I didn’t get this in to Jim in time for the Hornets website.  But I spent too much time on it not to put it up somewhere.  Interestingly enough, he had Jed from My Utah Jazz answer the questions and the answers were nearly identical.  Crazy.  So read what Jed had to say and then read these below.  Game thread and thoughts coming later today.

PS, I heard Smash or Smush or someone on 1280 the other day from My Utah Jazz talking about the biggest Jazz rivalries and they let him give out his URL.  Pretty good stuff.

Here were mine,

Hornets.com: With only a week remaining in the regular season, what will be the biggest keys to success for the Jazz in the 2008 playoffs?

Basketball John:  Just win baby.  Maybe.  See, here’s the crazy thing.  If the Jazz stay at the number four seed, their playoff bracket includes Phoenix (possibly), Houston, Denver/Golden State, and your Hornets.  And the Jazz have played very well against all of these teams.  If they move up to the three seed, now they’re playing in the same bracket as the Lakers, Spurs, Mavs.  These are the teams that the Jazz (at least the fans) fear the most.  So the goal is to get home-court for the first round, but not move up in the standings.  You don’t want them to lose, but if they don’t move up, it might not be the worst thing. And also, they need to show they can win on the road.  And a win against your Hornets tonight would make a great statement.

Hornets.com: What are the most prominent areas where the Jazz have shown improvement or regression since the 2007 playoffs, when they were a surprise participant in the Western Conference finals?

Basketball John:  I didn’t get time to get to this one.

Hornets.com: Who would you choose as the biggest “X-factor” for Utah in the postseason, a possibly under-the-radar player who will be key for the Jazz?

Basketball John:  He’s not really under the radar, but I really think that as Mehmet Okur goes, so do the Jazz.  When he’s on and hitting threes and taking it to the basket, the Jazz really have as good of a “Big Three” as anyone in the league.  He spreads the defense and opens up lanes for Deron Williams.  And we saw a couple nights ago against the Spurs that he can actually play D and score at the same time.  He’s averaging about four more points, three more rebounds, and 60 points higher on his field goal and three point percentage since the All-Star break.  If he’s on, watch out.

Hornets.com: Utah has one of the largest discrepancy between home and road success in the NBA. Nearly every team is better at home than on the road, but how do you explain the Jazz’s drastic differential?

Basketball John:  If I knew, I’d probably have a job sitting next to Sloan on the bench.  It’s really inexplicable.  A lot of it had to do with their horrid month of December when they went 5-11.  They lost game to Atlanta, Charlotte, and the Heat in which they had leads in the fourth quarter.  But they are actually 10-7 on the road since their January 17th loss at Denver.  So there is improvement.  They may actually be coming around.  And a win tonight would go a long ways to complete the turnaround.

The biggest reason for the discrepancie though I think is that they don’t seem to play defense on the road.  They don’t get as many blocks, steals, turnovers, or defensive rebounds.  A lot of people will say that the Jazz get the calls at home, but they average 23 fouls a game at home, the same as the visiting team gets.   This team can score.  If they play even above average D, they’ll win.

Hornets.com: Overall, what do you think would qualify as a successful postseason for the Jazz? Reaching the West finals again? Advancing past the first round?

Basketball John:  I think in the West, any team will be fortunate to advance past the first round.  I don’t know if there’s a favorite because I think anyone can beat anyone else in a seven game series.  But for the Jazz, having a taste of the Western Conference finals, I can’t imagine anything less being considered a success.  If the Jazz get home court in the first round, advance, and can play either NO, Denver/Golden State, I like their chances.

Hornets.com: Lastly, which player is BasketballJohn.com endorsing in the MVP campaign? Chris Paul, perhaps?

Basketball John: Well I know your readers are going to think it’s my bias that won’t let me endorse Paul for MVP.  He certainly has the numbers.  And I don’t know what’s lead to the recent rash of PGs as MVPs because it’s been very rare before.  Have you looked at John Stockton’s numbers (now we’re going to start that debate) from 1988-1991?  If Stockton had taken more shots, he would have had better stats than Paul has this year but he didn’t even get to within sniffing distance of an MVP.

My pick though is Kevin Garnett.  What he’s done with that Boston team is unbelievable.  After him, Pierce, and Allen, who is there?  He led them to the biggest turnaround in the history of the NBA.  They might get overlooked because they’re in the East, but their record against the West is impressive.  He’s literally changed a franchise.  They were praying for a lottery pick this same time last year.  And now they’re the favorites for the title.  You could argue that Paul has done something similar in New Orleans, but Garnett has been the league’s MVP.