Hello,
The Jazz welcomed the Knicks to the Energy Solutions Arena last night. The Jazz last played Saturday, a gritty victory over the Grizzlies. For the Knicks it was their last game on a 5 game Western road swing. The Knicks had been blitzed on national TV Sunday afternoon. They lost their first 4 games by about an average of 20 points. Also the Knicks were playing without 3 key players: Tyson Chandler, Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudemire. Did I mention that the game was a home game for the Jazz? If that isn't enough to play for, the Jazz are also trying to make the playoffs. Even on a good day the Knicks are only slightly better than average. If the Knicks played in the Western Conference, I don't know that they would even qualify for the playoffs.
With all those things going in the favor of the Jazz, the Jazz weren't going to have any problems at all. Right? Anyone that believes that hasn't followed the Jazz very closely over the years. The Jazz started out poorly and didn't really get any better during the game. The tired and injury depleted Knicks were able to beat the pathetic Jazz 90-83.
What an embarrassment to basketball, to Utah and of course for the Jazz.
Not that I give total credence to stats, there were some telling stats in this game. The Jazz only shot 28.9% in the second half and 38% for the whole game. Most telling the Jazz missed 8 of their last 9 shots. Essentially the Jazz were shooting worse as the game went on.
All I've got to say is that I'm glad that March Madness will be in SLC Thursday, that's the only way to guarantee that good basketball will be played in that building this season. Last night's uninspired effort was after the Jazz actually beat a very good Memphis team last Saturday.
Every day driving to work I see a billboard advertising season tickets for the Jazz next year. I can't afford them, but even if I could I wouldn't buy them. That is unless I received some kind of guarantee that the Jazz are going to sweep out at least half of this underacheiving roster. They need to dump Al Jefferson and Marvin Williams, get a real point guard, a solid backup point guard and get a new head coach. Mo Williams would be a good back up point guard.
I'm tired of this mediocre run the Jazz are on. There are three kinds of seasons: really good, really bad and mediocre. If you can't be really good, then you should be really bad. Mediocre shouldn't be an option unless you are a team on the rise and being mediocre is a step to being very good. Other than on the rise teams, mediocre doesn't help anyone. What does mediocre get for the Jazz, Mavericks or Lakers? One of those three teams will probably be the Western Conference's 8th seed. For that honor that team will get punched in the mouth by the Spurs as the 8th seeded team gets swept out of the playoffs. Also they'll get a lesser draft pick than if they had missed the playoffs.
That's exactly why I don't want the Jazz to make the playoffs. But it would be fun to see the Lakers make the playoffs and get punched in the mouth by the Spurs for 4 games.
The Jazz were so fortunate back in the day when they had John Stockton and Karl Malone and all the other great players they had then. I don't think the Jazz will ever have another team like that ever again.
Look at what mediocre has got the Dallas Cowboys. They are 8-8 the last two seasons, only have made the playoffs once in the last 5 years and are barely under this season's salary cap. They also have a terrible owner, a mediocre head coach and a mediocre quarterback. In ESPN's pre-draft NFL Power Rankings, the Cowboys are #18. And with how poorly Jerrah drafts, look for them to fall in the next power rankings. Mediocre has had no upside for the Cowboys.
Speaking of the Lakers I had to laugh as were absolutely whipped by the Suns last night. That would have been a good game for a Lakers hater to go to. The Suns outscored the Lakers 28-10 in the fourth quarter. The Lakers are a bunch of nobodies without Kobe. The Artest formerly known as Ron had yet another miserable night. He missed 12 of 17 shots and the Lakers were outscored by 17 points when he was on the court. Artest was 2 for 9 from the three point line, I'm sure Coach D'Antoni wasn't drawing those plays up in the huddle. How average is your team when Artest is one of the starters. He's a man that hasn't ever met a shot he didn't like, that in spite the fact that he's not a very good shooter.
Good news for Lakers fans though, Dwight "The Brick" Howard made 4 of 5 free throws. Bad news he missed 12 of 18 field goals. He also added 4 turnovers as the Lakers were outscored by 14 points when he was on the court. He has one very marketable skill, he continues to be a solid rebounder. Howard grabbed 11 more rebounds last night. If stats don't lie, then why do people think that Howard is such a great player? Other than rebounds, what does he bring to the table?
Also how does ESPN's Mark Stein have the Lakers #8 in the NBA power rankings, record wise they are only 8th in the Western Conference. I bet Stein feels a little sheepish after the Lakers lost by 23 points last night to the terrible Suns.
From the doldrums to the cream of the crop in the NBA. In a close and hard fought game, the Heat beat the Knicks 105-103. The Heat have now won 23 games in a row and still haven't lost in March. They also broke their 10 game losing streak in Boston. In an era of over entitled NBA players it's fun to watch the scrappy Heat who continue to do the little things to make sure they continue to win. They just rarely give up on plays.
Although I did get tired of ESPN showing LeBron James dunk over Jason Terry this morning. They must have showed that play at least 20 times from multiple angles. Let's be honest the Cargo Plane (see below) isn't even in the same class as James. There's no way that the Cargo Plane was going to stop James on that play.
LBJ please show a little more class when you dunk on someone that you should easily dunk on. And ESPN we don't need to say an over hyped dunk like that several times. It's that kind of thing that leads so much to the sense of entitlement that many pro athletes have now.
I'm surprised the Celtics are above .500 considering that Jason "The Jet" Terry plays such extensive minutes for them. It's time to change his nickname, I don't think anyone has the nickname Cargo Plane yet. Seriously Terry was past his prime when he was with the Mavericks, how is he still playing such big minutes? I also wonder just how did that Mavericks team win a NBA title. They had Dirk Nowitski, Tyson Chandler and Jason Kidd, but who else. Please don't give me the laughable name of JJ Barea.
Of the three way Andre Iguodola, "The Brick" Howard and Andrew Bynum trade, more and more it looks like the Nuggets got the best part of that deal. While Iguodala was making the 3 point winning basket last night, Howard has been a shadow of his former self and Bynum is going to miss the full season.
It makes me laugh that people are even considering about bringing the injury plagued, head case Bynum to their team next season. Seriously why would anyone want a player on your team that injured himself while bowling? If I was Philadelphia, I would say good riddance. Yes, I realize that Bynum is only 24 years old and has a ton of upside. However without the commitment to hard work and to being a better player, who cares. How good could Bynum be if he had the will of Kobe Bryant? Too bad he has the will of Andrew Bynum.
I also love how people are referring to the surgery on both of Bynum's knee as season ending. Well if his season never started, how can it end?
Speaking of the Nuggets, they've won 12 games in a row and haven't lost in March also. But that streak is going to come to a screeching halt tonight when they run into the buzzsaw Thunder. It's hard to believe that even though the Nuggets have won 12 in a row, they still are only 5th place in the Western Conference. Just a side note, if the Nuggets were in the Eastern Conference they'd be in second place. They would lead the now second place Pacers by 4.5 games.
It looks like the Eastern Conference playoffs will be a bunch of bad teams battling it out before Miami reaches the NBA Finals. In the Western Conference, it looks like it will be a bunch of good teams battling it out in a "Hunger Games" like bloodbath. Your guess is as good as mine who will represent the Western Conference in the NBA Finals. I would think it will be either the Spurs or the Thunder.
themusicaddict
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