...ya, I would rather face Utah in the first round then the Lakers in the 2nd round. You guys need to remember - Houston is NOT the same team they were last year and the Jazz certainly aren't either. Comparing our future success to yesterday's failure's is really like comparing apples and oranges because these teams aren't the same.
First we have two completely different PGs now, we now have Artest, Landry is better if maybe a little rusty, Scola is better this year, Wafer provides that athletic bench scorer we never had, Barry is a smart veteran team player who would help us to keep our composure. We are just a different team altogether....and oh ya, no more Tmac.
As for Utah, Boozer is clearly not playing 100% right now and it's causing a big chemistry stink over in Utah. Stop me if you heard this one before - injured player still playing with a since of entitlement only their on-court play doesn't match their former skill level and it's rubbing other players the wrong way. Meanwhile said star let's his ego get the better of him and tries to do even more on court causing even more team problems. Sound familiar? ....go check out the Jazz fans forum(I see a few of you already have - nice one Da Dakota ;-) ). The Jazz have lost 6 of their last 10 games... This is a winnable series for us.
...btw, did you guys know Houston has the 4th best record against winning teams in the entire league? Cleveland, Boston, LA, and Houston. Not bad company to keep and not a bad stat considering every team they are playing from here on out will be a winning team.