Let’s get one thing straight. Even after the Jazz’s run to the Mountain West Conference semi-finals last season and their back-to-back division titles, this is still Utah and we’re still talking about the Jazz.
It seems my fellow out-of-staters and I find ourselves in this all-too-familiar scenario every October, when the Jazz faithful fill their heads with the idea that this year is “their year.” Well faithful Jazz fans, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the 2008-2009 NBA season is going to end the same way every season ends for the Jazz.
Jerry Sloan will be a year older and you’ll have that recurring nightmare of Michael Jordan crossing over Bryan Russell until next October when you can experience it all over again.
Kudos to Jazz fans, though. It’s tough to remain optimistic decade after decade. It’s no surprise that Utah had the best home record in the league last year, at 37-4. The Jazz have some of the best fans in the NBA. Unfortunately, it’s going to take a lot more than optimism to get through the gauntlet that is the MWC.
Utah has had no problem taking top seed in their division. But this year, there’s a wildcard8212;the Portland Trail Blazers. I’m not saying Brandon Roy and company will dethrone the Jazz atop the Northwest, but with the addition of a healthy Greg Oden and a versatile LaMarcus Aldridge, the Blazers will take away what was once an easy division win for Utah.
While the Jazz have great talent and depth at the guard positions, it is their interior defense that will struggle to not only stay on the floor, but to shutdown the Amaré Stoudemires and Yao Mings of the league.
Last season, the Jazz were penalized more than any other team in the league. This ultimately led to their downfall at the hands of Kobe Bryant and the Lakers. Over the course of the six-game series, Bryant was given 96 free throws, 80 of which he converted on.
All season long, teams will continue to attack the Jazz inside. In doing so, they will accomplish a number of things. First of all, they will wear out Carlos Boozer, making him less effective on the offensive end. This will take its toll because of Mehmet Okur’s ability to help on the weak side. Second, the constant inside attack will draw fouls not only from Boozer and Okur, but from foul-prone Paul Millsap as well. Will that lead to a Jarron Collins sighting? Yikes.
All this aside, we still need to remember just how stacked the MWC really is. The Lakers will be back with a healthy Andrew Bynum, the Spurs will be getting Manu Ginobili back at the halfway point and the Rockets added Ron Artest. And there are still teams such as the Mavericks and Suns that will be capable of upsetting anyone in the conference, not to mention the New Orleans Hornets, who are turning into a trendy pick to come No. 1 in the West behind point guard Chris Paul.
The fact of the matter is, if the Jazz wants to win a ring anytime soon, they better do it this year, with so many soon-to-be free agents including Boozer8212;let’s not forget the way he left Cleveland. And the future of the NBA is growing up before our eyes in Portland. The window for the Jazz might be closing.
But, unfortunately for Jazz fans, this won’t be their year. Boozer and D-Will aren’t Karl Malone and John Stockton, D-Will is no “CP3.” This is still Utah and we’re still talking about the same old Jazz.
Bryan Chouinard