NBA Playoffs 2012: Amar's Exit Interview w/ Rey at The No-Look Pass

I was asked to talk about the Utah Jazz's short and bittersweet playoff experience with Rey at The No Look Pass. (You may remember they were gracious enough to ask me to do a Playoff Preview for the Jazz there as well -- which you can read here.) But you already know all of that because you visit them daily for their amazing playoff coverage! (Like this post on the issue of Players saying the wrong stuff in interviews, right Al Jefferson?) Anyway, it's always fun to read about the Jazz and make fun of myself.

Rey-Rey: Well, it was a sweep. But you did say 4-1 is the best case scenario. So you're not too surprised, right?

Amar: The ultimate outcome of this series was always going to be a San Antonio Spurs victory, and not even the most homer Jazz fan felt like Tyrone Corbin and his crew would be advancing; especially not after Game 2’s old fashioned whoopin’. So in that regard there really were no surprises in terms of how long the series went. And while taking it to a Game 5 would have been nice, it was not really necessary or possible. The Spurs wanted to win in 4, and they got what they wanted. This is also a team that won 50 games in a 66 game season. They’re a good team when they have their mind set on a goal. Even the Jazz team a few years ago that got to the Western Conference Finals (a team that included Deron Williams, Carlos Boozer, Andrei Kirilenko, Mehmet Okur, Derek Fisher, Ronnie Brewer, and the rest of those guys) could only manage to take the Spurs to 5 games. So bowing out early – especially to a team built to dismantle your own bargain brand squad – was *not* a surprise.

It’s not what you want, but hey, it’s still making the playoffs when the national media felt like it would be hard for the Jazz to win 20 games.

Check out the rest of the exit interview at The No Look Pass here.