(Although I probably should have).

We’ve heard our fair share of arguing about whether the league mandated that the referees should call games certain ways.

There is no good argument that I have heard that says that referees couldn’t dictate which team wins a game. They certainly have enough power in their whistles to allow any NBA team — even the worst team in the league — to beat any other team in the NBA.

The question is really whether they would, not if they could.

Stern says they would not. He says they have not received that directive from the league, and they would not call games unethically alone.

Referees are, of course, incorruptible and ethical to a fault — right? Anybody believe that?

Doug Robinson argues, rather convincingly, that David Stern isn’t telling truth. It’s not necessarily that Stern is lying — would the league really want the small market, boring Spurs to win 4 championships in the last decade — but rather one simple fact. David Stern has been wrong about his refs in the past, and there is no way that he can know well enough now to make such a definitive statement. Check out his argument. It’s very interesting.

It is very unlikely that the Rockets can win 4 out of the next 5 games, especially with three of them being in Utah.

Jazz Fans are chanting sweep (but they were already doing that after the game 1 win).

It looks to me that Tracy McGrady will not make it out of the first round yet again.

And yet, I can’t say that I agree with all of the good and bad comments that I have been hearing about McGrady from the national media.

TNT, after losing game 2, was talking about his superstar performance that was not quite enough to win the game. I’ll agree that his stats were extremely impressive (especially when you consider that fact that he got almost all of them in only 3 quarters of play). His play in the fourth quarter, however, doesn’t really justify calling his play that game a superstar performance.

TNT also mentioned that none of the blame of losing the game should be put on his shoulders because his stats were so good, and he just didn’t get enough help. Again, does a fourth quarter where he took a lot of tough shots and missed them really mean that he isn’t culpable at all?

In ESPN’s “the Herd” the next day, Colin Cowherd said that he was just a very good player, not a superstar, because he ran out of steam and couldn’t dig down and find extra reserves in the fourth quarter to pull out the win. Is he saying that superstars are different from very good players because they don’t get tired in important games? He also mentioned that a superstar doesn’t shoot such a poor percentage in the regular season and especially not in the playoffs. Apparently it really doesn’t matter what a very good player shoots, percentage-wise.

I’m not sure I really agree with either of these points.

Was it a superstar performance? Not particularly. With a good fourth quarter, it probably would have been, even if the Rockets had lost.

Is McGrady ONLY very good because he gets tired and doesn’t shoot a high percentage?

This is what I really want to talk about.

Somebody can only be as good as the defense allows them to be.

Some people are harder to guard… certainly… but everybody is guardable to some extent.

McGrady shooting a poorer percentage in this playoffs and the last one makes it sound like nobody is guarding him — that it was his to make or miss and he somehow just managed to miss them.

Couldn’t his post-season shooting percentages be lower because the Utah Jazz forced him into taking tough shots? Couldn’t he have gotten tired in this fourth quarter where he wouldn’t have gotten tired otherwise because the Utah Jazz played against him with three and four defenders rotated to keep them fresh and him exhausted?

Can’t you give credit where credit is due?

The Jazz only won because McGrady “isn’t really THAT good”.

“McGrady is overrated”.

Put the credit in the right place!

I think McGrady is a superb player. He certainly has had a problem winning in the playoffs with both Orlando (with Grant Hill injured) and Houston (with Yao Ming and others injured), and he certainly has a part in whether they won or lost because he handles the ball so often, but you really have to place the credit properly.

There were 24 players taking part in those games.

McGrady lost because the 11 players on his team AND McGrady himself could not beat the 12 players on the other team in a seven game series.

Tracy McGrady didn’t win or lose those series on an empty court.

And just like last year, they’ll be playing 4 games on Houston’s home court.

And just like last year, the Utah Jazz will be tough to beat at home.

And just like last year, Tracy McGrady will be gunning to get out of the first round for the first time.

Unlike last year, however, the Houston Rockets will be without their big man, Yao Ming, he went out with a season ending injury.

The Houston Rockets have fought well, however, including winning 14 of their 22 game win streak without them.

I don’t see the Utah Jazz having quite as tough of a time this year as they did last year.

I pick the Utah Jazz over the Houston Rockets in 6.

Next up…

Probably the Los Angeles Lakers. (If it’s the Denver Nuggets, Utah will own them — like they did in the regular season.)

Pau Gasol has never been much of a problem in the playoffs. Heck, he has never even won a SINGLE game in the playoffs. And he has been to the playoffs enough times to have at least taken ONE game.

Andrew Bynum may or may not be back. He sure won’t be 100%. Even if he did return for the second round, he might be a hindrance to the team (rather than a help).

Kobe Bryant, however, is always tough, especially for the Jazz. Who knows how many fouls Kobe will receive from Jazz players NOT fouling him?

And don’t sleep on Derek Fisher. As the Jazz know well.

(The Jazz would have been much better served to have been playing the New Orleans Hornets in the second round, but you can’t have everything.)

I still think the Jazz have what it takes to beat the Lakers and their porous defense. I’ll pick the Jazz in 7, but I can’t say that I’m not worried about this one.

Next up, my guess in the Phoenix Suns, who are likely to dispatch the San Antonio Spurs in the first round and the Dallas Mavericks in the second round (unless New Orleans is a lot more savvy than I think they are).

If it’s San Antonio, the Jazz might be in trouble, but I don’t think it will be.

If the Phoenix Suns had not made the trade, the Utah Jazz would have won this matchup. With Shaquille O’Neal and Amare Stoudemire in the frontcourt, this is going to be pretty tough for the Jazz to handle. Deron Williams, assuming he isn’t too banged up, can handle Steve Nash (who has lost a step this year, especially against the faster point guards). The Jazz would have the homecourt advantage in this one, so we’ll give this one to the Utah Jazz in 7, especially since they aren’t likely to lose to the Phoenix Suns in the Energy Solutions Arena.

Next up would be the winner between the Detroit Pistons (who aren’t likely to lose to the Philadelphia 76ers or the young Orlando Magic) and the Boston Celtics (who will easily dispatch the Atlanta Hawks and are likely to beat the winner of Washington and Cleveland without too much difficulty either).

Since it’s too close to call, I’ll take a look at both of them.

The Detroit Pistons have not proved too difficult for the Jazz over the last several years. Even when the Jazz were just horrible and the Pistons were the cream of the Eastern crop, they Jazz still managed to beat them (often both times). The Detroit Pistons would have to be the dream matchup for the Jazz, and the Jazz would likely win this matchup in 6.

The Boston Celtics, in spite of the fact that Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, and Kevin Garnett do not have NBA Playoff experience, are not likely to be easy prey to the Jazz. The Jazz and the Celtics split their games this season with both of them winning in the opposing arena. Not easy to do when the home records of the Jazz and the Celtics were the best in the NBA. This matchup would probably be too close to call, but you have to feel good about the Jazz’s chances against all of the teams that they are likely to meet.

It’s certainly been a long time since the Utah Jazz even had a chance to win an NBA Championship.