Just Like Old Times...The Jazz and Rockets Battle for Home Court Tonight! My Utah Jazz: Ideally, who do the Rocket fans want to face in Round 1 of the playoffs? Why?
Dream Shake: Honestly, I think we’d ideally face the Jazz with home court advantage. I believe we match up very well with your team now that Scola and Landry have been added to the mix. I also think Brooks and Jackson can give D-Will some trouble simply because they are such a change of pace from Alston. We have three PGs with completely different games. I also believe that it’s the one series that can make TMac mad enough to play his butt off. Let me caveat the prior sentences with the fact that most Rockets fans disagree with me. The other team I want is LA; while they are playing well, I think we match up well with them also.
My Utah Jazz: I have to ask, how bad did it hurt when Yao went down? Did you cry, throw and break something or just stop talking for days? With that said, How confident are you that the Rockets can still make a run on the Western Conference? (As if winning 20 + games in a row without wasn't enough to give you hope.)
Dream Shake: Dave (my co-writer) and I both had serious problems. Remember, we were riding high on a 12 game winning streak, Yao was the player of the month and we were absolutely dominating teams. The Rockets had just destroyed New Orleans in Louisiana , so we were riding on a huge high. Then I hit the bottom of the barrel as a fan when I got the news. At first I thought he would be back for the playoffs, but the news was much worse than that. Overall I’ve just now been able to cope with it. I’m pretty confident that we can win a round of the playoffs. The injuries for the rest of the team aren’t helping though. My ceiling is the Western Conference finals, but I’d gladly be wrong. If we have to play SA it’s over.
My Utah Jazz: Yes, it's asked every time, but I always look forward to this: Using only the Jazz/Rockets Rosters. Who would you take as your Starting Five as well as, lets say, two bench players.
Dream Shake:
PG – D-Will
SG - TMac
SF – Battier, and he’d fit in in Utah , he’s the whitest guy of all time
PF – This is tough for me because I can’t stand him, but Boozer, the guy is a beast and taking over very well as my most hated member of the Jazz for Karl Malone
C – Yao or even Mutumbo if I can’t have Yao
My Utah Jazz: . No disrespect to Mutumbo at all. He is a great ambassador to the game and an overall great guy. However, which of the following Sesame Street Characters does he sound exactly like:
Dream Shake:
A. Big Bird
B. Snuffalufagus
C. Cookie Monster
D. Oscar the Grouch
See video here: http://youtube.com/watch?v=Xn6xcY752B0
My Utah Jazz: Finally, last question. Last years Jazz/Rockets Round One Series was Epic. Well, as of today, 4.14.08 we are all set to play in round one again with home court still up in the air. Whether we meet in round one, two or even three, who wins this series? And who is the X Factor?
Dream Shake: The team that has the home court advantage wins the series, but I think the Jazz could win the whole thing if they get on a roll (my pick for NBA champion is the Hornets however). The X factor as always is Tracy McGrady; no team not named the Lakers has an answer for a driving and dunking TMac. He has best player in the league potential when he cares enough to use it. He was the difference between winning and losing for us last year, his fourth quarter in game 7 sealed a win for the Jazz. No one was stopping him or playing strong defense, he was just passing up shots and not driving to the hole. I have no idea why he does that, maybe the pressure got to him.
Thanks to Lee and The Dream Shake for letting us be a part of this Q&A. No offense, but I am really hoping for another teary eyed T-Mac post-conference after an early exit from the playoffs.
We need this tonight Jazz.!
Late,
Booner
Posts
21 comments:
Great chat Booner.
Did I read correctly? Lee chose the NO Hornets to be NBA Champions? Talk about losing credibility...
oh and by the way...I hate the Rockets.
GO JAZZ! (I say that in a high pitch voice with a fist pump and a fruity jump in the air like the old Totota commercials)
Honestly, only a homer the size of that Simpson one would pick Mt. Mutumbo over Memo these days. Watch it tonight, Memo will destroy the Cookie Monster in everything.
I thought the same thing too, Hammy. Oh well, at least he loves his team. Besides, didn't we all write-in Jaron Collins on our all-start ballots this year?
Okur is a good player, I was more taking him to round out the team defensively. Obviously one on one I'd take Okur because he can stretch the court and has range. It wasn't a totally homer call.
And why can't New Orleans win it all? They've been at or around first most of the season. They also have two great players in West and Paul. They also have Peja who can light it up and Chandler to take advantage of the alley-oops from CP3. Pargo is a solid backup point and Bonzi Wells has been known to go off in the playoffs before. I think they have just the right mix of "nobody believed in us" and "We've beaten every team out there so we know we can do it". Add in the second best conference record in the West and you've got the makings of a pretty good team. Oh, and unlike the Jazz they are good at home AND on the road.
One more thing, the New Orleans thought only applies if they can face anyone but Utah, I think D-Will is in their heads
http://sports.aol.com/fanhouse/2008/04/14/the-rotation-anybody-can-win-the-nba-title/
The Jazz are good on the road as long as they are going up against playoff caliber teams. It's the damn Timberwolves, Heat, Knicks, Clippers, Nets and others that scare us.
In my opinion the Hornets need to get one playoff run under their belts together as a team before they can be considered contenders. I want to see if Paul can make it through a tough series without getting hurt as well. He's kind of fragile and he is going to get hammered a lot in these games.
And I just saw the "in everything" comment above. The next time Memo plays defense better than Deke in any way will be the first time
I disagree that Memo can't play as good of defense as the "Current" Deke.
We all know the "career Deke" was a beast (or monster...or cookie monster if you prefer), But you Rockets fans saw first hand the Defensive effort that Okur is capable of putting up. (see Rockets vs. Jazz 2007 Memo guarding Yao).
and finally. No there is NO way absolutely NO way that New Orleans wins the championship. none. zip. zero. Even if by the grace of God (which isn't much as we saw with katrina) they get out of the west, they will not get by the Celtic or Detroit. There is no argument that can be made to convince me otherwise.
Hollinger is giving the Jazz a LOT of love in his chat right now:
"I'm really hoping Utah moves up to No.3 -- that way we get Deron vs. Paul in round 2, and then (if power rankings hold) Jazz-Lakers in the conference finals."
AND, talking about the Rockets, "I don't think they have much of a shot against Utah, but they have a better chance against Phoenix or San Antonio"
I gotta agree with C.B. Jack on this one - the Hornets have no chance of winning the championship this year.
There are a litany of reasons that can be listed, but one only needs to point to two major factors: experience and playoff basketball.
Experience: They have none. Peja is the only one with any significant experience in the playoffs, and we all remember him air-balling crucial late-game jumpshots against the Lakers. It's called sphincter-itis (as in, tightening of the sphincter during crunch-time of big playoff games), and it plagues young, inexperienced players in the playoffs year after year (for a recent example, see the Memphis Tigers...). In fact, I can almost guarantee you'll see some sphincter-itis by Brooks, Landry, Scola, and even Alston, because Alston has a perpetual case of it.
Playoff basketball: As we are all aware of, the type of basketball that is played in the post-season is worlds of difference from the regular season (I believe the word I'm looking for is PRESSURE). T-mac is very familiar with this, I am sorry to point out. Thus, regular season consistency against bottom feeders and mediocre teams in the NBA to produce a quality record, which the Hornets have done this year and Mavs did last year, do not amount to much once the playoffs begin. In my opinion, the best predictors of team success during the playoffs are the regular season games with huge importance. It is in those games where teams dig in and play the type of defense you see in the playoffs, which means a lot of physicality and a typically low-scoring, duke-it-out-in-the-trenches sort of affair. The Hornets had two chances to demonstrate greatness in February and March against your streaking Houston Rockets, and they crumpled in both (home and away). They also lost their biggest game of the year last Friday against the Lakers that demonstrated their inability to play quality defense. I also watched them on Saturday night as they lost to the Kings on the road in another playoff-like game (reasoning: Arco Arena, Hornets had the #1 seed on the line, and the Kings play some seriously rugged defense). Bottom line - the Hornets are not ready for the lip-bloodying (is that a word?), hard-foul type of defense that will be played on them in the playoffs.
Lip-Bloodying.....
We're checking.....
.....
Confirmed via Wikipedia.
Nice work Memo. You always type the long version of what I am thinking. I bet you use a microphone headset that translates your words to type. I tried one of those once, but after five words it screwed up and i started cussing and then my final paper looked like this:
"The humpback whale is known for #$%#...I didn't say that dumb computer...quit typing what i'm saying...*&@##$% dumb @#$@#%#...holy @#$@#5 this headset *@#$#$ sucks....wait....balls...douche...(laughing)....sweet...."
Just playing. I couldn't agree more with your comments.
CB Jack, I think you are confusing Yao having a bad game with Memo playing good defense on him
Call it what you want. Anytime I can talk myself into thinking Memo played defense, I jump on it.
So in last years playoffs, Yao led Houston in scoring in 4 of the 7 games. You really think without him they have a chance? I just don't see it.
@T-mac is very familiar with this
No offense taken there, I'm pretty tough on him. And as y'all are fans of Stockton and Malone, I should probably bow to the knowledge of Jazz fans about choking and tightening up in the playoffs...
What can I say, I'm bucking the trend, I really think NO can do it, I don't personally believe CP3 can be stopped in the playoffs at this point. I also see him becoming the face of the NBA, so expect a LOT of D-Wade type calls for him in the playoffs.
Yao is a beast of a man, and I love his game, but against the Jazz, he simply does not match up well on the defensive end. He shouldn't be chasing Memo at the three point line and it is unfair to ask him to guard Boozer. The Jazz are the only team in the NBA who I think the Rockets match up better without Yao. It's a weird dynamic the Jazz have. One I would love if I didn't dislike the Jazz so much.
BTW, in the 10 or so Q&A swaps we've done this year, we only lost one of the games. Just saying...
Thanks C.B. - Jazz minds think alike.
Scrumtrulescent - you're right...just checked out the Hollinger chat and he is seriously giving props to the Jazz, to the confusion of the readers on ESPN (mostly people from California, it seems).
"What, why does this Hollinger guy keep bring up the Jazz? Utah? They're not any good...because I've never seen them play on TV!"
OK Dream Shake. You're killing me with the Stock and Malone comment. Touche.
Honestly, the Rockets aren't going to win tonight.
Sorry to ruin your amazing Chat record. The ESA has been in playoff mode for almost 3 weeks now. I've never seen a team feed off of a crowd like our boys. This crowd truly is a 6th man. You don't see many crowds like this in professional sports.
Have I ever mentioned to you that I hate the Rockets? Just not as much as I hate the Nuggets.
PS. The Jazz are 1-0 when we do live blogs, don't back me into a corner and force me to pull one out for this game... you don't want MUJ fans blogging...teams get destroyed when that happens.
Oh dammmmnnn.....somebody help me hold CB Jack back. I think he's foaming at the mouth. The Rockets are probably still reeling after their butt-kicking in Denver last night...we all know that Melo was, but for different reasons last night (what a sad, sad man).
I really hope I see Jason Hart tonight...
...because the only time he gets any burn is when it's a blow-out.
Please let that stay true...he only played in the 1st quarter against the Nugs b/c Iverson was folding like a cheap suit everytime Deron or Price touched him, right? RIGHT?
That loss was to the Celtics and it ended our 22 game winning streak. I did not have a good feeling about that game. For some reason I do about this game, when all logic says I should not. If we don't have Battier or Jackson tonight though, it will get ugly quickly.
I just want home court if we play you in the playoffs and the Rockets will too, so I think it's a close victory for the gentlemen and Rafer Alston from Houston.
I hate the Jazz more than any team in the NBA and it's not close, I even wrote a post about it earlier this season, only about 12% is a joke. Jazz fans have been pretty classy over the years in face to face and email conversations. I can't say the same for Mavericks fans
http://thedreamshake.blogspot.com/2007/11/why-i-hate-utah-jazz.html
I also realized I didn't fully answer a question today.
My two reserves would be:
Scola and AK47 (I wish y'all would trade him to us)
And the link above will answer the question about which mascot I would take.
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