Utah Jazz: Construction work ahead
Brad Rock
Maybe it was the slump in the construction industry that sidetracked their post-Mail/Stock undertaking. Perhaps, like downtown Salt Lake, it's going to take seven or eight years to see the finished product. Or maybe the construction will never really end.
But eventually, even the comfort of their own home — where they won 41 games — couldn't get them past the Los Angeles Lakers, who eliminated them 108-105.
The Lakers led from the time the doors opened until the horn sounded. But it took until the final seconds to close them out.
This may seem heresy to Jerry Sloan, but sometimes it's not just a matter of effort. Certainly the Jazz made a determined last-minute rush. Sometimes the other guys are simply too good.
And sometimes your All-Star never shows up.
Which raises the obvious question: Are the Jazz really improving?
Probably. But these days, who isn't?
On one hand, last year in Phase I, the Jazz went to the Western Conference finals. But they got help from Golden State, which eliminated a superior Dallas team beforehand. So the Jazz got a pass.
Combined with the daunting problem of guarding the big, athletic, confident Lakers, the Jazz also had to worry about their top scorer having gone AWOL. Through the entire post-season, 12 games, Carlos Boozer scored his regular season average just once. On Friday he went just 5-16 shooting, scored only 12 points and fouled out.
The man who drew raves a year ago was a big post-season absentee in the 2008. It could have been a back injury, that has been bothering him for weeks. It might have been private matters that went on behind the scenes. Maybe he couldn't handle the expectations that he built by playing wonderfully last spring and following up with a 21-point regular season average, highest of his career.
Boozer's not the type to tank-and-tell.
In any case, they're done. And while Andrei Kirilenko has his new traveling papers — he went to San Francisco on Thursday to renew his visa for a trip to France — everyone is free to high-tail it off to places like, well, France.
Au revoir to another season.
Que sera, sera.
Not that the Jazz gave up. It didn't seem like anyone had early vacation plans, as opposed to last year's final game in San Antonio. They took it to the final second. Kirilenko made two threes and blocked a shot in the last 43 seconds. Williams carried the team on his back. Mehmet Okur helped them get close. Ronnie Brewer put on a dunking clinic.
Recent comments
Obviously, we need a brute in the middle...But who?
What about...
Sokol | May 21, 2008 at 1:58 p.m.
I have watched the Jazz play the same lame game for years, the same...
frustrated fan | May 18, 2008 at 4:24 p.m.
wow Jazz fans all over AK. He is the only defender in this poor team...
Ak Fan | May 17, 2008 at 10:44 p.m.
