Considering the Jazz are only 3 games into the season, I’ve been shocked/disappointed by the number of “this team stinks” comments that I’ve seen. I wanna take this in two bites:

Team Play

It’s true, the team did not play super well against the Kings or the Suns. Open shots weren’t falling, cuts weren’t getting seen by the guards, fastbreak defense was poor (to say the least). Those two games were pretty ugly.

But… We’re only 3 games into the season.

I know at this point last year, the Jazz were 3-0 and things were looking up. The difference is that this year, there are actual expectations, the roster got better, we know how capable the rookies/sophomores are. It’s hard to look at the results from last year and think that this team is going to be anything less than a lottery team again.

But let’s look at the three opponents:

  1. Kings (3rd in the West last year)
  2. Clips (5th in the West last year - healthy PG, Kahwi & Russ)
  3. Suns (4th in the West last year - healthy KD)

And they won one of those games.

I don’t want to say that the quality of play has been good, but I would argue that it probably should have been expected.

Individual Play

It really bums me out seeing people dunk on Walker saying that he’s been playing like garbage or that THT and Collin need to be benched, because they are (all three) still very capable players. If I’m in Will Hardy’s head, I’m still experimenting with new players, new defensive schemes, new rotations, and I don’t think 3 games is enough to really make a decision on what works/what doesn’t.

I totally see (and mostly agree with) the argument that Keyonte has been the best PG so far, but it’s gotta be tough to switch up rotations, especially after only 3 games. The Jazz have 6 very capable guards. The trick is figuring out how they all fit on the team. I’m pretty sure that one or two of them will be traded before too long, but we’ll have to see.

I guess I just want everyone to pump the brakes a little bit. The zone that they are running on defense, Keyonte, some of these rotations all look like they are going to be awesome. It is just going to take a larger sample size to decide what works and what does not.

  • UtahJazz420BEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    Objectively this team is not built to make any serious playoff run. This lineup (as it currently stands) only has one All-Star caliber player does not have any All-NBA caliber players. Unfortunately you need players of that caliber to accomplish anything in this league.

    I have seen enough of THT and Sexton to see that their games are incredibly one dimensional. They are still young and can improve - but to expect some massive jump from either of them is not realistic. Dunn is most likely at his ceiling as well. It’s great that he fought to get back on an NBA roster, but we need to stop pretending he is some undiscovered diamond in the rough. At best he is a serviceable bench contributor.

    Here’s hoping our young players continue to improve. Here’s hoping Hardy unlocks some secret combination of guard lineups that can hide the shortcomings of the personnel on hand. Here’s hoping we win… but it is completely reasonable to be upset with the subpar level of play displayed so far in these first few games. It is clear we are in for a slog this season.