I think DL has done a good job building Utah into a pretty okay franchise that punches above their class since, you know, we're Utah and ... it's, well, uh ... Utah.
Jazz fans are, by and large, spoiled. We've had a consistent, successful franchise for pretty much 35 years now. Since the franchise's first trip to the NBA playoffs in 1984, they've only missed the postseason eight times. Not a lot of franchises can say that.
But that success has resulted in raised expectations. We're not like, say, Phoenix, who, up until the last few seasons, was almost an exact mirror of the Jazz in every conceivable way - small market Western Conference teams with a ****-ton of wins, a lot of postseason berths and zero NBA titles. From 1976 to 2010, a similar stretch as the playoff run I mentioned above for the Jazz, the Suns only missed the playoffs six times. Again, a very similar stretch to that of the Jazz currently. 2010 was the last time Phoenix made the postseason and they're still nowhere near the level of returning consistently to the NBA playoffs.
The raised expectations are real, though - as they were real for Phoenix in the 10s. It's a big reason they cycled through coaches and pushed out the man who's leading the Rockets so easily over the Jazz.
I am glad Utah is consistent and not ready to blow it all up and turn the franchise into Sacramento or Phoenix.
But I also feel we've got two options here: accept our lot in life as a pretty good team that is unlikely ever to make the push we all want, which means we'll probably have a ceiling of fifth in the West and, at best, a trip to the semifinals before bowing out, or push a bit more knowing the risks - but also understanding the rewards.
Frankly, I don't expect this team to be better than they've been the last two seasons. I've conceded that. I get a lot of hate for it, expressing this idea that the last twenty years have been terrifyingly consistent in what the Jazz are as a franchise, but it's what I believe. Hell, the Jazz had two of the best players in NBA history on their roster for 20 years and still only managed to win the West twice.
I just feel we're good at developing a pretty consistent, solid franchise year over year but Utah's limits as a state, and a team, are too much a hindrance for us to take that next step into a team that truly, legitimately poses a threat to win the NBA Finals. Shame me for it. Attack me for it. That's just how I see it.
I've thrown this stat out before, but it kinda hammers home what I'm preaching: the Jazz has the fifth-best regular season winning percentage in NBA history. That's remarkable for a team that started out as horribly bad as they did in their New Orleans days. But when it comes to the playoffs? They only have the fifteenth-best winning percentage in NBA history. That's quite the contrast. This franchise has rarely been built for the playoffs. Even for a bulk of the Stockton and Malone days. We'd get there. We'd sometimes put up a fight. But it always ended with a loss. And I'm afraid it always will.
The Jazz is the Minnesota Vikings of the NBA.
