High Competition
While a win or loss won’t do anything to boost or mar either team’s regular season record, there is still several factors that could make tonight’s showdown highly competitive.
First of all, the Jazz and Blazers are divisional foes that honestly have a lot of similarities in their make-up, their mantra and their realistic aspirations for this upcoming season. It’s not a stretch by any means to say that, come April, these two teams could be vying for playoff position. Slotting them as the potential 4th and 5th seeds in the West seems very plausible at this point.
So while a victory tonight won’t help in that playoff push, it certainly could help a team gain a mental edge and knowing that the two will see each other one more time in the preseason, then four times in the regular season might bring a little extra intensity. As they say, familiarity breeds content.
That should be especially true among two teams that, as I mentioned, will likely be in a close battle in the standings all season long.
But the competition between the two teams won’t be the only reason why tonight could be a heavily contested bout. While there isn’t much at stake for the teams, per se, there’s certainly a lot at stake for some of the players who will be out there fighting for their very careers.
For the Jazz, for instance, guys like Chris Johnson, Raul Neto, Jeff Withey and Joel Bolomboy will be depending on a solid preseason to prove that they deserve to be on this Jazz squad. While the outlook is good for at least Neto, Withey and Bolomboy, other training camp players such as recently signed Henry Sims and Eric Dawson will have to play exceptionally well to prove they even belong in the league at all.
With a compelling match-up between the two opponents, Portland and Utah, and with lower-tier players on both squads having so much to fight for, this preseason match-up has all the elements of having a more regular season type feel in its intensity and effort.
More from The J-Notes
- With the FIBA World Cup over for Simone Fontecchio, it’s clear he deserves minutes for the Utah Jazz
- Best, Worst and Most likely scenarios for the Utah Jazz this season
- Hoops Hype downplays the significance of the Utah Jazz’s valuable assets
- 3 Utah Jazz players who have the most to gain or lose this season
- Former Utah Jazz forward Rudy Gay is a free agent still and it shouldn’t surprise anyone
So while on the outside it might not appear to count for much, Utah Jazz fans should truly be excited for tonight’s contest. With so many new faces and so many questions surrounding this high potential Jazz team, this first look at the 2016-17 squad absolutely cannot be missed.