It's been for decades now. 97, 98, 07, 08, and then this year for the playoff spot. Both teams have had new superstars, new coaches, and even new arenas. But it doesn't matter. It seems like the Jazz can be successful only at the Rockets' expense. It's just sad and frankly comical. PS. I wasn't a Rockets fan back in the 90's. But I still remember going to SLC rooting for the Rockets against the Jazz back in the 2007 playoffs when Yao and Tmac were on the team. It was a stupid experience.
I thought on this. Then i felt it was not healthy to hate the Jazz or Lakers as much as I could potentially on such things. Number reason is the Rockets have at least won Championships. Number 2? The future is around the same for both teams if some things are done soon by Morey to rebuild.
They are still tormenting us, as now they are showing us the right way to rebuild without tanking: http://espn.go.com/nba/dailydime/_/page/dime-120424/daily-dime The Kevin O'Connor Rebuilding Master Class gave a free seminar to the entire NBA on Tuesday night. "How to Rebuild and Stay Relevant" is the working title and the Phoenix Suns provided a telling contrast to prove his thesis. It was all on display: The results of fleecing trade partners, keeping salaries manageable, mixing affordable veterans with promising young players, maintaining a winning culture and building for the future. On the vet side, Al Jefferson (18 points, 16 rebounds) returns to the playoffs for the first time since his rookie year in Boston. It was fitting that he scored eight straight points down the stretch to put the game away and couldn't keep the smile off his face when he was finally taken out of the game to a standing ovation. Paul Millsap moved over to the small forward spot and abused the Suns with 26 points, 15 rebounds, four assists, three steals and a block. In his vacated power forward spot was the other side of the O'Connor rebuilding equation: Derrick Favors, with five blocks in the first half to go along with his totals of 13 points and 11 rebounds. Gordon Hayward quietly had a career-high eight assists to go along with 11 points. The genius of O'Connor is the fuzzy math surrounding the rest of the roster. I'm confident no one could have guessed that castaways Josh Howard and Jamaal Tinsley would be playing crucial minutes for a playoff-contending Utah Jazz team. No one even knew starter DeMarre Carroll. Those in the Jazz front office deserve a lot of credit for creating a winning environment when many in the fan base were loudly aboard Team Tank. When asked when the Jazz players first thought they would make the playoffs, Favors responded quickly: "Game 1." Said Jazz coach Ty Corbin, "We need everybody that we have. The guys have been great all year supporting each other, making the right plays. I've changed the lineups and rotations at different times, the guys just come out and play and make the most of the minutes on the floor. We're going to need that to continue to get better."
Impressed by how their coach Ty Corbin knit them into a team. Guys like our castpoff DeMarre Carroll. It's the coaching. And their young bigs in Milsapp, Favors and Kanter. That's the difference with our team.
We have two championships. They don't. But that's only because our previous owner was smart enough to tank. Think about that for a second. If Les had owned the Rockets when Dream was still in college, the Rockets would have never tanked to get him. Oh, that's sig material right there.
Jazz have 3 young strong bigs + a veteran big in Al + hard working players = winning. Despite the Rockets having more talent, not having any bigs outside of two old ones (Dalembert playing like he's 40) with Scola playing smaller than his size and Patterson not being able to rebound is the biggest difference. If we swapped Scola, Pat, Sam & Camby for Favors, Kanter, Big Al & Millsap best believe we would be a hell of a team. Let's hope Morey drafts a big and gets another PF/C through trade / free agency.
I understand your point and somewhat agree. While I was watching them last night, I kept thinking...what do they need to get to title contending status? They've got a great young set of bigs. 4 of them! They've got a good-looking young shooting guard. They've got a good-looking small forward. And they got a few cagey vets on the bench. Frankly, I think their starting point guard has been very underrated this season because of his struggles early. He was a nasty, nasty boy in Dallas. He really just needs his confidence. So, I can make a case that the only thing they really need is gelling time, time to build chemistry. Favors is getting better and better RIGHT NOW. He's really coming on. Al Jeff and Millsap...what can you say about those two but positive things? They have 4 quality bigs! They have a quality SF and SG. They have decent point guard play. If they were to try to upgrade, an upgrade at point makes the most sense.
they had deron williams and were willing to take on massive contracts, ala Al Jefferson. morey has never taken on a contract like that in his whole tenure here in Houston. In fact, the only contracts we ever had like that were Yao and T-Mac. we need to take some big gambles instead of sitting around waiting for the next dragic or lin and then release them to another team. i would start by trading the whole team for dwight howard on a max contract.
At least we have '94 and '95. I remember Game 5 in '95 at Utah. There were so many Jazz signs saying "It's our year." Haha.
