Yesterday John Schuhmann (@johnschuhmann) of NBA.com posted his first NBA Power Rankings since April 23rd. Back in April he had the Jazz at #14, which was way higher than any of us were really thinking the Jazz would get based upon some of the teams' play midseason. The Utah Jazz fought hard, and made the playoffs. And the official website of the NBA recognized that. Right now, though, the Jazz somehow dropped 3 spots, and are standing at #17 - behind such great teams as the Orlando Magic and New York Knicks, while being just a hair over that of the Golden State Warriors and Toronto Raptors. Ouch. Check out JS's piece here.
Today David Aldridge (@daldridgetnt) ranked the NBA's teams according not to over-all power, but in terms of how great their off-seasons were. The Jazz, according to DA, had the #24th best off-season. Really? We only did better than 6 other teams? All we lost was Devin Harris, a trade exception *, and free agent C.J. Miles -- but added Mo Williams, Marvin Williams, Randy Foye, and Kevin Murphy, while bringing back Jeremy Evans, Jamaal Tinsley, and DeMarre Carroll; and we have a $billion of capspace for next offseason? That's a clown ranking. We even got a new GM in Dennis Lindsey without losing our previous GM in Kevin O'Connor. Check out DA's piece here.
So, according to guys who write for the league's official website the Jazz had the #24th best off-season and are #17th best over all. We're a playoff team from last season that ELIMINATED our main offensive problem from last season (three point shooting), while getting more athletic, and a year older (let's not forget we have only one dude on the team 30 and up) and more seasoned.
But hey, that's fine. Sleep on the Jazz. We'll be a nightmare for other teams in the last month of the season.