OFFICIAL Postseason race thread *Sticky*
- Thread starter TheGobertReport
- Start date
LifeOnaPlate
Well-Known Member
Rough stretch. Let's turn it back around tomorrow in Memphis.
Coach Ellis
Well-Known Member
One game at a time. Think the focus needs to be slowing things down and grinding teams out. Keep teams under 90 points. Let the defense be the strength again and force teams to play our style. Neto should start. The Mack experiment was interesting, but this team needs to win games and I think Neto starting gets them there. Shelvin can come in off the bench and offer a defensive presence and faster pace of play. Neto is a little slower, more deliberate and can shoot better. Don't get into a running shootout - the Jazz struggle with that - and get rid of the turnovers.
Jazz have been starting strong, fade in the 2nd and 3rd quarters and then storm back to finish the game. I'd like to see them hold their first quarter lead through the whole contest.
Jazz have been starting strong, fade in the 2nd and 3rd quarters and then storm back to finish the game. I'd like to see them hold their first quarter lead through the whole contest.
Stifle Tower
Punch Bowl Re-Filler
The problem is the defense is no longer our strength. Something is wrong with Rudy and Neto/Mack is not Exum. Opposing guards are torching the Jazz. And that was true even before the big Mack acquisition (see what I did there?). Jazz have shown they can't get stops in the 4th quarter. They've shot horribly even when the pace is slow.
Miggs
Well-Known Member
I hope this was a joke.
Stifle Tower
Punch Bowl Re-Filler
Well, it wasn't originally intended to be. That 7 game winning streak (which seems so long ago) came mostly at home against pretty weak teams. The thriller at Dallas was the only "signature" win.
If you go back and consider strength of opponent and Home vs. Road, the only shocker in the games after the all-star break was losing to Brooklyn. And I guess a minor surprise losing to Houston, since during the win streak Utah had won home games against Charlotte and Chicago.
Utah is just terrible on the road (9-21) so count on any away win being a pleasant surprise. At home, Utah is fairly good against teams that are below or just slightly above .500. There are the few exceptions, of course.
Sneakers
Well-Known Member
If we go 12-8 and Houston goes 11-10 for the reason of the season, we'll be tied. We have a game @ Houston later this month that we need to knot up the tie breaker (I'm not sure what it goes to when head to head is tied). Doing so would require a bit of a step up in our level of play, and might be underestimating Houston a little bit, but both options are reasonable enough looking at the schedule. Stupid Nets game 
Sneakers
Well-Known Member
KD aint kiddin -- we're 16-21 in conference, Houston is 22-19. Good news is then that that our game against Houston doesn't mean anymore than any other game (despite "tiebreaker" headlines you might hear from Jazz media around then. Bad news is that we basically neat to beat Houston out by a game. As far as Houston goes, they have a very difficult schedule, until their last 5 games which include Lakers, Phoenix, Minnesota and the Kings who all should be tanking by then. In other words, if we aren't up on Houston enough to brave a 5 game end-of-season win streak, we might be outta luck. Here's to hoping.
In other news -- Jordan Clarkson this summer!?!?!?
In other news -- Jordan Clarkson this summer!?!?!?
So only a 2 game difference in the loss column? Seems kind of foolish to say it's a certainty that Houston finishes with a better conference record than us.
Sneakers
Well-Known Member
That's definitely a fair point. The terribly weak Western Conference end of season schedule for Houston is probably what would seal that for them in my mind. What the Jazz need to do is a) not lose the Nets game, b) beat Atlanta on Tuesday, c) win the games they "should" and get one miracle game, for example the other upcoming home game against SA.