SLC Dunk: An SB Nation Community

Navigation: Jump to content areas:


Pro Quality. Fan Perspective.
Login-facebook
Around SBN: Off Tackle Empire interviews Rich Rodriguez

Holy Hollinger - Projects Utah Jazz as the #1 team in the West

Make sure you're sitting down for this.  Well, you likely are if you're reading this.  John Hollinger has projected the Jazz to have the best record in the Western Conference.  From his column,

Add it all up and the Jazz, perhaps a bit surprisingly, came out with the top record in the West when I projected each team's outcome -- beating out the Lakers by a single game. L.A. has the higher ceiling, and arguably so does Houston, but the Jazz have a far better likelihood of getting close to their roof.

 

Taking things a step further, picking the Jazz to have home-court advantage by virtue of the best record in the West means one almost has to pick them to win the conference, too -- between the altitude and the crowd's impact on the zebras, this team is nigh unbeatable at home. It's a crowded race and they're one of three teams I see as having roughly equal odds of making it out, but if I have to pick a horse out West, this is the one.

Their biggest weakness, he states, is their interior defense.  Surprise.  This led to the highest hack rate in the league and cost the Jazz between 5-6 games last year.  If the offense remains the same, and the hacking goes down, look for the Jazz to have the edge in the conference.

He's spot on in almost all of his statements.  In some of my pre-season predictions (for other sites), I put the Jazz at about 57 wins.  Hollinger has them at 58.  If that's the case, we would have home court throughout the playoffs.

It's looking good.

0 recs  |  Comment 17 comments |

Story-email Email Printer Print

Comments

Display:

We're screwed

Hollinger just expressed his full hatred for the Jazz and doomed our season. He knows he’s always wrong and by predicting us number one we might not make the playoffs.

by Aldeez on Oct 1, 2008 1:54 PM MDT reply actions  

Hollinger predicts the Blazers to go 42-20

Hooray, they’ll win the conference!

Seriously now, good news for both our teams: Hollinger predicts the Nugs to go 41-41.

Denver is about 1,600 feet higher than SLC, right? Do Jazz players get exhausted playing there?

"Personally, I'd rather give an elephant a prostate exam on Chili Day." --Dave on rooting for the Lakers or Celtics

by MiledAnimal on Oct 1, 2008 2:35 PM MDT reply actions  

42-20 is a great winning percentage.

But then you have another 20 games to play.

Denver is about 1000 feet higher, much higher if you’re Carmelo

It’s nothing for the Jazz. They usually put the beat down on the Thuggets. Here’s where the Jazz train,

by Basketball John on Oct 1, 2008 2:59 PM MDT reply actions  

Wait

they train at the cabin from Rocky IV?

I'll make it.

by Shums on Oct 1, 2008 3:01 PM MDT up reply actions  

Nah

Those are the West Slabs of Mount Olympus – Mountain of the Gods. That’s nearly the same view I have from my office window, alas there’s much less snow right now.

by kris247 on Oct 1, 2008 3:07 PM MDT up reply actions  

Facetious

I does it.

(I knew where the pic was, just making the joke.)

I'll make it.

by Shums on Oct 1, 2008 3:12 PM MDT up reply actions  

rocky Melo high

nice joke B-John.

Leave the ball, will you George?

by MTN on Oct 2, 2008 9:04 AM MDT up reply actions  

Awesome

but then again ESPN.com (don’t know whether it was Hollinger or not) picked the Jazz to go to the Finals in last year’s playoffs, so this may not mean much.

by Vromanite on Oct 1, 2008 6:17 PM MDT reply actions  

Hollinger is the best at predictions though, cuz he uses proven numbers.

He did pick the Jazz to go to the finals when the playoffs started, but he plugged in his magic numbers into the numbers machine and right before the Lakers-Jazz series, he switched his pick and picked the Lakers. But he said it would come down to a few buckets here and there and if the Jazz had won game 5, which they could have, they would have won the series. If there is anyone to trust, it is Hollinger. He has accurately predicted the right NBA champion 6 out of the last 7 years.

The more you try to erase me, the more that I appear.

by clarkpojo on Oct 1, 2008 7:04 PM MDT up reply actions  

Wrong about refs

Hollinger blamed Kobe’s free free throws on actual Jazz fouls. He may be too tied to the numbers. He might consider watching games some time. Last year’s playoffs, Kobe got better treatment than a fired wall street exec…

Leave the ball, will you George?

by MTN on Oct 2, 2008 9:02 AM MDT reply actions  

i watched the games

and thought the jazz confused kobe with shaq. problem is, kobe can make his throws.

heart of a champion, will of the warrior.

by cap'n hack on Oct 2, 2008 10:17 PM MDT up reply actions  

agree

it was hard to hear about all the referee scandals after the season and not think about the jazz-lakers series. kobe was going to the line if the camera guy looked at him wrong. that was a hard pill to swallow, because each game was close and a couple momentum calls or no-calls here or there and we have a different outcome.

by P_Dizzle on Oct 3, 2008 2:47 PM MDT up reply actions  

Gotta love it

I think I agree with him. You figure Deron Williams alone took the Lakers to 6 games. If he gets Boozer, Memo, or AK to play a full game then they beat the Lakers and who knows….

So this year if D-Will can at least get one of the other guys to show up for the postseason then he… uh… i mean THEY might have a shot. Just show up to one game a series is all we ask out of the rest of you. Except for Ronnie Price, he knew how to put his jockstrap on in the playoffs.

by P_Dizzle on Oct 3, 2008 2:38 PM MDT reply actions  

Comments For This Post Are Closed


User Tools

The Utah Jazz on SB Nation
Start posting about the Jazz »

Join SB Nation and dive into communities focused on all your favorite teams.

Connect_with_facebook

FanPosts

Community blog posts and discussion.

Recommended FanPosts

Myprofile_small
Deron is NINJA - video on YouTube
John-stockton-300b0518_small
The New-Look Jazz and the Flex Offence

Recent FanPosts

Small
Would you make this trade if you were KOC?
Deron_ninja_small
More Bloody SLC Dunk Logos
Myprofile_small
Superfriends vs. Real Teams
Playoffs2010_gm4_07_small
The Year of the #Doe
Myprofile_small
The What Ifs of 2011
Casspi_slaya_small
Ryan Thompson to go to Utah's Training Camp
Small
Al Jefferson is better than Boozer
Ben_handlogten_small
Gotta love Jazz fans

+ New FanPost All FanPosts >

Featured Poll

Poll
Stockton or Malone?
Stockton
264 votes
Malone
81 votes

345 votes | Poll has closed

More great SB Nation Blogs

SB Nation Local

Baseball

Football

Basketball

College

Hockey

Soccer

Combat Sports

Golf

General

SBNation.com Recent Stories

NEW YORK CITY NY - AUGUST 12:  Kevin Durant #5 looks on during the World Basketball Festival USAB Showcase at Radio City Music Hall on August 12 2010 in New York City. (Photo by Chris Trotman/Getty Images for Nike) +4 updates

FIBA World Championships 2010: Team USA Routs Iran 88-51, Clinches Top Spot In Group B

Cleveland Cavaliers' Delonte West, right, shoot over Indiana Pacers' Jeff Foster in the first half of a NBA basketball game in Indianapolis, Monday, April 13, 2009.  (AP Photo/Michael Conroy) link

Celtics Sign Free Agent Delonte West

Rose +2 updates

FIBA World Championships 2010: Team USA Ekes Out 70-68 Win Over Brazil

More from SBNation.com >


Managing Editor

Slcdunklogo_small Basketball John

Authors

Ghayward_small UtesFan89

Megajazznew_small Shums

526907a_small moni

Utahjazz_small clarkpojo

Allthatsm_small AllThatJazzBasketball