I have to admit, since the Stockton and Malone era, I haven't watched the Jazz as often. It may also have something to do with the fact that I'm older, more mature, married with children, and don't have as much time for basketball and other sports. Regardless of all that, I was able to watch part of the game tonight on the Internet using a program that let me watch a feed of the game from China. You see, I decided to downgrade my satellite TV to the $19.99 family package and TNT isn't included in that package. About one hour into the game I started googling frantically for search terms like "TNT on Internet", "NBA on Internet". I finally found what I was looking for and was able to catch the 2nd quarter. At halftime my connection decided to poop out and I was never able to get a feed again.
What I did see of the game, it looked like they were having fun. I love to watch The Jazz pass the ball around when they're on offence and make the opposing defense run and scurry. The way The Jazz pass the ball is almost artistic in a way. Back in the Stockton and Malone era you'd see the pick-and-roll all the time and it was usually a pass from Stockton to Malone and a score, or if Malone was covered he'd pass it back out, but it was rare to see more than about two or three passes. With this 2006-2007 Utah Jazz you'll see about 5, 6, 7, or 8 passes on offense. The Jazz also run a faster offense, their players are younger than the old Stockton and Malone teams.
Anyway, I'm just glad the Jazz beat Houston and will go to the next round against the Golden State Warriors. By the way, the Warriors are my new second favorite team by shear virtue of them beating Mark Cuban's team, the Dairy Queen Mavericks. I'm also glad that the games will be on ABC. I'm predicting a Jazz win over the Warriors and a Phoenix win over San Antonio. I don't think the Jazz can get past either Phoenix or San Antonio, however. The Jazz should have beat Houston in 5, instead they dragged it out to seven games. The upside is that the Jazz are relatively young and a 7 game series wont take as huge a toll as it would on the Stockton and Malone teams.
My prediction for the NBA finals is Phoenix from the West and Detroit from the East. But wouldn't it be cool to have a Jazz/Bulls rematch?
The next nice story tonight was RSL's 3-3 tie against the New York Red Bulls with new Head Coach, Jason Kreiss at the helm. Yeah, it wasn't a win, but New York is the best team in the league and hasn't given up a single goal this season, until tonight. I was also happy to see, former RSL player, Clint Mathis score two goals against his old mates. Hopefully Clint's found his game again. Maybe Mathis just does better in that kind of environment. RSL has Colorado on Thursday in Denver and I'm predicting 3 Points (a win) for RSL.
