If you are a basketball fan and you live in the state of Utah, chances are last night you had something to be happy about. The Jazz, Cougars and Utes all played and all three teams came away with wins.
On the College level, the MWC is shaping up to be a close contested battle by a number of teams vying for that #1 position. As of now the Utes sit alone atop the conference standings after pulling off a very important win over Aztec team that going into the game shared the top spot. BYU as of late has been playing some good basketball and still has a chance at the conference title with the majority of their remaining games at home, including a match up against the Utes at the Marriot Center. The problem for the Cougs however is that they have to travel to Las Vegas as well as San Diego, places that Dave Rose has yet to coach his team to victories.
You can feel the excitement for March madness build as we get closer and closer to the end of the season. The talk is that the state of Utah could possibly, once again, produce four teams that make their way into the dance. The Utes and Aggies are well on their way, the Cougs need to finish strong and the Wildcats need to win their conference tournament. It would be cool if all 4 could pull it off.
As the college teams look ahead to March, the Jazz are heading into the All-Star break looking forward to getting some key players back in the line-up. The Jazz have been hit hard by the injury bug but still find themselves in the play-off hunt. With the return of Boozer and AK the Jazz should be able to make a run and improve their spot in the West. As of now they sit at number 8.
I have at times been critical of Booz, I don't necessarily care much for the guy, but his return will give this team a big boost that they definitely could use. As much as I like Paul and as well as he has played in Boozers absence, I still think Boozer gives this team a better chance of winning with him in the starting line-up. Combine Carlos's double-doubles with an experienced Milsap going against the opposing bench and I think that sets the Jazz up to have quite a bit of success. These last 30 games should be pretty exciting. I love this time of year.
Last nights game felt like it had a post season atmosphere. I spent most of the time on my feet cheering and yelling. It was exciting basketball, a close game with back and forth lead changes. Big shots were made by both teams and because of that it made it even that much sweeter that the Jazz pulled it out in the end.
The two best plays of the night were D-wills crossover that about put Kobe on his butt and then Memo mocking Kobe after the big Turk knocked down a 3 to put the Jazz up for good.
Great game and a great win.
