I believe that this is going to be one of the most unpredictable Jazz teams ever. In the Deron years, you could always count on 50-55 wins (barring injury). In the Stockton/Malone years it was similar: 50-55 early, 55-60 later.
But this year ... man. Four probable starters are being promoted from the bench, and the fifth is a rookie. How can anyone possibly predict this.
That said, everyone feels compelled to of course. I'm collecting every prediction I can find right now, and I will continue to do so until the season starts. I really want to know what consensus there is about the Jazz among the anointed prognisticators (if any) and compare that to what the Jazz actually accomplish. Here's one of the first:
From HoopsWorld. They predict the Jazz are 15th in the West.
If you ever miss a significant interview on 1280, or you just would rather read it than listen to it, you need to check up Moni's blog ... she transcribes them, verbal tics and all. In yesterday's interview with Randy Rigby, he dropped a bit of interesting information about Ty Corbin:
How does Tyrone Corbin feel about the Jazz going young?
As Ty visited with us, he expressed some concern, from his perspective, and rightfully so.A coach, when they look at a young team, and what that means to the coach, and potentially, his record, and he didn’t say his record, but what that means to, then, he as a coach, and how he is being viewed, had some legitimate issues that we as a front office and with the Miller family, we needed to also address.
I think that this is a concern for almost all coaches in the NBA. How many times are high-profile coaches willing to go through a rebuilding process? Think of Phil Jackson's hasty exits when his teams are no longer championship contenders. Think of Doc Rivers bolting to the Clippers because the Celtics are rebooting.
Jerry Sloan's willingness to coach the 2003-04 Jazz team is, I think, unique. And it took a unique combination of character from the coach, unwavering support from the front office, and security that came from nearly 20 years of winning teams.
I understand why Ty Corbin may be anxious, as a young coach. His coaching career at this point is much more tenuous than an established ones — and even established ones are wary of young, rebuilding teams. A lousy record in his first coaching stint could break his career before it really begins.
My hope is that things work out and the young guys turn out to be good.
The Utah Jazz fan community is a really fun, and wonderfully international one. One of them is Japanese artist Mizuho Nishio. Here's how he welcomed new Jazzman Brandon Rush to the team:
Here's how Brandon Rush reacted:
@jashin_mizuho dope!!
— Brandon Rush (@BRush_4) July 17, 2013
The roster currently stands at 12 guys: Burke, Burks, Hayward, Favors, Kanter, Jeremy, Marv, Gobert, Rush, Biedrins, Rich Jefferson, and John Lucas III. The NBA says they have to have at least thirteen guys.
There's obviously Raul Neto still in play. Here's a list of currently available free agents. Who would you like to see?
As has been pointed out many, many times (including in my ongoing "So much depends upon" series ... Hayward is next by the way), if the Jazz are more than a bottom-feeder this year at least one of the F5 has to break out as a star.
We all have opinions about who the most likely to break out like this, and we all have thoughts about whether a break-out star is likely (I say yes). But that's not what I'm curious about that right now. I'm curious who you hope turns out to be the break-out star.
Your reasons can be any (most fun, most important spot for the team, highest ceiling, etc.). But who do you hope emerges as the star of the team?