The Jazz took care of business last night at home as predicted and now it's time to shift gears into full blown Kobe hating mode. A few final thoughts on the Rockets though as we bid them yet another season ending farewell.
1- Tracy McGrady is never going to be a clutch playoff winner. It's just not in his DNA, remember he is related to Vince Carter. Enough of the "superstar" label for this guy.
2- The Scola, Landry, Hayes combo is really quite good. Those three were always playing hard and not afraid of the dirty work. All of them would look really good in Jazz Blue.
3- Rick Adelman is still a first class whiner and that rubs off on his team. The Rockets really need a no excuses, hard nosed coach that does not allow his players to make excuses. Someone like Jerry Sloan.
Moving onto the Lakers, this series is going to look completely different than the one we just saw with the Rockets. Final scores are going to be in the 110 -115 range every night as both team want to push the tempo more. Hopefully the Jazz can keep some of the defensive aggressiveness that they displayed against the Rockets. Look for Boozer to be much more effective as the Lakers interior defense is poor at best. Here is my opinion on how the Jazz stack up to the Lakers, position by position.
PG: Williams vs. Fisher - Advantage Williams, big. Deron is playing MVP caliber ball right and now Fish just can't hang with him.
SG: Kobe vs. Brewer - Advantage Kobe, big. I am pretty sure that Kobe will score a few points in fourth quarter.
SF: Kirilenko vs. Odom - Push. Both guys play a similar all around game with AK being a bigger factor on defense for the Jazz and Odom being a bigger factor offensively for the Lakers.
PF: Boozer vs. Radmanovic - Advantage Boozer, big. Seriously, what are the Lakers going to do with Boozer. Who on this team is going to defend him down low?
C: Okur vs. Gasol - Advantage Gasol, very small. Pau is going to end up scoring more than Okur in this series, but look for Okur to own the glass against him.
Bench: Harpring, Milsap, Korver and Price vs. Farmar, Walton, Vujacic and Turiaf - Push. These are the best two bench units in the playoffs and they are very similar in style. Both teams have the hustling big guy, the sharp shooter, and the athletic streaky point guard.
My prediction for the series is the Jazz in 6, if it goes 7 I don't know if we can win that one on the road. The Jazz should win game 1 because the Lakers are going to be a bit rusty with the long layoff and all of the Kobe for MVP hoopla. After that all they need to do is hold down home court.
Saturday, May 3, 2008
Mission Accomplished
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26 comments:
If we win game one, then I am with you on your prediction Hammy. However, my biggest fear is losing these first two in L.A. If that's the case, I would have to say Lakers in 6. But I will continue holding out on any predictions because I have yet to make a successful one. I would not mind another B-Hammy prediction/rant though. That last one before game 6
was damn-near creepy close. I read the outtakes of that post and you even nailed how many times I would go to the bathroom during that game. Weird!
Let's do this Jazz. Time to take down Kobe-Nation!
Sweet taste of victory!
You know what I will most about the Rockets? The Dream Shake boys.
Those guys are studs and we had a great rivalry going on. I'm pretty sure we'll have Lee writing for us next year on My Utah Jazz.
Thanks Dream Shake for some great conversation and dialogue.
I still really hate the Rockets.
There's a pretty good Laker blog called forumblueandgold.com that has already been diagnosing the Jazz/Lakers matchup. They might be interested in starting a little friendly rivalry. I think you'll be impressed by how good their site is.
From what I've read they think Gasol will be on Boozer, which would be great for us. He'll get in foul trouble and get beat up on the defensive end and become ineffective on the offensive end. At least that's what I'm hoping.
On the other hand, I expect a lot of pick & rolls with Kobe and Gasol, isolating either Booz or Okur on Kobe which won't be good for us.
LOL -- the Lakers have the better coach, the better bench, the better frontcourt, the better backcourt, and home court advantage.
It's cute that you think that Okur/Gasol is only a small advantage for Gasol.
Lakers in 5. Enjoy your offseason.
YESSSSS, anonymous flamer!!
I'm glad he's so confident, he must be REALLY smart.
Jazz in 6?!?!?! LOL!!! The Lakers are going to win the 1st to games. The Jazz are going to win game 3 and the Lakers will win games 4 and 5. Good night Utah. At least you made it to the 2nd round.
I'm fine with them winning the first "to" games ace. It's the first "two" that I am worried about. But, hey, at least ace has enough guts to not chime in like old anonymous up there.
Anonymous #1 got it right. Anonymous #2 is here to tell you that it will be a hard-fought series, with the Lakers winning in 4. Yes, 4. When it happens, I want all you Jazz fans to remember reading this comment. Don't be ashamed. The Lakers are simply the better team - with home court advantage. Also: your fellow Jazz fans made a huge mistake when they booed D.Fish in Salt Lake. It was uncalled for, and even if D.Fish forgave you, Kobe did not.
more anonymous flamers! You guys are really attracting the cream of the crop.
Anyone who thinks the Lakers will walk all over the Jazz is either ignorant or a completely delusional homer
mmm....
Not sure how many games this series might go,but isn't it odd that the only time that the Jazz beat the Lakers this year Boozer didn't even play?
I also think that you may be underestimating the advantage Gasol has over Okur. Gasol has been a perfect fit for the Lakers offense. Gasol does quite a few things well. Okur shoots the three well.
Personally, I'm a Pistons fan as far as I can see the biggest worry the Lakers have is Williams; he has to have a huge series for the Jazz to have a chance.
Okur has been a fantastic rebounder so far, 4th highest average in the playoffs.
I'm HOPING the Lakers think they only have to worry about DWill, if you can't/don't play TEAM defense, there are at least 4 other guys who can step up and make shots: Memo, Booz, Korvs, AK (which isn't to say they will
It should be a good series but the Lakers are too strong offensively for the Jazz.
What D-Will does may make the games close but they still lack a "finisher." Game 1 is very important for both Kirilenko and Radmonovic because both are very emotional players but great impact players when "on their game."
Okur might be overshadowed by Gasol. Mehmet doesn't move well enough to garner much attention and sometimes gets caught watching the ball.
Gasol is so impressive. He's smart and does not take a play off. His scoring will be vital for Lakers success.
Someone CAN contain Deron like Farmar or Vujacic, but NO ONE can stop Kobe. That's why the Lakers have the edge.
Lakers in 5, possibly 6 if Korver gets hot.
Thats the word from a scout.
anonymous
Scout my ass. Sounds like a Lakers homer to me.
THAT's a smart comment. Laker fans take note. I don't agree with all the premises, but at least he's being rational and backing up his statements.
That said...show some balls and put your name. How else can we berate you if you're wrong (or, less likely, give credit if you're right)?
let the fun begin!!!!!!!!!!!!!
your jazz will lose due to lack of mental stability like your friend hammy here...
when did vlad ever became a PF???
to think this was voted #1 jazz blog site but cant correctly analyze something as easy as a players position!!!
I hope jerry wouldnt take your word for it coz i'm expecting a little more fight from your jazz...
PURPLE & GOLD BABY!!!
Scrumtrulescent
You're kidding right? One playoff series does not a rebounder make. 7.7 rpg during the regular season. Probably 2 of those came off missed free throws. Mehmet is no rebounder. (Neither is Nowitzki who also ranks high in post-season rebounds per game).
Lakers in 4.
cry about it.
CTR b.itches.
Spud, read between the lines. He has been great so far, that isn't to say that he will continue to be good, but he is at least giving it a much better effort. I think it's safe to say that I have seen many more Jazz games than you, so I can say with authority that Memo IS a rebounder. Houston was the top rebounding team throughout the regular season, Memo had double digit rebounds in all but one game and had a 16 and 18 rebound game.
Don't get me wrong, Pau is a tough match-up for sure. But Memo won't be a pushover.
Finally, what is it with the anon flamers? Do they not have enough cajones to identify themselves? How much courage does it take to use terrible grammar, ad hominem attacks, and broad generalizations anonymously? I hope this isn't what we're going to get from Laker fans this series.
Hey anonymous dux-bag's, check out any Lakers box score from ESPN and tell me what the hell that PF next to Vlad's name is supposed to mean? Maybe it mean Pansy Fatso if not Power Forward?
Prepare yourselves for a revelation, no one on the Lakers can stop D-Will. Fisher was his damn back-up and you think that Fishers back-up is going to be able to contain Williams? Pull your heads out and think before you write guys. Here is some proof for you with Williams:
- Nov. 4th at LA - 26 pts., 5 ast., 3-5 from 3.
- Nov. 30th vs. LA - 35 pts., 3 ast., 2-3 from 3.
- Mar. 20th vs. LA - 26 pts., 12 ast., 4-6 from 3.
That my friends is called dominating a match-up. Just as I am sure Kobe has similar stats against us, D-Will is going to own your point guards.
The best thing that could have happened for the Jazz was to have you guys get the worst team in the playoffs for round 1 so you think that you are playing better than you really are. Write this one down, this series is going at least 6 games and you will know that you were in fight.
I am too lazy to create an account, so I will call myself "completely delusional homer" See scrum above...
First of all as a previous blogger noted, the positional breakdown of your "blogmaster" is all wrong. Odom and Radmanovic are reversed, and Radmanovic is not going to play all that much anyways.
Advantage Williams big, mmmmmmm not that big, wait and see.....
Advantage Kobe big, mmmmmmm understatement of the year.
AK vs. Odom, push. Crash...... sorry just dropped my computer while laughing hysterically. Maybe you are talking about Odom circa 2002. Watch a few Laker games then lets talk.
Advantage Gasol, small. Yeah small like my Johnson. Wait, wait, that doesn't sound right, whatever.....
To summarize, PG - advantage Utah. SG - advantage, duh. PF advantage Lakers, SF advantage Utah. C - advantage Lakers. Bench advantage -push- (I am being overly generous) Coaching advantage Lakers - small.
I will be accepting apologies after game 5 at biteme@lakerfan.duh
By the way Forum Blue and Gold is good, LATimesLakerBlog is better, come on over and chat........(I go by PSLakerFan, if you want to rebut)
Is that un-anonymous enough for you scrum.....
yes, thank you.
This is from John Hollinger (who I think is an ass, but I agree with him for once)
"More importantly, we now have a bigger sample in the Pau Gasol file, and it's an impressive one. L.A. is now 26-4 when he plays more than three minutes, with an awesome plus-11.7 victory margin. Taking a team on a roll like that and giving them home-court advantage to boot, it's tough to pick against them".
Just food for thought, and thank you for your response Scrum. See you at the LATimes, if you dare...hahahahahahahahah. Did that sound scary, probably not, lol.
I think you may have the center and forwad matchups wrong:
Lamar can easily guard Okur with his length and athleticism, not to mention he is an under rated defender
Gasol would have no trouble guarding Boozer. This makes more sense because Booker plays more like a center than PF.
Radmanovic can guard Kirilenko. REally, does AK have much of an offensive game anyways?
No AK has no offensive game.
Sorry you don't agree with our idea of match-ups. We could honestly care less.
You are on in our territory now. So we're going to cram our views down your throat. Don't like it?
Go back to the LA Times and have Lakers orgies.
yo we got this laker blog you should check out. One thing i gotta mention about this series: Both teams are gonna play their guts out. So even though they are both used to gettin layups, dont expect them to come easily. Gasol will be more of a centerpiece in this series because the jazz dont have a great defensive big to guard him. Camby did a great job on Pau last series in 1 on 1 situations, i dont think the jazz can contain him the way denver did. D-will has always been really tough for the lakers to handle, expect him to have a big series. I really think its gonna come down to boozer. If he gets hot and starts hitting that fade-away mid range jumper, then the lakers are in trouble. I think if the Lakers come out and play tough D though, they'll have a really good chance of winning because their offense is just so efficient. Its hard to predict how many games this series will go, but i think the Jazz are gonna give the Lakers a run for their money. Being a Laker fan I hope they can play the defense thats necessary to beat a high powered offensive machine like the Jazz. Man, I cant wait for this series to start.
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