Are the Jazz Not Bad?

[HermanG]

Youth movement ≠ tanking.

This is true and its also something where people way too often read between the lines.

It will be very intriguing to see how this season turns out. I hope we still end up getting a top draft pick due to West being so damn tough. The current core looks super intriguing and I would love to add one blue chip prospect to it. So do like the OKC did when they got Chet essentially. We would probably be a playoff team next year if that happened and the guy coming in would be ready to play in the league from day 1.

 

[SoberasHotRod]

This is true and its also something where people way too often read between the lines.

It will be very intriguing to see how this season turns out. I hope we still end up getting a top draft pick due to West being so damn tough. The current core looks super intriguing and I would love to add one blue chip prospect to it. So do like the OKC did when they got Chet essentially. We would probably be a playoff team next year if that happened and the guy coming in would be ready to play in the league from day 1.

Obviously just preseason, but the West doesn't look as tough as people are talking about, and is something I'm currently worried about as far as the tank race. People keep talking about how tough the West is and how we will lose so many games to the Western Conference, but I'm not 100% sure that' accurate. I think there are a lot of teams in the West that are in the Kings tier of good, which is still better than us, but not teams we will lose a bunch of games to.

- Clippers could be really bad this year if Kawhi sits a bunch of games, which is somewhat likely
- The Klay acquisition might have made Dallas worse
- San Antonio probably still not ready
- Houston overrated
- LAL an injury away from being bad
- NOP with no center
- MEM and Pho are still a question marks for me
- GS looks like they are struggling to figure out a rotation

I think there could be a lot more winnable games in the West than what we are thinking.

 

[HermanG]

Obviously just preseason, but the West doesn't look as tough as people are talking about, and is something I'm currently worried about as far as the tank race. People keep talking about how tough the West is and how we will lose so many games to the Western Conference, but I'm not 100% sure that' accurate. I think there are a lot of teams in the West that are in the Kings tier of good, which is still better than us, but not teams we will lose a bunch of games to.

- Clippers could be really bad this year if Kawhi sits a bunch of games, which is somewhat likely
- The Klay acquisition might have made Dallas worse
- San Antonio probably still not ready
- Houston overrated
- LAL an injury away from being bad
- NOP with no center
- MEM and Pho are still a question marks for me
- GS looks like they are struggling to figure out a rotation

I think there could be a lot more winnable games in the West than what we are thinking.

Yeah I'm also worried as you may have noticed. Just sipping some hopium every now and then, as I really like the position we will be in if we manage to get "our Chet".

Oh and add Denver to the list as I think they are more dependent on Jokic than they have ever been. If Jokic goes down I think they are a sub .400 team.

 

[fishonjazz]

Obviously just preseason, but the West doesn't look as tough as people are talking about, and is something I'm currently worried about as far as the tank race. People keep talking about how tough the West is and how we will lose so many games to the Western Conference, but I'm not 100% sure that' accurate. I think there are a lot of teams in the West that are in the Kings tier of good, which is still better than us, but not teams we will lose a bunch of games to.

- Clippers could be really bad this year if Kawhi sits a bunch of games, which is somewhat likely
- The Klay acquisition might have made Dallas worse
- San Antonio probably still not ready
- Houston overrated
- LAL an injury away from being bad
- NOP with no center
- MEM and Pho are still a question marks for me
- GS looks like they are struggling to figure out a rotation

I think there could be a lot more winnable games in the West than what we are thinking.

I agree with all of your bullet points but still think all of those teams are better than the jazz. I want a stud from this draft damn it!

 

[Isaiah 1:13]

I’m just watching the Kings game now. I can’t see how we don’t win 30-32 games Oh well. Maybe one of the young guys is already gonna be a second star

Kessler plays every game like he did last night, he’s a DPOY candidate. Gobert’s stock is nonexistent right now and Wemby is being benched for Collins because he honestly has some of the worst second year decision making ever seen in a #1 overall draft pick (never mind generational talents). Hendrix could also be on that all defensive list.

Break out years for Sexton and George predicted. Yeah Sexton is a bit of a late starter but damn if he doesn’t play the right way and now reaching his prime. If the Houston game is any indication, old man Clarkson still has some of that sixth man magic and if the flame goes out, we have the bigger bodied version in Sensabaugh ready to juke and jive and knock down some bowling pins. Look out League because Laurie has figured out how to score and get to the stripe. Williams will continue to grow and impress with his skills and prescient BBIQ.

Beyond the core with Eubanks, Mykhailiuk, Juzang, Flip and Collier, we’re built to keep rolling if the injury bug hits. If history repeats and Ainge lets Hardy do his thing till the deadline, letting our middling pick convey wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world, with two firsts already and a chance to grow some more confidence for next year.

 

[SoberasHotRod]

I agree with all of your bullet points but still think all of those teams are better than the jazz. I want a stud from this draft damn it!

Yeah, I still think we are likely the second worst team in the West, but having a worse record than the tankers in the East was dependent on the West being so much better. It's better, but I'm not seeing as many auto losses in the west as people might have thought.

 

[hgb]

We'll need a "Championship <mode of transportation>" thread sooner rather than later

 

[KqWIN]

The only West team I feel down on in the Spurs. They could be a sleeper tank team.

Clippers could be in that conversation but they have zero incentive to tank.

 

[Handlogten's Heros]

The only West team I feel down on in the Spurs. They could be a sleeper tank team.

Clippers could be in that conversation but they have zero incentive to tank.

Since we play the Spurs 4 times in the first 20 we could really give them a shot of life by sitting one of the Good 3 and losing those games.

 

[Saint Cy of JFC]

Spurs will be relatively good if Vassell/Wemby are playing a lot of games.

They could also be a buyer during the season if they get off to a good start.

 

[mhindy]

Spurs will be relatively good if Vassell/Wemby are playing a lot of games.

They could also be a buyer during the season if they get off to a good start.

Yep - soooooo much riding on losing a few times to SA early.

 

[KqWIN]

Since we play the Spurs 4 times in the first 20 we could really give them a shot of life by sitting one of the Good 3 and losing those games.

Those games could be critical. The Spurs are somewhat similar to the Jazz where they have a lot of their talent concentrated in a small amount of players which makes it easier to pull the plug. If they beat us early on, that likely means they are moving through the play in tournament and also staying in the play in race. If they fall out of it, Pop will do as he did last year.

One of the reasons why I don't think we beat out all of those east teams is because so many of them will be hanging in around the play in race and they have to play each other in the in season tournament. Some of them are bound to rise up and stay competitive for awhile. The Jazz haven't had a problem doing this, but I think it is much harder for a team to pull the plug when they are in a real playoff race. At the very least, the potential for that team to become a buyer is much higher.