Even though they have been a little cold lately, underestimate them at your won peril. AK47 has really stepped up his d lately with a lot of blocks and steal and boozer has started finding form. Look out whoever gets them in round one. I'm not saying that you'd be better getting SA PHO or DAL in the first round - cos that crazy- just dont write them off.Edit: Check tonights first quarter - boozer 12 and 8reb and ak47 2blk and 1stl - they are finding form!
Their most likely going to take on thr Rockets in the 1st round. It'll be a great series, both teams much up pretty well.
Im trying to add my input objectively, and not be a homer; but the Jazz are a really good and really deep team. AK is finally stepping it up, his offense is still not what it use to be, but his Defense is back, which IMO is the most important thing about his game. the Jazz obviously don't need him to score a lot to win, they will need his D though come playoff time. The Jazz biggest problem will be outside shooting, they can be red hot or ice cold, and it changes minute by minute. they also tend to suck at the free throw line. The western playoffs will be really hard, only the 8th seed will be an easy win. everyone else has solid teams which could go deep.
Utah is very good but I see Houston coming out of that series. I hope I'm wrong as I think Houston is a nightmare matchup for Dallas. Utah won't be easy either though because of Dirk having to guard Okur.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (mavsfan1000 @ Mar 24 2007, 09:32 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Utah is very good but I see Houston coming out of that series. I hope I'm wrong as I think Houston is a nightmare matchup for Dallas. Utah won't be easy either though because of Dirk having to guard Okur.</div>I think Houston is a little bit better in that match-up too and I'll be rooting for them. Like you said, I think Houston will give Dallas more of a challenge and if they could win, Yao is just completely useless against the Suns. He can't run with us and also gets owned by Amare and Kurt Thomas. I don't want to see Utah there because they are a very scary team for us.
I agree there Dangerous but can they play the way they did at the beginning of the season in the Playoffs? Thats what I want to find out. I'm not saying they can't I'm just saying we won't know until that time comes.
Utah plays better against good teams, they're 8-2 against the top 5 teams in the NBA(excluding themselves). their losses have been to San Antonio, in SA, which is a place the Jazz haven't won since 1999, and to Dallas in a game the Jazz basically handed to the Mavs. The Jazz also beat the living hell out of Dallas once, they ended up winning by like 19 but lead by as many as 30. They're 3-0 against the Suns, but thats mainly because they force Phoenix into Jazz style of basketball, if they let Phoenix run they'd get slaughtered. They've also beaten the Spurs two times this season, which is only the third time since 1995-96 that they've won 2 regular season games against the Spurs. and they have beaten the Pistons twice with both games going down to the wire. They're also 1-1 vs the Rockets. The Jazz biggest problem seems to come against Eastern teams on the road, they've lost to pretty much all the Eastern teams on the road except Atlanta,Detroit, Indiana, Toronto, Milwaukee, Chicago, and Boston. the Jazz just play to their compitition.as for the Jazz-Rockets series, the winner will be whoever gets homecourt. they are so evenly matched that home court is a must have to get the advantage. I'm actually not that scared of Yao Ming, because Jerry Sloan knows how to pretty much neautralize centers; its quick scoring good shooters which kill the Jazz. Derek Fisher cannot guard T-Mac, and unless JVG suffers a server brain injury the Rockets are going to exploit that.
I doubt the Jazz can neutralize Yao. No one is big enough or strong enough on Utah to contain Yao. Yao is a beast.
Utah is very dangerous, but Houston will be a very tough matchup in the first round. They have absolutely no one to guard Yao, and at any given moment the Rockets have Yao/T-mac on the floor, the Rockets will have the advantage of having the best player(s) on either team. Utah doesn't play much up and down ball, so they will play right into Houston's style.