Yes... I believe the Jazz are looking past the Rockets. From the Jazz official website at nba dot com... Their poll question, BEFORE round one evens starts: Also in their playoff preview teaser... If this attitude is prevalent in their locker room, perhaps they did risk tanking the SA game just to get the Rockets... If that is the case, and not just the PR people being that cocky... We have something for them.
Yes, they are. I posted this in the Jazz-Rockets game thread: Thursday, April 17, 2008 Jazz in six I can't take credit for the line, but as one courtside observer said in the first half of Wednesday's blowout in San Antonio, "The NBA: Where common sense prevails." The Jazz were better served losing to the Spurs than winning, a fact of which the players seemed well aware even if we tiptoed around the subject in recent days. I brought it up with Kevin O'Connor this morning and he called me a "cynical" something or other. They won't have home-court advantage, but the Jazz will open the playoffs as the clear favorite in their first-round rematch against Houston. As I said walking out of the Jazz's pregame shootaround Wednesday: "The difference is that the Jazz CAN beat the Spurs but they WILL beat the Rockets." You can argue that possibly having to play the Lakers in the conference semifinals will ultimately doom the Jazz. I'm not going to disagree with that. It also would have been a monumental breakthrough to knock off the defending champions. But there's no guarantee the Jazz would get out of the first round against the Spurs. I believe you take the surer bet to advance, then wait and see if something breaks in your favor in the later rounds. Maybe Kobe Bryant will get chopped on his hand and damage that injured pinkie even more. Maybe Pau Gasol will sprain his ankle again and miss two weeks like he did in March. You never know, especially in this year's playoffs. Although Tracy McGrady scorched the Jazz for 47 points in their home opener back on Nov. 1, the Rockets have some serious matchup issues to address going into this series. How are Bobby Jackson and Aaron Brooks going to stop Deron Williams, for one? Carlos Boozer and Mehmet Okur figure to dominate against the likes of Luis Scola and Dikembe Mutombo. The Rockets also let Kyle Korver bury three-pointers from the corner one after another in their Jan. 27 loss to the Jazz in Houston. I'm not sure if it was shown on KJZZ, but Boozer brushed his shoulders off for the cameras when the subject of lost momentum was brought up after Wednesday's loss. That act probably said more about the Spurs game than anything else. The Jazz squandered some of what they gained by beating the Spurs, Hornets, Nuggets and Rockets in recent games, but their confidence is still sky high entering the playoffs. The Rockets will give the Jazz a good fight, but I'm not expecting to make another trip to Houston for a Game 7. You can start getting ready to boo Kobe Bryant and Derek Fisher when they come to EnergySolutions. I'm taking Jazz in six . . . and it wouldn't surprise me in five. --Ross Siler http://blogs.sltrib.com/jazz/2008/04/jazz-in-six.htm Oh, and the comments. Please read the comments. This alone gets me fired up already!!
i agree. as rocket fans, we usually call teams like the jazz, mavs, and spurs rivals. however, those fans usually don't return the favor. a rivalry has to be somewhat competitive. those teams have owned us for a long time now. i can only hope that the players on the jazz feel like they can walk through this series. the rockets will have a chance to shock everyone.
They might as well quit now...at least the Rockets would make the Lakers work... utah would get destroyed by the lakers...4 straight. LETS GO ROCKETS...We aint the pick, so Rockets in 6 We aint the pick, so Rockets in 6! We aint the pick, so Rockets in 6! We aint the pick, so Rockets in 6! We aint the pick, so Rockets in 6!
I dont get why some people are making a thing about them "tanking" to play us If Rockets were in a situation if they had to LOSE to play DENVER or win to play PHOENIX we would all be happy and have excuse too if we LOST that game.
Well... not if you had about the best home record since who knows when... Sloan is underhanded, and would be just that cocky, thinking that the Rockets are a pushover... Meanwhile most teams would pick a win to insure as much of a chance for the HCA as possible, especially if they were such a home court juggernaut. Of course, we know the refs have a ton to do with not calling anything for fear of disrupting the "flow of the game." I doubt any Rockets team would like to have an excuse for losing.
The media is looking past us. The Utah fans are looking past us. I guarantee you that Sloan and the Jazz players aren't and are only focused on us.
http://www.bracketpreview.com/nbaplayoffs/ The computer simulations are heavily in their favor; I can't brush this off since they did predict the results of every Sweet 16 teams in NCAA.
They predict that every team in the Western Conference that doesn't have HCA is going to win their series. That's just stupid.
at this point everyone is looking past the Rocks. but if we score more points ...err, ahm i can't dismiss our chances, we've confounded every conventional expectation sans Yao. Utah has the weapons to exploit some of our weaknesses, but we have hac and they suck on the road. may the rowdies be loud and intimidating and the Rocks hit on all cylinders! GO ROCKS!
I'm pretty sure the older Jazz fans will resent us for coming back on them 2-1 to win 3-2 in two really hard-fought games in '95, plus the dirty shot-clock series which they still lost in '94. Up until '97 when they hurt Barkley in the playoffs and Stockton made that shot, we had owned them and rejected Stockton-Malone in their prime years. By the time they got to face Jordan in the championship both stars were already past their primes. The Jazz have no championships and while we have been beat (up) by them plenty in recent years it won't change that fact.
Do you think they believe the media? All of this "Jazz in 6" or "Jazz in 7" all over the internet? I am hoping they are feeling over confident as is indicated all over the place... The recent thread about Slick Rick having a better record head to head over Sloan does ease the anxiety. This is going to be a great year for the playoffs... both with the Rockets, and conference wide. Keep looking past Houston, Utah... we'd be glad to see you have a rude awakening!
bs. what has utah done in recent years to be cocky? anyway, the cockier they are, the better it is for us.
I think they are, because they won't expect miracle to happen twice in the same year. We won 22 straight, there is no way we also get out of the first round in the same year. We'll see.
