Predict the Utah Jazz upcoming season

MTJazzv3 · Post #61 » by **MTJazzv3** » Tue Aug 15, 2017 1:21 am

Just not at all ranking the Clips, Den, NOP anywhere above 9 to 7. Jazz in the hunt for the 6-8 seeds. Minny is a wildcard and I guess along with the Jazz I'd put up there as the dark horses who may exceed pre-season punditry. I'll take simply a tough out in the first round of the playoffs this year given the transition. The injury bug is going to visit the penciled 1-5 seeds at some point while the Jazz sail on fresh bodies. Could happen

Crunch 99 · Post #62 » by **Crunch 99** » Tue Aug 15, 2017 5:05 pm

Here is a guy at JNotes who looked at the recently released, difficult Jazz schedule and settled on 44-38 --- not bad.

Utah Jazz: Predicting win/loss record after schedule release
https://thejnotes.com/2017/08/15/utah-jazz-predicting-winloss-record-schedule-release/

Crunch 99 · Post #63 » by **Crunch 99** » Tue Aug 15, 2017 5:18 pm

Here is a guy at SLC Dunk, Mychal Lowman, who looked at the schedule and settled on an optimistic 50-32 prediction.

2017-2018 Utah Jazz Schedule: Week by Week Breakdown
https://www.slcdunk.com/2017/8/15/16146994/2017-2018-nba-schedule-utah-jazz-week-by-week-breakdown-rudy-gobert-gordon-hayward-boston-celtics

Crunch 99 · Post #64 » by **Crunch 99** » Sat Aug 19, 2017 1:31 pm

Here is a 47-35 season prediction from James Hansen at SLC Dunk:

https://www.slcdunk.com/2017/8/15/16148048/nba-season-schedule-release-how-many-games-will-the-utah-jazz-win

Catchall · Post #65 » by **Catchall** » Sat Aug 26, 2017 2:43 am

stitches wrote:I think people will be surprised just how much we will miss Hayward's defense in addition to his offense.

Not with Mitchell and Sefalosha, imo.

tleikheen · Post #66 » by **tleikheen** » Sat Aug 26, 2017 6:22 am

stitches wrote:
I think people will be surprised just how much we will miss Hayward's defense in addition to his offense.

Not with Mitchell and Sefalosha, imo.

tleikheen · Post #67 » by **tleikheen** » Sat Aug 26, 2017 6:34 am

stitches wrote:
I think people will be surprised just how much we will miss Hayward's defense in addition to his offense.

Not with Mitchell and Sefalosha, imo.

1st of all Mitchell hasn't done anything in the NBA yet ,he did it in Summer League.I question whether at 6'1" he's going to slow down NBA 2 guards.Seems Mitchell to have success will have to start learning the PG position where Rubio is and Exum is manning the backup position.Means he initially will get minutes at the 2 position behind Hood and a healthy Burks.
Somehow I think Hood and Burks will get some SF minutes with Ingles so Mitchell can get minutes too.Meaning less minutes for Sefalosha. I think Ingles gets some PF minutes taking away from JJ ,playing like Green does for GS.
Minutes will be taken from JJ and Sefalosha doesn't get as much minutes as the best players will play.

Rotation Players: Rubio,Hood,Ingles Favors ,Gobert
.................... Exum,Burks,Mitchell,Udoh

JJ,Jerebko,Sefalosha,Bradley get less burn on the court

Crunch 99 · Post #68 » by **Crunch 99** » Sun Aug 27, 2017 4:44 pm

Crunch 99 wrote:I think the Jazz finish the 2017-18 season ranked number one in the NBA on defense. Given our brilliant coach who used to play point guard, given high IQ, PG Ricky Rubio executing the game plan, given players getting healthy and further development of offensive skills for our young players, I am hopeful that the Jazz can once again be a top ten team with regard to point differential --- Jazz' average ppg less the average ppg they give up. Last season, we finished ranked number six with a 3.9 ppg differential. Even with Ricky Rubio sporting a man bun I am optimistic.

Here is a writer at JNotes who believes we only need to average 96 ppg to win a lot of games. Last season we averaged 100.7 ppg and gave up 96.8 ppg.

"How good does the Utah Jazz offense need to be?"
https://thejnotes.com/2017/08/21/utah-jazz-offense-how-good-need/

"The pieces are in place for the Jazz to have an even better defensive season than last, which should worry the rest of the NBA."

Besides a better defense, the writer is looking for multiple players to make small jumps in scoring averages and for Favors to make a sizable jump, which should help mitigate the loss of Hill and Hayward's production.

In addition, he is looking for the Jazz to get more easy baskets by forcing more turnovers and speeding up the offense over last season.

It may well be wishful thinking, but I am hoping that this Jazz team can hold the opposition to 92 ppg while scoring 95 ppg. I would probably bump Favors projected ppg down a little and Ricky and Rudy's projected ppg up a little over this writer's projections, along with some other adjustments, but generally agree with the conclusion of the article: killer defense combined with passable offense gets us wins! Go Jazz!

Crunch 99 · Post #69 » by **Crunch 99** » Wed Aug 30, 2017 3:38 am

The Las Vegas Westgate Superbook released their opening line for season wins for all the teams today. They've only got the Jazz at 40.5 wins. The win predictions for all the teams are listed in this link below:
http://sports-ak.espn.go.com/chalk/story/_/id/20496197/nba-golden-state-warriors-top-all-teams-under-675

KqWIN · Post #70 » by **KqWIN** » Wed Aug 30, 2017 4:05 am

That's a good line. 40.5 is right about where I'd put it.

Feilong · Post #71 » by **Feilong** » Wed Aug 30, 2017 4:48 am

Because of the tough schedule 40.5 seems fine.

stitches · Post #72 » by **stitches** » Wed Aug 30, 2017 8:04 am

KqWIN wrote:That's a good line. 40.5 is right about where I'd put it.

Yep, exactly what I thought. It's good enough that I don't know which side I'd take. I'd still probably go over, but not by much. I think we are just right around a 500 team.

Post #73 » by **Inigo Montoya** » Wed Aug 30, 2017 1:10 pm

40-41 wins won't get us to the playoffs in the west this year.

stitches · Post #74 » by **stitches** » Wed Aug 30, 2017 2:09 pm

Inigo Montoya wrote:40-41 wins won't get us to the playoffs in the west this year.

That's why...

Post #75 » by **Inigo Montoya** » Wed Aug 30, 2017 2:20 pm

nghedman · Post #76 » by **nghedman** » Thu Sep 14, 2017 10:45 pm

MeestR wrote:Upgrade at PG, added health, another years experience, and this generations Eddie Curry in small forward form is gone from the team. Everybody will be better if for no other reason than that players absence. Color me a homer this year. We'll be up with SA and Houston this year in the 2,3,4 spot.

So you must be the one that voted 62 wins...?

Will.... its at 2 votes now and I'm the other one. So many sheep in the media and fandom circles. I watch the Jazz pretty closely and I have two points.
1. Hayward wasn't the best player on the team like sooooo many predictors say.
2. Hayward most of the time didn't create his own shot. Yes he made his shots (unlike some of the others) but Haywards shots mostly came from Snyder's offense. So its an easy transistion to replace Hayward in the offense of the Jazz.

MeestR you pointed out some great reasons, that I think are right on. Might I add, better bench, better team unity, and better distributing PG, better interior offense, perimeter offense pretty much the same.... yea really, and way better defense. The Jazzes point guard last year (hill) was injured for too many games and most likely him and Favors cost the Jazz easily 5 or more wins. I voted the 62 but the other option was 52 and the Jazz will have a better record than last year and more than one game worth. They all say "defense wins games"... this year we will know for sure if that is true.
56-26

Paper Face · Post #77 » by **Paper Face** » Thu Sep 14, 2017 11:57 pm

The Jazz will win at least 50 games this year off of a historic defense and adequate scoring. They will not score 100 points every night, but just watch their point differential. They will be in the the top 5 of the league.

A healthy Favors and a typical Gobert portends plenty of offensive advantages teamed with Ricky Rubio. Look for both big men's efficiency at the rim to go up. When Jerebko comes in, look for the floor to spread. People that are talking up Denver's front court are going to be deflated watching them go against Utah's.

Pair that with all of the long arms, athleticism, and heady play that the Jazz sport at spots 1-3, and you should prepare yourself to watch a defense that scores off of blocks and steals at a rate that will mitigate their lost offensive punch. Watch for an increased transition game, and deflections everywhere. Hood's, Ingles', and Gobert's scoring will all go up. Think Favors' 9.5 ppg was a sign of things to come? Get real. Dude is healthy and in shape going into the season, and he will lead the team in scoring now that he is getting fed by Rubio.

Gobert owned all of the vital defensive stats in the paint last year, and they gave Draymond Green the DPOY award. The chip on his shoulder this year is going to be huge. Now that it is his team, look for the rest of the team to adopt his attitude. This will not be a passive squad, and it will not be mediocre either.

Daddy 801 · Post #78 » by **Daddy 801** » Fri Sep 15, 2017 2:47 am

Paper Face wrote:The Jazz will win at least 50 games this year off of a historic defense and adequate scoring. They will not score 100 points every night, but just watch their point differential. They will be in the the top 5 of the league.

A healthy Favors and a typical Gobert portends plenty of offensive advantages teamed with Ricky Rubio. Look for both big men's efficiency at the rim to go up. When Jerebko comes in, look for the floor to spread. People that are talking up Denver's front court are going to be deflated watching them go against Utah's.

Pair that with all of the long arms, athleticism, and heady play that the Jazz sport at spots 1-3, and you should prepare yourself to watch a defense that scores off of blocks and steals at a rate that will mitigate their lost offensive punch. Watch for an increased transition game, and deflections everywhere. Hood's, Ingles', and Gobert's scoring will all go up. Think Favors' 9.5 ppg was a sign of things to come? Get real. Dude is healthy and in shape going into the season, and he will lead the team in scoring now that he is getting fed by Rubio.

Gobert owned all of the vital defensive stats in the paint last year, and they gave Draymond Green the DPOY award. The chip on his shoulder this year is going to be huge. Now that it is his team, look for the rest of the team to adopt his attitude. This will not be a passive squad, and it will not be mediocre either.

I sure as hell hope you are right.

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uber_snotling · Post #79 » by **uber_snotling** » Fri Sep 15, 2017 5:21 pm

No team with a top 3 defense has missed the playoffs in the last 20 years.

If Rudy stays healthy, I see a top 3 defense. That travels well on the road and will get us to 44 wins, sufficient for the playoffs.

SoCalJazzFan · Post #80 » by **SoCalJazzFan** » Fri Sep 15, 2017 8:56 pm

uber_snotling wrote:No team with a top 3 defense has missed the playoffs in the last 20 years.

If Rudy stays healthy, I see a top 3 defense. That travels well on the road and will get us to 44 wins, sufficient for the playoffs.

This is more or less what I am pinning my hopes on. I think that Rubio, Sefolosha, Udoh and Mitchell, a healthy Favors and Burks and progress from Exum and Hood overcome, at least to a large extent, the loss of Hayward and Hill and Diaw and Withey. However, the increased strength of the West puts the Jazz in the mid-40 win range and competing for the 6-8th playoff spot with POR, DEN, MEM and NOP.

How will the Utah Jazz fare in 2017/2018?