Post#11 » by lethalweapon3 » Fri Feb 1, 2019 10:01 pm
I never know quite where to place the Utah Jazz, the Atlanta Hawks’ next opponent on their seven-game road trip (9:00 PM Eastern, Fox Sports Southeast and 92.9 FM in ATL, AT&T SportsNet in SLC).
In the first couple seasons of coach Quin Snyder’s tenure, I touted the Jazz as a darkhorse candidate to make noise in the playoffs, only to be disappointed to see them fall short. In 2016, I declared that I wouldn’t be fooled again, only to watch them ride the defense of Rudy Gobert (somebody get that man some Kleenex), win 51 games, lose a tiebreaker to the Clippers, and win the first-round series anyway.
In 2017, I declared that they weren’t going to sneak up on anybody, only to watch Best Breakthrough Athlete Espy winner, off-guard, Donovan Mitchell catch everyone off-guard. Behind Mitchell, Gobert, Ricky Rubio and human gym rat Joe Ingles, the Jazz again lost a tiebreaker, this time to OKC, but won the series to reach the conference semifinals again.
So this year, I started out declaring them bonafide conference finals contenders to anyone who'd listen. You can imagine my utter lack of surprise when the Jazz stumbled through Thanksgiving with a 9-12 start to the season, their second-year star Spida hurtling dangerously toward Michael Carter-Williams Land through December with his sophomore shooting funk (first 33 games: 40.6 FG%, 29.0 3FG%, 3.3 APG, 2.7 TOs/game). Re-acquiring Kyle Korver (9.9 PPG, 40.9 3FG% w/ UTA) via a November trade to stack the bench alongside fellow 60-win-Hawkster Thabo Sefolosha wasn’t paying immediate dividends.
I was muttering under my breath that all seemed lost for the Jazz at that point, and it was clear somebody out there heard me. The Jazz were 14-17 through December 17, and they’ve gone 15-6 since, with Mitchell playing like the frontrunner for Western Conference Player not named James Harden of the Month in January (27.7 PPG, 41.2 3FG%, 5.1 APG, 4.4 RPG).
Just as I hopped back on the conference finalist horse, I got thrown off the saddle again. The Hawks got crowned by the Kings, 135-113 on Wednesday, yet still found themselves out-butt-kicked by the Jazz. Utah fell behind 45-27 in Portland and never recovered, falling 132-105 to the Blazers before a national audience.
The Hawks (16-34) kick off this homestand for Utah just like they did for Sacramento. While a team like the Clippers have some justifiable reasons for falling short of the playoff line, a team like the Jazz (29-23) can grab the 8-seed and be rewarded with a mid-tier first rounder and at least a pair of likely home games against the Warriors. If they can stay healthy, they’re as good as anybody to get out of the Western Conference’s first round yet again versus anyone else.
They’ll come in ornery, with the loss to their division rivals fresh in their heads, Gobert sobbing about an All-Star snub (probably prematurely, depending on what happens with Anthony Davis), and Rubio discovering he’s prominently on the trade block as the Jazz brass seek out a competitive backcourt upgrade.
But given how poorly I’ve assessed Snyder and the Jazz to this point, in a mild fit of protest, I’m going to stop here, get outside, and enjoy these Groundhog-friendly temps we’ve got out here for Super Bowl weekend. Look Ma… no Ice Storm! Sorry, New Orleans… just like your old team, the Jazz, you seem to be missing out on the fun!
Let’s Go Hawks!
~lw3
"Dunking is better than sex." - Shawn Kemp, 1996
