Thee Idiotic Minivan K
Well-Known Member
they were #1 in the whole playoffs in 97/98 season
Don't recall DWill ever getting as high as 4. Seemed like they were always 5th seed
ESPN predicts Jazz finish 5th.
- Thread starter MrMojoRisin
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they were #1 in the whole playoffs in 97/98 season
Don't recall DWill ever getting as high as 4. Seemed like they were always 5th seed
One of those years did they have 4th seed but not home court in the first round?
That's how I remember it, too.
Rgiss
Well-Known Member
Yeah, 2006-07 they had 51 wins and won the division, 5th seed Rockets had 52 wins. Jazz got the 4th seed because of the division rule
It might have been both years actually.
green
Well-Known Member
I think it was the other way around. They had the fifth best record but got the 4th seed because they won their division.
Portland is really well coached. Their nucleus is in an age range where solid improvement year to year is still likely. CJ had his breakout year and I don't see why his growth should end this summer.
With Vonleh they have an x-factor for improvement this upcoming or the next season. He's still really young and raw.
framer
Well-Known Member
That was my understanding too, both times we faced the Rockets it was an upset. We haven't earned home court for a very long time. Doing it now would be something our DWill led teams never did.
framer
Well-Known Member
Vonleh is averaging 3 and 4 in his 3rd season. He can improve, but c'mon, he isn't going to vault the Blazers into anything. Their problem is that they have locked themselves into a very mediocre frontcourt long term. How much more of a ceiling do you think Dame has? Can he score 50 a game and play stellar defense? I know I like our chances against them better now that we aren't trying to stop him with Raul Neto. . .
GVC
Well-Known Member
2001 was the last time the Jazz had homecourt in the first round.
IT really pains me that Portland is projected better than us, and topped us last year.
I really hope things go OUR way this year, and other teams have to struggle with the injuries.
I really hope things go OUR way this year, and other teams have to struggle with the injuries.
Thee Idiotic Minivan K
Well-Known Member
I remember winning the 4th seed vs the Rockets in 06/07. But they had home court. They won the first two the Jazz won the next 4.
Becoming their equal is as easy as changing our 1-3 record against them to 3-1. That would have put both teams at 42 wins last season.
We were only the 4th seed because we won our division and the rule at the time was that the division winner couldn't have lower than the 4th seed. Houston had a better record than us but was the 5th seed, they had home court because of the better record. If the rules then were the same as today we would have been the 5th seed
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Jazz have 8 of the top 10 players imo of the 2 teams.
1. Lillard
2. Hayward
3. Favors
4. Gobert
5. McCollum
6. Hood
7. Johnson
8. Hill
9. Burks
10. Lyles
11. Exum
The blazers next tier could be an argument with Burks Lyles and Exum, but I like the potential of Lyles and Exum over their players. Crabbe might jump into the 9-10 slot. Jazz add 4 guys without losing anybody and have 3 of their top 6 players (mpg) from last year that missed 20+ games. Blazers had only 20 games total missed from their top 6 players in mpg.
I think Blazers might be better as a team, but I think the WC as a whole will be improved with Memphis being healthy (compared to last year), Jazz improving, Minn improving. I don't buy that their guys will do much more than last year (Harkless, Aminu, Crabbe) and think the Turner/Henderson swap is a wash. Just my opinion.
1st fault: It was his 2nd year('14 draft) and he isn't even 21 yet. I think he's got some room to grow left. Who of the Jazz other than Dante and Lyles is pre break through? I'd even argue that a real breakthrough w/o injuries of others(which would in turn mean a worse record) is unlikely for both of them because of the minutes that Derrick and George Hill will get.
2nd issue I got: Even if their frontcourt is mediocre, it's okay right now. They follow their scheme, they play hard. And we're talking about a projection until next April. They're further ahead, I don't think they have a higher ceiling than the Jazz. But I don't think it's unreasonable to project them slightly ahead of Utah next season.
Gobert has a lot to improve on, so can Burks, and I see this being a breakout year for Hood (similar to McCollum last year). Hayward and Favors have improved every year, no reason to think they can't this year. Hill over Burke is a great improvement, and Johnson over Ingles is a great improvement. Jazz got better with adding good players. Blazers are hoping all their blue collar guys improve to become white collar guys. I don't think they are further ahead at all, they were just healthy last year and the Jazz weren't.
Small increments =/= huge jumps.
Hood, Burks have already produced high stats over a full season. Burks was very productive before he got injured. I'd be very surprised if Hood went from 15 to 21 ppg with a good efficiency next season.
Also think Rudy is already playing at a VERY HIGH level. Don't see a gigantic breakthrough. He already did that.
The Jazz were a better team than the Blazers last year. The Blazers were just lucky enough to avoid the injury bug for the most part while we weren't.
Look at the depth charts
Jazz
C- Rudy Gobert/Boris Diaw/Jeff Withey/Tibor Pleiss
PF- Derrick Favors/Trey Lyles
SF- Gordon Hayward/Joe Johnson/Joe Ingles
SG- Rodney Hood/Alec Burks
PG- George Hill/Dante Exum/Shelvin Mack/Raul Neto
Blazers
C- Mason Plumlee/Meyers Leonard/Festus Ezeli
PF- Al Farouq Aminu/Ed Davis/Noah Vonleh
SF- Evan Turner/Moe Harkless/Luis Montero/Jake Layman
SG- CJ McCollum/Allen Crabbe/Pat Connaughton
PG- Damian Lillard/Shabazz Napier
We have better balance, more depth, more versatility, and more growth potential in our roster. Nobody should be thinking the Blazers finish ahead of the Jazz next year.
Look at the depth charts
Jazz
C- Rudy Gobert/Boris Diaw/Jeff Withey/Tibor Pleiss
PF- Derrick Favors/Trey Lyles
SF- Gordon Hayward/Joe Johnson/Joe Ingles
SG- Rodney Hood/Alec Burks
PG- George Hill/Dante Exum/Shelvin Mack/Raul Neto
Blazers
C- Mason Plumlee/Meyers Leonard/Festus Ezeli
PF- Al Farouq Aminu/Ed Davis/Noah Vonleh
SF- Evan Turner/Moe Harkless/Luis Montero/Jake Layman
SG- CJ McCollum/Allen Crabbe/Pat Connaughton
PG- Damian Lillard/Shabazz Napier
We have better balance, more depth, more versatility, and more growth potential in our roster. Nobody should be thinking the Blazers finish ahead of the Jazz next year.