I would have to argue with your "teams of the future." The Lakers, yes.... but I don't see the Hornets keeping their level of play up long term. Chris Paul is a great player, but the biggest reason that DWill doesn't get the same press as him is Carlos Boozer. Chris Paul is in a position where he has to do more for his team than Williams for them to be successful, but the Jazz are deeper, just as young, and have more talent in their starting five. I'm not taking anything away from the Hornets season, just saying that the Jazz shot themselves in the foot with the way they played in December, and against the east on the road (pathetic!). The Jazz have come a long way in the last couple of years, and they will compete with the Lakers for tops in the West next year.
With all that said, I think that if both of the first games were played in SLC, it's the Jazz that are up 2-0. I realize that is subjective, but the Jazz will get a kinder whistle and will make more of their outside shots in SLC. I think they come back to LA tied at two a piece. I realize that this is a Jazz fan saying this, but Boozer will get his head on for the next game, take it to the post more (and not getting called for a foul every time he touches someone will help too) and the Jazz will come back to LA with some confidence. I'll leave it to KB24 to prove me wrong (and I know he is capable). Go Jazz!
Think about it, take away a 12 or 13 -0 run for the Lakers in both game one and two and the Jazz played even or better for about 6 or 7 quarters in LA, if the jazz could stay out of foul trouble and LA isnt shooting lights out from 3 they will win these next two easily, but it seems like we all know who everybody(I.E. the nba, the media, the mob, ) wants to win this series. I mean comeon I have never been that type of fan that complains about the officiating but in both games how does the lakers shoot 43 more freethrows when the jazz have been driving the lane as much or more than LA, also you would never see kobe foul out of a playoff game let alone only play 7 minutes because everytime he puts his hands on someone it is a foul, and I'm not just talking about boozer, in game one it was boozer and kirilenko in foul trouble the whole game and in game two it was boozer and memo that was. lets take away two of LA's best players (lets just say for sake of argument, gasol and odom, I wont say kobe because that is improbable, how could the best player on the planet get into foul trouble)for more than half of the game and then give the jazz on average 20+ more freethrows a game and I would have to bet on the jazz winning by oh around 20 points easily. If the refs just call the game a little more evenly then I predict the jazz heading back to LA 2-2 but if it continues being called the way the last two games were called LA could sweep. The funny thing is game two was by far the worst reffed game I have seen in this years playoff and Mr. David Stern himself was sitting there watching and probably salivating over the fact that his refs are doing exactly what he wants them to do, I mean how great would it be for the league to have another Boston-LA finals
Still looking for Laker sweep, Lakers are just expending enough energy to win. Jazz should win one at home but then it's over, Fish is playing hot, Gasol, Odom with 16 rebounds last night, Vujacic with 12 off the bench. Jazz just have'nt the speed Lakers do, and i think they'll get running in Utah. Can't wait to see Paul vs. Bryant, should be good.
Yeahright, was it the Ref's fault the Lakers shot 51% from the field? And it's not the Lakers that play physical ball, it's Utah and they admit it. Maybe their a tad too physical trying to instill their will on the tempo and it doesn't seem to be working. I think they need to back off somewhat try to make the Lakers a jump shooting team. The Lakers are averaging 115 pts/game in the series. Maybe Utah needs to play a little better defense. Sure, the freethrow disparity is alarming but in game 1, Lakers shot 44 to Utah's 31. That's not THAT bad of a difference. Game 2 was more favorable for the Lakers but because Utah plays more physical, they're more prone to committing more fouls. It's common sense. There were ticky-tack fouls both ways. I'm sure Utah will get some home cookin in games 3 & 4. But to think that the NBA and the Mafia want the Lakers in the finals is absurd. Maybe the Lakers will make it to the finals because they are the BEST team in the west? Ya think?
I find it funny that this comes from an LA sports writer, and mind you I'm not into conspiracy theories, but the refs calls last night were alarming. LA Fans, you need to read this, and mind you I don't like the Jazz.
12th banner, No it wasnt the refs fault the Lakers shot 51%, but it was the refs fault, or part thier fault that the Jazz shot 45. I mean when they take our best players off of the floor we usually shoot a lower percentage. you are wrong about the physical thing also, the jazz dont claim to be physical, the media and thier opponants claim them to be physical so they can get an edge from the refs, just like the so called fact that the jazz foul more than any team in the league, well guess what the refs call probably half of thier calls on reputation alone, why do you think the Spurs have been getting away with murder for years. Or why players like kobe seem to get fouled on a 80% basis when driving to the hole and a player like Paul Millsap or even Deron Williams has to have his head knocked off to get a call. as far as your comment about playing better defense, what a joke, when you cant touch the other team without a foul being called how are you supposed to defend. Finally your last response is the most absurd, yes the league and the mafia would love to see a finals that would actually get some great ratings and with great rating comes more people watching which in turn creates alot more betting... think about it!!!
