Are the Jazz a top ten team?

I group teams into categories three of them are; Super Teams, A ton of talent but don't play like a Super Team, and Very Good teams


The Super teams:

Celtics
Heat
Lakers
Thunder
Spurs

A ton of talent but don't play like a super team:
clips
knicks
nets

Very good teams
grizzlies
nuggets
pacers

I wanted to see if the Jazz fell in there so I figured out.

Utah’s record vs “Super teams, Very Good teams, and ton of talent but don’t play like a super team”
Big wins are separated from the rest

UTA vs MIA W 99-98

UTA vs OKC W 97-90

UTA vs OKC L 87-101
UTA @ OKC L 85-111
UTA @ BOS L 82-94

UTA @ LAL W 103-99

UTA vs LAL W 96-87
UTA vs LAL L 87-90 (OT)
UTA @ LAL L 71-96
UTA @ SAS L 104-114
UTA vs SAS L 102-106
UTA vs SAS W 91-84
UTA @ SAS L 89-104
UTA vs DEN W 121-102
UTA @ DEN W 106-96
UTA @ DEN L 100-117
UTA vs LAC W 108-79
UTA vs LAC L 105-107
UTA @ LAC L 96-105
UTA @ NJN W 105-84
UTA vs NJN W 107-94
UTA @ NYK L 88-99

UTA @ MEM W 98-88

UTA @ MEM L 98-103
UTA vs MEM W 94-85
UTA @ IND L 99-104

Interesting stats:

• The Jazz played 26 games and won 12 of them (46 %)
• They Played 12 of those at home and won 8 of them (66.67%)
• They Played 14 on the road and only won 4 (28.5%) -Not bad though considering these are the best 10 teams
• Their record against the finalists(OKC and MIAMI) was 2-2 with 2 on the road
• They won the Memphis, Miami, Denver, and Brooklyn series and tied the Lakers series
• They lost the Pacers, Thunder, Spurs, Celtics, and Knicks series
• They lost 50% of these games by less than ten points.  That means half of their losses could have gone either way too, they could have very well have won 73% of their games vs these Big Boys

Contenders for 4th position? I think so.

I think the Jazz are going to be a threat for the 4th seed in the west for a few reasons,


They had 3 weaknesses last year: 3 point shooting, Defense, and fouling. And have adressed each one of them.


3 point shooting:
The Jazz last year did not have any 3 point shooters at all. literally. They had 0 people in the top 75 in three shooting last year and with the pickups of Mo Williams, Randy Foye, and Marvin Williams they have three in the top 45. They also will have the young guys stepping up (Hayward and Burks). With consistent threats on the outside and Post the Jazz will continue to be one of the best offensive threats in the league.

Defense
All three additions for the Jazz have been defensive upgrades for who they are replacing. And with Favors development we will jump “high to the sky”

Fouling
Ever hear the phrase “addition from subtraction”? Well that is true here, The Jazz traded Devin Harris who was fouling a whopping 3.5 times a game. That’s the highest on last years team by 0.7 fouls! The Jazz management is also going to try to address this problem during training camp.

The Jazz will also get much better on offense while Favors and the young guys game progress.  This team is ready for a big leap this year.

Lets Talk Stats!

I recently read a comment on a website that I thought you guys would like:

“Let me help you guys jump on the Hayward bandwagon
I was putting in some stats into basketball reference, and what I found was really interesting
I put in:
Players who were between 6′4 and 6′11
players who scored 16 or more a game
Players who had 4 or more rebounds a game
players who had 3 or more assists a game.
Players who shot at least four FT’s a game.
Players who shot at least 37% from behind the line (Gordon shot 42% post all star game)
Now just a to reiterate, This is what Gordon Hayward did after the all star break. This is when we saw him make “the jump”, and I think this is what he’ll be able to sustain throughout his career.
You know what other players had at least these numbers?
James Harden
Kevin Durant
Joe Johnson
If you take out the 3pt%, (allowing for worse 3pt shooting to be considered), the players you get are:
Harden, Durant, Joe Johnson, Griffin, Wade, Pierce, Josh Smith, Lebron James, Carmelo, Kobe, John Wall, Tyreke Evans.
Now I know that these others players also excelled at other parts of the game or did better at these stats, but this is still a pretty awesome list. I think if Hayward sustains the play he had last season (and most likely getting a few more ppg, my guess is 18 or so), he’ll be a top 25 player in the NBA, as his defense is already pretty good.”

I read this and wanted to do more than just Hayward.

I decided to do Favors first:

When I watch Favors play I see a TON of potential and when I compare his stats to others I see the same thing. I wanted to see every player in history that was 20 or younger, in their second season, and the method of per 36 minutes averaged: 1.7 blocks, .495 fg%, 14.9 points, and 1 steal. These were the Names that showed up:
Andrew Bynum
Dwight Howard
Eddy Curry
Tyson Chandler
Kevin Garnett
Andris Biedrins
Jackie Butler
Robert Swift
Olumide Oyedeji
These are very good players and an even better stat is that when I sorted these players by Block % Favors showed up at 5 ahead of Biedris, Jackie Butler, Howard, Curry, and Oyedeji. And so indeed, the future is bright for Favs!

Next was Burks:

I love Burks, He is just a Workhorse, I decided to do in rookie season; from age 18 to 21; played G or G-F; requiring Free Throw Pct greater than or equal to  .725 and Field Goal Pct greater than or equal to .425 and Points greater than or equal to 16.3 and Total Rebounds greater than or equal to 5.1.
The players that showed up were good but there were too many no names; namely:
Rashad McCants
Ron Mercer
Harold Miner
But the good players in the Pack were:
Ray Allen
Micheal JordanMagic JohnsonChris Paul
Derrick Rose
Clyde Drexler
These players can play and although you can’t judge a career off of one season, he looks like he has a great future

And Last Enes Kanter:

I put in: The players had to be in their rookie season; age 19 or younger; 6-9 or taller; requiring Total Rebounds over 11.4 and Points over 12.4 and Blocks over 0.8 and Field Goal Pct over .495
The only players to average these numbers before were:
Dwight HowardDarius MilesDerrick Favors*******Tyson ChandlerEddy CurryKosta KufosAndris BiedrinsKendrick PerkinsThat is a strong group and the Jazz’s future frontcourt is in it.

**********So in short:**********

Player Comparisions:
Hayward: James Harden
Favors: Dwight Howard
Burks: Chris Paul
Kanter: Tyson Chandler
Our Future Is Bright

Huge Step Made,

Utah Jazz News Now has now made a Official Facebook page and Youtube channel and a Twitter account. Just for fun here are some Utah Jazz videos we have made:

There are two much better videos of Gordon Hayward and Derrick Favors on our channel here.
Also you can like us on Facebook on the bottom of this article and follow us on twitter here.

The Utah Jazz Have two new Clippers

Mo Williams is our new point guard and as seen in these highlights he is a good one, he made his last all-star appearance in 2009,

Randy Foye will be a valuable piece to us if he plays to his full potential, which is a good thing.

Jazz acquire Clipper SG Randy Foye

The Utah Jazz have officially signed Randy Foye to a 1 year 2.5 million deal.  Foye has averaged over his career 11.6 points, 2.4 boards, 3.2 assists, and 86% free throw shooting over a 389 game career, in which he started 214.  Foye was a solid starter for the Clippers and us Jazz fans hope he can put up good numbers for us.  I for one hope he is ok coming off the bench behind Hayward because we need Hayward to keep starting.  For the most part the Jazz have had a good off-season, Losing: The Injury-Prone Josh Howard, The very streaky CJ Miles, The off-and-on Devin Harris, and the "I hate Utah" Raja Bell, while Grabbing: A New leader Mo Williams, A Average Starter Marvin Williams, A Decent starter Randy Foye, A Rookie Kevin Murphy. Which I think is a good swap except for Kevin Murphy, but he is just a rookie.

The new good question is can we make the Playoffs again this year even with a stronger Sacramento, Golden State, and Minnesota, while the Nuggets are staying just as good and the Suns, Mavs, and Rockets are declining quickly? I say,

The Jazz trade Devin Harris, signal that Mo Williams will start.

Devin Harris had some problems in Utah, and Kevin O' Conner was sure to get rid of the old and put in a new point. The trade will be official on July 11, and the Jazz will get Marvin Williams, a Small Forward drafted at #2 that hasn't panned out as planned.

The Jazz traded for Mo on June 29 and, in my opinion, immediately became better. Above is a picture of the most likely starters, which include (left to right) Mo Williams, Gordon Hayward, Paul Millsap, Al Jefferson, Marvin Williams. The Jazz also have bought out Raja Bell's contract, which was around 3 million. As of today the Jazz have 13 men on the roster and have a 5 million Mid-Level Exception which would allow them to sign a free agent for 5 million dollars. Some options for this exception would be Steve Novak, a very good three point sharpshooter, Andrei Kirelinko, the Russian, or maybe just sticking with the same club. When this comes down to it only Kevin O' Conner knows what will happen. He might even not know what yet, but what ever way he goes, I know from the past, that he will make our team better this off-season.

Former Jazzman Williams traded to the Jazz, Mo Williams, that is.

  Many things have happened since my last post.  Mo Williams was traded to the Utah Jazz.  Which is a huge deal considering the Jazz are weak at point and at three point shooting, both of which are assets of the former, and current Jazzman.  You can check out a great article about it by clicking the link above.  


  The other big thing is that with the 47 pick in the NBA Draft the Utah Jazz selected Kevin Murphy.  He is a small forward who is a sharpshooter, he is also the only man to score 50 or more points in a major college game this past season.

What I made from the Utah Jazz this year.

The Utah Jazz have overall had a up-and-down type of year, but overall I took it as a success.  At the beginning of the year they were predicted to be one of the worst in the western conference.  But in the end they went through a five game winning streak to be placed inside of the playoffs, it was the first playoff experience for so many of them.  I am now expecting big things in the future because these young men showed that they can play with the pros.

1. Paul Millsap)  I believe he is our biggest asset.  Milly wants to start in Salt Lake City grow in Salt Lake and Retire in this City even if Favors takes his seat.  Besides how many power forwards lead their team in steals and offensive rebounds, and are in second in: Defensive Rebounds and Rebounds.
2. Al Jefferson)  He is our best player statistically but isn't our leader.  He leads in points, rebounds, blocks, and defensive rebounds.  He has great stats but isn't the best for stats not listed like hustle stats.
3. Derrick Favors)  Over the year he had the biggest improvements for the Jazz I've seen in many many years.  This young man is ready for starters minutes, and star treatment.
4. Gordon Hayward)  I love Hayward, he has been my favorite player since he was drafted, some people boo'd him, but for me fireworks set off in my heart.  He has officially earned a starting spot on our roster, and has exceeded my expectations.
5. Devin Harris)  Harris this year has been off and on, the first half he was horrible but in the second half of the season he became a very great player, it will be fun to see how he fairs in 2013.  Overall I really liked Harris and he could pilot our plane for a couple more years till we get a future point.
6. Josh Howard)  I was very unsure about how he would come out of free agency but he ended up quite well, he is planning on joining us for the not so far away future. and I would love that to happen.
7. Alec Burks)  Burks really surprised me and showed many flashes of what he could become. in mid season Ty started to play him at late game situations and Burks really preformed well then.  He can very well be our 2 guard of the future.
8. Enes Kanter) I really hoped he would turn up well but he appeared rusty but showed some flashes of what could come.  Besides big men tend longer to develop (Dirk Nowitzki, Andrew Bynum, Karl Malone) and I am hoping that is what is happening here.
9. C.J. Miles)  I had big hopes coming in and felt bad for him and his injury coming out.  But when he wasn't injured he wasn't the greatest player, lets hope he signs up with us and also sharpens up for us.
10. DeMarre Carroll)  He has had a great story for this year, getting dropped from Denver, picked up to Utah, from no minutes to starting when C.J. Miles got injured, and in that time really proving his worth.  While he has a great story and has the heart, he wasn't able to earn a high spot on the best players.
11. Jamaal Tinsley)  A lot like Earl Jamaal is a great veteran for the squad and always gives the team a mental boost.  He is such a good role model and player that Mike Brown said "If he were still in LA I would start him"
12. Earl Watson)  He is getting older but this man is as good a teacher as he is a player.  He really knows his stuff and boosts the morale of the younger men on this basketball squad.  I obviously don't see him getting better in his career in Utah but just having a veteran on the team gives us a huge upside.
13. Jeremy Evans)  Jeremy became the first Jazzman to ever win the dunk contest!  I unfortunately don't see this talented young man progressing much from that title, but he made something interesting for Jazznation!

This year was definetly a good one and lets hope that the Jazz are able to make this next one even better.

The next OKC Thunder? The Utah Jazz.

Kevin Durant, a couple days after being drafted

                      It has now been five years since Kevin Durant’s name was announced as the second pick in the 2007 NBA Draft, that same young man has now made a finals appearance.  The Utah Jazz are on the same course the Thunder were on not long ago, in fact they are just a few steps behind.  Utah has created a very sturdy foundation the same way as the Thunder did just half a decade ago. 

Derrick Favors has defense down but needs to work on his offense

                      The Thunder’s foundation was created off of: Kevin Durant, pick 2 in the 2007 NBA Draft, Russell Westbrook, pick 4 in the 2008 NBA Draft, Surge Ibaka, pick 24 in the 2008 NBA Draft, and James Harden, pick 3 in the 2009 NBA draft.  The Jazz have now done the same thing with: Derrick Favors, pick 3 in the 2010 NBA Draft, Gordon Hayward, pick 9 in the 2010 NBA Draft, Enes Kanter, pick 3 in the 2011 NBA Draft, and Alec Burks, pick 12 in the 2011 NBA Draft.

                       Also for both teams the talent does not lie, who wouldn’t want to make their team from a group of lottery picks?  You get the talent and the chemistry formed early.  I also noticed that both teams started outside of the playoffs, grew to make the playoffs, and if you look at what the Thunder have done, the Jazz are on track for a good little run in a couple of years.

                       I read in an article that:

Gordon Hayward and Derrick Favors could
very well create a dynasty here in utah.

"Several analysts have explained that, even though the teams have had their struggles, the fan support in their respective cities is unparalleled. Their fan support is unparalleled because, rather simply, there’s no one else there to cheer for.  Fans in the Salt Lake City and Oklahoma City (even collectively the Utah and Oklahoma) areas, can pledge their full allegiance to a single, hometown team. For example: when the Thunder’s record reflected a 3-29 start in their first season in OKC, the Chesapeake Energy Arena continued to sell tickets and fill seats.  Again, when the Jazz traded Deron Williams and coach Jerry Sloan resigned in 2011, fans’ morale and encouragement never wavered.  The devotion and unheralded support of fans is an undeniable similarity between the Utah Jazz and Oklahoma City Thunder.  It’s also a strong basis to build on.”

                       And that is exactly the basis that the Jazz need to become championship worthy.

                       It is undoubted that the Utah Jazz with minor roster tweaks and chemistry strengthened, could, in a couple of years, be conteding for a title.