SALT MINES

What papers in the Salt Lake City area are saying about the series:

ZACK VAN EYCK, THE DESERET NEWS

It doesn’t take a brain surgeon or a rocket scientist to predict who’s going to win the NBA Western Conference finals. But we asked them anyway.

The Deseret News decided to ask the really, really smart guys, the ones who operate deep inside people’s heads and send really important stuff into space.

Two out of three brain surgeons surveyed predict the Jazz will win the series. The rocket scientists we spoke to are more certain, however: All three said Utah will prevail.

Mike Blair and his colleagues at Thiokol Propulsion Group in Ogden, makers of solid rocket systems, admit they have difficulty approaching anything in life without conducting a thorough scientific investigation.

“Yeah, we do tend to overanalyze everything, absolutely,” he said.

Blair and his buddies Alan Allred, Bob Bennett, Andy Allen and Steve Robbins methodically researched the probable outcome of the series the same way they would evaluate two rocket engines.

Their analysis included an equation known as a “curve fit.” It showed that if the Jazz and Lakers each were rocket ships headed for the moon, the Jazz would get there first.

“The curve fit actually says the Lakers just wouldn’t get there,” Blair said. “They would probably make it out of the atmosphere but then burn up.”

The brain surgeons didn’t need extensive data sheets to make their predictions. Each thought for about two or three seconds before prognosticating with confidence.

Dr. J. Charles Rich, chief of neurological surgery for LDS Hospital and medical director for the 2002 Winter Games, believes NBA officials also are highly intelligent and able to solve complex problems.