From Deseret News archives:
Is this a series to remember?
The Jazz guard has no working knowledge of the part Billy Paultz played in team history. So, as he prepared for today's opening-round playoff game with Houston, I mentioned — but only in passing — the legend of "The Whopper."
Miles listened politely, then said, "No, I wasn't around for that. A lot of us can't remember, but it's not so much our history against them as it is our teams trying to prove themselves now."
For all intents and purposes, none of the Jazz players were around in 1985. They were either unborn or too young to care. Besides, who wants to sit around listening to stories of the old days?
Which is a shame.
They missed out on some moments.
Today it will be T-Mac and Yao against Memo, Booz and D-Will.
An interesting matchup. Even so, it's going to be hard to live up to what happened in past Utah-Houston series.
How can you go wrong with a lumpy, blue-collar hero who called himself "The Whopper?"
The tale of Paultz getting Hakeem Olajuwon to sucker-punch him in Game 5 of that first-round series never seems to grow old. There's something timeless about a lunch-bucket journeyman, leaning on a young and volatile Olajuwon, tying up his arms, until he finally snapped.
Everyone — including Paultz — knew he didn't belong in the same gym with Olajuwon. Yet he figured out a way to make himself useful. He got Olajuwon mad, who then got the Jazz mad, who in turn went on a 23-12 scoring run and ended up winning the series.
But the Jazz-Rockets history isn't just about 1985. Another classic moment of it is that involving David Benoit in 1995. The Jazz had twice been to the conference finals and had just completed the best regular season in their history. But in Game 5 of a hotly contested first-round series with the Rockets, Benoit missed three 3-point shots in the closing minutes and the Jazz were done.
It was a strange scene — the crowd screaming, the teams battling, a man gets open, and then ... .CLANK! CLANK! CLANK!
"I'll probably always be remembered for that," Benoit said years later.
Strangest of all was the way the building went from bedlam to almost complete stillness, emptying faster than a beer pitcher at a pizza parlor.
The Rockets won NBA titles in 1994 and 1995, years in which the Jazz equaled or outplayed them in the regular season.
So it's interesting to wonder what could have been, had Benoit's aim been true.
