Out with a whimper

The Jazz left the playoffs not with a bang, but a whimper.

When the game was still close, which is to say the first five minutes of play, the Spurs were unconscious and the Jazz couldn't make a shot to save their playoff lives. With the Spurs holding an early 5-4 lead the next three Jazz possessions were: Okur missed 3-pointer, Okur missed 3-pointer, Okur missed jumper. Okur then made a running shot through the lane, but missed on the next rip down the floor.

Summary: Okur shot on five straight possessions, missed two three-balls (badly) got two points out of the effort and the Jazz went from a 1-point defecit to an 8-point hole by the time they pulled the ball out of the net after Tim Duncan's next basket, with 6:38 to go.

The game was over.

Right now, it's a bitter pill. I watched very little of the postgame, I got tired of watching the players shake hands and hoping San Antonio suffers several serious injuries en route to a humiliating loss to the Pistons. (I gotta think the Pistons will find a way to get past the Cavs.)

I guess the next step is to try to improve the team, though time and experience will take care of that to a great extent. One of the real bright spots is that this team has come together and had real playoff success in the early years of the stars. Nobody will be talking about the "window of opportunity closing" for several seasons the way they did for several seasons of the Malone/Stockton era.

The West will be difficult, but there are no Showtime Lakers to overcome. The trophy is winnable.