David Locke was heard on the radio broadcast delivering yet another sliver of insight into “what happens” off the court of this little team from Utah. The sliver; the bus ride over from the plane to the hotel after the Miami OT win was the quietest ride he could remember… even Booner nodded off. I took this to signify once again just how hard it is to win on the road in a back to back… let alone to the two strongest defensive teams in the NBA. Oh, and did I mention this deafening silence that Locke retold of happened at 4AM on the same day they were to cross paths with a rested D12 and his Orlando Magic. A team that had only lost one game thus far this season… to Miami of all teams. I hope that our understanding and clarity as watchers of the NBA game is a little closer to HD now in understanding the demands of “entertainment”.
The entertainment that has been built in the form of a “lunch pale” squad here in Utah just might be something as special as we have seen in say, 12 years or so. With lunch pale in hand these men have come in tired, and have gone strait to work. At times allowing all the storms of doubt, unfamiliarity, and sheer exhaustion get a slight grip on them in the first half before taking that extra cup of figurative coffee and going back at it… doing the hard stuff.
The “hard stuff” is shooting the ball when you aren’t making shots. It’s defending a guy even when he isn’t the go to scorer. It is learning a totally unfamiliar system and still being expected to produce at a high level. It’s setting the hard pick with a sore shoulder. It’s cheering on your team from the bench in OT because you fouled out. It’s coming in to a game already in progress and nailing clutch free throws. It’s knowing when to pull yourself out of the game to give your team a better shot at winning. It’s taking three 3 pointers when you’re 10% career shooter from the arc… and ripping the net on all three. It’s winning 3 strait games after being down at least 15 at the half and as much as 22.
This little team from Utah has, is, and will do the hard stuff this season. They will do it with an undersized, overachieving Charles Barkley type Power Forward. They will do it with a once forgotten big man that has had to essentially re-learn how he plays his position. They will do it with a former All-Star that has been criticized by almost everyone on his seemingly drop in production even though he creates as much as anyone save D-Will. They will do it with a PG leader no one thought could lead.
They will do it on the back and mind of a farmer turned coach that has written the book on consistency.
And as we have seen on this road trip, they will do it to some of the best this league has to offer in the face of any obstacle.
Just like Locke, our small market Jazz might have shown us a sliver of something typically unseen… the creation of a champion.
Dignan also writes as a “Jazzbot” on utahjazz360.com & can be reached by e-mail at dignan.sportscave@gmail.com.
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