Last night the Utah Jazz won game 5 of their series with the Golden State Warriors earning them a place in the Western Conference Finals. For those who don’t know, this is the first time that the Jazz have been in this position since 1998.
I have to admit, I didn’t expect this from the Jazz this year. Or next year. Maybe the year after that. I figured that they would probably make the playoffs this year and then lose in the first round. Then they started off the season really hot and showed everybody how good they can be when everyone is relatively healthy. Carlos Boozer’s good health has especially helped this team. (I was mad when the Jazz didn’t draft him and I’ve defended his game ever since he came to Utah. I feel so redeemed.)
I know that people are going to pick whoever wins the series between the Suns and the Spurs to advance to the NBA finals. They’ll say that the Jazz don’t have the experience and that they are such a young team or that their 15 minutes of fame are up. They might be right but I think that the Jazz can advance despite these objections.
The Jazz have played well against Phoenix this year. I don’t see any reason why they wouldn’t continue to play well against them. The Spurs have owned the Jazz pretty much since Stockton and Malone retired but the Jazz have been able to beat them as of late thanks mostly to Okur. It’s not as likely that they’ll beat the Spurs but I don’t think that it’s impossible.
I’m not saying that the Jazz will win the Finals. I’m just saying don’t rule them out. We’ve been able to watch this team mature through the playoffs. Each loss is a lesson learned and they have made excellent adjustments. Even if they don’t advance to the next round, the upcoming conference finals will definitely be exciting to watch.
By the way, does Andrei Kirilenko remind anybody else of Count Chocula?
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