weekender 3

first, i suppose i should apologize for being AWOL this week, but since it's the holidays and all, i figure nobody has missed me that much. also my page view counter suggests that i'm the only person reading this thing anyway. so, sorry james, for not writing something for me to read.

so what's what? the jazz are currently tied with the lakers, who looked like a bunch of chumps yesterday against miami. i can't decide if that's a good thing or a bad thing; if the lakers are "looking like chumps" but still have the exact same record overall as the jazz AND the jazz are, by most accounts, playing very well but are horrendously inconsistent, it doesn't really inspire a lot of confidence. allow me to rephrase: the lakers look like shit and are 21-9. the jazz look pretty good and are 21-9. care to hazard a guess at who is more likely to really turn it on in a couple of months?

further, L.A. actually has a better conference record than utah. for the sake of conversation (or monologue, as the case may be) consider this. if both the lake show and the jazz continue playing exactly on pace as they've been on through the 1/4 mark, the two teams likely end up 4 and 5 in the west because OKC is picking up steam. that means neither the jazz or L.A. have an automatic homecourt bid. in the event of a tiebreaker situation come april based on the 4 and 5 seeds, guess who would lose home court advantage? the lakers, since they can win at home and don't have to rely on absurd come-from-behind road win streaks to stay competitive in their division.

that aside, i still stand by my thoughts from a few weeks ago that the upcoming months should be relatively easy on the jazz, despite the fact that they don't have much in the way of homestands (unless you count the next 6-of-10, including three consecutive, at ESA, as a "homestand"). we've only got eight back-to-backs left, and don't see three consecutive teams above .500 until the end of march. if the jazz continue to improve their play execution and the new guys get better about knowing when to switch on D, i see a few 7 or 8+ win streaks in store for jerry's kids.

and the cherry on top? i will personally be attending F O U R, possibly five, of the next 12 games. not too shabby for a kid who lives in newark!

END TRASMISSION