Grading the Opening Weeks of the 2016-17 Utah Jazz Season

Nov 11, 2016; Orlando, FL, USA; Utah Jazz forward Gordon Hayward (20) high fives forward Joe Ingles (2) against the Orlando Magic during the first quarter at Amway Center. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 11, 2016; Orlando, FL, USA; Utah Jazz forward Gordon Hayward (20) high fives forward Joe Ingles (2) against the Orlando Magic during the first quarter at Amway Center. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
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Gordon Hayward Utah Jazz Joe Ingles
Nov 11, 2016; Orlando, FL, USA; Utah Jazz forward Gordon Hayward (20) high fives forward Joe Ingles (2) against the Orlando Magic during the first quarter at Amway Center. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Overall

It’s been a recurring theme in these grades (and in the Jazz season), but the team losing a combined 50-ish games to injury less than a quarter of the way through the year has been huge. There’s no telling what they could do should they ever manage to squash the injury bug.

In the meantime, the Jazz are a tough bunch to evaluate. Even Coach Snyder doesn’t quite know what to make of his crew. Just last week, the Jazzman-in-chief said, “Hopefully the band will be back, we haven’t really established a band, so I don’t even know what that sounds like.”

All things considered, though, it’s hard to be unhappy about the results so far. The Jazz had a grueling first-month schedule, with several games against likely playoff teams, an extended road trip and several back-to-backs and have still managed to remain in the upper half of the Western Conference Standings despite the injuries.

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9-8 ain’t great, but things could be a lot worse.

There are definitely things that need to get better and a handful of players who have yet to really hit their stride. However, the team has won back-to-back games and the gruesome twosome of Hayward and Hill are both healthy-ish at long last.

With the schedule looking more favorable for the next few weeks, the Jazz may just be able to move up a few spots in the standings.

Overall Grade: B-