Game 1 Thoughts

I staggered out of my bed at about 1:45 yesterday. The only thing that could have pulled me out of that sweet Sunday afternoon slumber was game 1 of the Western Conference Finals between the Spurs and the Jazz.

Before I go any further, I must say that I predicted a good year for the Jazz before the season even started. If you don't believe me read this. The Jazz have vanquished Tracy McGrady, Yao Ming, Baron Davis and Stephen "Now I can make my court date" Jackson. Now the Jazz face their toughest test in the San Antonio Spurs. The Jazz haven't won in San Antonio since 1999, and the Spurs have home court advantage. No one really expects the Jazz to advance, but I still believe and here's why.

Yesterday's game was a tough one for the Jazz. They ended up losing 108-100, but there were some bright spots. First of all, in a 7 game series one can't expect a team to win every game. When the Jazz were playing the Warriors and lost game three big, I wasn't worried. When you're playing two away games, all you need to do is split. If the Jazz can take game two in San Anton' it's their series. They'll take away home court advantage, and then they'll take the series home to SLC. So don't panic, Jazz fans.

Secondly, the Jazz were in that game. If you watched the fourth quarter, the Jazz outplayed the Spurs and seemed to be able to score easily. In fact, the Spurs only won that game thanks to a superior second quarter lead that stayed with them the whole game. If the Jazz can string together four quarters of solid basketball-the kind they played in the fourth quarter yesterday- they could win easily in San Antonio.

I will say this, though: Tim Duncan is a beast. He will have his way with Mehmet Okur. He's way too strong, and he is a smart guy when he gets the ball down low. My solution? HOFFA. Put the Raf-inator on Duncan and let him push Timmy around for a quarter or two. I know you may think I'm just a BYU homer, but Hoffa is a valuable player for the Jazz. He's a big guy who can get out there and push people around for however long it takes to get 6 fouls. I think they should have used him on Yao, and I'm glad to see he saw some playing time yesterday guarding Duncan. He was surprisingly effective, by the way. Hoffa should be Okur's No. 1 backup, and you just wait: O'Conner and the boys will drop Jaron Collins in the offseason and give Hoffa a much deserved promotion.

Anyway, if the Jazz do a few things, I fully expect a win on Tuesday. First, settle down. Make some shots, work it inside and don't rush a long jump-shot. Second, make Tony Parker shoot from outside. If he cuts inside it's bad news, and I'd rather have him shooting the 20-footer. Third, body up on Tim Duncan. The further away from the basket he catches it, the better chance we have of him missing. When he goes for the bank, it's going to get harder and harder for him the further he gets the ball away from the basket.

My prediction for game 2: Jazz 95, Spurs 89. You heard it here first.