The Association

Monday Morning Point Guard

By Craig Kwasniewski 

March Madness eat your heart out! One weekend down and there were several upsets, a few stinkers and a couple expected results. As much as I love the whole one and done March Madness thing, you don't get the physical play, the adjustments and strategy that a 7-game series offers. Here are a few thoughts with one game down in each series: 

Boston vs. Chicago - Is there room on the Derrick Rose bandwagon? The Bulls were the one team I regret not seeing in person this year. Anyone with an eye for hoops can appreciate the full range this rookie brings to the Bulls but what I didn't notice until Saturday is Rose's quick and explosive LAST step. Most players have that quick first step to blow by defenders but Rose explodes right at the rim at his last step. Also, his extremely calm nature works well with the youthful Bulls. Game 1 against the defending champs and he has the heart rate of a librarian and it's contagious as the Bulls weren't phased at all. I still think Boston wins, but the Bulls should make Rose the GM, coach and owner and build around him for the next 12 years. 

Cleveland vs. Detroit - Are we done yet? Are we done yet? Are we done yet? SWEEP! 

San Antonio vs. Dallas - One quarter in, Duncan had springy legs and looked very 2007, I was on the brink of writing a "Mavs should have kept Maquis Daniels instead of Josh Howard" piece and Nowitzki was in foul trouble... basically it didn't look good for Dallas. I left home, went out thinking the Spurs would win easily and I caught the last few seconds at a bar as Dallas... PULLED AWAY FOR A W??? What the hell happened? Suddenly Dallas looks like a very legit Western Conference finalist and San Antonio looks old.    

Portland vs. Houston - This really looks like a match-up problem for Portland more than anything else. Maybe their inexperience cost them a W as they didn't have that fifth gear or maybe they're just happy to be there.  All I know is Yao played the best playoff game of his life and showed EVERYONE that the problem was always T-MAC. 

Los Angeles vs. Utah - No Okur, no chance for Utah... it's just that simple. But the real story is the referees killing the entire second half of the game. It's no surprise that Joey Crawford was the lead ref in the worst called game of the weekend. Does the NBA pay him by the fouls? Does he really think the fans pay to see him ref? Is he out to single-handedly ruin professional hoops?  There were SIXTEEN fouls in the 3rd quarter alone and a free-flowing game became a possession-by-possession freethrow festival. Terrible! 

Orlando vs. Philadelphia - I've said this all year, Orlando doesn't have the go to guy necessary to make a deep run in the playoffs. C-Webb pretty much blew a gasket ripping on the Magic not riding Dwight Howard all game. But does Superman really want to be "that guy" with the Magic or is he content with monster numbers, monster dunks and showmanship? NBA Champions all have the definitive alpha dog and an understood chain of command. The Celtics heart lies with KG but crunchtime went Pierce first and Sugar Ray second. The early 00's Lakers had Shaq for 3 1/2 quarters with Kobe as the closer... what about Orlando? 

Atlanta vs. Miami - The Hawks put together a Special Edition Double-DVD set of highlights on the Heat on Sunday. Instead of 2006 Kobe and the Lakers with their near upset of the #2 seeded Phoenix Suns, the Heat resembled the 2007 edition and the very one-sided 4-1 loss to Phoenix. But we'll see what kind of road playoff team Atlanta is in games 3 & 4. 

Denver vs. New Orleans - Denver put together a sick 21-0 run late in the 3rd early in the 4th to put away what was a close and very physical game. Chauncey Billups went retro looking like a 2005 version going 8 of 9 from three on his way to 36 points. NOLA basically gave up at the end of the 3rd quarter so this blowout doesn't really mean the Nuggets will sweep. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if NOLA steals game 2. This really feels like a very bitter and very physical seven game series.

Monday Morning Point Guard

By Craig Kwasniewski

Just a few thoughts from the past weekend in the NBA... 

Losses by the Celtics and Lakers just add to the 1996 Bulls mystique: 

Brace yourself for this "brilliant" remark... winnin' 70 ain't easy. Seriously, can we finally stop with the 70-win predictions? Every single year by Christmas the media piles on some talented team that flies out of the gate, throwing out 70-win predictions as often as Nadia Sulaman squirts out a kid and every year that team du jour loses game number 13 by March. The NBA season is too long and players are simply not motivated enough (Lamar Odom I'm speaking to you!) to drive through a six month regular season to get to 70 wins. Back in 1996 I remember the media undercutting the Bulls achievements all season long: the league was watered down, the players are not as fundamentally sound, Jordan isn't facing a Bird or Magic. All may be true, but the Bulls were driven enough to avoid too many upset losses by clearly inferior teams (unlike the Celtics against the Clippers and as the Lakers in Sunday's loss to Phoenix). 

Anyway, here is my formula to winning 70: 

1 - You need a visionary coach. Someone like Gregg Popovich or Phil Jackson who coaches with the entire season in mind and not game-to-game. Basically you want to avoid the 1999 Minnesota Vikings and 2006 New England Patriots syndrome of having a record-setting regular season but no title. After all, as Shaq said, it's all about the globes. 

2 - You need SEVERAL driven players. This is why the Lakers aren't winning 70, because Kobe's competitive drive alone isn't enough to pull the Lakers through the entire season. Michael Jordan comes to mind as the only person capable, but it also helped that he had an almost equally driven teammate in Scottie Pippen. Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom (fresh off turtle-ing against KG and Kendrick Perkins in the Finals) aren't these type of guys. In fact, right after winning NBA Player of the Week, Gasol was talking about being fatigued and resting during games... which was obvious in the past two Lakers losses. You never heard that from Jordan or Pippen. 

3 - You need some luck. Injuries are a part of the game and KG and Andrew Bynum going down all but ended any chance at 70. Outside of Dennis Rodman's suspension for head-butting a referee, much of the Bulls key players were healthy the entire season. 

4 - The team needs a sense of history. This excludes the 1986 Celtics, who quite possibly could have gone for 70 wins except that it wasn't considered an achievement back then. The NBA in the 1980's was all about getting 50-wins and preparing for the playoffs. The 1986 Celtics were, in my mind, were the only team in the past 35-years with the best shot at 70, but it didn't matter.  

5 - Talent. OBVIOUSLY!!!  You can't even smell 70 without at least 2 or 3 All-Stars on your team (legit ones that command defensive double-teams and not political All-Star selections like David West because the NBA is keen on promoting Chris Paul). 

With all that in mind, people really need to truly understand and appreciate the 1996 Bulls achievement of 72-10 (and 69-13 the following season for that matter).  

BTW - Let me add that I too underestimated the challenge of 70-wins.  I took a look at this Lakers team and emailed anyone who would listen (which wasn't really anyone, but alas) that they are 70-win capable.  As always, I am an idiot!

Back to the rest of MMPG: 

Lamar Odom... buyer beware: Remember Lamar Odom plowing through Boston and Cleveland with dominant double-doubles? Remember Lamar Odom with 74 rebounds in 4 games? Well you also need to know 6, 5 and 4... those were his rebounds, assists and points before he fouled out in the Lakers loss to Phoenix on Sunday. Odom is a free agent this summer and will command interest from several teams. So fare thee be warned, this is his 10th season in the NBA, so one of my favorite phrases applies here: you are what you are. And with Odom, he's always been "that guy" with tremendous potential, yet VERY inconsistent. 

Starbury to the Celtics: God I hate this deal! As a Lakers fan, this does not bode well. Instead of matching the Celtics and grabbing up a much-needed big until Bynum returns, the Lakers traded to dump salary. Meanwhile, the Celtics improved a non-existent bench by grabbing Steph and Mikki Moore. Neither guy is going to lock down LeBron and at first I was like "big deal, they still won't pass Cleveland." But the more I think about it, Steph and Mikki are more about getting the top seed in the east and avoiding BOTH Cleveland and Orlando in the post-season. I see them both injecting confidence and pushing the C's to the top record in the NBA. 

Here's my question to Celtics fans: does having the league's biggest cancer on your team take anything away from the title or is it "just win baby?" 

Utah... For Real: Racked by injuries all season and barely holding on to the 8th spot, the Jazz are finally healthy and have run off 8-straight wins (including two impressive W's against Boston and LA). The Jazz have the talent, the depth and the coaching to put a real scare come playoff time. Plus they have that extra emotional motivation with the recent passing of owner Larry Miller. This team has the potential to put together the same type of run as in 2007 when they lost to San Antonio in Western Conference Finals. They sit 1.5 games out of 4th place in the west with 23 games left. Only 9 of those 23 are home, so the Jazz need to fix their road woes to make a move... and I think they will. 

Houston... NOT for Real: The Rockets are putting together a similar run as Utah but I really don't see them as a threat out West (despite Jeff Van Gundy's continued beliefs). First off, aren't we due for the annual Yao Ming injury? He's one game away from playing the most games since 2004-05. Unlike T-Mac, Yao actually gives a crap about his team and winning... it's just that his body can't keep up. Also, with T-Mac gone, who's going to shoulder the offensive load on the perimeter?  Ron Artest's perimiter game is inconsistent and they depend on a rookie (a very talented rookie, but a rookie none the less) at the point guard spot.  As always, I see Houston not getting past the first round in the playoffs.  

Monday Morning Point Guard

By Craig Kwasniewski 

Here are a few takes from the past weekend of hoops: 

Does Steve Nash realize he's a defensive sieve?:  How does it go... if you can't pick out the defensive liability in the room, then YOU are the defensive liability...or something like that. Rajon Rondo and later Paul Pierce took turns playing H-O-R-S-E (or is it G-E-I-C-O?) on Steve Nash all Sunday afternoon. Finger rolls, 5-foot runners, 10-foot jump shots... they literally took uncontested shots anywhere on the floor as soon as they noticed Nash was matched up on them. I really would love to see exactly how many points were scored specifically on Nash alone because I saw something like 65 maybe 70. Does it bother the two-time MVP winner that everyone he defends drops a career-high on him?  He's a modest, intelligent and introspective guy, does he understand that he's the worst defensive player on his team? I actually like what he brings to Phoenix and hope he sticks around for a few more seasons, but the Suns need a young defensive-oriented two to help out on defense.  Somewhere at the Glendale, AZ Applebee's is a solemn Terry Porter screaming, "EXACTLY!!!!" 

Question for Pistons Fans: Do you like A.I.? This isn't a rip on Allen Iverson because quite frankly he's one of my favorite ballers of all time. But do Pistons fans blame A.I. for Detroit's sudden collapse? Since the Billups-Iverson trade, the Nuggets are clearly the 3rd best team out West whereas the Pistons long run as a title contender has come to a crashing halt. Are there very audible groans when A.I. puts up the occasional 4-16 night? Or is there a reverence for one of the best players in the past 25 years? Seriously, I'm curious how Detroit feels about watching A.I. on a nightly basis. 

In my opinion, and this is why I do this site, A.I. is just a pawn in the NBA money game. Dumars traded for A.I. to clear up cap space next year and the Pistons are stuck with a terrible coach and a poorly assembled team. This summer makes or breaks Joe D's legacy as a GM. Does he clear even more salary for 2010 or does he make a move (via free agency or trade) that saves the franchise? To me, Pistons fans have to look at the recent track record: drafting Darko, hiring Flip Saunders, hiring Michael Curry, and trading Chauncey... any questions? 

Kobe and the MJ fade-away: Boston Sports Guy pointed it out during one of his 1,312 anti-Kobe rants... Kobe Bryant is developing the same post-up fade-away that MJ lived off from 1996 to 1998. What better time to work on a low-post game than during Bynum's (hopefully not) annual knee injury. The Triangle Offense sets up nicely for it and MJ carried the Bulls to three titles with the virtually unstoppable move. You can see Kobe hasn't completely mastered it but there were a few nice spurts, especially during Friday's OT win against the Hornets. This is the one MJ signature move that Kobe NEEDS in his arsenal if he wishes to play until his late 30's. It conserves energy and is hard to defend, as Jordan showed during the 2 years in D.C. that never existed. 

Larry H. Miller's passing: I never knew the guy, I never attended a Jazz game and I've never been to Salt Lake City, but I feel the NBA lost a HUGE personality when the Jazz's owner Larry Miller died. The league needs to honor a guy that has made a franchise located in Salt Lake City (one of the smallest TV markets in professional sports) one of the most successful in NBA history. I'm not a religious man, but you have to credit a guy for skipping out on a few of the NBA Finals games that *HIS* team was in. Simply reaching the Finals is a rare opportunity and Miller stuck to his religious beliefs and sat out all games on Sunday.  Now THAT is dedication!  I hope for the Jazz fans that the next-in-line (his son?) runs the franchise in the same manner. The NBA needs more owners like Larry Miller. 

I love me some me: Is there anything cooler than seeing your name on the jumbotron? Once a year the Lakers honor their upper deck season ticket holders with a halftime snack (beer, wine, chips and salsa) and a meet and greet with the ticket reps in a private suite. It's a small but very cool gesture and they put your name in lights. Friday's game against New Orleans was my turn and as you can see (and to establish my NBA street cred) I've been a season ticket holder for 10 seasons (BTW - that's not me in the Gasol jersey). 

And finally... 

Rip off Jack Nicholson + Die = Academy Award: Simple math eh? Heath Ledger blatantly rips off Jack Nicholson from The Shining (even down to the tongue thing!) and he's THE GREATEST ACTOR IN THE WORLD! I know this is a hoops blog but does a below average 8 hour long comic book movie really deserve any Academy Awards? Seriously, all this means is that we'll get yet another 321 more comic book movies this summer. YUCK! Heath Ledger was a good actor but TRUST ME, years from now people will react with the same "huh??" as they do now with Marisa Tomei's award from My Cousin Vinny. Oh and Mickey Rourke deserved the Best Actor Oscar!

 

Ariza's Message is Clear: Play Me Down the Stretch!!!!

by Craig Kwasniewski

Trevor Ariza provided the necessary spark late in the fourth quarter as the Lakers held off a late Jazz rally on their way to a 113-100 victory. Ariza capped off a night of several key hustle plays with back-to-back steals late in the 4th quarter that led to highlight fastbreak points denying the Jazz any hope of a late rally. Every team needs that guy who's willing to sacrifice his body and scoring to do the small things and Ariza is clearly that guy for the Lakers. Tonight he he seemed one step ahead of the Jazz and got a hand in on every one of their passes. Anyway, here are a few other thoughts from my seat high up in section 316:

Kobe always kills Utah. Kobe had one of his better offensive nights of the year on his way to 40 points. But doesn't it always seem like he kills Utah? Two seasons ago he had 30 points in the 3rd quarter on his way to 52 and last spring he was able to score at will. Is he jealous of Kirilenko's deal with his wife? Is he a Mormon hater? All I know is that Utah's defensive scheme allows Kobe to roam free inside the freethrow line for an open J or a quick pass to any backdoor cutters.... which totally makes sense against the defending MVP. Utah just might want to mix in a double-team on Kobe every now and then.

Deron Williams almost single handedly rallied Utah. This game had shades of the 2008 Playoffs where Williams played possum in the first half and laid low from the perimeter only to ferociously attack the rim in the second half. Williams continued to drive and break down the Lakers interior defense the entire second half creating open jumpers for everyone and cutting a 20 point deficit all the way down to 3 several times. So why wait so long to take over? CLEARLY he can take Fisher to the rack any time so why not break down the Lakers defense early on so Utah's not trailing 37-20 after one quarter?

Lakers look more November than December. They're not playing with the same intensity as they did early in the season where every game seemed like a 30 point blowout, but the Lakers are learning how to play with more focus and effort. They aren't disappearing for long stretches like they did a few weeks ago. On the surface it looks like that team meeting really worked but beneath the surface the key has been Phil Jackson shaking up the lineup and playing Kobe when it appears that the bench is struggling offensively. Also Ariza and Vujacic, the Lakers most active defenders, are playing more minutes especially now with Farmar out.

Please no Ty Lue!!!!!! I can't type enough exclamation points but the Lakers can *NOT* trade for Tyronn Lue!!!!!!! Rumors persist that with Farmar's injury the Lakers ate looking to shore up backcourt dept by trading Chris Mihm's corpse to Milwaukee for Ty Lue. Nooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!! Do the Lakers need a crappy point guard who has waived off two of the game's best closers down the stretch? Seriously, playing with the Jordan-led Wizards, Lue countlessly decided that he alone was a better option with the game on the line and instead of Michael Jordan... and OF COURSE he missed every time! Lue has limited offensive skills with unlimited confidence which makes him the worst player ever. Just in case Lakers fans need any reminder, here is Tyronn Lue's greatest moment as a NBA player (A.I. stepping over him in the 2001 NBA Finals):

Gasol Boozers the Jazz to a W

By Craig Kwasniewski

Pau Gasol may or may not have pushed Memo Okur in the back for a gave saving put-back dunk as the Laker won a very critical Game 5 last night. Here are a few thoughts from last night's game from what I saw from my seat high up in Section 316:

The Gasol Rebound: I was at the game and from my seat it completely looked like he pushed off. Call it a push off, call it a flop... I call it a case of the Jazz getting a taste of their own medicine. Carlos Boozer literally pushes off for every single rebound daring the refs to foul him out along the way. So OF COURSE he's getting away it. Deal with it Utah!

Kobe's Still Injured: A friend of mine felt that Kobe was playing possum on the back injury ready to explode last night. Well, he tried to send a message of "I'm Back!" with a few early hoops, but he's obviously still hurting as he wasn't dominating offensively. With the game very tight down the stretch, I kept waiting for Kobe to take over and carry the Lakers. He just didn't have any explosiveness after halftime and was looking to facilitate the rest of the game. The injury also affected his ability in the open court as he committed a ton of terrible turnovers. The Jazz were clogging the lane on fastbreaks, daring him to drive. Kobe wasn't explosive enough to split the D and ended up throwing away too many passes. The Lakers NEED a healthy Kobe to win on Friday.

Radmanovic, welcome to the playoffs! Radmanovic decided to join the Lakers in the playoffs for a change with 15 points (BTW - he scored a COMBINED 12 points in Games 2,3 and 4). There's a reason why Phil Jackson calls him a space cadet. The guy has been completely and thoroughly worthless this postseason, but it's not like Luke Walton's done any better against the Jazz (a COMBINED 27 in six games against the Jazz). The Lakers are going 4 on 5 in this series as these guys are terribly choking. And it's not like they’re making up for the offensive deficiencies by hustling on defense either. Trevor Ariza where are you?

Smush Farmar: It's hard to believe that a bunch of UCLA homers were begging for him to replace Fisher in the starting lineup back in March. He had a few clutch plays last night, but his confidence against the Jazz is completely shot. Where are those balls out drives? Where's the three point range? Where are the key steals at halfcourt? Where's the confidence?

The Steve Javie Effect: I seriously thought the Lakers were screwed when I saw that Steve Javie was reffing tonight. All of the NBA refs are influenced by home crowds except for Javie. The guy loves getting booed. Anyone thinking that the Lakers got all the calls last night are thoroughly and completely wrong. The refs favored Utah for the first 2 1/2 quarters (Kirilenko elbowing Odom AND getting the call, Deron Williams getting touch fouls in the 2nd quarter, Boozer running over Gasol in the post AND drawing a tripping call from Gasol) and they balanced it out down the stretch.

Utah is playing with confidence: If this was a nine-game series, I'd give it to Utah in 8. They are definitely playing with a level of confidence that didn't exist in Games 1 and 2. Maybe it's a case of Kobe being injured. Maybe it's a case of Deron Williams finding his groove (ever since the 3rd quarter of Game 2). Maybe it's the Lakers bench choking. Or maybe it's the momentum from two HUGE wins at home. Either way, the Jazz have the momentum on their side as this series moves along and they have a great chance at winning a Game 7 on Monday.

Utah Fans Are Jazz-Holes

by Brett Edwards

Excellent post at the Bleacher Report discussing classless Jazz fans, along with this photographic evidence.

Monday Morning Point Guard

By Craig Kwasniewski

Time to dust off another edition of MMPG. It's been awhile since the last time I did one of these, basically it's a brief look at the past weekend's action in the NBA.

The Celtics blowout in Game 7 was no surprise: Did anyone really think the Celtics would get knocked out of the playoffs by the Atlanta Hawks? Turns out, neither did the Hawks... jeezus! Talk about a major case of sphincter-itis! Actually this series totally reminded me of the Lakers-Sacto Kings in 2000. The Kings were young and hungry and rode the wave of their home court to push the league-best Lakers to a deciding Game 5. And just like Sunday, the Lakers rolled to a 113-86 win. Bring on LBJ, this will be fun!

Utah owned the glass and still loses to LA: The Jazz DOMINATED the offensive glass 25 to 8 which helped them shoot 22 more field goals than the Lakers. Mix in that Pau Gasol played like a rookie and I'm stunned the Jazz didn't win. If fact, except for a late rally, the Lakers held the Jazz in check all game. This series really comes down to the fact that the Jazz simply can't stop Kobe Bryant. And I don't want to hear anything about the refs "helping" Kobe! A lot of those fouls were because the Jazz were too late to rotate over to defend. It's weird... but a team that does such an exceptional job of containing CP3 simply can't stop Kobe.

One last thing, this might be a stretch but Derek Fisher played Deron Williams so well yesterday that I'm wondering if there's like a whole mentor-student thing there. There's no way in hell that D-Fish could hang with Williams, but he had many key steals and did a decent job of containing him. The 18, 9 and 9 were deceptive numbers, Williams wasn't much of a factor.

Rick Carlisle to the Mavs... really? Hey didn't Dallas just fire a defensive oriented coach that calls all the offensive plays? Can Mavericks fans really put up with the s-l-o-w, predictable and boring style of ball that Carlisle likes to play? And was Carlisle that much better of a coach than Avery Johnson? How many NBA Finals appearances? Exactly!

Spurs need to slow it down! Okay, I only watched portions of the Hornets-Spurs game from a distance in a bar (date night with the wife... believe me I tried!), so I won't pretend to be an expert on Game 1. But what I did see was the Spurs trying to match the NO in an up-tempo game... and they got crushed! The Spurs don't have the athletes to match Chandler, CP3 and West in an up-tempo game. Slow it up and slug it out or this will end real fast.

Pistons - Magic: Not too many thoughts here... But if anything, the Magic should try to use Hedo Turkoglu more. There were moments in the 3rd quarter where his offensive game reminded me of Scottie Pippen, but with a better outside shot. His length and ability to draw fouls while driving to the left of the cup need to be exploited more.

BTW - I used to give all the ex-2002 Sacramento Kings a bunch of crap over the years, but Turkoglu, Stojakovic, Bibby and even C-Webb (with quality in studio analysis) have done a good job to shake their choking reputations this postseason.

If CP3 is MVP then Deron Williams is G.O.A.T.

By Craig Kwasniewski

Forget MJ, Kareem, Magic, Bird, Wilt, Russell and Dr. J... the greatest of all time is Deron Williams! Sell the Air Jordans, stop being Witnesses and give away your Converse Weapons (the Black Larry Bird ones... of course) and cop a pair of the soon-to-be-released Air Williams.... Why?

Because Deron Williams owns the 2007-08 NBA MVP Chris Paul!

Seriously, do you remember a future MVP being so thoroughly dominated/owned/controlled by one dude?

Last night the the Utah Jazz travelled to New Orleans and blasted the Hornets 77-66. The "MVP" Chris Paul was a complete no show with 4 points and 9 assists in 33 minutes (he watched most of the fourth quarter from the bench as the Hornets were trying to rally from a late 18-point deficit). But this shouldn't really surprise anyone as CP3 has always had trouble against the Utah Jazz and especially Deron Williams.

Just look at the numbers:

In the four meetings (which the Jazz won 3-1), Paul averaged 12.3 points, 9.3 assists and shot an alarming 30.6% from the field compared to his season averages of 21.5 points, 11.5 assists and 49.1%. Against New Orleans Williams averaged 16.8 points, 11.0 assists and shot 57.4% compared to 19.2 points, 10.5 assists and 51.2% for the season. Based on stats and results Williams clearly wins the head-to-head match-up for 2007-08. And unlike the last two seasons where the Jazz were obviously the better team, Paul's Hornets have the best record in the Western Conference so there's no excuse (BTW - Williams career NBA record against Paul is 8-2).

So what's my point?

Can you even imagine likes of Kobe, KG or LeBron being so dominated/owned/controlled by another single player? The answer is plain and simple... HELL NO! They're too competitive to allow it to happen. But what about Chris Paul?

EXACTLY!

MVP my ass!

Owned by Deron Williams... please don't cry.

Look Out, Here Come the Jazz

By Craig Kwasniewski

As I've learned over the years, the national media tends to be 2 to 3 weeks behind when a random team starts to play well. Fare thee be warned: the Utah Jazz have already passed the NBA Jam "he's heating up" stage and they are on fire!

At the end of December the Jazz were sitting at 16-16, clearly one of the most disappointing teams in the NBA. Kirilenko was bitching about his role on the team (again), Gordan Giricek was banished to the locker room by coach Jerry Sloan and people were left wondering "what the heck happened?" (Heck because it's Utah, golly jeepers!!) The Western Conference Finalist were written off as a lottery team in the incredibly deep Western Conference.

Then came the Kyle Korver trade and since then the Jazz have taken off on an incredible 15-2 run. Was it really that simple, trade for a 6-6 small forward with excellent shooting range who's white (it's Utah guys, Mormon law dictates that 85% of the Jazz must be or at least look white), basically all that Giricek was supposed to be? I guess so, because the Jazz look very dangerous in an already deep conference.

But should we be surprised at all? The Jazz have one of the top three point guards in Williams, Carlos Boozer is a top-tier power forward, they're a deep squad and despite the owner's December threats, they still have one of the best head coaches ever, Jerry Sloan. So they are who we thought they were!

So while most of the national media is busy sucking off the 8th seeded Golden State Warriors and their "Bay Area resurgence" (I'm talking about you Marc Stein!), the real resurgence is happening in Salt Lake City. And the Jazz easily handled Tha Dubs last spring and I really doubt an over-the-hill power forward with zero clutch-ability in the post season and playing on one leg will make any difference. And that's *IF* Tha Dubs make the playoffs, and in the west, that's a very big if.

Utah is back!

Photographic Evidence That The Utah Jazz Like To Party

by Brett Edwards

Plenty more where this came from, over at FreeDarko.