Wow. You have a very good memory to remember how the Pistons started their season almost 10 years ago.
I rmember that, one of their early losses was when we kicked the sh-t out of them at the Summit/Compaq center. That was awesome.
and on top of that? i just have to say - utah has by far most beautiful women i've ever seen... and i've been a LOT of places. every place has its good and bad... snow here is awesome. jazz just lost their third game... they're looking a little more human...
When I think about the Jazz, I ask myself this: If you could trade rosters with the Rockets right now, would you? I wouldn't. Our Rockets have the only center in the league that is dominant. That is a serious advantage. We have a relatively new team in that our roster is very different than last year's. I would guess that the Jazz can't and won't get much better from this point, but the Rockets have yet to play their best game. We're 9-4, they're 12-2. At this point in the season, that's not a huge advantage. If the Rockets continue to improve, we'll be in the top 2 slots in the league. Our strong suits are defense and our center, two things that usually work well in the playoffs. They really do have a brilliant coach, but Jeff Van Gundy is easily as good a coach as Sloan. Neither have won the big one, but both have been in the finals. They both do their homework and typically put together a winning mentality amongst their players. The difference is in what player we have versus what they have. I would take Yao and Tracy, two legit all-stars, versus four 2nd tier all-stars. The one player advantage they have is Derek Fisher. He's a winner. He does the little things. If Shane Battier continues to be Shane and Vassilis Spanoulis develops into a solid role, we've got them on that edge too. The Jazz v. Rockets just became a big deal with Western Conference Champion implications again. This should be a fun year for both teams. Health will matter and will probably be the difference. If both teams are healthy going into a 7-game series.... I'll take the Rox every time. They don't have the players to win close games. We do. Quote the R2K: Keep the Faith!
The Jazz are for real. After beating the Spurs last night, I have no further questions. I am looking forward to watching them on TNT tonight. It is a back to back for them against the Lakers. It should be interesting.
The rosters don't matter. It's the coach. I'm not bashing JVG, but Sloan just gets the most out of his players much like how Rudy took those CBA nomads and made them into quality role players.
Two words ... Detroit Pistons... They didn't have 1 Great Superstar they were just all extermely good players working like a well oilled machine.
Using the Pistons is a bit of a stretch there. The Pistons have 4 players that can take over a game. The Jazz may find that over time but there isn't any one player that has proven to be someone that can just take over a game. Just look at last nights game. They may have some very good defensive players but nobody that can put up big offensive numbers when needed... yet what sux is they do have a very young team with a deep young bench that get to play...
I'm going to wait at least one season before making a judgement on the Jazz. A lot of teams get off to unforseen great starts, but can they sustain it? A couple of years ago, we saw the Suns and the Sonics both do it. The Suns are now a perennial contender, while the Sonics withered away. The big thing is with AK-47's health and having Boozer/Williams continue their all-star level play. If these all occur, they're a serious contender. Otherwise, they'd just be 1st round fodder for the top teams.
