by Dana Greene

Houston? No problem. Golden State? See ya, #8. San Antonio? Go on home you know. Yes, the Utah Jazz are headed to the NBA Finals. You heard it here first. I know some guys may have jumped off the bandwagon after they blew that 22-point lead against Seattle (right, Wes?). And other guys may have thought the Rockets were going to blow through the Jazz in 5 (right, Dana? Oh wait.) But all that is in the far distant past. These are the new and improved Jazz. And they can win in any kind of style you want to play.

Houston tried to physically beat the Jazz up and keep the score somewhere in the low-40's. Didn't work. The Jazz out-hustled, out-rebounded, and flat out out-played the Rockets. Now the Warriors want to turn this series into a track meet? Go right ahead. Deron Williams, Carlos Boozer, and Andrei Kirilenko can run right with and through you guys. Keep jacking up those 3's, too. They might win a game or two for you, but eventually you have to be able to pound it inside, and the Warriors just don't have the beef to do it. The Jazz are deeper, more experienced, and their 15 minutes of fame are not about to run out.

As for either the Suns or the Spurs...those guys are going to literally beat the you know what out of each other. I mean, have you seen Steve Nash after just one game? The dude looks like he just had a face to face meeting with Tony Soprano and Christopher Moltisanti. Whoever emerges from that series is going to have nothing left.

And so yes, I am boldly going where most prognasticators are too afraid (or too smart) to go...the Utah Jazz are going to the NBA Finals. As for winning the NBA Title? Well, that's a blog for a different day.