If the Jazz are better than expected it's because...

[Handlogten's Heros]

Outsider Theory:

The Jazz brought in a scrub big man rim protector who at one point masqueraded as a 3pt shooter to teach Kessler that wanting to shoot 3's is bad for career if you suck at them.

But he doesn't suck at them. He sucks at trying hard. His reaction time also really slow. The sixers guys on Rights to Ricky Sanchez used to joke that he took forever to raise his arms so he should just play with his arms up all the time lol.

I think its to get attendance up with the stars lol.

 

[Ferguson_Mellochill]

I think Bamba is mostly a practice player so the Jazz can workout against real size and give Nurkic time off. If the Jazz trade Nurk at the deadline, then they have a backup to finish out their 19-win season.

 

[Step-Back Lauri]

It needs noticeable jump in development from several of the rookie deal guys. But, if Keynote explodes and teams have to treat him like the 1st option. You all know what it means for the production of Lauri, he's much better as 2nd option, like he was a huge proportion of his All star season.. He can't be doubled down as much and then you have these two guys in Key and Lauri together putting on a heater like JC and Lauri did few seasons ago. Defense of course will be a problem so you might look at feasible 24-58 record at this point with plenty of 2nd half meltdowns when opponents gets more serious to destroy Jazz defense.

 

[jazznik]

Of course the answer would be Ace and WCJ. We al know other players well enough to be rightfully skeptical about the chances of their sudden blossoming. But Ace and WCJ are blank canvasses , and it is so easy and tempting to project our fervent hopes on them.

 

[SoberasHotRod]

I would put the most likely/most impactful options in this order:

- Keyonte having a 3rd year jump and making our guard rotation much improved
- 48 minutes of NBA level center rotation could have a huge impact on our defense.
- Lauri having an all star year and just having the type of gravity that makes everyone better for 70+ games. We strategically lost a lot of games against tanking teams last year by sitting Lauri. If he is playing against all of our tanking competition we could have more wins.
- I don't think it's extremely likely, but if Ace has the type of on/off impact he did at Rutgers, we could be much better than expected.
- Other - we get lucky/unlucky with playing opposing teams on off nights/with injuries. Last year we lost a crazy amount of games at home, and maybe we get our home court advantage back.

As others have stated, we would need a combination of a lot of things to win too many games. It will be very interesting if we get to March and we are at risk of losing our pick.

 

[FalseFlagg K]

Good bet. He is gonna have a fantastic season.

I got 70-1 odds. Fingers crossed

 

[homeytennis]

I'll be interested in Hardy's ten man rotation. Is it youth oriented or does Hardy let the "best" players play? Do a lot of the young players sit and watch if they are not the "best" players at the moment or go play for the Stars indefenitely?

 

[SoberasHotRod]

I'll be interested in Hardy's ten man rotation. Is it youth oriented or does Hardy let the "best" players play? Do a lot of the young players sit and watch if they are not the "best" players at the moment or go play for the Stars indefenitely?

Who isn't in the rotation is definitely an interesting question at the start of the year. For example, I'm pretty sure that Niang will be in the rotation, but that means Hendricks probably isn't. I think that Collier, WCJ, Brice, Anderson, and Cody will be fighting for 2 rotation spot throughout the year. If both Niang and Anderson are in the rotation, then two of our rookie contract guys won't be and this place will go insane.

I think it looks like this to start the year:

Definitely in the rotation:
Lauri, Kessler, Keyonte, Ace,

Probably in the rotation
Collier, Flip, Nurkic, Niang, WCJ, Brice,

Maybe in the rotation:
Anderson, Cody, Hendricks,

Probably not in the rotation:
Bamba, Svi, Love, Harkless, Tonje, Oscar,

 

[David Hume]

Who isn't in the rotation is definitely an interesting question at the start of the year. For example, I'm pretty sure that Niang will be in the rotation, but that means Hendricks probably isn't. I think that Collier, WCJ, Brice, Anderson, and Cody will be fighting for 2 rotation spot throughout the year. If both Niang and Anderson are in the rotation, then two of our rookie contract guys won't be and this place will go insane.

I think it looks like this to start the year:

Definitely in the rotation:
Lauri, Kessler, Keyonte, Ace,

Probably in the rotation
Collier, Flip, Nurkic, Niang, WCJ, Brice,

Maybe in the rotation:
Anderson, Cody, Hendricks,

Probably not in the rotation:
Svi, Love, Harkless, Tonje, Oscar,

Mo Bamba?

 

[SoberasHotRod]

Mo Bamba?

Oops, fixed.

 

[Ferguson_Mellochill]

I'm looking forward to watching our 2nd unit this year. It could be Walt / Brice / Cody / Taylor / Flip. They're young, but they might also fit pretty well.

Last year, we had Svi dribbling in circles, Cody looking lost, Flip who was just starting to figure things out, etc. I'd be watching our defense and our bench production to be a bit improved from last year.

 

[homeytennis]

I'm looking forward to watching our 2nd unit this year. It could be Walt / Brice / Cody / Taylor / Flip. They're young, but they might also fit pretty well.

Last year, we had Svi dribbling in circles, Cody looking lost, Flip who was just starting to figure things out, etc. I'd be watching our defense and our bench production to be a bit improved from last year.

If I recall last season the second unit would get mauled badly on the +- stat. The first unit would often hold its own and then turn it over to the 2nd unit guys for the slaughter. That was great for the tank.

 

[jazznik]

It's interesting that nobody asks "If the Jazz are worse than expected it's because...?" Like, is it even humanly possible for the Jazz to be worse than expected?

I think we plopped on the ocean floor, folks. There is nothing below us.

 

[Strutter]

Didn't choose some of these because I think they should be expected (but we will still be bad). But if Ace and/or Clayton takes off quick then that would be the surprise contribution that wins us games.

 

[NAOS_pt2]

I gotta go with Hendricks and/or Flip.

Flip is already showing serious signs. If Hendricks grows substantially toward his ceiling as a defender, then Hendricks+Kessler could have nonlinear impacts on the quality of the defense. If you go from ~28th to ~18th, then that means wins.

 

[NAOS_pt2]

Keyonte and/or Collier would be my second vote.