Well, you take the good, you take the bad, you take them both and there you have, the facts of being a Jazz fan. At least we did not go 1 -3 on this trip because that is what we could / should have ended up with. At the same time, if AK doesn't jack up a three pointer with 11 seconds left on the shot clock when we are leading by 2 with less than a minute to go in the game and Boozer was killing everyone in sight and should have got the ball - AND then decided to try and go for the steal on the last second drive against Jefferson we would have been 3 - 1 on the trip. Seriously AK, the risk of that steal was not worth the reward, it was a selfish, desperate act to try and single handedly win the game when the rest of your team was ready to close it out. Just stay in front of him and make him take a fade away from the corner, game over, you win. I think that AK might be the most over-rated defensive player in the league. He is not blocking shots this year and he is routinely getting beat of the dribble because he is going for the dumb steal. Guess what, forcing the other player into a horrible shot and miss is just as good as a steal, you get the ball back without them scoring in both situations. The fact is this, AK is more worried about his personal stats than anything else going on in the game.I am fully in the trade AK for an expiring contract and a pick camp now. I have been on and off that bandwagon all year, but this time I am seatbelting in. CJ might actually be a better fit for the Jazz (shoot me now for giving CJ any props) and the money saved could end up keeping both CJ and Millsap around. This team is really just one defensive minded player away from being the force in the NBA for the next 5 to 7 years. We need that one guy who cares about nothing more than defense to get those big stops at the end of the game. It seems like all of our guys are offensive minded first and we just need that one crazy defensive guy. I know this would never happen, but imagine Ron Artest on the Jazz in place of AK. We would win 4 of the next 5 championships with that team. If was Kevin O'Connor, I at least make the call to Sacto.
- A Look Ahead -
The Jazz now only have 4 road games left, at Minnesota, New Orleans, Dallas and San Antonio. I am predicting a 2 - 2 finish in those games. We should loose to Minnesota, beat New Orleans and Dallas and then loose in San Antonio. Seems about right considering how we play up or down to the competition on the road. That leaves 10 home games and we should win at least of 9 of them. So, as I see it that is 11 - 3 over the last 14 games for a final record of 55 - 27 which should be good enough for home court advantage in the first round. With all of the struggles on the road this year, they really need to get it.
