[SLT] GORDON MONSON: Foresight may prove sadly true

GORDON MONSON: Foresight may prove sadly true
By Gordon Monson
Tribune Columnist


Deron Williams was right.
He said, in so many words, the Jazz pretty much had to win Game 2 in order to have any reasonable chance in their first-round playoff series against the Rockets.
Of course, he said that before the Jazz lost, again, on Monday night, 98-90, falling into a deep 0-2 hole here, prior to jumping on a plane and heading home, desperately seeking hope and comfort there.
On the other hand, if he'd said it afterward, there would be no hope.
Chances, reasonable or otherwise, to win this game were frittered away by the Jazz, who started strong but could not sustain that condition from start to finish. Their shooting efficiency, which hovered at 60 percent in the first quarter, eventually dwindled to 45 percent.
"I thought we played hard tonight," said Matt Harpring, who scored 14 points. "I thought we played pretty well. We just have to keep going hard at it . . . We were close."
Observers can point at the suspicious fact that the Rockets made 29 of 32 free throws in the second half, while the Jazz made just four of six. But the Rockets were also more aggressive going to the basket. The Jazz settled for jumpers.
Whatever.
The real story line in this series has essentially descended down to one theme: Great vs. Good.
And everybody knows which side of
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that equation the Jazz are on.
"They have two great players," Harpring said.
The Jazz have . . . a plucky bunch.
Carlos Boozer tried to lift the scrappy Jazz, scoring 41 points on 17-for-30 shooting, following up what he said after the Jazz's first loss that his team "just had to make shots."
Well. They did, sort of. In those early stages. Boozer himself scored 15 of the Jazz's initial 17 points. But it almost felt inevitable, that it was only a matter of time before Houston, behind Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady, would surge back.
Let's say it all plain here, call it the way it is.
Harpring is spot on.
The Rockets have superstars, the Jazz have Spanky's gang. The Rockets have the names on the marquee, the Jazz have stage hands. The Rockets have players who even a billion Chinese care about, the Jazz have players barely known to American NBA fans. The Rockets have two of the league's most prized properties, the Jazz have Williams and a bunch of second-round draft picks.
It adds up to a couple of dashes of great against a broader measure of good.
The truth is this: The Rockets have the two best players on the court in this series.
Even on an off night for both of them, when Yao and McGrady combined for 58 points on - get this - 18-for-53 shooting, the duo dominated the outcome.
If you can't beat Yao and McGrady when they have numbers like that, when can you beat them?
"It's frustrating," Harpring said.
It's not as though the Jazz had nothing.
Boozer's effort was, indeed, superb.
The Jazz have a whole lot of decent players. But, as Jazz fans know better than anyone, on account of having watched Stockton and Malone play for all those years, in the NBA playoffs, a whole trough of good doesn't hold up to a couple helpings of great. If that was the case on a night when the Rockets were vulnerable, it will forever be true on better nights.
Effort and hard work and team play, the Jazz have mastered. Those traits are admirable, heartening even. But they struggle to measure up with, to compete against, and conquer sheer talent, size, and aggression.
Not that the Jazz can't fight back. They'll have their two shots in Salt Lake City, and, if things go well, maybe one more after that. But they are faced with a formidable burden.
They must find a way to better greatness.
And, at this juncture, after a game even they knew they had to win, that may be too much to ask.
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* GORDON MONSON can be reached at gmonson@sltrib.com. To write a letter about this or any sports topic, send an e-mail to sportseditor@sltrib.com.