The Jazz won't give it a go until tomorrow night, but the NBA is finally back. After the craziest off-season that I can remember, things are finally settling down (except if you're in Denver where Melo could go at any time).
You'll get your first of compulsory dose of the Miami Heat as they start up against the Celtics. If you're channel-surfing for the next 8 months, there's a good chance you're going to run into the Heat, even if you don't have league pass.
I admit, I'll likely watch tonight to try it out but I'm sure I'll feel like the teenager that got caught smoking and the father makes you smoke a carton just to make sure you don't do it again by the end of the season.
Regardless, make sure to get out and enjoy the rest of the NBA while you're between Jazz games. In a lot of cases, it will make you appreciate the Jazz even more. A broader knowledge of the league will only improve your Jazz fan experience.
So all of the predictions for the coming season are done. Most have the Jazz going to the playoffs but those predictions have the Jazz going anywhere from the 1 seed to the 8th and everywhere in between. There's so much that can change during the course of the season that it's futile to try to predict these things with any degree of success. This is even more so
For Jazz fans, we're a finicky bunch though when it comes to these things. Rank us too low and you hear "man, we don't get any respect." Rank the Jazz too high and the common thread is, "No, don't jinx us!" We like to be in the middle of the pack. This allows us to maintain the thought that we're being dismissed and hated on a bit yet we can feel that we're better than most teams.
Anything outside of that, we start to feel a little uneasy.
As pointed out by Genessy, the KOOF and the Tree are both still in the NBA. The KOOF has made a good impression on the TWolves coaches and management since getting traded there. It will be interesting to see if he'll be making any meaningful contributions there.
Collins continues to hang around. He didn't play poorly for the Clippers in the pre-season, but it looks like he still has the Jazz-fouling method down. He had 20 fouls in just 93 minutes which come to almost 8 fouls in 36 minutes. He was tied for third on the team in total fouls.
While trying to force a trade has weighed most on Melo's mind, playing the Jazz again after getting Fesenkod in the first round was also in the forefront of his thoughts,
"I think the NBA was reading my mind. They granted my wish," Anthony said. "I wanted Utah first game. I know it's going to be a lot of excitement. They got us in the playoffs last year. We kept that in mind.
Melo may get his still, but the Jazz are going to do like they always do to the Nuggets and pound them on the inside. With Chris Andersen and Kenyon Martin out, Jefferson is going to have a field day.
Can't wait.
Tuesday poll... Is there any interest in having game-night threads for nights when the Jazz don't play?