After having watched the Laker game and then the Celtics game it may seem that I was a little premature in announcing the return of our fearless castaways in my last post.  However; I don’t believe this to be the case. 

I’ll make yet another comparison to a t.v. show to explain my feelings.  Remember the episode where Gilligan and the Skipper left on a makeshift raft and joyfully cried “land-ho” only to realize they had landed on the back side of the same “deserted” island? The Lakers game was the metaphor to this episode, the Jazz appeared to make the attempt, but they quickly headed in the wrong direction, while the prevailing winds (including one hot handed Kobe Bryant) were relentless.  Another episode paralleled a different escape attempt at the Celtics game.  The Professor contributed to this effort (Memo was back-or so it seemed).  The ship was glued back together thanks to some seemingly magical work by the Professor.  Genius!!! we proclaimed as Memo made a deposit at the bank (one in a million shot!); only to watch the vessel fall apart at the seams at the crucial moment. 

The Jazz have given dazzling flashes of brilliance along with torturous dives into the pits of despair.  The only emotional rock that we fans and perhaps the team themselves can cling to is the fact that they’re almost there. 

Watching the Jazz play lately is like watching  a toddler learn to walk.  They’ve taken a few steps, and shown off for a day or two, but just when you think they’ll make it across the room, they crash and burn with inches to go.  It’s just so frustrating, because you know in a couple of days, they’ll be running all over the place.  Of course the stakes are much higher than just making a proud, anxious parent wait to see their child advance  in development, but I’m afraid it’s all we’ve got. 

Don’t give up fans, it will all come together soon.  Rookies I mean, young, not so experienced players will stop taking the ill-advised 3 pointer, our point guards will stop throwing the ball to the other team (especially during the last 5 minutes of the game), and our shots will start to fall.  The Jazz were almost there against the Celtics, lets just hope they arrive at the very next game and no later.