Death of a friend (again)

This is the 13th time I've seen the Utah Jazz die without being crowned NBA champions. The death blow was dealt by a familiar nemesis, the L.A. Lakers. In the deciding game Okur and AK buried multiple last minute three pointers to give the Jazz an opportunity to win, but as often is the case their effort came too late.

The Jazz team is well formed;they couple a strong group of starters with quality bench contributors. And they're a fun group to watch, unless you like to see well executed defense, of course. I don't know if I've ever seen a worse center-power forward defensive combination than the one the Jazz boast with Boozer and Okur. Coach Beardall (junior high P. E. coach) taught that hustle brings positive results. LaVell Edwards promised that if you played hard good things would happen. That's all I request from Boozer and Okur. The effort to move a foot or two on defense. The effort to jump and at least try to alter a shot.The effort to take on three guys for a loose ball (see photo). A nip of hussle could easily provide the difference in a game that was decided by three points. If I had a quicker internet connection I would find how many blocks Boozer and Okur had last season. If their combined total is a fourth of Kevin Garnetts season total, I'll poop my pants from surprise.

But in true fan-boy fashion, I still can't help but feel that the Jazz were shafted by the referees. Again, once I'm off this dial-up connection, I plan to do an analysis on how many free throws Kobe Bryant shoots against the Jazz compared to how many he shoots against teams with similar defenders. Stay tuned. I await the Jazz resurrection next October.