Jazz Notes

Kobe's unfair punishment will be our stroke of luck if......

Wow, Kobe Bryant's just been suspended two games for his Flagrant 2 on Mike Miller. He doesn't deserve so severe a punishment--Kobe gets hammered regularly, and nobody gets disciplined this harshly--but the Lakers' bad luck may be good fortune for the Jazz.

Seems the two games he'll serve his suspension are both Jazz/Lakers games. Minus Kobe, LA is a decent team, but not one Utah needs to fear. Whether or not we can capitalize on his absence will depend on one thing: Will Andrei Kirilenko play?

....that if again...If Andrei parties with us on Sunday and Tuesday, the Jazz stomp the Lakers.

If Andrei graces us with his presence on Sunday and Tuesday, the Jazz should win these two games without too much difficulty. Without Kobe, the Lakers are leaderless and without direction; I'm betting they'll prove confused and incompetent, like marionettes without their puppetmaster. Andrei should make short work of them, no matter how off the program the rest of the Jazz are. Jerry Sloan's got to be thrilled right now.

If, however, Andrei chooses not to attend on Sunday and Tuesday, we'll struggle to win those games, even with Kobe out. Such is the power of Kirilenko, both as an individual player and as a facilitator for his teammates.

For God's sake, keep him healthy! Baby him, pamper him, encase him in a plastic bubble if you have to, but make sure he can play these two games--without Kobe playing and with Andrei, beating LA is two of the easiest wins we'll get all year!

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