Saturday, May 3, 2008

Jazz Advance to Face Lakers


It's been 10 years since the Jazz faced the Lakers in the NBA playoffs. And perhaps one of the greatest moments of that series was when Kobe Bryant airballed three clutch-time shots allowing the Jazz to sweep the 1998 Western Conference Finals. It was a great moment to revel in the embarrassment that was Kobe Bryant at that time. He was young, cocky and over-confident.

Since then, much has changed since the '98 season...(Stockton retired, Kobe & Shaq won 3 rings, and even the Mailman joined Kobe for a season in Lakerland). Kobe however, really hasn't changed much in terms of ego and super confidence. Most Jazz fans would probably agree that he may qualify as the most despised player in today's NBA. Unfortunately, he often backs up his arrogance with tremendous scoring outbursts and clutch shooting (unlike his prior, youthful days).

It'll be a challenge for the Jazz to match up with Kobe. As we saw in game 6 last night, Tracy McGrady rolled up 28 first half points to help the Rockets stay within stricking distance of the Jazz. Fortunately for us, the Jazz pulled away during the 2nd half of the game because of tremendous effort and player balance. Kobe, though, is an even better talent than McGrady! And that can be somewhat frightening for Jazz fans, as he's capable of winning ballgames on his own. With that said, I believe that our new age Stockton to Malone (Deron and the Booz) will challenge LA for top dog and a bid to the Western Conference Finals. Go Jazz!

3 comments:

Pasty Gangsta said...

Also, sadly, Kobe is going to have a lot more help -- especially on the offensive end -- than T Mac did. Let's steal one early by winning tomorrow in LA!

Baltay said...

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