Korver, Ronnie Price, and possibly some Fesenko.

For the Nuggets: JR Smith, Chris Andersen, and as he’s given the Jazz fits in the past, probably some extended time from Ty Lawson.

Rotations always get shorter come playoff time, and it’s hard to predict exactly who’s going to see time and who isn’t (especially for me as a Jazz fan, looking at the Nuggets), but let’s give this a quick look, shall we?

For the Nuggets, you have to go straight to JR Smith. Whenever I hear a Jazz fan complain about CJ Miles’ inconsistent play, I wonder what it must be like being a fan of a team featuring the enigma encased riddle that is JR Smith. I know Jazz fans are going to be on edge every time he takes a 3, for fear of JR catching fire. I’m not even going to dare to predict what kind of series we’ll see out of him.

Look for Chris Andersen to hustle, and for us to get several comments from Jazz fans saying how much they wish he played for us.

Ty Lawson is a guy who scares me. He’s one of those quick little guards who seems to give Deron Williams fits. Give the rookie some confidence in the playoffs and it could hurt.

For the Jazz, Paul Millsap coming off the bench brings a lot of hustle, and he’s definitely better serviced as a 6th man than a starter. His midrange shot has been great all season, but seems to be failing him of late. If Boozer’s injury ends up being worse than we all think, we may need to see more out of Paul than I would have liked.

Kyle Korver has been lights out from 3 in the latter portion of this season, and while he’s been historically bad in the playoffs, he’s healthier than he has been in a long time. If he can continue his hot streak from deep, it would give the Jazz a perimeter advantage they sorely lacked in the playoffs last year.

As for Ronnie Price, I’ve always liked the guy, and he certainly brings hustle and scrap that can sometimes lift the Jazz in important situations – but I know I don’t stand alone among Jazz fans when I say I’d like to see Sundiata Gaines get at least a few minutes to prove he can run the offense a little smoother than Ronnie. Plus Sunny D just has that magic about him. Something the Jazz could very well need in this series. (I’d like to see Big Fes match up against Nene as well, just to see how it goes)

So who gets the advantage here? Talent-wise you have to give it to Denver, but so much of that hinges upon JR Smith’s performance. The Jazz bench has been strong for them all season, but they were the main reason the Jazz got run out of the building by the Suns on Wednesday. I’d like to say the good version of the bench shows up for the series, but only time will tell. I’m going settle by calling this one a push.

Coaching

Jerry Sloan / Adrian Dantley

Advantage: Jazz.

Really not much more you can say about the situation than that. I love AD, he’s one of the all-times for the Jazz, and I was overjoyed when they finally retired his number, but you can’t help but feel like Denver’s recent struggles can be largely attributed to George Karl’s absence.

If George is coaching this, you can call this matchup a tie. Watching those two men face off in a playoff series was an epic chess match back in ‘96 when the Jazz and Sonics went 7 games, and would have been nothing short of that. However, when it comes to the playoffs, AD doesn’t have any head coaching experience, something Jerry has in spades.

We here at Jazz Hype wish George Karl a full and speedy recovery. Obviously we hope his team is out of the playoffs before he gets a chance to come back, but we hope the absolute best for his health.

Intangables

The Jazz are missing their X-Factor and the Nuggets are missing their General. Which is going to have the greater impact? I guess we will have to watch and let the games do the talking. No advantages to a single team here, just both teams wishing they had all their pieces back.

Final Thoughts

Well, if you’re keeping score back home (and you actually made it through this post), the Jazz win the matchup categories above 4-2-1. So what’s my final pick for the series? My heart tells me the Jazz can win this series in a hard-fought battle, even without AK. My brain tells me that even though the Jazz win the majority of the matchups, Melo and Nene clean house in their matchups and make the difference for the Denver victory.

While my brain and heart fight it out, let me say this. After spending a few days mourning the passing of the #3 seed and a chance to blow Portland out of the water, I’ve finally reached a point of pure excitement for this Utah/Denver series. Playoff basketball is what it’s all about. Keep your eye right here on JazzHype.com for entertainment and insight as we battle with the boys on the other side of the rockies. I think it’s about time us Jazz fans stop moping about a missed opportunity, and start enjoying our 24th trip to the post season in 27 years.

Oh, back to the battle between my brain and heart… It was hard-fought, I thought about listening to my gut, but all it ever tells me is “eat more General Tso’s Chicken” – In the end, turns out my heart won.

Jazz in 6.

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3. Teamwork.

How long ago does November seem now? Way back when on 11/11 the Jazz were completely and utterly dismantled by the Boston Celtics to drop to 3-5 in the early season.

The complete collapse down the stretch of the 08/09 season, compounded with a summer filled with fans clamoring to get Boozer out of town caused that shaky start to weigh heavy on the the collective nerves of Jazz fans.

After those first few games, it just looked like there was really no team chemistry to be found. Guys seemed to be out trying to prove themselves as all-stars, trying to secure big contracts, or just trying to fill up a box score – and after the Celtics took the Jazz behind the wood shed for a lesson in what a team really looks like, it sounded like the Jazz were seeing those exact same problems.

I honestly don’t remember how this story broke, whether Deron tweeted it, or talked about it in an interview, but apparently the night after the loss to the Celtics, a handful of Jazzmen went out to dinner together and talked about how that was the way a real team plays. No one was out looking for their own stat line first, but guys were out there to lift each other up. To work together with winning being their only goal.

Flash forward four months, and you can’t help but feel that the Jazz have finally figured out how to emulate that team-first mentality and style of play they once envied from afar.

Yes, the road in 2010 hasn’t been without its bumps, and we still have no idea where the Jazz will finish in the playoff standings after the season comes to a close, but you have to feel pretty good about the team’s chances to make a lot of noise at the very least. Down the stretch, the Jazz just have the look and feel of one of those teams that frustrate you come playoff time. You know what I’m talking about… Those guys who seem to be constantly in sync, having a great time and building each other up. Sure, success feeds that attitude, but that attitude also feeds success.

It all seemed to come full circle tonight. After a first half where the Jazz seemed to spend more time getting angry about the officiating than time spent running their offense, the Jazz came out in the second half ready to show the Celtics what they’d learned way back in November.

Memo started dropping 3s and crashing boards… CJ Miles drives the lane and continues his aggressive streak… and before you know it, the Jazz drop 110 on one of the top defensive teams in the league, and win the game going away. It feels like a lot of recent Jazz games have ended with me saying something like “this is a win the team can use to build a lot of momentum” or something along those lines, but I can’t help but repeat that sentiment again here.

Sure, with all of the injuries pilling up, and with the Suns and Thunder nipping at the heels, there’s still plenty to stress about – but the approach these guys seem to be taking this year belies the attitude of a contender.

So yeah, something tells me the conversation in a team dinner tonight would sound a little different than it did after the last game against the Celtics.

Related posts:

1. Chin Up.
2. Comeback Kids.
3. Inexcusable.

The last time I posted immediately following a Jazz loss, it was after the Clippers embarrassed the Jazz in LA just a few days after getting run out of the building by the Sacramento Kings.

I was not happy, and I needed to vent.

It didn’t really help. You see, when we started this blog, I promised myself that I was going to be as professional as possible when I wrote my articles. I realize that blogs are all about being the voice of a fan to the fans, and while I embrace that aspect of blogging I don’t want to be a typical reactionary/angry fan moaning after each loss.

That being said, those were horrific losses.

Tonight’s loss to the Milwaukee Bucks was a tough one, but I sure hope fans can keep their anger at bay and realize a couple things about this game tonight:

• Milwaukee is a very good basketball team — their defense is insane, and the reason they’re one of the hottest teams in the NBA. I repeat something I tweeted earlier tonight: If I’m in the Eastern Conference I’m terrified of the Bucks come playoff time.
• The road is still the road — The Jazz are one of 8 teams in the entire NBA with a winning record on the road. It’s awesome to see the strides they’ve made in this area, but home court advantage in the NBA is probably the most significant of any of the professional sports.
• The Jazz didn’t back down — This could merit its own blog post (and very well may), but this year it seems that no matter how badly the Jazz are being outplayed in a game, you fully expect a 4th quarter run to bring it to within a possession or two. The Bucks were beating the Jazz in just about every way possible, but if a Korver 3 rims in instead of out, or if Boozer/Okur/Korver comes down with that defensive rebound after the Bogut miss, or if all those toe on the line shots move an inch back, who knows what may have happened? On the road, against a quality opponent, to be that in the game after being outplayed so severely? That spells good things.
• Mehmet Okur and CJ Miles — Okur had a killer first half and was one of the only reasons this game wasn’t over before it began – and CJ Miles was playing AK/Matthews style basketball. Those are two guys who have been wildly inconsistent this year, but who have played quite well as of late. If we start to see consistency from them, watch out.
• Carlos Boozer — To all the Boozer haters out there, go back, rewatch this game, and keep your eye on Boozer the whole game. Not only is he having an amazing season, but he is the type of glue guy on the floor that every team wants/needs. Watching Carlos play the role of leader/cheerleader has been fascinating for me. If the Jazz can find a way to bring him back, consider me officially in the “Bring Him Back” camp.

There were a few things in this game that do Warrant concern though. First among them was Deron’s play. I think the wrist is more off and on than people are giving him credit for.. He passed up a lot of good looks tonight. Hopefully AK can stay healthy, between this and the back, he’s not the X-Factor beast we saw in January/February, and he needs to be in top AK-47 form for the Jazz to make a serious run.

Sunday night will be an interesting one. OKC is an exciting team, and I’m sure the Jazz are looking for revenge after that controversial loss on New Years Eve.

Related posts:

1. Comeback Kids.
2. Inexcusable.
3. Teamwork.

In case you were one of the non-believers who went to bed early, before the Jazz dismantled Portland’s 25 point lead the other night, we have a video recap for you so you don’t feel so bad. This game was probably the top 3 best basketball games I can ever remember seeing. I was jumping up and down forever after Boozer hit that amazing buzzer-beater and sent us into overtime. Man was it good.

A couple of moments of note:
3:25 – Deron’s super-glue like defense on Brandon Roy. That’s why he is the best PG in the game.
4:26 - Jerry barks at the refs and want an ‘and 1′ while the rest of the bench cheers on.
5:28 – Fes’ dunk. SPEECHLESS!
6:00 – Deron’s mind blowing crossover.

Also, if you want to feast upon the beautifully crafted textual goodness by JazzHype Justin, read it here.

(Video: Watch this video on the post page)

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Watching this video today made me realize just how lucky we are that Deron Williams is on the Jazz. Charles Barkley just called him the best point guard in the league, meaning he is the best point guard in the world as well. Hard to argue that after watching this.

(Video: Watch this video on the post page)

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I probably shouldn’t be writing a post this quickly after a loss. I pride myself on keeping a level head about things, but after the Kings game I told myself “well, I guess the one thing we can take away from this is the Jazz aren’t invincible on the road – at the very least it’ll be a lesson learned.”

Uhhhhh……….

I mean, when our all-star, top tier point guard gets fouled with the game on the line, and my first instinct is “crap, I wish that would’ve just been called a block, I honestly don’t see Deron hitting both of these free throws tonight” – THAT’S a bad sign.

I’m honestly at a loss here people. We’ve seen a lot of great things out of this team this year, and like I wrote about quite a while ago, I was ready to buy into this relationship without fear of them hurting me again.. I bought in because I thought these days were behind us.

Then Kings loss made me wonder, but the Kings/Jazz matchup is always hard fought, no matter which team is bad that year.

But the Clippers?! I mean, minus the ridiculous outburst we saw against Houston on Saturday, Deron Williams has been at much less than an all-star level since the break. Can anyone explain to me how one of the best point guards in the league scores a combined 23 points against the Clippers and the Kings? 23 points against two sub-part to bad teams, while sandwiched between those two games he had 20 points in one quarter.

Inconsistency. That simply frustrates fans. We can obviously celebrate greatness and tenacity, and we can come to grips with terrible, but this?

Now, I feel like I need to be very clear by saying that I am not about to declare “blow this team up” or “trade Deron for Tyreke Evans” like I’ve seen a few fans demanding for in the twitterverse. But something is definitely off from what we saw during the win streak. Same guys, different performances, and I’m simply baffled, and searching for any kind of explanation for it.

So what are your thoughts Jazz Fans? Is this just a slight bump in the road, as we’ll soon return to our January ways, or is this a repeat of the late ‘08-’09 season implosion? It’s hard to imagine the Jazz passing Denver if the night they lose to the Suns, you lose to the Clippers, but do you think it’s still possible? Share your thoughts, a shared venting session should do us all a lot of good.

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Games like these showcase exactly why sports are, in my humble opinion, the absolute pinnacle of entertainment. You want suspense? Drama? Emotion? Yeah, a good movie or TV show can bring you those things.. But for my money, nothing compares to the scriptless, unpredictable stories that unfold on the court/field/rink/pitch/and everywhere in-between.

Tonight, much like in the dramatic win against Cleveland earlier this year, this one sent you through a full gamut of emotions. I’m ashamed to say I more or less threw in the towel on a couple of occasions. Whether it was pulling out my phone to focus on reading tweets about the lackluster first half instead of actually watching it, or getting so thoroughly frustrated with the start of the second half that I retreated from the TV altogether, it was safe to say the frustration end of the emotional scale was my wheelhouse far too often tonight.

Which is what makes the spectacle of sports so fantastic.

Few things can take me from the pit of frustration and despair to jumping and screaming on the top of the mountain of sunshine and happiness (and often right back down again) within the span of a couple of hours. It’s absolutely remarkable, and even though it has the ability to completely destroy my mood, I can’t help but love the ride. No matter which way it goes.

Anyways, enough of me fawning over how much I love getting wrapped up in sports… How about that game tonight?!

I can’t help but think that this has to be a springboard for the rest of the season… The Sundiata Gaines finish still stands as one of the most excitingly satisfying wins I’ve seen in years, but in terms of pure gut and determination, this win has to be tops for the season thus far. I mean, honestly. They were without AK and Memo, Deron started extremely slow and finished with a horrible shooting night (but decided to show the world that he is, in fact, an extremely solid defender. The first time I saw him guarding Roy late in the 4th I’m pretty sure I yelled at Jerry to fix that problem immediately. DWill shut me up pretty quickly), Fes was playing huge minutes in crunch time and the boys came back to win against a playoff caliber team in a hostile arena on the 4th game of a road swing. A road swing in which they finished with a record of 4-0, and pushed the road winning streak to 7 games.

7 straight road wins. Let’s put that into perspective shall we? The Jazz won 8 road games total last season.

I know there are a lot of pessimists out there — Fans who feel the need to rip Boozer at every turn, get ridiculously upset about the Brewer trade, or just find the dark gray lining of every Jazz cloud they see — To them I must say: we are truly witnessing a special run here.

I went on at length in a previous post about why it’s worth it to let go and embrace this team right now, and I stand by that statement. Yes, I felt like puking after the first 2 and a half quarters last night, but it’s allowing yourself to get that frustrated and angry that makes games like tonight’s that much more enjoyable.

So even if the Jazz get run out of the building by the tough matchup that the Hawks are, sign me up for more.

Either way, it’s one helluva ride.

Related posts:

1. Road Warriors.
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After all the Boozer rumors that swirled around espn.com this morning, at the last minute it was Ronnie Brewer who was sent packing…

Memphis has expressed interest in Ronnie B all season long, so I guess it wasn’t a huge surprise, but I’m sure there are many out there who were extremely taken aback by this news – However, I must admit, it caught me slightly off guard as well.

Based off of a lot of the instant reaction I’ve seen across the twitterverse, there doesn’t seem to be too many fans of this move. After being told the Jazz were only going to make a move if they felt it made the team better, I can see why there are some fans who feel mislead, but while I have always liked Brewer, I can’t say that I feel this move is going to really hurt the Jazz in the long run.

The first thought that comes to mind is that this is purely a salary move – and one that is going to save the Jazz quite a bit of money this year. Again, in these times, that fact cannot be overstated.

Beyond dollars and cents, let’s look at this a little further. Before this trade the Jazz had Ronnie Brewer, Wesley Matthews, CJ Miles, Kyle Korver and at times Andrei Kirilenko basically playing the same position. This brought some great depth, but it was simply hard to find minutes for all of these guys. Korver was facing constant DNPs, fans were clamoring for more Matthews, and the pure fact of the matter is that Brewer’s numbers have slipped significantly. Since the beginning of January he’s scored in double digits 5 times, while scoring in single digits 16 times. His average minutes per game have gone down every month since the start of the season as well, and bearing that in mind, the fact of the matter is that the Jazz have started playing much better as Ronnie’s minutes have gone down and others’ have gone up.

As far as the trade pick goes, it’s important to keep in mind that the trade is protected (I’m curious to see how protected it will be), but even though they’re having a solid season this year, the Grizzlies are never a bad team to have a draft pick from.

Anyway, these are just my knee-jerk thought to this trade.

Personally I’m very interested to see what guys like Matthews and Korver make with extended minutes, but most of all I’m very interested to hear what you think about this trade? Are you going to miss Brewer? Do you think the Jazz should have made any other moves? Do you think this trade was purely to clear up the confusion of having two Ronnies on the team?

Sound off!

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2. Lakers Pound the Jazz; Phonies Everywhere Rejoice.
3. Jazz Nuggets Playoff Series Preview

Ladies and Gentlemen. We have a .500 road team… I’m sure that like many of you, I was very interested to see how this team came out of the break. After the embarrassment they put up against the Lakers, would they come back from their time off lackadaisical, frustrated, or continuing with the same fire and solid play we saw throughout late January/early February?

Justin C did a great job previewing the 4 game roadie the Jazz find themselves in the midst of right now, and after a hard fought 2-0 start to that trip, we find ourselves at 12-12 on the road for the year so far. It has been so long since I can remember being at or above .500 this late into the year that I was forced to do some research to see when that was.

After 24 road games, you’d have to go back to the 06-07 season to find a Jazz team who was experiencing at least moderate success while away from SLC.

This is what the Jazz’s road record has looked like after 24 road games from the 06-07 season on:

06-07: 13-11

07-08: 9-15

08-09: 8-15

09-10: 12-12

For some reason, I’ve felt like the Jazz have had more quality road wins this season then we have in quite some time, even more than they did with the better than .500 mark back in 06-07. So I decided to follow that gut reaction and dig even deeper…

With the 13-11 mark they held in 06-07, five of those games were against teams that finished with a record of .500 or above. In contrast, this year with their 12-12 road record, 7 of those teams are currently at or above .500. That’s a full 20% better than 3 years ago, and last year? With their 8-15 record, a whopping zero of those wins were against teams that finished with a winning record.

Of all the things we’ve seen lately out of this year’s squad, I can honestly say this vast improvement on the road has to be one of the things that gives Jazz fans the most hope.

Friday’s game in Oakland could be your classic trap game. If the Jazz come in turning the ball over like they have the last couple of games, we might be in for an interesting night. If they come out and play with the same level of determination we’ve seen over the last several road games, then we very well may be on our way beyond Thunderdome.

(PS – after looking at the header image I made for this post, am I crazy in thinking that I would totally watch a post-apocalyptic movie in which AK-47 doles out Russian-style justice to roving biker gangs?)

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