Jazz vs. Mavs in round one

[SoberasHotRod]

Same vibe I get. I think the Jazz should win this series even if Luka was healthy. They should definitely win now that Luka is hurt....but nothing about this team's performance makes sense. Can't trust them to perform, especially when it matters most.

This is where I'm at. I'm definitely not making any predictions, or going to get too high of expectations.

I remember thinking we had the clear coaching advantage vs Denver, thought the same thing last year vs the Clippers. If Quin can't out coach Kidd, I'm not sure what to say.

 

[KqWIN]

This is where I'm at. I'm definitely not making any predictions, or going to get too high of expectations.

I remember thinking we had the clear coaching advantage vs Denver, thought the same thing last year vs the Clippers. If Quin can't out coach Kidd, I'm not sure what to say.

I thought the same thing with DEN. I actually thought they were the perfect matchup for us too...and they were and they weren't. Then last year it looked like we had a clear path to the finals. We were Vegas favorites to win it all, and I didn't disagree....but we know how that ended up. I can't even bother to deep dive into this series. It seems obvious that the Jazz should take this one....but I'm not going to trap myself into that thinking again.

 

[Handlogten's Heros]

When Luka starts doing individual on-court work, he'll still be 8+ days away from coming back. He needs to start running and then be cleared for contact and practicing full speed. I think he's going to be out through Game 4, at least. He could easily miss the entire series. Jazz should really be up 3-1 after 4 games.

I think he misses 2-3 games at the most. Part of it will depend on where the series is. Game 1 is super important… they win that he can let it heal and they can try and steal 1 out of 2 with no pressure.

Probably too simplistic but I think if Dallas pulls out game 1 they will win the series.

Which makes it a Must. Win. Game.

 

[Isaiah 1:13]

Since 2000, the Jazz in the first round: 36-41...and 10-25 in the second round.

So, we're slightly worse than average in first-round games (though 6-2 in that 4/5 match-up) and terrible in the semifinals.

Make of this what you will.

 

[Ferguson_Mellochill]

I think he misses 2-3 games at the most. Part of it will depend on where the series is. Game 1 is super important… they win that he can let it heal and they can try and steal 1 out of 2 with no pressure.

Probably too simplistic but I think if Dallas pulls out game 1 they will win the series.

Which makes it a Must. Win. Game.

Yeah, I think the Jazz should win this series in 5 games before Luka even shows up. Right now, Luka is sitting on an exercise bike and putting light pressure on his leg. He's not doing anything on the court. There's no chance he's available for Games 1 and 2, it's almost certain he'll be out for Game 3, and he'd have to really rush things to be back for Game 4. The injury is real.

It doesn't matter what the status of the series is, Luka is going to be out a while.

 

[Elizah Huge]

Lol at Dallas fans thinking riding the bike is a good sign it literally means nothing. Let me know when he tries to run off of it and such.

 

[MTS]

I wish Luka was healthy.

The way I view it is - if we're a title contender, we should be able to beat them anyways. If we're not a title contender, then there's really no potential for accomplishing anything meaningful in this postseason - we beat the Mavs without Luka and then get crushed by the Suns, whoohoo.

Beating the Mavs with Luka would've been kinda cool.

 

[Jingled]

I will be absolutely shocked if Luka misses the entire series. I bet he's back by game 3 or 4.

 

[Brsn]

I wish Luka was healthy.

The way I view it is - if we're a title contender, we should be able to beat them anyways. If we're not a title contender, then there's really no potential for accomplishing anything meaningful in this postseason - we beat the Mavs without Luka and then get crushed by the Suns, whoohoo.

Beating the Mavs with Luka would've been kinda cool.

I kind of agree. But I also think beating a short handed mavs team might boost our confidence and help with this mental slump were in.

 

[LogGrad98]

The last few games we've played at full strength or very near against teams with hobbled or missing stars we built double-digit leads just to have our now-standard meltdown in the 4th. This has been so consistent you can almost call the time in the game when it all turns to ****. And the things they have been saying to the media, particularly DM and Snyder, inspire the opposite of confidence that they know what to do about it.

Snyder says it's all part of the system, trust the system, the system is love, the system is life. DM says, hey I just have to shoot those really tough shots harder, and more of'em!

I have a really hard time believing this will be solved just because the playoffs start. I think we lose in 5 or 6.

I think there's an outside chance of DM going nuclear and us stealing the series, but I think the likelier scenario is we melt down in this series as we have been prone to do for the last 30 games. We've done it enough that it could be called a textbook definition "habit". And habits are tough to break when you are dead set against doing anything different. And from Quin I'm not expecting anything different.

Neither is any other team we'll play. They all know what we are going to do and they all know the meltdown is coming. They know a little double-team action on Mitchell will get him to jack up bad shots, and they know Quin won't make any adjustments if they get some different looks out there.

We've become too predictable and our vaunted offense isn't like the Stockton and Malone pick and roll, where even though you knew it was coming you had a devil of a time stopping it. No, the word is out on how to stop up. I'm feeling like this loss is just inevitable.

I sure hope I'm wrong though. I want nothing more than for this iteration of the jazz to win that ring. So I'm rooting for the win!

Just not betting on it.

 

[Isaiah 1:13]

I wish Luka was healthy.

The way I view it is - if we're a title contender, we should be able to beat them anyways. If we're not a title contender, then there's really no potential for accomplishing anything meaningful in this postseason - we beat the Mavs without Luka and then get crushed by the Suns, whoohoo.

Beating the Mavs with Luka would've been kinda cool.

Well your version makes a better movie but it is a war of attrition after all. Every championship team had to have a few favorable breaks along the way. Right now we’re a broken team, I mean everybody from Snyder to Mitchell to Gobert has got some serious scar tissue from trying to answer the unanswerable. We’re like the laughing stock of the league with these meltdowns and he said, she said

This is a free meal baby! I say hop on it get strong, grow some fangs and show these dime store critics and fair weather paparazzi what we’re really made of!

 

[SoberasHotRod]

This will be Quin's 6th straight playoffs, which is apparently the longest streak in the Western Conference. He's generally done a good job with a lot of preparation time to come up with a good game plan. We typically come out fairly strong and look good at the start of the series.

Specifically in the last two playoffs, Quin's issue has been his lack of being able to counter to an opponent's adjustments.