Could we win the championship this year?

[Et tu Brute]

The stars seem to be aligning for a team to sneak into serious contention this year.

Warriors without Durant seem extremely vulnerable - especially given Curry's increasing streakiness and mentally I'm not sure they are up for the challenge without KD (given how much they have invested into that acquisition). Spurs are being held together by a system (coach) and 'MVP' two way monster in Kawhi. IMO he should win the award, despite not topping a range of metrics including RPM. Their roster is severely limited and overly reliant upon significant contributions from Ginobli, who is arguably their second most important player atm. LMA has been largely a horrible get. Rockets are a tremendous match-up for the Jazz. Clippers are the sleeper for me. But every year I and millions of others think this.

My assessment is that over 7 games, the Jazz have a system to hang tough. There will be tremendous consistency about how they defend, and if they manage to knock down their fair share of shots they will be an incredibly tough out. I just think if I was in the FO, I would be keeping a lid on any external expectations, but telling each other privately this maybe the best chance to achieve history. It's not ideal in terms of the Jazz timeline .... but championships can be like spotting Halley's comet. That opportunity last presented itself 31 years ago (and as a 6 yr old I missed it )

Think about the potential roster moves in the summer.... You guys would know better than me, but Hayward, Hill, Favors and Ingles may not be around in the near future. If this is the mindset - going for it all... then I'd feel more comfortable about the extremely short leash DE has been on.

I think both the Warriors and Cavs may get better in the next few seasons. Not to mention the TWolves and even teams like Denver, Portland and Milwaukee (bit of a stretch I know).

Also, remember no two teams have faced off against each other in 3 successive NBA Finals series. There must be reasons for this.... History is on someone else's side this time around!

It might be a semi-bluff, but I would be all in...

 

[silesian]

I think we lack an elite scorer and that is what holds us back from being able to win a title right now.

Clearly easier to win a title with an elite scorer, but Hayward at 22 ppg versus:

2014 Spurs Parker 16.7 ppg
2011 Mavs Dirk 23 ppg
2008 Celtics Pierce 19.6 ppg
2007 Spurs Duncan 20 ppg
2004 Pistons Hamilton 17.6

That's 5 title winners in 12 years.

Not saying Hayward equals these guys or that Jazz equals these teams. Just that the factor is a bit overrated.

 

[♪alt13]

Hayward's usage needs to go up against every team that Leonard doesn't play for. Against the Spurs I'm fine with Hayward pulling KL to the weak side.

 

[Cappy_Smurf]

Durant out and who knows if he'll be 100% at all when he comes back.

Love and Smith with injury problems.

Now SA is having some issues with LMA out indefinitely due to heart condition.



It would be kind of wild after all the injury problems we've had for injuries to others possibly giving us a shot at a ring when we thought we had none.

This is why you never assume you have no chance.

 

[Elizah Huge]

At one point not long ago the Jazz were 65:1 to win the Chip. According to Sportsbook.ag they're now 100:1...

Would love to see someone in here try to deconstruct how that came to pass.


they do seem like a damn good team for 100:1 tho... no doubt about it.

Jazz are 66-1 odds to win as of yesterday. Aldridge being out indefinitely makes that number lower right? How'd that happen? Please explain I don't understand?


Sent from my iPhone using JazzFanz

 

[Bawse Dawg]

Would love to see someone in here try to deconstruct how that came to pass.

It's because we didn't sign Harrison Barnes.

 

[str8line]

I think there's a shot, and it hinges on a few things

- We need to get healthy, and we need to get healthy quickly. One of the things that will help is that if our squad galvanizes and gets healthy, maybe we'll be able to identify minute roster-holes that can be addressed via trade. That's why it's important to get healthy before the trade deadline in February.
- I'm truly not fearful of any Western Conference opponent except for the Warriors. I think that match-up might come down to our bench vs. theirs, and how much grief Favors can cause Durant (as I'm thinking that'll be the body we throw on him, not sure how much Hayward has ever bothered him historically speaking). Their bench should have zero business keeping up with ours though, and we just have so many tools to throw at them if something isn't working out. Get Diaw on the floor to guard Draymond if we need offence. Get JJ on the floor to exploit isos if they're switching everything. Etc. etc.


This is kinda our year, guys. I'm not sure how much of this core will be retained in the years to come. Quin currently has this team operating as a top 10 offence and top 10 defence (only the Clips and the Dubs join us in this regard), and we have really good team morale. Good vets, good contracts, and the west is kinda wide-open after the first 3 seeds. We should be able to secure homecourt if we can simply get our health together.

And honestly even if we were to make the Finals and lose, that would still be a tremendous accomplishment for this team and the organization.

I'm fiercely expecting a 2nd round appearance in the playoffs from our team, and I think it's reasonable to hope for a conference finals berth. Winning the west seems impossible until you realize we're firmly in the playoff race even after constantly missing time from 2-3 starters on our team.

Hmmmm...

Interesting to look through these predictions.