Are the Utah Jazz 'title contenders'?

Nikos

Nikos

G-League
#1
#1
After a blazing start they are ranked #1 in offensive efficiency, and #7 in defensive efficiency after 5 games, and after tonight against Detroit those rankings shouldn't budge much.

Obviously they will not be THAT good by seasons end. But could they conceivably be a legit threat at the 2005 NBA title? Are they an elite NBA team?

What do you think? Can a team filled with excellent role players, depth, and great coaching win a title despite not having a dominate offensive player, nor neccesarily an above average player at every position (with a few borderline all star talents)?
 
Mr. S£im Citrus

Mr. S£im Citrus

Doryphore of KingsFans.com
Staff member
#2
#2
Nikos said:
What do you think? Can a team filled with excellent role players, depth, and great coaching win a title despite not having a dominate offensive player, nor neccesarily an above average player at every position (with a few borderline all star talents)?
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Don't be ridiculous; that's NEVER happened before!

[/sarcasm]
 
J

jeffjcalweb

G-League
#4
#4
i'd rate boozer & AK-47 as "above average"

/sarcasm

still, they have a young back court so we'll just have to see how the season progresses. i felt coming into this season that utah was the most improved team in the west (also felt denver was waaaaaaay overrated).

they are fun to watch. can you believe that? a utah team that is actually fun to watch? sheesh.
 
Nikos

Nikos

G-League
#5
#5
Mr. S£im Citrus said:
Don't be ridiculous; that's NEVER happened before!

[/sarcasm]
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Well it seems that Sloan plays his bench players for the most part almost as much as his starters. Many people site Utah's main strengths as 'depth'.

But the Pistons when it came down to it played 5 players mega minutes in the NBA finals. If it were not for Sheeds foul trouble, he might have played 40mpg as well.

Hamilton 44.4
Billups 38.4
R.Wallace 30.2
B.Wallace 40.6
Prince 39.2
Williamson 10.4
Hunter 13
Campbell 13.6
Okur 7.8
James 4.4
Ham 2

If the Jazz play 6-7 players -- who will it be? Arroyo, Giricek, AK47, Harpring, Boozer, Okur, and maybe a bit of Collins and Lopez? Is that really as good as Detroit's lineup? Detroit did have an above average player at every position with the exception of MAYBE Prince, who's defense made up for his offensive short comings (which were not that glaring anyway).

Some people don't consider AK47 or Boozer a main offensive threat like a Billups or Hamilton. So I guess the question is posed for those types of people.
 
4cwebb

4cwebb

Starter
#8
#8
There's no reason to think that the Jazz couldn't get it done, even without a dominant offensive threat, if they are able to run their offense against good defensive teams like the Pistons (who didn't have Big Ben manning the paint tonight, btw). The first time the Jazz play the Spurs and the Mavs will be interesting games (presuming it hasn't already happened), as those teams probably represent the two favorites from the Western conference right out of the gate...and, yes, I purposefully omitted the Twolves, for one reason or another.
 
Mr. S£im Citrus

Mr. S£im Citrus

Doryphore of KingsFans.com
Staff member
#9
#9
4cwebb said:
There's no reason to think that the Jazz couldn't get it done, even without a dominant offensive threat, if they are able to run their offense against good defensive teams like the Pistons (who didn't have Big Ben manning the paint tonight, btw). The first time the Jazz play the Spurs and the Mavs will be interesting games (presuming it hasn't already happened), as those teams probably represent the two favorites from the Western conference right out of the gate...and, yes, I purposefully omitted the Twolves, for one reason or another.
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The Mavs? As in, the Dallas Mavericks? As in the team coached by Don Nelson?
 
4cwebb

4cwebb

Starter
#10
#10
Mr. S£im Citrus said:
The Mavs? As in, the Dallas Mavericks? As in the team coached by Don Nelson?
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I know, I know. But I think they'll end up being a better team this year by effectively swapping Nash for Dampier in the starting lineup, and few teams in the league can boast of offensive firepower off the bench like Jason Terry and Stackhouse, each of whom has had big offensive games in the first five or six to help the Mavs win a game or two already.

Not to mention that, barring injury, it looks like Dirk is going to challenge KG and Duncan for their stranglehold on the MVP over the last three years. Kobe will have something to say about it as well, but I'd be willing to bet that Duncan and KG will be favored over Kobe since their teams will presumably win more games, and I don't see why the same logic shouldn't apply to Dirk.

And, yes, six games does not a season make. The Mavs have started seasons very well in the past and come up with no NBA title to show for it, but I think they are much improved this year. But what do I know...
 
Evenstar

Evenstar

Starter
#11
#11
at this point in time, i'd say yes. BUT BUT BUT, it will be a LOT tougher road for the jazz. the western confrence is STACKED, and each round will be a LOT tougher grind then the next. also, they are *probably* going to have to beat the spurs to get to the finals, a VERY TOUGH task. the pistons had a MUCH easier path to get to the finals, it won't be the same for the jazz.

i say yes they can, but i don't think they will. i still think the spurs are going to win the title, i just hope the kings have something to say about that :D ;)
 
Bricklayer

Bricklayer

Don't Make Me Use The Bat
#12
#12
No they're not. Not this year. Too young and inexperienced.

Give them a few years though. If no truly great team arises they could be in the mix. Still tough without a first rate offensive star though. Has happened....once in 25 years?
 
sloter

sloter

Starter
#16
#16
Nikos said:
Detroit did have an above average player at every position with the exception of MAYBE Prince, who's defense made up for his offensive short comings (which were not that glaring anyway).
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I don't see that much wrong with Prince's offensive game. He doesn't take that many shots, but I'd say he's still among the top 10 SFs in the league.

And I do think that Utah are contenders. My favorites to win the West are the Spurs, but I think that Jazz have better chance than Minnesotta or Dallas.
 
T

twocents

Bench
#17
#17
i think jazz will be title contenders when/if kirilenko becomes strong enough to take "jump"shots comfortably.
don't forget that they still have arroyo and lopez (whom i think will be a better pg than arroyo in the very near future) who are yet to play in a game this season. and okur is still very out of shape (thanks to brown; speaking of which what will happen to this poor darko kid, the next european sensation?).
 
Geoff

Geoff

Starter
#19
#19
Back on topic... :p

ask me that question again by the All-Star Break.

And even then I may defer it to the beginning of the post-season.

Right now I can see them being better spoilers in the #8 playoff position than Denver was last year, they may be like the Heat were in the east last year but it is still too soon to tell.
 
xrzn

xrzn

Starter
#20
#20
I said before preseason started to my friends that the Utah Jazz will be very good this season and will have a very good chance to win the NBA championship.
 
V

vladetomiller

Bench
#21
#21
I have been very impressed with the way utah is playing now and i love thier defensive hustle. They are not one dimensional like the pistons and they can score too, they can score from all positions, though each of them are not a great offensive threat they can still score points. In the playoffs they may not have a goto guy but maybe that will be their strength.

I think they reach the WCF and depending on luck maybe the finals
 
sloter

sloter

Starter
#23
#23
People were saying that Minnesota (not to mention Detroit) wasn't a champinoship contender last year because it was their first season with a new team, and they went pretty far. The fact is there aren't very many teams that play better basketball than Utah right now. Not much playoffs experience, but they do have Jerry Sloan as their coach, so everything is possible. I would not write them off.
 
L

Lamar_Odom

Bench
#24
#24
Nikos said:
After a blazing start they are ranked #1 in offensive efficiency, and #7 in defensive efficiency after 5 games, and after tonight against Detroit those rankings shouldn't budge much.

Obviously they will not be THAT good by seasons end. But could they conceivably be a legit threat at the 2005 NBA title? Are they an elite NBA team?

What do you think? Can a team filled with excellent role players, depth, and great coaching win a title despite not having a dominate offensive player, nor neccesarily an above average player at every position (with a few borderline all star talents)?
Click to expand...
I should have known it was you, Nikos. You love creating threads like these.

It's too soon to tell but I'll say this much. The Jazz might just have enough in them that if they get hot enough, they could go all the way. The NBA is evenly spread out right now that any team can take it. There's no overwhelming team like in the past where you can easily say the Bulls or the Laekrs will take it. This year, it's wide open although the Spurs and the Piston might get the nod for the West and East. The gap is very narrow though that on a any given night in the playoffs, anything can happen.
 
Bricklayer

Bricklayer

Don't Make Me Use The Bat
#25
#25
sloter said:
People were saying that Minnesota (not to mention Detroit) wasn't a champinoship contender last year because it was their first season with a new team, and they went pretty far. The fact is there aren't very many teams that play better basketball than Utah right now. Not much playoffs experience, but they do have Jerry Sloan as their coach, so everything is possible. I would not write them off.
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Minnesota was a new team, as in newly constructed, but it had all sorts of playoff experience and the to biggest pieces who got added had two rings (in Cassel) and a Finals appearance in Spree.

Utah's different. Its core players are not only new, they also only have a handful of total playoff games between them. No way they're ready to make a run all the way to the Finals while barely knowing what its like to even be in the playoffs. That just doesn't happen to anybody ever basically.
 
6th

6th

Homer Fan Since 1985
#26
#26
Lamar_Odom said:
The NBA is evenly spread out right now that any team can take it. There's no overwhelming team like in the past where you can easily say the Bulls or the Laekrs will take it. This year, it's wide open although the Spurs and the Piston might get the nod for the West and East. The gap is very narrow though that on a any given night in the playoffs, anything can happen.
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I absolutely agree with you here, Lamar_Odom. I think this will make for a very interesting and exciting season for many fans.
 
Bricklayer

Bricklayer

Don't Make Me Use The Bat
#27
#27
Hmmm...I'm thinking a near loss to the expansion Bobcats might put a bit of a damper on some of this championship talk. ;)
 
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C4

C4

Bench
#28
#28
jazz pull a magic trick just in the nick of time to escape the Bobcats tonight. Was rooting hard for Charlotte anyway. oh well..
 
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