The Blazers?!?!?!?!

How in Muhammed Bhudda Allah Christ's name do the Jazz lose to the Blazers? This team is starting to kill me with its inconsistency. We've beat the Spurs twice, the Mavericks twice and the Suns three times yet we get stomped like women by the NBA's junior varsity teams. We recently went on a 4 game eastern road trip and lost every freakin' game!

The worst news is that five of our last eight games are against playoff teams or teams making a run at the playoffs. That means they are hungry and pumped and ready to rip our damn heads off if we don't execute and get back on defense. The only thing that lowers my blood pressure ever so slightly is that we are only on the road for three of those games and home for five. We play well at home for the most part, the players really feed off the crowd (especially considering this year the Delta Center [I know it has a new name but it will always be the D.C. to me] is back to being an incredibly difficult place to play for visiting teams, its amazing how fast winning will get the bandwagon fans back in the seats and screaming until their voices are hoarse).

I don't know if the team is exhausted from a long season or if they just get lazy but I am incredibly nervous yet excited for the rest of the regular season. The race with Houston for home court advantage in the first round and the inconsistency of both teams topped with the fact that we play them the last game of the year has created drama so thick its difficult to breath. This is why I love sports and I am just greatful that finally, after three years of no post season play, the Jazz are back in the playoffs. I can already feel the electricity.

To make matters even more nerve racking, Houston's schedule the rest of the way is nearly a cake walk. Of the remaining seven games they only play 2 playoff teams (Utah and Phoenix). The Rockets should walk through all but one or two of the remaining games and, with the Jazz set to play the best teams in the league, right into home court advantage in the first round. Utah needs to for the first time since the beginning of the season start playing consistantly great or we don't have a prayer.

We need, and I mean need homecourt advantage if we want to even have a shot at getting past Houston. This season we are 19-19 on the road and I would say we should have a worse record than that. At home in the D.C. its a different story: 29-7 (third best in the league). The road Jazz and the home Jazz are like two completely different teams. One is an at best .500 team that doesn't execute or put forth much effort, gets rattled easily and gives up when things get difficult. The other is potentially the best or second best team in the NBA (don't laugh, when they are on their game NO ONE can beat them), stuns its opponents with precision in execution, always continues to fight no matter how bad the situation and trimphs over adversity.

With our post season inexperience we need every single advantage we can get and securing home court for at least the first round is a HUGE one. If we can do that and that leads to us winning the series then we have made an enormous stride from last year and have a large, solid stepping stone to build on next season. Barring injuries or other unforseen issues the Utah Jazz will be in contention for a title within three to four years. Look how far this team has come by staying healthy. The Jazz have an enormous amount of talent and court smarts, if Jerry Sloan can harness it all and relate to the players in a positive way (which, no doubt, is not one of Sloan's strengths) then there is not much that will stop them. Watch out, Dallas, we're coming for you and we're going to take Dirk Dipshitski's head.

Predictions
Ok I know I tried this before and I didn't follow through with it but I will this time, I promise.

x = incorrect prediction, o = correct prediction
Date Opponent My Prediction My Record
4-6-07 x @Sacramento W 0-1
4-7-07 Seattle x W 0-2
4-9-07 @ o Golden State L 1-2
4-11-07 x Denver W 1-3
4-13-07 x @ Dallas L 1-4
4-14-07 o Phoenix L 2-4
4-16-07 o Portland W 3-4
4-18-07 x Houston L 3-5

Playoff prediction
This is really premature but here's what my early thoughts are:
Houston will come into the Delta Center (I'm going to call it that until I die!) tied with Utah with a record of 52-29. Although both teams have clinched playoff spots will be the biggest game either team has played in years. Having home court advantage very well could (and, in all honesty, probably will) decide who wins the series. Man I love this! An entire season could come down to one game! How intense is that?

This will be a hard fought game and the crowd at the D.C. will be a huge asset to the Jazz, but Utah's inability to guard the two and the perimeter will be what pushes the Rockets to victory. T-Mac will go OFF, I can see him putting up close to 40 in this game.

So the Rockets will get home court which is going to hurt the Jazz immensly. The series will go 6 or 7 games but not having the security of our home floor when we really need it will end Utah's season in the first round.

Hell, at least we made the playoffs!