We will know Tuesday by how hard they try. If the Lakers don't care and they rest their players and Utah happens to win, then that might make New Orleans play a lot harder on Wednesday against the Spurs in order to avoid the Lakers. If I am the Lakers, I would go all out and kick Utah's ass. That still gives Kobe 3 full days off to rest. It will interesting though because LA almost has the opportunity to choose their first round opponent.
If I am the Lakers, I want Utah. Can you think of another team in the playoffs who are playing worse basketball?
Jerry Sloan got into his team the other day after the game & he put Harpring in the starting lineup after he was out of the rotation. They looked more lively today, and Phil Jackson says he's using his regulars but in the past he has been known to rest his players.
I know you guys are grasping for any ray of hope that the Jazz can suddenly turn it on. But it is a little sad that it comes down to a home win against the Clippers to give you that slight glimmer.
Not going to say they have but they looked like the old Jazz today by making the extra pass and hustle plays they have been known for. Brevin Knight to summed up the hustle tonight as he stole a jump ball from DeAndre Jordan and ended up starting a fastbreak off of it.
I brought this up in another thread the other day. Yes, the Lakers will probably win easily wheather they play the Jazz or Mavs, but if I were them, I would much rather face the Mavs. The Jazz won like 11 games in a row earlier in the year and were playing well after Boozer came back until they had a ton of tough road games and fell apart, they have the talent to turn it on at any time.
I'm hoping for a Utah win just so it pushes NO/DAL to go all out and give us a better chance at that 3rd seed.
Even if Utah is struggling coming into the playoffs, it still doesn't take away the fact they play much more physical than a Dallas or New Orleans team. The wear and tear would be much more significant playing a team with a Matt Harpring than it would facing a team with...James Singleton & Julian Wright? So I bet most teams in the West want the Lakers to face Utah.
The lakers are more concerned about which refs they'll have working for them than which team they'll face. Got 'em right where we want 'em.
Utah is as hard as it could get for a first round opponent....Mavs would be almost a guaranteed sweep
The 15 minutes per game that Harpring will play doesn't turn the Jazz into a physical team. They have been a finesse team all year. I agree Dallas and NO are not necessarily physical either but NO will have Chandler back and Dallas has Dampier and the Jazz have.......... Okur??
So you are saying the Lakers will rest their starters tonight? Sounds like you want Utah to win this one.
If Utah wins, they set themselves up nicely..they own the tiebreaker over both NO and Dallas, all they would need is either to slip up..if they lose, guaranteed 8 seed.
Lakers crush the Jazz or Mavs. The Jazz have a better chance of pushing the series to 6 games. No way can they beat LA. They have nobody to slow down Kobe. Kobe's had 40 and 37 points in games this year vs Utah. In last year's playoff series, he had at least 33 points in 5 of the 6 games. The Lakers have a tough time shutting down Deron Williams, but not enough to lose a series.
When Harpring plays, it energizes Utah if you haven't noticed. Harpring also gets under other players skin and throws them off usually like a Carmelo Anthony or Paul Pierce, which always helps. Another thing you are overlooking is the amount of solid screens Utah sets on offense that players have to run through. Giving Paul an iso with ball screens or post Dirk up on one side aren't as physically grueling as a whole team running around screening and moving w/o the ball. But I guess if a finesse teams leads the league in fouls these days, I don't know what to say about the NBA anymore.
Once again you are describing the "old Jazz" not this years team. I do watch part of all their games since i live in SLC. I do listen to their radio and TV shows, and I do have friends and co-workers who are die hard Jazz fans. And never before has the phrase "bunch of pussies" been uttered as often. Some fans love Harpring and others hate him for taking (Their words not mind) stupid shots and committing stupid turnovers. He has been playing very limited minutes this year and as a last resort Jerry has thrown him into the starting line-up. I guess we will see if it is genius or desperation. Not sure why he waited so long to do it though.
