Official Utah Jazz 2021 Championship Boat!!!
- Thread starter fishonjazz
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I would prefer Grizzlies, of course, but this Warriors team is quite beatable. You need to make sure Wiggins and Poole don't have great games, make it somewhat hard for Curry, and hit some shots.
fishonjazz
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So here is my prediction of how the jazz playoffs go:
Round 1 vs golden state:
Very high scoring series with games always around the 120's in scoring. I like this matchup for the jazz as I think golden state allows us to play our normal style offensively. I dont think they can disrupt our offense enough to slow us down. I think golden state will also be able to score but cant keep up with all the firepower of the hydra. Jazz win in 5 or maybe 6. (if we get memphis we win in 4 or 5 as memphis cant keep up with the pace we will set)
I also predict that the jazz are preparing right now for the warriors and the warriors will be a bit tired and not ready for the rested and ready jazz playing on our homecourt in front of a bunch of crazy fans. Game 1 will be a blowout in favor of the jazz.
Im writing the mavs off right now. I think they are the worst team in the western conference playoffs. So, Round 2 vs the clippers:
Drastically different series than round 1 for us. Low scoring physicaly series. I think the clippers can disrupt us on offense and we will be forced to adjust and try some new things (that we would prefer not to try) and they will slow us down. However, I think our defense matches up very good against their offense. Kahwai is the type of player that royce is made for. Joe gets all up in PG head. Rudy will dominate the paint. They dont have enough shooting. Jazz win in 6 or 7. And its ugly.
At this point I consider this season a success but I want more.
WCF:
Here we could be facing denver, portland (think that series goes 7 games), suns or lakers.
If lakers: I think we lose. I think they can slow us down on offense and our defense doesn't matchup well with them. If they are our opponent in the WCF then that likely means that they are healthy and playing at the top of their game. This would suck. Im hoping someone else takes them out.
If suns: I think they are close to a mirror image of our team in a lot of ways. I pick the jazz to win due to homecourt advantage in 7 hard fought, close, high scoring games.
If denver: I think we are better than them on offense and defense. They present some matchup problems but I think quin is up to the task and figures them out early in the series and jazz win in 5 or 6 games. Our offense hums throughout and we average 130 points per game for the series.
If Portland: I think they play us tougher than denver and their guards get a hot a couple of games and make this series scarier than it should be. Jazz in 6 or 7.
Finals:
If Nets: That would mean they are healthy and have things figured out and in that case I think they have too much star power to overcome. I give us a 40% chance of victory and think the nets win in 6 games. Maybe we take them to a game 7. If their stars really go off it could even be a 5 game series. This is the worst case scenario in the finals. Though if we make the finals and lose, im pretty damn happy in the end. The nets are the biggest ceiling and lowest floor of all the true contenders imo. Hard one to predict due to the injuries during the regular season.
If 76ers: They give us lots of trouble. Rudy probably gets into foul trouble. They would be very physical and how the games are officiated could be a big factor. They dont have enough shooting imo but I still think this series would be very tough. I give the jazz about a 53% chance to win this series. Probably goes 7 games.
If Bucks: I think the jazz win this series pretty convincingly. 5 or 6 games with a few blowouts by the jazz included.
Round 1 vs golden state:
Very high scoring series with games always around the 120's in scoring. I like this matchup for the jazz as I think golden state allows us to play our normal style offensively. I dont think they can disrupt our offense enough to slow us down. I think golden state will also be able to score but cant keep up with all the firepower of the hydra. Jazz win in 5 or maybe 6. (if we get memphis we win in 4 or 5 as memphis cant keep up with the pace we will set)
I also predict that the jazz are preparing right now for the warriors and the warriors will be a bit tired and not ready for the rested and ready jazz playing on our homecourt in front of a bunch of crazy fans. Game 1 will be a blowout in favor of the jazz.
Im writing the mavs off right now. I think they are the worst team in the western conference playoffs. So, Round 2 vs the clippers:
Drastically different series than round 1 for us. Low scoring physicaly series. I think the clippers can disrupt us on offense and we will be forced to adjust and try some new things (that we would prefer not to try) and they will slow us down. However, I think our defense matches up very good against their offense. Kahwai is the type of player that royce is made for. Joe gets all up in PG head. Rudy will dominate the paint. They dont have enough shooting. Jazz win in 6 or 7. And its ugly.
At this point I consider this season a success but I want more.
WCF:
Here we could be facing denver, portland (think that series goes 7 games), suns or lakers.
If lakers: I think we lose. I think they can slow us down on offense and our defense doesn't matchup well with them. If they are our opponent in the WCF then that likely means that they are healthy and playing at the top of their game. This would suck. Im hoping someone else takes them out.
If suns: I think they are close to a mirror image of our team in a lot of ways. I pick the jazz to win due to homecourt advantage in 7 hard fought, close, high scoring games.
If denver: I think we are better than them on offense and defense. They present some matchup problems but I think quin is up to the task and figures them out early in the series and jazz win in 5 or 6 games. Our offense hums throughout and we average 130 points per game for the series.
If Portland: I think they play us tougher than denver and their guards get a hot a couple of games and make this series scarier than it should be. Jazz in 6 or 7.
Finals:
If Nets: That would mean they are healthy and have things figured out and in that case I think they have too much star power to overcome. I give us a 40% chance of victory and think the nets win in 6 games. Maybe we take them to a game 7. If their stars really go off it could even be a 5 game series. This is the worst case scenario in the finals. Though if we make the finals and lose, im pretty damn happy in the end. The nets are the biggest ceiling and lowest floor of all the true contenders imo. Hard one to predict due to the injuries during the regular season.
If 76ers: They give us lots of trouble. Rudy probably gets into foul trouble. They would be very physical and how the games are officiated could be a big factor. They dont have enough shooting imo but I still think this series would be very tough. I give the jazz about a 53% chance to win this series. Probably goes 7 games.
If Bucks: I think the jazz win this series pretty convincingly. 5 or 6 games with a few blowouts by the jazz included.
fishonjazz
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I think the jazz get to the finals btw. Thats my main prediction.
SoUjazzfan
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I think the key is having both Mitchell and Conley healthy. I'm more worried about Conley's hamstring than Donovan's ankle. If either go down second round is our ceiling. Both healthy, I think we make a serious run at the finals.
DasJazz
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Great minds think alike.
LogGrad98
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Solid.
I think the Jazz have a very good chance of advancing to the WCF against the Lakers. When I look at the times the Jazz and Clippers have matched up this year, a big factor for the Clips in those games was Lou Williams. In the one game where the Clippers beat the Jazz, Lou was their 2nd leading scorer with 19 points on 8/14 shooting, while Paul George only had 15 points on 6/14 shooting.
The Clippers are now relying on Reggie Jackson, Rajon Rondo and Marcus Morris Sr. to make up for Lou Williams' shot creation and scoring. Unless Rondo is amazing, the Clippers should now be easier to guard.
The Clippers are now relying on Reggie Jackson, Rajon Rondo and Marcus Morris Sr. to make up for Lou Williams' shot creation and scoring. Unless Rondo is amazing, the Clippers should now be easier to guard.
So here's my psychological breakdown of the Clippers vs. Jazz:
There's an element that the Jazz have been told that they are fake, and I think this can play out either way. I think if we knock off whoever we face in the first round and immediately hit some adversity in the second round with someone like the Clippers causing problems for us with their defense, it can play into this and shake our confidence. I think a lot of people (particularly on the outside) can and do see this angle. I think there's a different angle that's pretty neglected, even though it's fairly obvious. This Clippers team hasn't proven anything in terms of mental strength or chemistry. That's obviously a little more apparent, however. Last year they blew a 3-1 lead to Denver (as we did), but had enough talent that they shouldn't have (we shouldn't have either, but it does appear from a talent perspective that this was a bigger blunder for them). Who exactly is their leader? PG can fold easy. The whole thing about Kawhi having his own locker room and working out separately, that's a powder keg. But their problem is precisely the opposite of ours. Our problem is that our confidence will shake if it looks like we're fake. Theirs is that everyone since the PG/Kawhi trade/signing has deemed the LA teams the top of the western conference and that anyone else needs to "prove it," despite this team not proving ****. LAC roll into a series with us treating us like the annoying kid who got lucky and things he's part of the club. They dismiss this. They have no expectation of losing and think advancing to the WCF is just a formality. You knock them in the mouth a couple hard times and now they're shook because they think what couldn't happen just happened, and now they're not prepared at all, and their mindset really isn't there in the series because they screwed the pooch. PG goes into a shell. Kawhi actually happens to be the best guy you could consider throwing Royce at in the playoffs and ends up playing him pretty good. The Clippers have no other leadership to fall back on.
They just better hope that they can take us out of our rhythm in the first game and keep hitting their threes. I think if we can quickly put them on the ground while they're not looking and put our foot on their throat, they're going to fold after that if for no other reason than psychologically. PG will be prepping his post-series media excuses.
Just don't let it go the other way in the first game or two because this series can be won or lost in the mind.
There's an element that the Jazz have been told that they are fake, and I think this can play out either way. I think if we knock off whoever we face in the first round and immediately hit some adversity in the second round with someone like the Clippers causing problems for us with their defense, it can play into this and shake our confidence. I think a lot of people (particularly on the outside) can and do see this angle. I think there's a different angle that's pretty neglected, even though it's fairly obvious. This Clippers team hasn't proven anything in terms of mental strength or chemistry. That's obviously a little more apparent, however. Last year they blew a 3-1 lead to Denver (as we did), but had enough talent that they shouldn't have (we shouldn't have either, but it does appear from a talent perspective that this was a bigger blunder for them). Who exactly is their leader? PG can fold easy. The whole thing about Kawhi having his own locker room and working out separately, that's a powder keg. But their problem is precisely the opposite of ours. Our problem is that our confidence will shake if it looks like we're fake. Theirs is that everyone since the PG/Kawhi trade/signing has deemed the LA teams the top of the western conference and that anyone else needs to "prove it," despite this team not proving ****. LAC roll into a series with us treating us like the annoying kid who got lucky and things he's part of the club. They dismiss this. They have no expectation of losing and think advancing to the WCF is just a formality. You knock them in the mouth a couple hard times and now they're shook because they think what couldn't happen just happened, and now they're not prepared at all, and their mindset really isn't there in the series because they screwed the pooch. PG goes into a shell. Kawhi actually happens to be the best guy you could consider throwing Royce at in the playoffs and ends up playing him pretty good. The Clippers have no other leadership to fall back on.
They just better hope that they can take us out of our rhythm in the first game and keep hitting their threes. I think if we can quickly put them on the ground while they're not looking and put our foot on their throat, they're going to fold after that if for no other reason than psychologically. PG will be prepping his post-series media excuses.
Just don't let it go the other way in the first game or two because this series can be won or lost in the mind.
latin jazz
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Just to add that GS would also allow us to play tha same way defensively, as Draymond lack of shooting would enable Rudy to roam the paint.
The Grizzlies are playing well right now. We should not overlook them. I know we took care of them pretty easily this season, but they did the same to us last year. I also don’t know how the Conley versus his old team in the playoffs will play out either.
Don’t get me wrong, the Jazz are obviously favored and should absolutely win this series, but I’m not convinced it will be an easy series.
Don’t get me wrong, the Jazz are obviously favored and should absolutely win this series, but I’m not convinced it will be an easy series.
PattBattMann
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Don't get me wrong, the Griz looked pretty good. However, nobody on their team, or really any team, can get as hot as Curry. So, avoiding the potential upset from the Warriors is a plus.
fishonjazz
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Ya I think the clippers are easy for us to guard. I also think they can guard us as well as anyone. I think we beat them though.
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NAOS
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The difference in the Clippers series will probably come down to 5 things:
1. Can the jazz approach their regular season statistics on 3pt shots attempted per game, and 3pt percentage? And, more generally, how effectively can they counter a physical, switch-heavy defense (which opens up the 3pt shot).
2. Can the jazz turn PG into a 1.0 points per shot kind of guy?
3. Can the jazz keep Kawhi off the foul line?
4. How will the jazz adjust when Lue gives Ibaka and Morris the majority of minutes at the 5? How do we guard PG and Kawhi when our guys have less length, less athleticism, and Rudy isn’t behind them?
5. Officiating. LAC is going to push beyond the boundaries of physicality and force the refs to blow the whistle and hold the line. We need them to blow the whistle; and we need our players to have focus and resilience when they’re not. Quin and Mike might need to pick up strategic techs if **** is out of hand. Do it, Mike.
1. Can the jazz approach their regular season statistics on 3pt shots attempted per game, and 3pt percentage? And, more generally, how effectively can they counter a physical, switch-heavy defense (which opens up the 3pt shot).
2. Can the jazz turn PG into a 1.0 points per shot kind of guy?
3. Can the jazz keep Kawhi off the foul line?
4. How will the jazz adjust when Lue gives Ibaka and Morris the majority of minutes at the 5? How do we guard PG and Kawhi when our guys have less length, less athleticism, and Rudy isn’t behind them?
5. Officiating. LAC is going to push beyond the boundaries of physicality and force the refs to blow the whistle and hold the line. We need them to blow the whistle; and we need our players to have focus and resilience when they’re not. Quin and Mike might need to pick up strategic techs if **** is out of hand. Do it, Mike.