Playoff Watch

[anish23]

Guys!

Mitchell is slowly approaching that star level, that last game vs Denver was intense. I really wan't that series to be the round 1 matchup, I really think we got a shot.

So, are you losing on purpose? We want that 6 seed? What results do we need for all the games remaining?

Lets talk.

What matchup do you guys want?

Really hoping we don't have to face Harden and watch that ****show again.

[Catchall]

I think Denver would be an interesting matchup--with Jokic/Gobert and Murray/Mitchell. I think it would be a winnable series if the Jazz shoot well.

[Inigo Montoya]

I think we have a better chance vs the Rockets this season but a series with the Nuggets will be more fun to watch. I wonder if it's still possible to meet the Clippers in the first round, that would be hilarious.

[KqWIN]

I'm not sure which opponent is actually easier between DEN and HOU, but I'd prefer DEN just to get some more variety and more fun basketball to watch. Both series are probably 60/40 in favor of the opponent imo.

[KqWIN]

seeding is settled. We will play the Nuggets

[Catchall]

I'm not sure which opponent is actually easier between DEN and HOU, but I'd prefer DEN just to get some more variety and more fun basketball to watch. Both series are probably 60/40 in favor of the opponent imo.

The Jazz have had strong offensive performances against average and below-average defenses. Denver's defensive rating is 16th in the league this year. If Denver is missing Will Barton and Gary Harris, their perimeter defense will take a hit. The Jazz may think that Mitchell and Clarkson can attack guys like Monte Morris and Jamal Murray and have some big games. Michael Porter Jr. also isn't a strong enough defender to deter Joe Ingles too much.

[KqWIN]

I'm not sure which opponent is actually easier between DEN and HOU, but I'd prefer DEN just to get some more variety and more fun basketball to watch. Both series are probably 60/40 in favor of the opponent imo.

The Jazz have had strong offensive performances against average and below-average defenses. Denver's defensive rating is 16th in the league this year. If Denver is missing Will Barton and Gary Harris, their perimeter defense will take a hit. The Jazz may think that Mitchell and Clarkson can attack guys like Monte Morris and Jamal Murray and have some big games. Michael Porter Jr. also isn't a strong enough defender to deter Joe Ingles too much.

We'll see. Torrey Craig has dominated Mitchell each time we played this season. DEN's defense also puts pressure on UTA ball handlers to make good decisions because they trap+scramble a lot. He's going to have to make good decisions which...I'm very skeptical about. If I were Quin, I'd rely more heavily on Ingles or even Conley.

[Crunch 99]

I was for Denver until I saw the ESPN Power Ranking writeup last Monday that noted that Denver is 3-0 against the Jazz, with Jokic averaging nearly a 30 point triple double in the three wins: 29.3 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists. The Jazz need to do way better than that against Jokic if they hope to win.

I voted for Houston, figuring they were smaller and more beatable this year while playing small ball with no Capela. I also don't like being in the Clippers bracket in case we win the first round. The Clippers are the toughest team and overall favorite imho.

I am nonetheless excited to see a new team in the first round though. Go Jazz!

[stitches]

I don't think Denver can stop our offense. We can always miss 75% of our open shots though... like we did last year against HOU. Unfortunately I think their offense will prove a problem for us too. Last year I was much more eager to meet the Nuggets because we had multiple defenders we could throw at Jokic and feel good about it... hell we could even throw Favs and Gobert together at him. I think Gobert being disciplined will be key. We cannot afford him being in foul trouble. Every time Jokic plays against any of our backup bigs it's a massacre.

For some reason I'm not that worried about Torrey Craig. I know he's guarded Donovan relatively well, but this will be much more about team defense and we've never had trouble creating open shots against that Denver scheme.

[KqWIN]

I don't think Denver can stop our offense. We can always miss 75% of our open shots though... like we did last year against HOU. Unfortunately I think their offense will prove a problem for us too. Last year I was much more eager to meet the Nuggets because we had multiple defenders we could throw at Jokic and feel good about it... hell we could even throw Favs and Gobert together at him. I think Gobert being disciplined will be key. We cannot afford him being in foul trouble. Every time Jokic plays against any of our backup bigs it's a massacre.

For some reason I'm not that worried about Torrey Craig. I know he's guarded Donovan relatively well, but this will be much more about team defense and we've never had trouble creating open shots against that Denver scheme.

Fair points. Chemistry aside, I don't think we were a more talented team last year but we were probably more well equipped to beat DEN. I was very confident that we would have handled them a year ago. Having Favors guard Jokic to allow Rudy to play more C field was such a luxury. DEN is also a very good offensive rebounding team so having extra size definitely helps. We had better passing too...DEN is a team who likes to trap a lot and I believe that last year's team could easily pass around the rotation and find easy baskets.

I agree that we'll probably be able to score against DEN's defense regardless. Offense has obviously been our biggest issue whenever we lose. I just worry a bit about our ability to execute. We go through so many stretches where we turn the ball over 4-5 times in 5-6 possessions.

Hopefully Quin can work some magic. I've been down on him as a coach lately, mostly for his command over the team, but I still believe he can put together a good gameplan. With so much time to prepare for DEN, I hope he's working in adjustments now so they'll be ready in game one and not in game 3 like last year. This DEN team is vulnerable against strong coaching IMO. There are some differences with this roster, but you've also got to remember that this team got taken to 7 games by a weak SAS team and ended up losing to a POR team with a one armed Kanter instead of Nurk.