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How good are the jazz, really?

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craig2112

Well-Known Member
Ok, sure the jazz are getting fat with a bunch of home games.
But we did beat Golden State on the road. Not a great accomplishment? Just ask Miami who lost only their second game tonight in GS.

And look at the playoff picture. Sure, we are only 10 games in, but here are the teams that are out of the top 8 in the West right now:
Phoenix
Memphis
Houston
NO
GS
Sac
Minny

Think any of those teams will displace the Jazz? I don't. Memphis was a playoff team last year, but they lost Randolf and are off to a slow start. I don't think Houston or Phoenix are that good. Phoenix, maybe...
 
I am so glad the Jazz are holding their home court. By the time they play on the road, they will be in sync and the rooks will have experience. (unless they hit the wall, but even that's ok, because the team is on the backs of the vets for now)

I don't care anymore about our pick. I hate watching ugly games where the team is crushed. Playoffs here we come, and believe in the core we have.

edit: and I'm glad that Golden State beat the heat, that counter balances our win against them and keeps them mid lottery. It'd sting a bit worse to lose our pick if we lose theirs too.
 
That's the funny thing. We just don't know how good or bad we are or will be. My gut feeling is we are a .500 team in a good stretch. I am afraid the law of averages will catch up to us. But you know, it just might not. Maybe we are this good. Only time will tell.
 
The Jazz beat the Sixers who are the best team in the league right now probably right behind the Heat.
Other than that, there haven't been any quality wins and the wins themselves haven't had a huge point differential.
 
After our beat down tomorrow?

I think we can safely estimate a .500 team. We might squeeze in as a 7th or 8th seed.

People want desperately to get excited over all these home wins. In reality, none of these teams that we have beaten are any good. And most are complete suck. Cleveland? Barf!
 
We'll find out tonight. I hope they come out and dominate the Lakers. It will be a HUGE confidence boost for our young guys.
 
We are what our record is.

Speculating for the future, LA has an answer for the feed AJ offense Utah has trotted out. They don't have an answer if our bench bigs come out fighting. So that one's kind of hard to pick.

I do not think it is easy to predict Jazz wins. What we want is games that are fun to watch and a team that doesn't quit.

In the meantime I think I can say that this year's Jefferson is a lot better than last year's.
 
Weezur said:
The Jazz beat the Sixers who are the best team in the league right now probably right behind the Heat.
Other than that, there haven't been any quality wins and the wins themselves haven't had a huge point differential.
Click to expand...
Seriously?
You believe the Sixers are better than OKC, Chicago, Lakers, Portland - even Atlanta?

Yes, I know they're 7-2. But Philly's record has to be viewed the same as Utah's; they've fattened up mainly at home against the dregs of the league. Their 6 game win streak: @GS, @NO, Det, Tor, Ind, Sac. Only 1 quality win...home against Indiana. They've lost at Utah and Portland and also won at Phoenix. Roster is good from 1-7 with some decent young players, but also some declining vets. Are they a playoff team? Yes, and in the EC may even get a 3-4 seed. But they are NOT the 2nd best team in the NBA - not even close!
 
craig2112 said:
And look at the playoff picture. Sure, we are only 10 games in, but here are the teams that are out of the top 8 in the West right now:
Phoenix
Memphis
Houston
NO
GS
Sac
Minny
Click to expand...

If we can continue to hold our home court, then our playoff hopes depend on whether we can be these teams on the road. If so, then my 36-30 prediction looks pretty good.

I still think that is an optimistic prediction. Hayward needs to find his shot. Miles needs to be more consistent. We need more from Favors and Kanter... Howard is better than I thought he'd be, so he's picking up some slack. But, Harris is worse than I thought he'd be...
 
NAOS said:
If we can continue to hold our home court, then our playoff hopes depend on whether we can be these teams on the road. If so, then my 36-30 prediction looks pretty good.
Click to expand...

I predicted 36-30 too.

I like it.

Although last night was the first time since the game in San Antonio where The Jazz looked lazy on defense. They turned up the heat when they had to; but there were very few deflections, most of the turnovers were due to offensive fouls by Cleveland and most of the 3 point attempts were uncontested. Against many teams, last night's effort would have been a loss.

The problem with many young teams is when they find out they can get by with just a "B" effort, they tend to coast with that mentality until they're shocked back into reality and get blown out by 20+. I hope that isn't the case tonight
 
I really like what I am seeing out of the Jazz. They have better ball movement, they are pushing the tempo even on made buckets and Jefferson is less of a black hole. All of that has me encouraged.

What concerns me is no Eric Gordon, no Andrew Bogut, no Zach Randolph, no Stephan Curry and the Cavaliers. Nuff Said.
 
Al Jefferson was definitely looking pass first and Millsap killed them thanks to Al. The Jazz actually looked like they had a set offense for the first time this season. Jefferson stuffed the box even better and had 3 assists to boot! I'm hopeful him looking to pass will continue opening up his inside game and increase offensive flow. Let's see how they do against a real defense though.
 
The Jefferson I saw last night was unstoppable. I waited for the Cavs to start doubling Al every time he touched the ball, it just never happened. On the few times he was doubled he did pass out. Al isn't going to go 13 for 17 in every game but if he plays like he did last night, the Jazz will be just fine this year. This is the Al I thought we were getting last year. Anyone who thought we were getting a stud defensive player are kidding themselves, with that said he brings better interior defense then any starter we've had in at least the last 5 or so years.

Now on to something else....

The biggest grip I have about this team is they can't make a free-throw to save their lives! The Jazz have a hard enough time making 70% at the line. I don't care how hot Al and Millsap are on offense, we aren't beating the elite teams if we can't make a fee throw. Wasn't Al around 80% last year. Harris I always thought was a good not great shooter at the line, but consistent. The only guy hitting with any consistency is Howard of all people. If this team expects to make the playoffs they need to make their ft's. That might explain why all their wins are close, it's why we didn't blow out the Cavs. We should've beaten the Cavs by 15-18 points. Ft. shooting is becoming the Jazz biggest weakness.
 
Weezur said:
The Jazz beat the Sixers who are the best team in the league right now probably right behind the Heat.
Other than that, there haven't been any quality wins and the wins themselves haven't had a huge point differential.
Click to expand...

if the refs were not trying to cover the spread jazz would have blown out cavs
 
GlassEater said:
Seriously?
You believe the Sixers are better than OKC, Chicago, Lakers, Portland - even Atlanta?

Yes, I know they're 7-2. But Philly's record has to be viewed the same as Utah's; they've fattened up mainly at home against the dregs of the league. Their 6 game win streak: @GS, @NO, Det, Tor, Ind, Sac. Only 1 quality win...home against Indiana. They've lost at Utah and Portland and also won at Phoenix. Roster is good from 1-7 with some decent young players, but also some declining vets. Are they a playoff team? Yes, and in the EC may even get a 3-4 seed. But they are NOT the 2nd best team in the NBA - not even close!
Click to expand...

one thing you are forgetting sixers is built for a lockout.

they have the same core 8 guys which really helps a lot.
and they are pretty young team
 
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