Espn Predicts Jazz...

[HolyToledo]

Espn "experts" pick Jazz as 6th seed with 47 wins, one less than last year.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/stor ... tStandings

Whats your prediction based on current roster?

I predict Jazz get third best record in west behind Lakers and Portland with 53-55 wins. A contender but not nearly as good as the Lakers nor Portland. Jazz are equal to Spurs and Nuggets. Lakers will dominate West for one-two more years then Portland will dominate west for the next 3-5 years thereafter.

I would not consider the above a great season for the Jazz as anything less than a championship would not be satisfactory.

[DelaneyRudd]

5th or 6th

[outerspacefella]

I expect Lakers to win the west; Nuggets, Spurs to fight for second; Blazers, Mavs going for fourth. Jazz 6th over Hornets, Rockets it's a good expectation right now if you ask me.
Basketball wise, I still see Nuggets and Spurs as too much for the Jazz.
The Lakers are a diferent story; it's more of a mental thing.

[QuantumMacgyver]

That sounds about right to me. As long as Duncan is in SA I think they'll always have our number. Lakers are gonna be tough unless Artest divas out again.

I'm not sure I see Portland and Denver being that much better than us tho. Both are good teams but Portland is strictly a jump shooting team and that typically doesn't work for more than a season or two. If they can get a legitimate inside scorer then I'm worried. Denver is a talented team but I think they may be a bit overrated.

Billups-great. Carmelo-great. Martin-onesided, Nene-inconistent. J.R.-'Nuf said.

If the Jazz can get a wing player who can create his own shot, ie: a younger Rip, Maggette, etc, I think we are better than both of those teams.

[erudite23]

I see 50 wins as the benchmark for the season. This is a transitional year for the Jazz. We have the talent to break out and make a run at 60 wins, but all the moving parts in addition to the salary concerns and the Boozer saga will probably put a cap on our potential for this year.

Beginning next year we will know what we are going to do with AK's contract, we will have the Boozer/Millsap thing finalized, we'll know what we have in Kosta--budding young talent or JAG--, we'll know if we're keeping Brewer or loading him off to be replaced, and most of all we will know what that sweet little honeypot of the NYK #1 turns into.

If everything works out properly, we could easily be positioned to start a dynastic type run. Or we could be left in a position where we need to do some serious retooling to get back to where we want to be.

[Racer X]

Denver is going to come back down to Earth.
LA, SA are going to be tops. Jazz will fight with rest for 3rd.

[JazzJuice]

Jazz # 4, 1-3 LA, SA, DAL in that order. 4-7 will be a crap shoot between Utah, Portland, Denver, New Orleans. 8th will be Pheonix fighting off Golden State.

I hope LA, Denver, and Dallas all implode, but I've been hoping that for years.

I think the Jazz success will be in spite of Boozer's success/failure. It will be more based on the imrovement of players like CJ, Brewer, Korver, and AK. I do hope he does well enough to get us some good young talent at the trade deadline.

[jazzfan1971]

Magic 8 ball says, "Ask me again when the Boozer situation is finalized".

[DelaneyRudd]

I would say anything 4 or above is over achieving. 7 or 8 is underachieving. Lotto is a disaster requiring blow up of the team.

[outerspacefella]

I see 50 wins as the benchmark for the season. This is a transitional year for the Jazz. We have the talent to break out and make a run at 60 wins, but all the moving parts in addition to the salary concerns and the Boozer saga will probably put a cap on our potential for this year.

Beginning next year we will know what we are going to do with AK's contract, we will have the Boozer/Millsap thing finalized, we'll know what we have in Kosta--budding young talent or JAG--, we'll know if we're keeping Brewer or loading him off to be replaced, and most of all we will know what that sweet little honeypot of the NYK #1 turns into.

If everything works out properly, we could easily be positioned to start a dynastic type run. Or we could be left in a position where we need to do some serious retooling to get back to where we want to be.

I mostly agree with this. I'm going to add only one thing we will know once and for all: We will find out if Deron Williams' a Superstar, a Perennial All-Star, an All-Star, or a darn good point guard.

[Montanajazz]

Jazz, if healthy will challange for #1 eam in the west. They will win the division, overcome the emotional majesties of the Spurs and Lakers. They will be 1,2, or 3. Denver 4, Portlnd 5, New orleans, 6, Dallas 7, Housten or Pheonix 8. With or without Boozer at the end of the season

[UTJazzFan_Echo1]

Jazz should be 1-3 in the West and top 5 in the NBA.

Will they? That is a good question...

Guess we will find out just how good of a job Sloan will be able to do with keeping all his players happy. Williams needs to have an All-star year and if the team plays to its full potential than should be a top consideration for MVP honors. Sloan will win Coach of the Year award too if the team decides to play.

My guess is somewhere around 50+ wins if we can manage to stay healthy with no locker room issues. 2 big If's but its gotta happen or we are going to be in trouble. I think health is probably the biggest issue, start your Jazz prayers early this year...

[Ming Kong!]

That's not a bad prediction, but I think they could do considerably better as long injuries are not as bad as last year, and hopefully the Boozer situation doesn't become a big distraction. I hope we have 1st round home court, or just miss the playoffs all together, cause I really don't want another one and done season. You also don't know just how bad the Knicks will be, so while it could be a great pick, they could also contend for a playoff spot, the East is very tough to predict. This might be the season I really look least forward to, but should be one of the most interesting. I really do hope that Boozer and Millsap have to fight for starting position, and hopefully Millsap outplays Boozer, since he's obviously going to stay with us long term. I hope AK's weight does him some good, don't know why he always starts the season great, and then disappears into the oblivion, hopefully he shows some consistency this year.

[Ming Kong!]

Oddly enough they predict every team in top 9 to have the same amount, or less wins.. that makes no sense.

[MeestR]

That sounds about right to me. As long as Duncan is in SA I think they'll always have our number. Lakers are gonna be tough unless Artest divas out again.

I'm not sure I see Portland and Denver being that much better than us tho. Both are good teams but Portland is strictly a jump shooting team and that typically doesn't work for more than a season or two. If they can get a legitimate inside scorer then I'm worried. Denver is a talented team but I think they may be a bit overrated.

Billups-great. Carmelo-great. Martin-onesided, Nene-inconistent. J.R.-'Nuf said.

If the Jazz can get a wing player who can create his own shot, ie: a younger Rip, Maggette, etc, I think we are better than both of those teams.

that player is meant to be cj.



i predict maybe a win or 2 better than last year. same team, not sure why it will be much different (plus AND minus). i think the jazz sneak up on nuggets and even the blazers as both are getting kinda cocky(even coach karl is running his mouth) and that may translate to a closer than expected nw division. i don't think jazz get the division 'ship, but i wouldn't be surprised if they did. (conversely, i wouldn't be surprised to see them scrape another 8 seed and limp into the playoffs again)

this whole "if healthy" excuse, that seems to be pretty popular in this thread, is BS. the team's success should be based on its ability to deal with injuries. that's why teams have GM's, coaches, trainers, scouts, and a bench. basically, if the team loses games because of injuries, it's not the injury's fault.

[erudite23]

That sounds about right to me. As long as Duncan is in SA I think they'll always have our number. Lakers are gonna be tough unless Artest divas out again.

I'm not sure I see Portland and Denver being that much better than us tho. Both are good teams but Portland is strictly a jump shooting team and that typically doesn't work for more than a season or two. If they can get a legitimate inside scorer then I'm worried. Denver is a talented team but I think they may be a bit overrated.

Billups-great. Carmelo-great. Martin-onesided, Nene-inconistent. J.R.-'Nuf said.

If the Jazz can get a wing player who can create his own shot, ie: a younger Rip, Maggette, etc, I think we are better than both of those teams.

that player is meant to be cj.



i predict maybe a win or 2 better than last year. same team, not sure why it will be much different (plus AND minus). i think the jazz sneak up on nuggets and even the blazers as both are getting kinda cocky(even coach karl is running his mouth) and that may translate to a closer than expected nw division. i don't think jazz get the division 'ship, but i wouldn't be surprised if they did. (conversely, i wouldn't be surprised to see them scrape another 8 seed and limp into the playoffs again)

this whole "if healthy" excuse, that seems to be pretty popular in this thread, is BS. the team's success should be based on its ability to deal with injuries. that's why teams have GM's, coaches, trainers, scouts, and a bench. basically, if the team loses games because of injuries, it's not the injury's fault.

No. The reality in the NBA (and other professional sports) is that injuries are part of the game. To an extent, you must deal with them and succeed in spite of them. When those injuries read a certain breaking point, nothing can be done. The real issue is whether injuries "excuse" bad performace for the rest of the team (players, coaches, personnel guys etc). Did you see any heads rolling in 96-97 when David Robinson and a host of other key guys went down and the Spurs went from a perennial 50-60 win team all the way down to the 2nd worst record in the league? No, you didn't, because at that point there's nothing that can be done. Just like in the NFL when your QB goes down. There are certain key guys that no team can afford to lose. The Jazz lost both of their most important players for half of the season (DWill was playing, but he was basically lost, and Boozer was really lost for 70 games, he wasn't himself when he came back, either). I think that qualified as being past that "breaking point" which I alluded to earlier.

[carrottop12]

My guess is the Jazz are better than most people think.

The talent is there to be a top 4 team in the West. And if the defensive commitment is there the Jazz should be really good.

Also, I'm not that worried about the Boozer situation. They are good with him, if he acts out, trade him and get someone else who can help the team.

[carrottop12]

Here are our pre-season predictions. Looks like Delaney nailed it.

[Sloanfeld]

We are favored by their analysts.

http://espn.go.com/nba/playoffs/2010/ma ... zz-nuggets

[jazzfan1971]

Ran it 10 times. Lakers never won.

Not too confident it's working well.