Most important regular season game in years? I think so. Let me lay it down for ya…If (and that’s a huuuuugggggge if) the Jazz pull it out tonight, and if Dallas or New Orleans lose, the Jazz will get a huge pardon from the fates of destiny, and will not play LA in the first round. LA has nothing to prove here. The Cav’s have locked up the best record in the league, and Phil Jackson has been quoted as saying that he will play all of his regular rotation tonight, but there is speculation that he will give several of his key players rest. On the flip side, the Spurs and Rockets have everything to play for, as both are trying to secure the Southwest Division title. Dallas has the Rockets at home, and New Orleans has the Spurs on the Road. There are no guarantees, but it is pretty safe to say at least one of those teams will win (preferably Houston). If the Jazz win, Houston wins, and the Spurs lose, the perfect storm might happen. Utah would take on Denver in the first round, and if they won that series, they could take on the winner of Houston and New Orleans, avoiding the Lakers or Spurs until the WCF. There are a whole lot of assumptions involved, but it could happen. Everything that could go wrong for the Jazz has lately, so we are due for a break.

In any case, the Jazz need to play fired up from the get-go tonight. They need some good old fashioned Tony Robbins styled motivation. Here is my idea:

So imagine this. The Jazz are in the visiting locker room at the Staples Center. They are getting ready for the game in silence, when all of the sudden they hear a horse nay in the bathroom. Ronnie P says “was that a friggin (or something similar) horse?” All of the sudden, John Stockton rides in on a thoroughbred into the locker room with his shirt off and half his face painted blue, and proceeds to give the Braveheart speech-

Wallace (Stockton): “Sons of Scotland (Sons of Jerry), I am William Wallace (John Stockton).”

Young soldier (Ronnie Brewer): “William Wallace (John Stockton) is 7 feet tall.”

Wallace (Stockton): “Yes, I've heard. Kills men by the hundreds, and if he were here he'd consume the English (Lakers) with fireballs from his eyes and bolts of lightning from his arse. I AM William Wallace (John Stockton). And I see a whole army of my countrymen here in defiance of tyranny. You have come to fight as free men, and free men you are. What would you do without freedom (decent playoff seeding)? Will you fight?”

Veteran soldier (Brevin Knight): “Fight? Against that? No, we will run; and we will live.”

Wallace (Stockton): “Aye, fight and you may die. Run and you'll live -- at least a while. And dying in your beds many years from now (living your life as an average person in retirement), would you be willing to trade all the days from this day to that for one chance, just one chance to come back here and tell our enemies (the whole fing basketball world) that they may take our lives, but they'll never take our freedom (dignity, respect, integrity…)!!!”

It’s time to play Jazz basketball. Lace ‘em up tight boys…there are a lot of us who still believe in you. You make your own destiny at this point, so go out there and grab it by the throat.

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