No. It would be like if I met five Bobs who were all jerks, and was told by multiple people that the sixth Bob would be a jerk too. I don't know if that's the case, as I haven't met him, but based on my history with Bobs, and the fact there's multiple indicators here without even meeting Bob #6 that he's a jerk, I'm inclined to believe he's a jerk.
The multiple indicators, of course, are that the Jazz finished 5th a year after they were unceremoniously bounced from the playoffs after failing to keep a 2-0 series lead against a Clippers team that went on to lose 4-2 to the Suns in the WCF. I believe that's enough to make the claim the Jazz aren't better than their seed is all and that they're not a contender. Everything else just adds to my reasoning.
It's my feeling Utah is appropriately seeded and would certainly be dogs to Dallas if their best player wasn't questionable for a huge chunk of the series. I've seen nothing from Utah on the whole of the season to indicate to me they're better than fourth in the West (really, there's not much difference between 4/5 anyway, so, if the Jazz is under-seeded, it's by just one spot, IMO). I believe that will be proven by either losing to the Mavs, or beating a Luka-less Mavs team and then losing to Phoenix 4-2 or 4-1.
My reasoning for that is not due to what Utah has done the last 20 years (that was just to point out that 2021 was by far an anomaly than this year, which has been historically the ceiling for the franchise in the 21st Century) but based on the fact they've not played well at huge chunks of the season. It doesn't matter how they've lost - they've lost. They also finished 1-2 against Dallas (losing by 8 and 14 points), as well as 1-3 against Phoenix (0-2 at home) with that one win coming against a Chris Paul-less Suns squad.
That's my point: Utah is what their seeding likely says they are. I feel that will be proven in the next few weeks.
