Shouldn't We Be More Excited??

The season ended last night for the Utah Jazz, and they are headed to the first round of the playoffs against the Denver Nuggets--starting this Saturday. That's all of the good news we have, for now at least, because the Jazz got spanked mercilessly last night in Salt Lake City by the Phoenix Suns. It was embarrassing. I need to take a few minutes to go throw up just from thinking about it again.

And now I need to say a couple things. The Jazz played with no heart last night. This is speaking generally, because there were one or two players who looked like they were putting everything they had into the game; but for the most part, Utah didn't look like a team fighting for 2nd place in the Western Conference going into the playoffs. Passes were sloppy, defense was lazy, Phoenix was blocking every shot taken inside the paint, and Carlos Boozer was in a suit and tie behind the bench (more on that later). It was not a good night to call yourself a Jazz fan.

I have to pause to say that Mehmet Okur played very well last night, and looked like Larry Bird in a Turkish body. He was hitting everything, and kept the Jazz in the game--for the first 10 minutes. After that, I was looking for any sharp object I could find. Deron Williams was turning the ball over like Greg Ostertag, Paul Millsap's couldn't get anything past the Suns' shotblockers, and Carlos Boozer was in a suit and tie.

Which leads me to my next complaint: Carlos Boozer was in a suit and tie! He had a very mysterious "stomach muscle strain" in the previous game against the Golden State Warriors, and it was such a "sharp pain" that he felt it wise to sit out the season finale against the Suns. The season finale! With playoff seedings on the line, Boozer felt it prudent to sit and watch his team trip over themselves and then get run over by a herd of stampeding wildebeasts. I was falling in love with Boozer this season (in a purely platonic way) until he pulled that stunt. I'm pretty sure Stockton and Malone would have played with half of their intestines hanging out of their stomachs, much less a "sharp pain" coming from their rib sections.

Anyway, I was disappointed with the performance last night, but I'm as excited as ever to watch the playoffs. It's going to be tough without homecourt advantage, but I think we can stick it to the Nuggets if we can man up and play with a little heart.