Show Jazz Wait Until Next Year By Travis Carlisle Staff Writer So close but yet so far The basketball season for the Utah Jazz has once again come and gone with fans pondering the great what if once again Although the Jazz did not win a aNBA aNBA aNBA championship that has eluded them for 13 straight years now they accomplished things for which they can hold their heads high The Jazz gave us hope a sense of belief that anything is possible They tried to become only the sixth team in history to come back from a 31 31 31 3 1 deficit in a best of seven series and they only fell five points short shott They advanced farther in the playoffs than anyone except Jazz fans thought they would Yes Yest this Jazz team came closer to advancing to the Finals than any other team in franchise history they brought the city together in a away away away way that hasn't been seen in some time Most Jazz fans will be thinking about the what if irs ifs s and the negatives negatives negatives nega nega- tives of the team for some time to come comet but perhaps we should concentrate concentrate concentrate concen concen- on the positives of the past season season season sea sea- son and not the negatives For years critics have said John Stockton has lost a step and cant can't produce produce produce pro pro- duce the way he used to Those critics critics critics crit crit- ics may be right but for someone who is a step slow he broke the all- all time steals record led the league in assists for forr the umpteenth time made the all all second tC team and mid will represent our country on Dream Team 3 in this summers Olympics Not bad for someone who is washed up Karl Malone continues to be one of the most consistent players in the league He finished the regular season season season sea sea- son averaging 26 points a game garnet was named to the all first team and along with Stockton will be on Dream Team 3 Not only is Malone a class player on the court he is a class person off the court After the Jazz loss in hi game seven of the Western Conference Finals Malone was quick to point out that he had a less than stellar game Instead of making excuses for his poor play in what was perhaps the biggest game of his professional career he admitted to just having a abad abad abad bad day He is human after all In a Ir J f t i i L 0 Rt I t i r w d f A I rI iL I L 1 t c 1 a. a F- F s r a if r C t 1 c r II v z i t r C J i l J A 1 N t Ii 1 La p y Nl a world of athletes looking for anyone to blame except themselves it is a refreshing change to see someone not shy away from nom the criticism of fail fail- ure One of the biggest positives of the season was the emergence of the bench The Jazz had one of if not the deepest bench in the league Coach Jerry Sloan would som sometimes times use use all u twelve players on the roster and get results from each player Bench players play play- ers that really shined for the Jazz all season long were Adam Keefe Antoine Carr and Chris Morris The one good thing about th the Jazz's strong showing in the playoffs is that it shows us that the Jazz are not going to fall 1 from om the list of elite teams in the just yet Who knows Jazz fans fanst there is always next year All in all Sloan summed it up saying its it's only a basketball game close but yet so far The basketball season for the Utah Jazz has once again come and gone with fans pondering the great what if once again Although the Jazz did not win a aNBA aNBA aNBA championship that has eluded them for 13 straight years now they accomplished things for which they can hold their heads high The Jazz gave us hope a sense of belief that anything is possible They tried to become only the sixth team in history to come back from a 31 31 31 3 1 deficit in hi a best of seven series and they only fell five points short They advanced farther in in the playoffs than any anyone anyone ne except Jazz fans thought they would Yes this Jazz team came closer to advancing to the Finals than any other team in franchise history they brought the city together in a away away away way that hasn't been seen in some time Most Jazz fans will be thinking about the what if irs s and the negatives negatives negatives nega nega- tives of the team for some time to come but perhaps we wc should concentrate concentrate concentrate concen concen- on the positives of the past season season sea sea- son SOIl and not the negatives For years critics have said John Stockton has lost a step and cant can't produce produce produce pro pro- duce the way he used to Those critics critics critics crit crit- ics may be right but for someone who is a step slow he broke the all- all time steals record led the league in assists for the umpteenth time made the all second team and will represent our country on Dream Team 3 in this summers Olympics Not bad for someone who is washed u up Karl Malone continues to be one of the most consistent players in the league He finished the regular season season season sea sea- son averaging 26 points a game was named to the all first team and along with Stockton will be on Dream Team 3 One of the biggest positives of the season was the emergence of the bench The Jazz had one of if not the deepest bench in the league Coach Jerry Sloan would sometimes use all aU twelve players on the roster and get results from each player Bench players play play- ers that really shined for the Jazz all aU season long Jong were Adam Keefe Antoine Carr and Chris Morris Moms All AIl in all alJ Sloan summed it up by saying that its it's only a basketball game |