Episode 25 – March Madness, Utah Jazz playing very well

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NOTE: We would like to apologize for the outrageous length of this week's offering. We really, really had fun putting our brackets together, apparently. I hope it is as much fun to listen to...

We are back after a short hiatus, with apologies for missing a week. We had a few administrative details to take care of, which caused the layoff. It’s not a very interesting story, so I won’t bore anyone with it, but needless to say we are glad to be back.

The big news of the week is the beginning of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, which we all know as March Madness. I was excited to see the BYU Cougars snag an invitation, and while the seed is probably a bit low, I think it’s within basic acceptable range. I don’t think it would have been outrageous to see them in the 5 to 7 seed area, which they very likely would have gotten had they won the Mountain West Tournament. But, a team from a so-called Mid Major will never get the benefit of the doubt, seed wise. Observe the #15 Nevada Wolfpack (28-4), who should be somewhere around a 4 seed get dropped to a 7. That is the same seed, incidentally, as the Indiana Hoosiers and the Boston College Eagles, who both finished the season unranked and with 20-10 and 20-11 records respectively. The other number 7 seed? The UNLV Runnin’ Rebels, who won the MWC tournament with a 28-6 record and a #19 ranking. I think that’s pretty convincing evidence of Big Program bias, by a committee made primarily of Big Program honks.

Anyway, at least the Cougars are in and can play out their own destiny. Even if they get past Xavier (who basically gets to play a home game in Lexington, Kentucky which is only about 90 miles from their home base in Cincinnati, Ohio) they will have to beat Ohio State to make it to the Sweet 16, so I’m not seeing it happen this year. Either way, it has been a good year for the program. They were a little up and down in the beginning, and had a hard time on the road for a while, but they finished the season in grand fashion. Whether the Cougars will be able to continue this next year remains to be seen; they are losing quite a few good seniors.

I have no idea what to expect from Utah next year. Coach Ray Giacoletti resigned/was forced out, and sometimes a new coach and new program can give a team a little life. They have some young players to build around, and there seems to be talent there, but whether that translates into winning will probably depend on the coach.

I just finished watching the Utah Jazz self-destruct in the second half against the Miami Heat, which was marginally difficult to watch. They have been playing very well of late, so I can give them a pass for one game. Miami started shooting very well and the Jazz went ice cold, which just seems to happen sometimes. I don’t know the variances and vagrancies of being an NBA player, so I won’t pretend to understand why. The Jazz are still 7-3 in their last ten games, this loss ending a six game winning streak. They have a fairly rugged road week ahead, playing in Orlando, in Philadelphia (who has won 8 of their last 10), and in Cleveland, where Carlos Boozer is likely to be booed once or twice. Then they will be home to play Golden State, who are only a game out of the last playoff spot in the West and recently kicked the trash out of the Juggernaut Dallas Mavericks.

It’s tempting to predict the Jazz will slip into one of their patented late season slumps, and lose all four of those games. However, I think this is a different team, and I don’t think they are going to slide this year. I am basing this theory on hopes for tough inside play from Boozer, sharp shooting by Okur and Giricek, hustle plays from Kirilenko and Harpring, and leadership from Williams and Fisher. If all of those things come together they way they can, the way we’ve seen this year, it could be an interesting late Spring/early Summer around here.

There is plenty more to hear in the podcast, including us filling out our brackets (thrilling) and discussing the tournament in general.

Our top three from Utah for this week:

3. Keena Young

2. Jaycee Carroll

1. Randy Rahe

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zach@utahsportscast.com

nate@utahsportscast.com

posted by Nate and Zach @ 8:45 AM