7StraightIsGreat
Well-Known Member
Ok, it's the offseason and I'm officially bored. The Jazz posted a very respectable record of 29-12 at home last year and while I doubt we'll ever see the home dominance that we saw during the height of the Stockton/Malone era, there's a couple of things that have happened this offseason that make me think Utah can once again enter the realm where we see seasons within 34-35 home victories.
First of all, I think the new timeout rules help teams like Utah and Denver dramatically. Over the years NBA coaches have adapted pretty well when coming to Utah and playing at elevation. A huge factor in that has been strategic use of seemingly endless timeouts. With less timeouts to work with, Utah can now force road weary teams into playing longer stretches in the 4th quarter without stopping the game. I'm interested to see how it plays out because it's just a hunch more than anything. However, I think that it could have a major effect.
Reason #2: I think this roster is starting to fill up with players who wear their emotions on their sleeve a bit more than normal. Guys like Gobert, Ingles, and it looks like Donovan Mitchell are the type of guys that feed off of getting the fans riled up. Momentum in Energy Solutions can quickly snowball for an opposing team when you factor in fatigue and the players and fans feeding off of each other, creating a frenzied atmosphere.
I think it also helps that the Jazz and their fans seem to have a new chip on their shoulder after the Hayward indecision. Maybe it's just me, but it's starting to feel like an "us against the world" type of thing. I actually think the Jazz will win more than 29 games at home next year even though they just lost their best offensive player and play in an already tough western conference that somehow found a way to get even more grueling. Then again, maybe I'm just crazy....
First of all, I think the new timeout rules help teams like Utah and Denver dramatically. Over the years NBA coaches have adapted pretty well when coming to Utah and playing at elevation. A huge factor in that has been strategic use of seemingly endless timeouts. With less timeouts to work with, Utah can now force road weary teams into playing longer stretches in the 4th quarter without stopping the game. I'm interested to see how it plays out because it's just a hunch more than anything. However, I think that it could have a major effect.
Reason #2: I think this roster is starting to fill up with players who wear their emotions on their sleeve a bit more than normal. Guys like Gobert, Ingles, and it looks like Donovan Mitchell are the type of guys that feed off of getting the fans riled up. Momentum in Energy Solutions can quickly snowball for an opposing team when you factor in fatigue and the players and fans feeding off of each other, creating a frenzied atmosphere.
I think it also helps that the Jazz and their fans seem to have a new chip on their shoulder after the Hayward indecision. Maybe it's just me, but it's starting to feel like an "us against the world" type of thing. I actually think the Jazz will win more than 29 games at home next year even though they just lost their best offensive player and play in an already tough western conference that somehow found a way to get even more grueling. Then again, maybe I'm just crazy....
