A little over two weeks ago, the NBA released its regular
season schedule. After surveying the calendar, the general feeling among the
Jazz fanbase and prognosticators is that the 2013-2014 schedule for the Jazz won't
be a friendly one.
The schedule makers have constructed a schedule full of
quirks, long road trips and back to back turnarounds which will present a
challenge for one of the NBA's youngest teams. For a team projected by many
national onlookers to finish in the bottom of the Western conference, the Jazz
have few stretches or individual games which can be considered easy matchups,
guaranteed wins, or even opportunities for condensed win streaks. However, as a
fanbase which is trying to learn to condition itself to view the team with
macro lenses and prepare for learning moments instead of a 50 win season, there
are plenty of fascinating portions in the 2014 schedule to pinpoint.
There are numerous angles to analyze the team's journey in
2014. How will the young Jazz handle a March east coast trip with five games in
seven nights? How will they endure a Friday night game down in Dallas followed
by a rapid turnaround and meeting with the defending champion Heat the
following night in Salt Lake City? How will Trey Burke fare in the first month
of his NBA career against a slew of all-star Caliber point guards? Who will
provide the emotional charge for the Jazz during their former teammate reunion
tour on the East Coast prior to Christmas? At what point does this team hit a
physical wall and how will they forge through it? And in a season where it
feels like the Jazz are playing a behemoth every night, are there any spots to
find relief?
Taking a quick month by month trip through the 2013-14
season, there are key stretches for the Jazz as well as some juicy individual
matchups. An NBA season is a complex journey with emergencies, surprises,
in-season roster transactions, and unexpected injuries but presented below are
a few basic events Jazz fans can expect to witness from November through next
April.
November
Wednesday Nov. 30, Game 1: Opening Night against OKC.
Last year, the Jazz had a smooth opening to the season
hosting a Dirk-less Mavs team coming off of a disappointing post-lockout season
and adjusting to a new backcourt corps of Darren Collison and OJ Mayo. After an
uneven first half of play, the Jazz found their rhythm and cruised to a double
digit victory. This year the Jazz get the Thunder on opening night in Russell
Westbrook's first non-preseason game back since being knocked out by Patrick
Beverley in Game 2 of the First round of last spring's playoffs. One can expect OKC will bare their fangs in
the opening game of a season which could be a revenge year for them (they've
taken a hit from the media after a blase offseason in which they lost Kevin
Martin and are perceived to have nothing to show after the leftover assets from
the James Harden trade appear to be barely more than Steven Adams and Jeremy
Lamb). While the Jazz have been handed a tough assignment on opening night,
they can at least take comfort in the fact that they'll be opening at home. The
NBA was kind enough not to throw the Jazz into the den of Cheseapeake Energy
Arena for Game 1 and that reality will at least be useful in that Trey Burke
and Rudy Gobert get to initiate their careers within the friendly confines of
ESA.
It's also a much better tone-setter for the rest of the
season if Utah is able to gather themselves at home and ride the waves of
hometown encouragement and familiar surroundings rather than getting
potentially throttled in OKC to start their year. The Westbrook-Burke matchup
should be alluring: while it won't be fruitful to conclude studies on Burke's
season outlook after a sample size of one game, Jazz fans will at least receive
an initial look at Burke and watch how he performs against one of the premier
players in the league at his position.
Saturday Nov 2, Game 3: Home vs. Houston.
Salt Lake City is one
of the towns to get the first regular season glimpse of Dwight Howard in
Rockets' red. If Houston elects to utilize their twin towers matchup of Howard
and Omer Asik for much of the game, it will be the first of many times this season
that Favors and Kanter are exposed to opposing teams' starting post men for an
extended period of time: Asik and Howard should be a handful.
Secondarily, this game is also a chance for long awaited
redemption following an embarrassing outing by the Jazz against this team last
January in which James Harden led his visiting Rockets to a 45 point shredding
of Utah, the worst home loss in Jazz franchise history. Many former Jazzmen who
bore witness to that loss last year won't be around for the rematch but that game
might still be seared in the minds of the holdovers like Hayward and Favors. If
anything it's an opportunity for the Jazz to show resolve, both after their
home loss against Houston last season and after who knows what will happen with
the Thunder on opening night.
Tuesday Nov. 5 - Saturday Nov.9- Four game East Coast Road
trip (@BKN, BOS, CHI, TOR).
The Jazz start out the season with two of their first three
games at home against West powerhouses before racking up frequent flier miles as
they head East. In a season when the Jazz can't afford cheap losses against likely
sub-.500 teams, they get two shots at potential lottery teams on this trip in
Boston and Toronto. As the Jazz will discover this season, even the matchups
against supposedly easier teams won't be a certain walk in the park as they get
Boston and Toronto on the second nights of back to backs in a one week span.
Trey Burke will weather the tough task of facing three
premier starting point guards, two of which are coming off of significant knee
injuries. (It remains to be seen whether Rajon Rondo will be fully
rehabilitated in time to start the 2013-14 season.) Going 2-2 on this trip
could be crucial for the Jazz if they hope to end up on the more optimistic end
of predicted wins for themselves this year. If they croak against Phoenix (Game
2 of the season) and put up a goose egg on the road trip, they are looking at a
precarious 0-7 start to the season before they can blink. On the other hand, if
the Jazz perform up to potential in the first three games of the season and
take care of the winnable games on their road trip, a 4-3 start to the season
is not inconceivable either.
Historical Reflections:
Last November the Jazz also embarked on an early four game November road trip
in which they faced off against Toronto and Boston. The Jazz won a memorable triple
overtime thriller in the Canadian leg of the trip after current backup point
guard John Lucas III hit a game tying three to force the third overtime
followed by the Jazz giving away a tight game against Boston that was tied with
less than 90 seconds to go. Utah went on that road trip seven games into the
2012-13 regular season. This year they'll take off for the East coast right
after Game three. Last year the Jazz didn't play in Chicago until March when
they suffered the third of four straight cruel losses during the most infamous
road trip of 2013, while this year's meeting in Chicago will occur on Game two
of the four game swing.
Peculiarities: The
Jazz will wrap up their season series with Chicago by Thanksgiving. The two
matchups with Chicago were brutal for the Jazz in 2013 as Chicago swept the Jazz.
The first meeting was a back and forth affair in Salt Lake City on February
8th. Al Jefferson's tremendous 32 points and 13 boards were squandered as
Carlos Boozer scored 11 straight points for the Bulls down the stretch and
squeaked out a four point victory. The next meeting in Chicago was utterly
forgettable for the Jazz as Marco Belinelli hit a game winning 3-pointer with
10 seconds left to hold off Utah.
December
Wednesday Dec. 11-Monday Dec. 23: "Gauntlet 1"
The month of December includes 9 road games and this 13 day
stretch contains 7 of those 9. The last five occur on another East Coast road
trip which could be termed as the heart of the "Utah Jazz 2013 mini-reunion
tour." During this road trip the Jazz will see (presuming good health)
Paul Millsap and DeMarre Carroll in Atlanta on the third game of the trip and
Al Jefferson in Charlotte on the following night, a Saturday in the Queen
City.
Four of the five games will occur in the Eastern Time Zone
and are bookended with the defending champion Heat to initiate the proceedings
and Western Conference finalist Memphis to end the road trip. Like the Houston
games at home, the returning Jazz cadre could be harboring images from when the
Grizzlies officially ended their season the previous time they were in town and
have ideas of redemption. Of course by
the time they get to Memphis they may have different matters on their mind like
trying to get home mentally and physically intact after the grueling effects of
a five game road trip and being away from home for over 8 days. (Independent of
the challenge against Memphis, Utah fans will be sure to hear from the
traveling media crew on outlets that day about the incomparable barbecue
cuisine that Memphis has to offer).
However at the end of the December road trip which could be
described as draconian, there's an analytically intangible reward waiting for
the Jazz: an uninterrupted Christmas holiday break that gives the team a chance
to refresh. After playing in Memphis on the 23rd, the Jazz don't play again
until the 27th at home against the Lakers. That gives the Jazz a full three
days off and the chance to eat Christmas Eve dinner at home and spend the
entire Christmas holiday for the family. Who knows today if Ty Corbin will make
them practice over that three day break but it's a great chance for the Jazz to
recharge, spend time with their loved ones, and regroup from the first gauntlet
they'll encounter this season.
Peculiarity #1: How
about the double whammy of defending conference champs the Jazz have to face
heading into their 5 game east coast swing?!
San Antonio serves as their lone home date between the 9th and 27th of
December and two days later, the Jazz have to play in Miami. Utah will see arguably
the 2014 NBA's two best teams within a three day and 2,000 mile span. Gordon
Hayward will have his hands full with Kawhi Leonard and then Lebron James.
Depending on how his rehab comes along, Utah may find themselves as one of the
first teams to play against Greg Oden after missing four years of action.
Peculiarity #2:
Due to Mo Williams signing with the Blazers earlier this month, the Jazz will
end up playing a team with every former member of the 2013 roster during the
month of December. Not including the currently unsigned Jamaal Tinsley and
Kevin Murphy who found employment outside of the NBA, every non-Jazzman who
played on the team last season is on the Jazz schedule in December. The
festivities begin on the 6th in Portland as the starting and backup point
guards in 2013, Mo Williams and Earl Watson welcome the Jazz to the Rose City.
After the Jazz load up on VooDoo Donuts, they rematch the
Blazers three days later at ESA. On the 13th, the Jazz meet up with Randy Foye
in Denver, then rendezvous with DeMarre Carroll and Paul Millsap in Atlanta.
Utah gets both meetings with Al Jefferson out of the way this month when they
play in Charlotte on the 21st and then in Salt Lake City on the last game of
the 2013 calendar year. Obviously, there will be a lot of key subplots and
individual matchups in play during this month including the mentor versus
understudy dynamic when Kanter and Favors play Jefferson, the ovations Watson,
Mo and Big Al will see in their first games back in Salt Lake City since last
year, and the fact that four opponents (over six games) this month can gameplan
for the Jazz with Corbin-coached players providing intel.
January
Tuesday Jan. 21- Friday Jan. 30: "Homestand"
This month spots the Jazz a relatively light workload of 12
games. January is where the Jazz figure to regroup and gather their second
wind. They have only one multi-game road trip in January which takes them to
San Antonio, then Detroit and finally Minnesota. Adding to their month of
relief is the fact that they only have one back to back (at Minnesota after
playing at Detroit the night before).
Health was a big issue for the Timberwolves last year and
the Jazz get them twice this month as part of a home and home series beginning
with the last game of the three-game road trip for Utah. The Jazz had great
success with Minnesota in 2013, sweeping all four regular season games by an
average of 12.3 points per game. The Jazz also benefited from the absence of
Kevin Love in three of their meetings and Nikola Pekovic for the last two
contests. If Minnesota can stay intact this season, many experts project them
to be the 7th or 8th seed in the West, but in the wake of a combined 341 games
missed for the Timberwolves last season, a long-term bill of health for
Minnesota might be hopeful conjecture.
The Minnesota home and home start off a pivotal four game
home series to round out the end of the month's schedule. After hosting
Minnesota on a Tuesday, the Jazz get three full days off before hosting a
Wizards team which likely could be on the Eastern Conference playoff bubble in
2014. The Jazz then face off against a lower-tier Western Conference team in
Sacramento before their end-of-month contest against Golden State. This
homestand happens to be the first and only four game stretch in a row at Energy
Solutions Arena for the Jazz all season. The strongest team they'll likely play
during this home stretch are the Warriors, which also happens to be one of
three games nationally broadcast on ESPN involving the Jazz. Expect an especially
electric atmosphere anytime the Warriors come into town, and with a late tipoff
that Friday night, Energy Solutions should be in a frenzied state. The Jazz
have few margins for error this upcoming season and they'd be doing themselves
a huge favor to take advantage of their schedule during the second half of
January.
Random Useless
Trivia: Friday the 30th versus the Warriors will feature the last Jazz game
played in the David Stern era. Stern will hand over his post to
commissioner-in-waiting Adam Silver on February 1st. Stern likely won't make it
to Salt Lake City to witness this game as Brooklyn and the Knicks play in
successive nights leading up to the New York Super Bowl but count on plenty of
booing as Jazz fans reign down their annual spite upon the Warriors, who
wrested away a draft pick from Utah two years ago and hold the Jazz's futures
in another pick that upcoming spring.
February
Like January, the February schedule for the Jazz is
relatively sparse and merciful compared to the March and pre-New Years' docket.
With the All-Star break placed in the middle of the month, the Jazz see just 12
games in February. Every game will be a battle for the young Jazz in the
upcoming season, but in this month, the Jazz see 9 teams that finished with no
better than a 7th seed, including 7 teams that missed the playoffs altogether
in 2013. If the Jazz can make the most of their opportunities in January, this
could present the time of the year in which they can build upon January
momentum and start to carve out a system of regularity within the team.
The main obstacles the Jazz will face in this month are
threefold:
1) 6 of the 12 games occur as part of back-to-backs. This
obstacle may actually come out as a blessing in disguise for Utah. In a season
in which they have a league 2nd-most 20 back to backs, it's beneficial for the
Jazz to get some of the back to backs out of the way in a month with just 12
games and a likely weeklong vacation for most of the roster in the middle of
the month (and in the middle of another snowy Salt Lake Winter). An interesting
factor to keep an eye on is how the Jazz perform on the second night of these
three back to backs. In each of these three back to backs, the Jazz play Game 1
on the road followed by a turnaround hop to Salt Lake City where they play at
home the following night. Overall the Jazz were barely below average on the
second night of back to backs last season going 8-9 in those games. However at
home on the second night of back to backs, the Jazz went 4-1. As stated
earlier, much of the roster has been overturned but if last season is any
indication, the Jazz should benefit from playing all three of February's second
back to back games in Salt Lake City.
2) The Jazz also play the Heat on the second night of a back
to back. Utah has had the slight upper hand against Miami since Lebron and Bosh
joined forces with Dwyane Wade and Pat Riley in Summer 2010, going 3-2 against
them (the two teams met once during the lockout season of 2012, a one point
victory in Salt Lake City for the Jazz). The most recent meeting between the
Jazz and Miami took place last January in Utah, a thrilling finish that saw
Miami cut a 21 point deficit down to 3 in the span of 9 minutes before Gordon
Hayward came through for the Jazz down the stretch with a number of clutch
plays, capping off one of his finest individual games of the season. The main
question for the Jazz coming into this game (besides health at the exact point
in time) is how much energy will they have left for the defending champs after
playing in Dallas the night before?
3) The uncertainty facing the team as they come up to the
trade deadline. Everyone has a general idea of how many wins the Jazz will
accrue next season but it's more difficult to forecast how each and every
player on the team will be performing as they near in on the trade deadline.
What's even more challenging to predict is which, if any players, will be
commanding interest from other teams. If the Jazz fail to build upon potential
mid-January momentum and are playing subpar, the unknown questions of if
they'll have the same co-workers the following week could be another mental
anvil heaped upon their mandate of learning how to play with each other through
an already taxing season.
Depending on these
variables, the Jazz could be looking at staying with the same roster that's
been assembled in August or picking up new assets at the deadline. It's hard to
predict the exact events of February 2014 but these are the potential realities
and feelings members of the Jazz roster could be experiencing during those
mid-February weeks. Some of Utah's opponents as they approach the trade
deadline include Miami, the Lakers, Philadelphia, Brooklyn, and Portland.
Spotlight Game: Wednesday,
Feb. 19. Home vs. Brooklyn: Utahns budgeting around attending just a game or
two in 2014 might be more disposed to seeing the defending champion Heat play
here on February 8, but the cast of characters on the Nets coming into town for
the first game after the All-Star break might present a matchup too juicy to
bypass. Utah's favorite former ringleader Deron Williams leads the Nets but
this time he brings a star-studded gang in addition to Joe Johnson and Brook
Lopez. Keeping in mind that Andrei Kirilenko also reports off the bench now for
his Russian buddy Mikhail Prokhorov, all of a sudden it feels like the 2014
Jazz are taking on the 2009 Jazz along with their evil superstar twins. The
Nets will be a hot ticket all around the NBA next year but this matchup with
Utah might mean just a little bit more to Jazz fans than the average Nets'
opponent.
February Blues: The
Februaries of the Ty Corbin era have been particularly dreary ones beginning
with the last 10 days of Jerry Sloan's tenure in Utah. The Jazz went a miserly 3-9
during the tumultuous February of 2011 when Sloan unexpectedly quit after a
mid-month loss to the Bulls and reports of a heated halftime argument between
him and Deron Williams, only for the Jazz to ship Deron to New Jersey two weeks
later. Utah went a more serviceable 6-6 in February last season but their
composite record over the last three Februaries is 13-24. Considering the
season outlook for 2014, Jazz fans would be elated for a .500 win-loss record
in any month, but it shouldn't be a surprise if the Jazz are overcome with
turmoil in the loss column next February based on recent history in that
month.
March
Rope-a-Dope Month: "Gauntlet #2: Sunday, Mar. 2-Sat.
Mar 8 (5 game East Coast Road Trip)"
"Southwest Grinder: Mar. 16-Mar. 19 (@ SA, @ HOU, @
MEM)"
The March schedule
for the Jazz begins with a brutal blow right off the bat. Five games starting
March 2nd at Eastern Conference finalist Indiana, followed by Milwaukee, then
Washington, up to New York City to face the Knicks, and rounding out with a
back to back at Philadelphia. After the Jazz try to withstand the effects of
five games in seven nights with four of those games in the Eastern time zone, they
come home for five days, only to turnaround and take on three of the projected
six best teams in the West, all of whom possess all-star big men in Dwight
Howard, Marc Gasol, Zach Randolph, and Tim Duncan.
Optimism is always a worthwhile exercise but apply the
numbers to this portion of the schedule and rationalize the matchups any way
possible and there is no other conclusion: March is a tough, tough month. The
most accurate way to depict this portion of the schedule is to view it from the
point of view of an old school boxing match. During certain fights in the
mid-70s, Muhammad Ali employed the "rope-a-dope" technique in which
he sustained punch after punch in the early rounds, only to bounce back after
his opponent had punched himself into fatigue, rendering him vulnerable upon
which a defensive-yet-fresh Ali would turn on his aggression and knock out his
tired opponent. The Jazz may find themselves like Ali after that five game trip
to commence March, sustaining a series of blows.
The difference here is no one knows if the Jazz will be
knocked out or still standing after the East Coast swing. Provided the Jazz do
show signs of life after what seems to be on paper an unforgiving road trip,
there is not much time to go home and recuperate before embarking on the three
game Southwest trip to face some of the best collective talent in the league. Overall
the Jazz will endure their longest road trip of the season in March and play
against every team in the West besides Denver that finished in the Top 5 in
2013. That doesn't include Houston and Dwight Howard, who after five months of
getting to know one another should be rounding into top form as they near the
end of the season. Utah had a collective 9-17 record against the Western
Conference teams in 2013 that they'll meet in March 2014.
Game to Watch:
There are numerous enthralling matchups in the month of March, and blindly
pointing to a square on the calendar might be the most sensible way to pick the
one best game to watch. But for those who prefer to choose their own destinies,
a good sole viewing suggestion is the March 10th game at home vs. Atlanta, with
the main reason being Paul Millsap's return to Utah. It will be interesting to
observe the fan response for a player who gave a high amount of effort for
seven years to the franchise and was the longest tenured member of the previous
season's roster, but at times appeared disengaged and off track in his final
season with the Jazz. This particular game should contain a good amount of
drama and gauging the fan's reaction to Paul's return is an alluring reason to
attend this one in person.
April
Following an arduous March, the Jazz finish off the season
with a balanced schedule of 7 games, all against Western Conference opponents.
Unless the Jazz have crafted a stunning playoff run, the theme by this point of
the year will be the goal to build momentum for the upcoming year.
At least a good chunk of Jazz fans anticipating a plethora
of lottery balls might be holding onto hope the Jazz will cede away these final
games but there might be at least one game in April that the pro-tanking camp
will cheer hard for Utah:
Sunday, April 6th at Golden State.
If all goes as hoped for the Warriors, they should be
campaigning for a playoff spot and perhaps even homecourt advantage. A
recurring topic in April 2014 will relate to Utah's possession of Golden
State's first round pick. Though the Warriors, good health provided, will in
all likelihood make their way back to the playoffs, the Jazz will relish the
chance to move up a spot or two in the 20s of the first round by virtue of
taking care of Golden State and their pick.
Though the schedule is thin in April, quite a few of the
games are worth viewing. As is the case these days, any game against Golden
State will be a heated affair and Portland comes to town this month along with
Damian Lillard, Mo Williams, and Earl Watson. The last home game of the season
is a real treat for the Jazz as they take on the Lakers. Depending on if the
depleted Lakers can make a playoff run, this could be a do or die situation for
the visiting team, and a neat paradigm shift for the Jazz: Last year the Lakers
knocked Utah out of the playoffs on the last day of the season and a year later
the Jazz could personally return the favor to one of their nemeses.
Season Summary: The
Jazz have their hands full this year in terms of their presently constructed
roster and the bumps and challenges they'll face together in their schedule.
The Jazz have 20 back to backs, tied for the second most in the league and two
East coast road trips, each with at least four away games. But as hard and
difficult some portions of their schedule are, there are other portions which
are equally as forgiving. March and December will no doubt feature stretches
where the Jazz's mettle is tested, but January and February will also present
them with chances to exhale and regather their footing.
On one hand, the morbid curiosity of the Jazz fan will be
satisfied in watching his or her team struggle and learning to forge through
multiple tests such as San Antonio, Houston, and Memphis all in the course of
one road trip. But if this young and hungry group can learn to band together
and struggle through these trials, they may come out on the other end a
chiseled and mentally hardened team at the end of the season.
NBA observers may discover this team by the end of the
season, if mentally composed, could be a serious contender ready to step
forward next year and make some noise in the Western Conference. It will be
near impossible to tell today, but in two or three years the Utah Jazz may be a
mentally exceptional team thanks to the first major test they faced together, a
cumulatively demanding 2013-2014 slate.
Randy Rigby said the back to back games are sooner, a pretty
balanced schedule, should bode well for a young team. The Jazz need a hot start
to the season. that may not necessarily align with the thought that this will
be a growing season for the Jazz and we'll be judging them later on in the
season rather than before. It puts the Jazz in a challenging spot where we
expect them to be better in March, but the meat of their hard matchups come at
that time.
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Follow SotT Underground Guest Blogger Justin Sweeney on Twitter:
@getsit
