Hello,
The Jazz had a stirring 112-101 victory over the OKC Thunder on Tuesday night. It can't go without mentioning that the Thunder were without Russell Westbrook and Serge Ibaka. Having both of those players obviously the game would have been a lot different. Even without those players the Thunder will still win most of their games against the Jazz. The Thunder are just that much better than the Jazz as Kevin Durrant seems to be close to becoming the best player in the NBA. (As a pure NBA fan the Thunder are so much fun to watch, I would love to see them win the NBA title this year. Although I cheered for the Heat the last couple of years I'm ready for fresh blood.)
However last night Gordon Hayward caught fire and even Kevin Durrant (or as the radio voice for the Jazz David Locke calls him the Durrantalia) can't make every shot. Durrant did what he could do to will the Thunder to the victory, but he just wasn't able to do it this time. The Thunder are obviously better with Westbrook but they've been fairly successful without him. The Jazz beating OKC in Salt Lake broke the Thunder's 8 game road winning streak.
But I'm sure it's close in how many of Jazz Nation were excited about this Jazz victory as were not so excited about this win. Many in Jazz Nation want the Jazz to tank, which even has a name- The Plan. Many of those Jazz fans are worried that the Jazz have won "too many" games and that they are "too good". Of course the underlying fear is that this young Jazz team may derail The Plan.
The Jazz are now 12-25, which is last place in the tough Western Conference. Overall Utah currently has the third worst record in the NBA. So despite this win and their recent record of better play the Jazz probably aren't in any danger of making the playoffs. That would be the worst case scenario for many of Jazz Nation as that would completely derail The Plan.
For this Jazz fan I'm completely behind the Jazz losing enough to increase their chances of getting a top pick in the upcoming NBA Draft. However I would rather the Jazz do what they can to win as many games as possible. I suggest that the Jazz will learn more by battling adversity and winning than losing and increasing their chances of getting a better draft pick. There are no guarantees that high draft picks will turn into superstar players. Remember that both Sam Bowie and Greg Oden were high draft picks and looked how they turned out. But of course Magic Johnson, James Worthy and Durrant all turned out to be fantastic players.
Also as I'm trying to limit my sports blogs, I just want to say I'll be cheering on the 49ers this Sunday when they play the Panthers. I think the playoff hardened 49ers with their tough defense will be able to go into Carolina and beat the Panthers.
Other quick playoff predictions: who in their right mind will predict against the Broncos or the Seahawks? In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if both of those games end up being blowouts. The Colts are a good story with a dramatic victory last weekend, but I just don't see them getting past the Patriots in New England.
Meanwhile in Dallas Jerry Jones continues to make bad decisions. I'm so glad I started cheering for the 49ers, the playoffs just aren't the same without a rooting interest. With Jones in charge in Dallas the Cowboys will continue to be a playoff irrelevancy for the foreseeable future.
themusicaddict
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