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Why are the Spurs on pace to win 72 games, yet the Jazz are floundering again?

H

Highpointer

New Member
Why did the San Antonio Spurs improve so much, yet the Jazz are again not likely to win the NBA championship? The Spurs, who finished the regular season last year with a 50-32 record and were swept in the second round by the Phoenix Suns, have improved so much that they are on pace to win 72 games, tying the 1995-1996 Chicago Bulls for best regular-season record in NBA history.

The Jazz, on the other hand, have only the fourth-best record in the Western Conference. Teams that finish that low in their conference almost never win the NBA championship. I don't recall any recent examples except for the 1994-1995 Houston Rockets who had the six-best record in the Western Conference, but they were the defending champions so for a defending champion the regular season doesn't matter much as long as they win enough to make the playoffs.

Therefore, why does it appear to me that the Jazz are again not going to win the NBA championship, while the Spurs are now likely on their way to win their fifth NBA championship since 1999? Why have the Spurs been so much more successful than the Jazz? Is it because Popovich is a far superior coach than Sloan, or are other reasons more important?

I am a Jazz fan, but it is getting tiresome to see another season go by without an NBA championship for the Jazz while watching the Lakers or Spurs win another NBA championship.
 
The Jazz are on pace to win 56 games. That's hardly "floundering" in this league. And they are doing it with six guys on the roster who weren't here last season.

The Spurs are immensely talented, have good chemistry from being together forever, and are well coached. That goes a long way in this league. Plus they score the ball, they don't foul much, they share the ball well, they rebound well (something the Jazz are very poor at), they're top 5 in FG% and 3PT%, and they're balanced. 9 guys on that team average 7+ PPG, and almost all those guys have played just about every game. I think they'll come down to earth a bit, but those ageless wonders have shown they got something left in the tank.
 
The Spurs have had most of their pieces together for a few years and have been hit by the injury bug for a few years in a row now. Despite the injuries they have still been an elite team. Now they are healthy and their rolling. Nothing surprising here (except their old guys are not injured again) in that they have had elite talent for a while now. The Jazz are better now than they have been and they have more talent now than they have for a while. However it takes time to incorporate that talent and the Jazz still have some pieces yet to fill.
 
The big 3 are healthy, RJ is a solid player who has gotten more comfortable in their system, their key role players like Hill and Blair are getting better, and new guys like Splitter and Neal are contributing nicely.
 
Also looks like Spurs have played the least number of games on road of any team right now.
That may be another reason they have best record.
 
Highpointer said:
Therefore, why does it appear to me that the Jazz are again not going to win the NBA championship, while the Spurs are now likely on their way to win their fifth NBA championship since 1999? Why have the Spurs been so much more successful than the Jazz? Is it because Popovich is a far superior coach than Sloan?
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Yes.
 
- Spurs' key players have been able to stay healthy. Health matters.
- Their new inserted offensive scheme has been great all year long but they tend to be too much dependent on outside shooting.
- Pops is just a great coach, the transition process from a slow half-court offense to this news offensive mentality has been as smooth as possible, it has everything to do with his coaching.
- Most important reason for the recent success of Spurs and the smooth transition is the overperforming of Spurs bench. The Spurs bench is one of the least paid benches but still they are the best performing bench so far this season. Like I said, they can become over-dependent on three point shooting and aside from Duncan, there's nobody upfront who you can rely on in tough situations. The magnificent show of bench have allowed Pops to keep his key players' PT averages at low limits. That's a luxury. The Jazz, for the record, have not had that luxury at all. I have major concerns about possible worn outs of Deron, Paul, who are playing enormous mins, in nearly every crucial moments.
- Schedule: The Spurs have had 21 home games, there are 42 home games in a season. Look out for the SAS record during Rodeo Trip.

Spurs seem to be destined to get 1st seed this year, and that's why the Jazz should do whatever they can to get a top3 seed, which will eventually reveal a Spurs-Lakers WCSemis matchup. Nothing like seeing one of your most dangerous opponents getting eleminated.
 
gregbroncs said:
The Spurs have had most of their pieces together for a few years and have been hit by the injury bug for a few years in a row now. Despite the injuries they have still been an elite team. Now they are healthy and their rolling. Nothing surprising here (except their old guys are not injured again) in that they have had elite talent for a while now. The Jazz are better now than they have been and they have more talent now than they have for a while. However it takes time to incorporate that talent and the Jazz still have some pieces yet to fill.
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they're
 
Highpointer said:
...why does it appear to me that the Jazz are again not going to win the NBA championship, while the Spurs are now likely on their way to win their fifth NBA championship
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To me it appears you actually had legitimate expectations that the Jazz would win an NBA championship this season. And if you want to bet $ on the Spurs winning it all let me know.
 
Nate505 said:
The Jazz are on pace to win 56 games. That's hardly "floundering" in this league. And they are doing it with six guys on the roster who weren't here last season.
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Yay. Another 2nd round exit. What a wonderful season. Glad we didn't flounder. I sure hope we can get 18 or 20 more just like this. Oh wait, we already have.

Our formula does not work like the Spurs formula. Pop is several notches above Sloan and they are better at incorporating dissimilar players. They take solid players and build around what they can do. We take a round system and try to hammer square peg players into it, often taking lower caliber players in our effort to find players that "play hard" and that can fit into the system. How often do you hear anything about some new player on the Spurs needing time to "learn the system"? Last couple of years the Spurs floundered due to near season-ending injuries to key guys. We just can't get everyone playing within the system.

Don't get me wrong, I think Sloan gets a lot out of his players, and the Jazz system works to keep them competitive, but I am losing faith that this system or this coach can get us any further than competitive.
 
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