Let’s get this out of the way, shall we?  Good news is that we won’t have to see the Spurs again unless we see them in the finals.  Other semi-good news is that we play the Rockets whom we match up well against.  Bad news is that we won’t have HCA in any series unless we see some upsets.

This game was never in doubt.  The two things that I posted in the preview were the undoing of the Jazz.  They let the game get away early and they didn’t play any D.  They were also taking shots outside of the offense and they were turning the ball over.  They had 4 TOs in their first 8 possessions.  It was game 5 of last year’s playoffs all over again.  You just felt from the first couple of possessions that this one was over.  I don’t even know what the final score is yet.  It’s one of the few games that I’ve had to turn off this year.

So let’s look forward to the playoffs and beating the Rockets again.  They won tonight and PHX is winning.  So we’ll be off to Houston for the first round again.  And in a way it’s good because I have a whole slew of images to use for the series posts. 

It won’t be an easy task but one that I think we can steal a game in games 1 or 2 and beat them at the ESA.

Playoff previews coming up.

Let’s end this already. 9 years is long enough. I’m sick of hearing about it. Bill Clinton was dealing with Lewinsky the last time the Jazz won in SA.

It’s a winnable game based on the recent play of the Jazz. They’re something like 11-8 on the road since the loss @ DEN back in Jan. And I prefer to play the Spurs at home in the first round than to play on the road @ HOU and then have a potential matchup against the Lakers in the second round.

Manu looks like he will play tonight. The Jazz need two things to win this,

• First, don’t give up a big first quarter. The Jazz rally back from these but don’t usually have enough to get over the hump to win these games.
• Play D like your life depends on it. They played great D on the Spurs last time. SA missed a lot of open shots, but those shots were ones the Jazz wanted them to take.

So let’s hope we see the Memo of recent weeks, the passing/slashing/blocking AK, Baseline Brewer, and KK knocking down some dagger threes.

And Deron will dominate this game.

Last regular season game. Let’s do this.

Other blogs,

• FLA
• My Utah Jazz
• Biased Fan
• Pounding the Rock
• Spurs Dynasty
• Spurs Report Thread

Absolutely crazy day today.  I was contacted by the Steve Mason show of 710 AM (ESPN radio) about doing a phone interview with them today.  It was completely out of the blue and a pleasant surprise.

So I will be on his show at about 1:47 MDT and you can listen live here.  I’ll be talking to Steve and JA Adande (Around the Horn & ESPN.com) about the Jazz and the WC playoffs.  They also podcast on the hour so I’ll get a link up when it’s posted.

I’ll try not to embarrass the Jazz fan base too much.

Usually I think epetitions are lame.  But this is the last chance to let your voice be heard about this.  The fine fellows at SonicsCentral.com contacted me to ask for their help.  They asked everyone to send a letter to the owners of your respective teams and let them know your thoughts.  It may be a bit late as the Board of Governors that decide on whether to allow the move meet tomorrow (April 17).  But we can still get the word out and maybe even get this delayed a bit.  Here’s what I wrote.  And if you’d like to sign the petition that I will forward to LHM, click here.  I’ll be sending the letter to Larry regardless so instead of everyone writing something, you can do something simpler and add your electronic signature.  Forward the link to all those that would sign and I will get it to him.  Add your comments to the petition.  Thanks.

“Dear Larry H Miller

We are a group of Jazz fans that are concerned with the potential move of the Supersonics from Seattle to Oklahoma City. The Sonics have been in Seattle for 40 years and are one of the NBA’s most storied franchises. And now the owners are trying to rip them from their home.

It seems as though the owners have been less than truthful concerning their intentions on trying to keep the team in Seattle. This concerns us deeply. From various news outlets and from one of the co-owners himself, we have learned that they had no intention of keeping the Sonics in Seattle.

This move concerns us as Jazz fans most of all because we feel that if a team with such a history and such a deep fan base can be uprooted and moved on a whim, then what will prevent a new owner of the Jazz someday from doing the same? This is a bit ironic coming from a team that once called New Orleans home. The ESA isn’t getting any newer. Could we be held hostage too if renovations are needed and the taxpayers don’t pony up?

The emotional and sentimental reasons for keeping the Sonics in their current home are many. But there are also financial reasons why this is a bad deal for the NBA. One is that the move would be from one of the bigger US markets to one of the smallest.

We know that as an owner that you’re in a tough spot. But with the vote coming on April 17th, we ask that you speak with the owners on the Board of Governors and at the very least recommend that in light of current news, this vote should be postponed until more information can be found. And we ask that you recommend that the owners vote no on the move as this isn’t good for the NBA, the owners, nor the fans. This will only cause more harm to a league that is still suffering from last year’s referee scandal, player conduct, and even the strike.

We are True Blue Jazz fans. But we are also NBA fans and Sonics fans.

Please ask the Board to vote no on this move.”