Injuries, Injuries and More Injuries
While there’s really no one to blame for the Utah Jazz’s seemingly constant battle to stay healthy, I’m confident that all Jazz fans would agree, the most annoying thing about this season so far has been the onslaught of injuries.
It was bad enough knowing that Alec Burks was once again going to miss extended time, but then with no Hayward or Favors to start the season and George Hill going down right after winning Western Conference Player of the Week, Utah’s injury situation has been almost unbelievable.
Related Story: Utah Jazz's Promising Depth Buried By Injuries
This team that had so much promise, and still is playing exceptionally well all things considered, hasn’t even had a chance to roll out a full-strength roster.
Hayward and Hill have only played one game together. Both Hood and Hill were absent in Utah’s most recent loss. Favors has been battling a knee injury all season long and has yet to look like himself.
Not to mention, the injuries have likely directly affected the many other frustrating aspects of this Jazz team that I’ve already covered. Hayward’s struggles from deep and extended time and pressure for Mack and Lyles have all been the results of injuries.
Nevertheless, it speaks volumes to the heart and determination of this basketball team as well as to the grit and solid leadership of Quin Snyder that a team that is so banged up has been able to keep their head above water with a 7-5 record up to this point.
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 the Utah Jazz definitely have some issues to patch up, the exciting moments, brilliant play and overall determination have very much overshadowed these few annoying weaknesses. Every team has their little problems to overcome and as Utah gets healthier and more in the swing of the season, I expect each of these issues to slowly but surely die down.
And once they do, we’ll likely see this team take a dramatic shift from simply being “fun to watch” to playing a dominant brand of basketball.
All stats courtesy of NBA.com