Trapped in the Closet

Truth be told, I needed this game.

I've readily admitted that I give sports too much attention from my life pie. I've tried to find other hobbies, but at the end of the day, the correlation between the number of Jazz fans that love the Jazz and love The Bachelor series (guilty myself) has convinced me that I live for drama, and nowhere else is that more available, more unpredictable, than sports. So when things stop going well with my team, I get upset. I stew over it. As a Ute fan, it has been a long, frustrating 5+ months. Pile on top of that the recent Jazz woes, Bengals playoff loss, well, you get the point. I needed this win tonight something fierce.

The Jazz delivered.

There are still plenty of debates to be had. We have zero answer for offensive production outside of Al. Hayward has a great night against Ray Allen, but if Shane Battier is on the floor, does he still produce at that rate? Favors is terrific, and maturing, but his offensive game is so lacking that he's almost unplayable unless Al is there to hold his hand and score. Burks has shown promise at the point, but clearly is a work in progress, as opposed to a solution. Marvin Williams still looks uncomfortable offensively. The list goes on and on.

Tonight is about celebrating the win, enjoying the bask of the super bright lights of "The Solution", and cracking as many dumb jokes as possible about how with near frigid temperatures on the streets of Salt Lake City, the Jazz figured out how to beat the HEAT, but as Bill Oram (@tribjazz) pointed out, the Jazz have beat San Antonio and Miami, and lost to Sacramento, New Orleans, Philly, Phoenix, and Atlanta. That's some maddening inconsistency from a team that has prided itself on execution and effort in order to win.

And maybe part of why we've had so many struggles is because we do play so hard. These guys are all prideful, hard working, fighters and even though I may scream and yell from time to time at Al Jefferson's defense, it is blatantly obvious how badly he wants success right now. Bad habits can be hard to break, apparently, even for NBA stars.

As the rest of the season plays out, and more storylines and "narratives" unfold, there will undoubted be more moments of drama, be they good or bad, along the road to the playoffs, and like the sucker that I am, I will continue to tune in, because I love the drama, err, team, and when it really counts, they seem to give me what I need.