Today is the day after the big game. I have had time to think about this season and this series and have come to the conclusion that this team has heart. Let me put this in perspective. Stockton and Malone are the most revered names in any sport in this state, there was no Jazz before them and life after has been playoff free. That is why the following is so interesting. Stockton and Malone never won a game 7 on the road. Stockton and Malone never came back after being down 0-2. I'm not sure they won their first playoff series either. I doubt they did. That's why all this is so exciting. Game 5 in which the Jazz led the whole game and lost and the end was disappointing, but they showed they could play with Rockets, Mark Mageras predicted a game 7 victory before game 5. So let's get down to heart.
Sports bring out the best and worst in people. Athletes such as Robert Horry have made careers hitting big shots, while others like Greg Norman are known as chokers.(Karl Malone is probably somewhere on the choker list while Stockton is on the clutch list). I have always said there is nothing more exiting to watch then your team come from behind and win, no matter what the sport. The Boston Red Sox became America's team after coming back down 0-3 to the hated Yanks. The improbable Utah victory over BYU last year in Provo was the underdog rising to the occasion. Sports are full of drama, emotion, passion, determination, skill, persistence, and competition. Some of my favorite moments are sports moments: Stockton hitting the shot to beat the Rockets, The Red Sox impossible comeback, The Utes undefeated season, even the 1980 US hockey team's victory is a favorite. I myself love to compete, in nearly every setting I am in, whether it is a real competition or not I make it one.
The great intangible in sports is heart. I am not sure there is a real definition. I would say it is never giving up no matter what the odds are; willing yourself to give more than you thought you could; hustling when you are past exhaustion; doing all you can to win no matter the circumstance. Not every player has it, not every team exhibits it. So when your team does and your favorite players do it is everything I love about sports.
This season I felt the Jazz were young but played hard most of the time. I thought Deron Williams became the team leader, Memo the go-to-big-shot-guy, and Boozer the best scorer and rebounder on the team. Fisher and Harpring were grizzled vets that played smart and hard all the time. For the most part the team exhibited heart most of the time, inexperience brought them down some at times but not as far as a lack of effort, more a lack of confidence. Needless to say when the Jazz got down 0-2 and had to win 4 out of 5 and one on the road it was gonna take heart to do it. Throughout the series I felt the Jazz had the better team and that each game they were getting better, even AK became a vital part by the end. But it wasn't until last night that I really felt this team was ready for the big time. Last night was when it all came together.
Boozer has been criticized vehemently for lack of heart, um...lets just say after this series, let alone last night, that is absolutely preposterous. He carried the team, made the big play, got the impossible rebound, hit the game clinching free throws. He played with a lot of heart. Deron Williams made big shots, and big passes and led the team with confidence down the stretch, even through a tough start to the fourth quarter. Memo continued his big-shot-go-to-guy status by draining two huge threes, AK hit the back-breaking three and game winning free throws. Fisher, Harpring, Millsap, and Giricek all made big plays at times and played with a lot of heart. I was proud to be a Jazz fan again. The hustle, determination, and swagger were back. It was great to see T-Mac in tears, Yao dumbfounded, both are exceptional players that lack the heart of a champion. And as Rudy T said, "Never underestimate the heart of a champion."
Look out Warriors
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