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If you're looking for a real Cinderella this time of year, you won't find it at the NCAA tournament. Try Salt Lake City.
The Utah Jazz are Nevada, Villanova and Princeton rolled into one. Despite the offseason departures of John Stockton and Karl Malone, and the loss of two other key starters to injuries, the Jazz have somehow managed to stay in the hunt for a playoff spot in the rugged Western Conference. As of Monday, Utah was 38-36, a half-game ahead of the Blazers and Nuggets for the No. 8 seed.
"It's amazing," longtime Jazz assistant Gordon Chiesa said. "Some of the experts predicted we'd be one of the worst teams of all time. But the players didn't accept it.
"Jerry [Sloan]
told them before the season, 'Don't pay attention to what outsiders say about
you, positive or negative.' To their credit, they listened. And now they're
in position to do something special."
Utah making the playoffs wouldn't be just a good story. It would be April Madness.
Like an NBA version of 'Nova in '85 or Jimmy V.'s N.C. State squad in '83.
Consider the Wasatch Mountain-sized obstacles the Jazz have faced this season:
First, they lost Stockton and Malone, arguably the greatest players ever at their respective positions and two guys who had spent the past 18 years running the offense to mind-numbing near-perfection.
Then the Jazz tried to reload in free agency, only to have the rug pulled out from them when the Kings snatched Brad Miller in a sign-and-trade, the Clippers matched a $42 million offer for Corey Maggette and the Hawks matched a similar offer for Jason Terry.
Then the one big-name free agent Utah was able to sign, Keon Clark, promptly went down with a season-ending ankle injury.
When the campaign got under way, the Jazz had a starting lineup of Carlos Arroyo, DeShawn Stevenson, Matt Harpring, Andrei Kirilenko and Greg Ostertag. They had no low-post scoring threat. An opposing team's scout told Sports Illustrated that Utah is "probably the least talented club in the league." He said he'd be surprised if it won 20 games.
The Jazz refused to make excuses, however, and came out of the gates strong. Sloan and his staff tweaked the system, used more of a two-guard front to help Arroyo and backup Raul Lopez. Kirilenko blossomed into an All-Star. Raja Bell provided a spark off the bench. In mid-January, Utah was 21-17.
Then, just when the Jazz were starting to dream the impossible, Harpring went down with a season-ending knee injury. Everybody assumed Utah was at last, finally, out of business. But the Jazz have kept fighting through picks, setting screens, reversing the ball, hitting the boards and generally making life miserable for foes.
"Our guys come to play," said Chiesa, now in his 15th season with the Jazz. "We might not be a great team. We might not be the most athletic team. But our players are competitive."
Just how competitive was evident Sunday night on the team flight back to Salk Lake City after a loss to the surging Lakers in L.A. While the Jazz had kept the score close, there was no sense of a moral victory among the players. They were quiet and angry on the plane, according to Chiesa.
"This group very much wants to make the playoffs," he said. "They know what everybody said about them. All good teams have pride, and they want to have that sense of accomplishment."
The Jazz still face a tough road to reach the postseason for a 21st straight season. While they do play five of their final eight at the Delta Center, the list of remaining opponents includes the Spurs, T'wolves, Grizzlies, Rockets and Mavs. Like everything else for Utah this season, it's not going to be easy.
But there is something about the Jazz that makes them impossible to count out. Last Saturday they won a huge game against Denver when Arroyo, the team's unsung hero who was once released by the Nuggets, sank a 10-foot floater as time expired. Afterward, he was mobbed by teammates.
It looked like one of those scenes from the NCAA tournament. Cinderella is still alive. But does the Mormon Tabernacle Choir know the words to One Shining Moment?