One Word to Describe the Season; a Thank You to the Jazz

/ sgodfrey630

The Utah Jazz, 2017-2018 version, has been amazing. With the season now in the rearview mirror, it’s time to pen a thank you for these boys of the Wasatch to recognize their success, which has been historic, exciting, and, well, amazing.

Amazing.

A word that becomes cliche, hyperbolic, an over and understatement, and sometimes just doesn’t carry the depth that you really mean. Yet, in this case, it really is the word to perfectly describe this team and this season, specifically the second half of the year.

Donovan Mitchell’s emergence: amazing. Rudy Gobert’s defensive dominance: amazing. Quin Snyder’s coaching abilities: amazing. Dennis Lindsey’s ability to construct a team: amazing. Ricky Rubio’s manliness and manbun: amazing. The cohesiveness and brotherhood of said team: amazing. Joe Ingles in general: amazing.

ICYMI: Two Jazz players are in the conversation for end-of-season awards and it’s time to make their case. For Rudy Gobert, is he an All-NBA center and Defensive Player of the Year nominee or did injuries deter the legitimacy of his candidacy? For Donovan Mitchell, people outside of Utah may wonder why we are infatuated with this guy, but he healed our heartbroken souls of 2017 and is giving us a glimpse of excitement, stardom, and passion we haven’t had in awhile.

And we could keep going, right? A first-round tango with Oklahoma City, stepping all over their feet in a 4-2 series win? Amazing. Donovan Mitchell going toe-to-toe with Russell Westbrook AND SCORING 22 POINTS IN A QUARTER IN THE DECISIVE GAME? Amazing. A second-round waltz with the NBA’s best, Houston? Well, not as amazing, but stealing a game in Houston? Amazing! Alec Burks resurgence from the dead? Amazing! MITCHELL SCORING 22 IN A QUARTER AGAIN IN THE PROCESS OF GIVING IT HIS ALL? Amazing.

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

 

Flashback with me a minute and remember this:

  • First, to the summer of 2017 as I was writing about cycling through stages of grief after Gordon Hayward left while using Taylor Swift lyrics to comfort my soul (“All you had to do was STAY”). In my own words, I penned “By announcing his (in)decision, the Utah Jazz roster tipped and was sent sprawling in all sorts of directions as he left town with a blazing hole in his wake.” Or, even more depressing, “Where will our offense come from in the future? If a guy like Hayward (low-key, Christian, drafted him, works hard, developed here to become a star) won’t stay in SLC, who will? Winning a ring was a long shot with him, but isn’t it even a longer shot now?” Man, Steve: You was a debbie downer.
  • Next stop is October, right before the NBA tipped off, where I was writing about the Jazz’s best case scenario. In that book, I wrote their potential as a 7th seed. My justification? “When a team can play defense, they have a chance. Sure, the West is going to be brutal but the Jazz are well coached, play hard, and can lock it down. Because of that, I give them the edge over Denver. Rubio will be fun to push the pace, I don’t believe in Rodney Hood, but I do salute Rudy Gobert who will average 20 and 10 and win DPOY after anchoring another stingy year.”  In another piece, I wrote, “With Rudy and Quin, we will be OK, but I see us as a team fighting for the 7th/8th playoff spot rather than 50+ wins and a top 4 finish in the West.” I mean, I’m like 50/50 so I definitely know a lot of stuff.  
  • October came and went and November poked her head from around the corner. By the end of my birthday month, the Jazz were 11-11 and I felt good about my predictions. We were a .500 team. Nothing great, but not bad either. We won some good games (an OT thriller over Portland) and lost to New York and Brooklyn consecutively. By the time December was in the air, some were falling out of love with Derrick Favors and Ricky Rubio, questioning if we should move Favors or let Mitchell take point guard duties. And yes, I wrote about it, too. Can Gobert and Favors co-exist, I asked? To cite my evidence, I wrote “What I’m saying is, the problem may not lie with Favors and Gobert together on the court, but instead lie in the fact that their minutes have come with Ricky Rubio at the point. Look again at the negative numbers with G and F together. Notice the point guard in both lineups.” Rubio, I repent. I loved you then, really I did, but I love you more now.
  • And then the snowballs and snowstorms huricanned into Salt Lake as December was simply brutal. In that month alone, the Jazz won four games, while losing 10. Sure, they only played one game against a team with a losing record, but that also lost that said game (curse you Chicago). For my New Year’s Resolution article, I introduced my piece by writing “As 2017 comes to a close, the Utah Jazz are looking to 2018 for new hope and fresh starts. Fans know we need it. The New Year brings forth opportunities to refocus and set goals. For the Jazz, many things need to be reworked in order to salvage the season and compete for a playoff spot.” Newsflash: the New Year was awesome.

In my defense, I wasn’t the only one singing doom and gloom. And in my defense, I never hopped on the Tanking Train, but rather figured we’d weather the storm as we were too talented to be this bad. Plus, our anchor was down. He’d come back and we’d get back to .500. Yeah, .500 was still my goal. I didn’t see the winning streak and post-All-Star break happening like this. A playoff series win? No way.

Amazing.

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

Gobs and Crowds

Guys and gals, as the New Year turned, Rudy Gobert returned from injury on January 22. Since that date, the Jazz lost seven times in the regular season (Boston by a game-winner, Spurs in OT, Hawks twice, and blowouts to Houston and Portland twice). In that same span, they’ve won 28 including steaks of nine and 11. We know the stat by heart now: 17-26 to start the season, 48-34 to finish it. 

The resurgence was historic as the Jazz climbed into contention for a division banner, 3rd seed in the crowded west, and homecourt advantage. It took until the last game, a loss to Portland Wednesday night, for this dream to vanish, but it was a legit play. Power Rankings across media outlet after media outlet claimed the Jazz as one of the best team’s in the league – not just the hottest, but the best – and a team no one would want to face in the playoffs.

With Gobert in the lineup, the Jazz became a new team buoyed by their boy down low into their defensive scheme and clicking together perfectly. In a small puzzle, Gobert was the prevalent missing piece. In addition, Jae Crowder was added to the mix which further fueled the fire. Sports Illustrated ran a feature on the Jazz’s potent lineup, writing “the combination of Crowder, Gobert, Donovan Mitchell, Ricky Rubio, and Joe Ingles is literally as stifling as they come; no other qualified NBA lineup this season has allowed fewer than their 80.1 points per 100 possessions, per NBA.com.” By the end of the season, that same lineup leads the entire NBA in +/-.

Amazing.

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

The Playoffs

Despite losing their veteran playoff leaders of last year, and most of their key contributors in the Los Angeles Clippers series, the Jazz were again in the same seed as 2017. Letdown? What letdown?

Instead, Oklahoma City got the first round date with Utah and it didn’t quite work in their favor.

Mitchell was certainly the star of the series, elevating his play as a superstar must in the postseason under the national media spotlight. He topped 20+ in every game, even lighting up for 33 and 38 against the pressured defense of Paul George and Westbrook. He was the focus of the defensive game plan, but never played like a rookie.

However despite his amazing play, the mantra became clear: the strength of the team is the team.

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

Joe Ingles was a man possessed on both sides of the court, jawing and talking on defense while raining threes from beyond the arc on the other side. Rudy Gobert was challenged by Steven Adams, some even wondering if the New Zealander was the better play but the French Rejection left his mark guarding space and Pick-and-Rolls to perfection. The other big, Derrick Favors, was an X-Factor, even hitting the clutch jumper down the stretch to seal a win. Jae Crowder had moments, Jonas Jerebko redeemed himself from an awful game one with meaningful minutes down the stretch of the series, and Ricky Rubio outdueled Mr. Triple Double himself, prompting Russ to vow to “shut that sh** down.” Spoiler alert: Russ didn’t.

The defense was stifling. The offense was fire. The wins were: amazing.

Despite bowing out to Houston in five games in round two, that series, too, had amazing features. The biggest one? How ’bout this:

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

And for added perspective

We can list all the setbacks from last year by memory, too: yeah, Hayward left, George Hill left, too, we traded Trey Lyles in the draft to get some rookie of L’ville, we traded Rodney Hood and third-biggest-free-agent-acquisition Joe ‘Jesus’ Johnson by midseason, Rudy Gobert was hurt for forever, AND OUR LEADING SCORER BECAME THAT ROOKIE FROM L’VILLE.

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

And sure, we knew that stretch in December was going to be brutal as soon as the schedule was released last year. We would face tough teams, nearly every night. Then the offseason hit and those teams got tougher, especially in our division.

Remember: we play every team in our division four times. That meant more dates with new Thunder players Paul George and Carmelo Anthony, new Timberwolf and all-star Jimmy Butler, new Nugget Paul Milsap teamed up with rising sensation Nikola Jokic, and, oh, Portland with Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum still exist, too. Despite all that—the scheduling woes and the tough division in the tough western conference—the Jazz still made the playoffs.

Amazing.

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

Sure, last year we made the playoffs but the music in the air is drifting to a different tune, a better tune. It’s hard to describe unless you’ve lived through the highs and lows of Jazz fandom, but there’s something exhilarating in this team’s play, demeanor, and construction.

Each player perfectly complements the offensive and defensive identity Quin and Co. try to implement. The group is bonded together as an air-tight unit that is focused on making basketball plays and being a complete basketball team, which is by design from Gail Miller, Dennis Lindsey, and Steve Starks.

//www.instagram.com/embed.js

The rookie bought in. The off-season additions bought in. The midseason addition bought. Put together, it’s a fine-tuned orchestra, where each note is pitched to perfection. With everyone healthy, everyone gelling, everything clicking the Jazz became, sorry it’s that word again, amazing.

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

We Are Lucky

Regardless of losing in the second round and whatever happens this offseason, the future is bright in SLC and we are lucky to call the Jazz our team, our home. Snyder is one of the brightest coaches in the NBA, Gobert is locked into defense for at least the next three years, the salary cap construction is friendly for significant additions, we have a knack at developing key contributors (Dante Island! Rolls Royce!) and that rookie from L’ville is a superstar.

That rookie.

//www.instagram.com/embed.js

A key reason to the new tune ringing in Salt Lake is because of Donovan Mitchell. Every piece of him rings superstar and he is in Utah well into the 2020s. He walks the walk with his humble, likable persona off the court but talks the talk with his quiet assassin-like play on the court.

The highlights, on and off the court, are peppered by the Spida. Dunking over and celebrating with his sister. Put back dunk over LA. 14 in the fourth vs the Spurs. 41 vs the Pelicans. Writing about Parkland and School Violence on his shoes. 2nd All-Time Three Points Made, behind BFF Joe Ingles. Behind the back flashy, dancy dribble to dish to that BFF. Giving tickets to that IG dude so he could ask a girl to the game. Squirting water on teammates postgame. The there’s-no-way-he-can-see-where-he-is-going-or-how-to-make-that layups or the end-of-shotclock-pull-up from logo threes.

Amazing

Imagine it, picture it: he is wearing Jazz jerseys while winning dunk contests or talking to superstars post game. That is real. He is real.

And the best part? He loves it here.

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

I’ll stop, I promise

I’ve used 2,568 words so far, yet I still feel like I haven’t quantified my love for this team and this season in a sufficient way. Have I man-crushed on Quin Snyder that much? Have I mentioned Steve Starks or Gail Miller or the Prophet Dennis Lindsay?

There’s more to say and more to show as A Tortured Fan in a season like this. It’s been a ride and a year that I will never forget, a year that will go down as one forever cherished.

How would you say it’s been? Let’s just end with that one word that sums it all up perfectly;

Amazing.

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

If you like what you’re reading, sign up for my email list, follow me on Twitter @JazzJunkie12 or go like The Tortured Fan on Instagram. As always, Go Jazz and #TakeNote.

Leave a comment