Jazz will from now on win more than half of the remaining games

[franklin]

This season those things don't really matter..... in those being bad in those areas might be the best thing that could happen to this team

And yet noone can give a coherent reason why a coach without a contract would go down said losing path on purpose..... while they complain how bad he is for not doing so instead of blaming DL for not giving him an extension and clearing this mess up.

Actually, DL has said he is playing the vets in order to repair the image that Utah is not a veteran destination. He says he has a duty to Biedrins, Jefferson, and Marvin.

 

[DutchJazzer]

The core are getting plenty of minutes and quickly developing into a very solid team. Just because you subjectively dislike some aspects of the coaching doesn't make it a wasted season. This isn't a Disney cartoon where everything is either black or white.

but they are not getting a lot of minutes TOGETHER!.

thats also chemistry. getting minutes TOGETHER!

 

[fishonjazz]

And yet noone can give a coherent reason why a coach without a contract would go down said losing path on purpose

GF has

 

[GVC]

I think winning 50% of the remaining games is unrealistic.


The following are the teams better (IMO) than the Jazz. I've included games remaining against these teams in parentheses (Home/Road):

Tier 1 (No way in hell the Jazz can consistently compete with these teams)

Miami (1/0)
OKC (1/1)
Ind (0/1)
SAS (0/2)
Por (1/1)
LAC (1/1)
GSW (1/1)
Hou (0/1)

Total: 5 Home games, 8 Road games


Tier 2 (Still clearly better than the Jazz)

Dal (2/1)
Min (2/2)
Pho (1/0)
Atl (1/0)

Total: 6 Home games, 3 Road games


Tier 3 (with some luck, Utah can compete with these teams)

Was (1/1)
Tor (1/0)
Den (1/1)
Mem (1/1)
NOP (1/1)

Total: 5 Home games, 4 Road games

All told, the Jazz play 31 of their remaining 47 games against the above teams, with 15 of those games on the road. If the Jazz win 40% of their home games and 20% of their road games against these teams, you're looking at a record of 9-22 or 10-21 against these teams (maybe a bit too optimistic).


I'm also inclined to place Detroit, New York, Brooklyn and Sacramento ahead of the Jazz, but those teams haven't performed up to their talent thus far (IMO). The remaining games against those teams:

Tier 4 (a hair better than the Jazz)

Det (1/1)
NYK (1/1)
Brk (1/0)
Sac (1/0)

Total: 4 Home games, 2 Road games

As I see the Jazz as slightly worse than these teams, let's assume the Jazz go either 4-2 (win at home, lose on the road) or 3-3 (one more home loss than road win) against them.


The Jazz fall into a group with the following 5 teams:

Tier 5 (on par with or slightly worse than the Jazz)

Chi (0/0)
Bos (1/0)
LAL (1/2)
Cle (1/1)

Total: 3 Home games, 3 Road games

I think most would argue the Jazz will do better than .500 over this stretch (and I've argued the Jazz would only go .500 against my Tier 4), so let's assume the Jazz go either 4-2 (one more road win than home loss) or 3-3 over this stretch of games.


This leaves the teams that I consider clearly worse than the Jazz (although some may argue that Orlando belongs in Tier 5). Remaining games:

Tier 6 (worse than the Jazz)

Orl (1/0)
Phi (1/1)
Mil (0/1)

Total: 2 Home games, 2 Road games

Let's assume the Jazz go either 4-0 or 3-1 over these games.


Adding up the above records, I have the Jazz winning between 18 and 22 of their final 47 games (I think 18 is more realistic than 22...and possibly still a bit high), which would put their final record between 29-53 and 33-49 (which is roughly in line with what most people expected before the season started). With my rankings, and the Jazz's slow start, I still expect them to be slotted between 4 and 9 in the lottery (I thought they'd be between 5 and 9 before the season), although historically teams with between 29 and 33 wins are slotted a bit worse (I've probably overestimated their wins against the top teams).

It's probably worth pointing out that although the Jazz are 10-10 over their last 20 games, playing 10 games at home and 10 on the road against teams that are a combined 45 games above .500, they've been outscored by over 4.5 points per game, which is generally considered a better predictor of future success than wins and losses. It's probably also worth mentioning that 29 of the Jazz's final 47 games are against Western Conference teams, which isn't true of the Eastern Conference bottom feeders.

 

[framer]

We will beat Houston because it is what we do. . .

 

[CAKAR]

As the main options against bench players. Both will have to live with the reality that this is Burke's team now. Favors seems to be adjusting to his role within the offense well. Kanter hit the wall 1 month into the season (not in game shape yet) and still seems kind of lost with his positioning when playing with a real point guard (Which I don't think he has ever done). In order to get big minutes he will have to 1. Work his way back into shape 2. Work that pick and pop, especially as Favors will be the one crashing the basket, and 3: find his defensive niche when playing alongside Favors. I think he can do this, so I am not extremely worried yet. I suspect that much of it rests on his conditioning, which is a bear to work yourself into once the season starts. I would suspect that some of the things I looked at previously as lingering injuries were probably tiredness and soreness from hefty workouts on top of playing a heavy schedule of games.

Burke´s team ? I remember summer league where he was bashed on a totally wrong direction, because he played garbage. Likewise he is actually hyped at the wrong direction. Burke is good, but you can find good PG´s everywhere in the NBA and I do not see Burke turning into a player at Deron Williams/Chris Paul level.
But its not easy to find Big-Man that are special in this league. Yeah Kanter and Favors where producing against 2. string guys together, but do not miss that Kanter was like 19/20 and Favors 20/21 years old, when they played like that, with less experience.

Kanter with brute strenght, footwork and elite jumpshooting ability, Favors with elite athleticism, shot blocking and sloid jump shot ability. These two playing together successfully could be something special in this league.

Hayward and Burke are very talent, especially Burke is an ice-cold player in clutch time and Hayward is working on his body well.But, I still believe that the biggest talent is inside the Utah Jazz young Big-Man.