Foresight may prove sadly true

[RonnieBrewer (Reverse Layup)]

Foresight may prove sadly true
By GORDON MONSON
Salt Lake Tribune
2007-04-24 00:00:00

Deron Williams was right.

The Utah guard said, in so many words, the Jazz pretty much had to win Game 2
in order to have any reasonable chance in their first-round playoff series
against the Houston Rockets.

Of course, he said that before the Jazz lost, again, on Monday night, 98-90,
falling into a deep 0-2 hole here, prior to jumping on a plane and heading
home, desperately seeking hope and comfort there.

On the other hand, if he'd said it afterward, there would be no hope.

Chances, reasonable or otherwise, to win this game were frittered away by the
Jazz, who started strong but could not sustain that condition from start to
finish. Their shooting efficiency, which hovered at 60 percent in the first
quarter, eventually dwindled to 45 percent.

"I thought we played hard tonight," said Matt Harpring, who scored 14 points.
"I thought we played pretty well. We just have to keep going hard at it . . .
We were close."

Observers can point at the suspicious fact that the Rockets made 29 of 32
free throws in the second half, while the Jazz made just four of six. But the
Rockets were also more aggressive going to the basket. The Jazz settled for
jumpers.

Whatever.

The real story line in this series has essentially descended down to one
theme: Great vs. Good.

And everybody knows which side of that equation the Jazz are on.

"They have two great players," Harpring said.

The Jazz have . . . a plucky bunch.

Carlos Boozer tried to lift the scrappy Jazz, scoring 41 points on 17-for-30
shooting, following up what he said after the Jazz's first loss that his team
"just had to make shots."

Well. They did, sort of. In those early stages. Boozer himself scored 15 of
the Jazz's initial 17 points. But it almost felt inevitable, that it was only
a matter of time before Houston, behind Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady, would
surge back.

Let's say it all plain here, call it the way it is.

Harpring is spot on.

The Rockets have superstars, the Jazz have Spanky's gang. The Rockets have
the names on the marquee, the Jazz have stage hands. The Rockets have players
who even a billion Chinese care about, the Jazz have players barely known to
American NBA fans. The Rockets have two of the league's most prized
properties, the Jazz have Williams and a bunch of second-round draft picks.

It adds up to a couple of dashes of great against a broader measure of good.

The truth is this: The Rockets have the two best players on the court in this
series.

Even on an off night for both of them, when Yao and McGrady combined for 58
points on _ get this _ 18-for-53 shooting, the duo dominated the outcome.

If you can't beat Yao and McGrady when they have numbers like that, when can
you beat them?

"It's frustrating," Harpring said.

It's not as though the Jazz had nothing.

Boozer's effort was, indeed, superb.

The Jazz have a whole lot of decent players. But, as Jazz fans know better
than anyone, on account of having watched Stockton and Malone play for all
those years, in the NBA playoffs, a whole trough of good doesn't hold up to
a couple helpings of great. If that was the case on a night when the Rockets
were vulnerable, it will forever be true on better nights.

Effort and hard work and team play, the Jazz have mastered. Those traits are
admirable, heartening even. But they struggle to measure up with, to compete
against, and conquer sheer talent, size, and aggression.

Not that the Jazz can't fight back. They'll have their two shots in Salt
Lake City, and, if things go well, maybe one more after that. But they are
faced with a formidable burden.

They must find a way to better greatness.

And, at this juncture, after a game even they knew they had to win, that may
be too much to ask.


                                      http://www.sltrib.com/jazz/ci_5738692  

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→ RonnieBrewer:誰解釋一下 "Spanky's gang"
推 Actus:nice point !
推 DerekFisher:看不懂
推 however1983:我也有相同的疑問！！
推 ammon:翻譯:一票好球員打不過兩個巨星, 醒醒吧, 阿爵!
→ ammon:全隊打包去換科科科比 卡實在 !
推 Poleaxe:Good to Great!!
→ colo:要硬起來 不要被看扁阿....這些結果論者
→ DerekFisher:金塊總冠軍!
推 gratitude:  辦  不  到!