A few thoughts on this season...

[JazzFever]

Curiously, this has been a renewing season for me as a fan, even as they have gotten much worse, record wise.

This season is a reminder that it is about the struggle and walking that path proudly and well, rather than the W or L.

I accept DA's tear down, because the franchise is seeking excellence instead of just competence- and that is what we are seeing. Excellent coaching, excellent decision making by the front office, excellent competitive spirit from the players, and excellent improvement/development of those players over the course of the season. Doing things the right way may or may not end up with a championship over time, but it is how one pursues it as an organization, and makes it a reachable goal despite the structural issues facing the franchise.

Proud to be a fan this season as much as any season I've followed them, which goes back to their first year in Utah. Yes, I'm getting old.

Noticed that the current scoring differential of the team is exactly 0 right now. Incredible achievement for a group of guys written off as a bunch of scrubs, destined to be in the bottom 2 or 3 of the league- and that is before ripping out the veterans at the trade deadline. Just insane the heart of this team.

And just because every Jazz fan should enjoy some Laker tears as a palate cleanser:


View: https://twitter.com/WorldWideWob/status/1636955846533091328?s=20

 

[JimLes]

Here's my contribution to this topic. The Jazz have lost only 5 games by more than 15 points. Only 7 by more than 10. The Nuggets, currently #1 in the West, have lost 9 games by more than 15 and 13 by more than 10. I won't even tell you what these numbers look like for say, the Rockets, as this is a family forum.

This is a young, fairly inexperienced team who has somehow managed to be competitive in 90% of the games they've played. I don't know the numbers for how many games the Jazz were at least within 5 in the 4th, but it feels like it's almost every game. That's pretty awesome and bodes well for the future, even without the massive haul of picks(which I personally hope get traded at some point for a star with 2-3 years left on the contract). The kids are developing and are generally more talented than any of us had thought. We seem to have a great coach on our hands, as well. I don't know if this will all work out, I don't know if there's a championship on the cards, but man, I'm excited to see what happens one way or another.

 

[fishonjazz]

Its been an awesome season. The future is so bright. The Gobert trade was one of the best trades in the history of the nba and the Donovan trade was probably a top 10. Those two trades set us up much much better than i could have ever imagined. Love the coach. Love the young talent. Lauri is already approaching an mvp level player and is better than Donovan imo. Love the draft pick stash we have. Love that we have a GM like Ainge.

 

[ONE LOVE]

The grade for me this season is still TBD …

I hope finish strong tank wise and grab at least a top 8 pick.

Then I would give this season an A.

 

[KqWIN]

Hopefully won’t ruffle any feathers, but this season just isn’t for me. It’s not horrible, but something that might be nice for a change of pace but ultimately shows the flaws of the NBA as a competitive league. I don’t like the ongoing dilemma between winning and wanting to lose instead. Some people enjoy this, the feeling of “we win or we win”. I can’t knock them for that….but it does also feel like “we lose or we lose”.

When a basketball game is played, I like there to be more incentives to win and not to lose. The rewards for losing are nice but the enjoyment of watching Jazz games where we want to lose is gone. It was a crazy exciting comeback last game and yet we’re dealing with dread of what that win caused us.

 

[framer]

Hopefully won’t ruffle any feathers, but this season just isn’t for me. It’s not horrible, but something that might be nice for a change of pace but ultimately shows the flaws of the NBA as a competitive league. I don’t like the ongoing dilemma between winning and wanting to lose instead. Some people enjoy this, the feeling of “we win or we win”. I can’t knock them for that….but it does also feel like “we lose or we lose”.

When a basketball is played, I like there to be more incentives to win and not to lose. The rewards for losing are nice but the enjoyment of watching Jazz games where we want to lose is gone. It was a crazy exciting comeback last game and yet we’re dealing with dread of what that win caused us.

You don't have to deal with any "dread." Just be happy for wins, and then be happy for more wins next year, and enjoy the way the team plays. The future is freaking bright. Moving up 3 or 4 picks in this particular draft isn't the difference between ultimate success or failure.

 

[Nate505]

This has been a good season overall to watch. Mostly because they aren't tanking out there. God knows Ainge tried at the end, but it didn't really work. These guys actually like to go out there and compete.

 

[HermanG]

You don't have to deal with any "dread." Just be happy for wins, and then be happy for more wins next year, and enjoy the way the team plays. The future is freaking bright. Moving up 3 or 4 picks in this particular draft isn't the difference between ultimate success or failure.

Im hoping for a higher pick but I cringe when people say that 1 pick at 8 over 11 is somehow a deciding factor. 8 is better on average for sure, but Ricky Rubio was also guaranteed to be better than and had to come off the board before Steph.

Staying mediocre is not even possible unless we whiff all our picks, dont make any good trades/signings and everyone stops developing... all at once.

Lauri, Kessler, Sexton, THT and Ochai alone are likely gonna develop us into a playoff team if we add one solid frontcourt guy and some better rotation guys around them. And we have ammo to add a whole lot more.

 

[Shad]

I really loved (still mostly do) until the trade with NAW, Beasley, Vanderbilt, and Conley. I do t e en care that NAW and Conley got trade, it's the other 2 and what we got back. Which could be 2 2nd round picks

 

[KqWIN]

You don't have to deal with any "dread." Just be happy for wins, and then be happy for more wins next year, and enjoy the way the team plays. The future is freaking bright. Moving up 3 or 4 picks in this particular draft isn't the difference between ultimate success or failure.

Anyone can enjoy whatever they want, I'm not the fun police. I see people who enjoy the win last night and are maybe even excited for a playoff push. I get that and I also feel that excitement. I see other people dread the fact that we one and how continued winning hurts the franchise long term. I also get that and feel the dread. I wish the NBA did not have this dilemma, but that is how the league is structured. I think both points are valid, but it I think it sucks that wanting your team to lose is such a valid POV.

 

[framer]

Continued winning hurts the franchise long term.

This may turn out to be entirely false. Many would claim it is likely to be entirely false.

 

[KqWIN]

This may turn out to be entirely false. Many would claim it is likely to be entirely false.

Yeah....I've always been one to say that tanking is the silver bullet people make it out to be. I don't want to fire up that debate again, but it's undeniable that there are incentives to lose and not amazing incentives to win. However you weigh that in your mind will change person to person. IMO, there should never be a conflict with trying to win and it shouldn't even be a question that winning a game is beneficial, but that's not how the NBA works.