Utah Jazz: What’s real and what’s not in the West?

SALT LAKE CITY, UT - NOVEMBER 9: Jae Crowder #99 and Rudy Gobert #27 of the Utah Jazz speak to the media after the game against the Boston Celtics on November 9, 2018 at Vivint Smart Home Arena in Salt Lake City, Utah. Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Melissa Majchrzak/NBAE via Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY, UT - NOVEMBER 9: Jae Crowder #99 and Rudy Gobert #27 of the Utah Jazz speak to the media after the game against the Boston Celtics on November 9, 2018 at Vivint Smart Home Arena in Salt Lake City, Utah. Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Melissa Majchrzak/NBAE via Getty Images)
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LOS ANGELES, CA – OCTOBER 21: Montrezl Harrell #5 of the Los Angeles Clippers celebrates after scoring a basket against the Houston Rockets during the second half at Staples Center on October 21, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA – OCTOBER 21: Montrezl Harrell #5 of the Los Angeles Clippers celebrates after scoring a basket against the Houston Rockets during the second half at Staples Center on October 21, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)

The ‘Just What We Expected’

These are teams that, for better or for worse, are off to about the start we would’ve imagined.

LA Clippers

The LA Clippers are off to a not-too-bad, but not-too-good 6-5 start that has them at eighth in the West. They’ve had some great moments, but the reason why the Clips ended up in this category is quite simple – for the most part they’ve beat who you’d expect them to and lost to who you’d expect them to.

Though their wins over the Houston Rockets were surprising at the time, now we know that the Rockets are simply struggling against just about everyone. Meanwhile, the Clippers were another team that beat the Thunder during that early slump. Other than that, teams better than the Clippers have beat them, teams worse have lost. They’ve simply looked average this season.

And I expect them to remain that way throughout 2018-19.

Dallas Mavericks

I had hoped that the Dallas Mavericks would be improved from last year by adding rookie sensation Luka Doncic to their mix, seeing Dennis Smith Jr. improve and benefiting from veteran DeAndre Jordan. They’ve certainly been more entertaining, but I don’t know that they’ve been better.

At any rate, we all figured that they’d be a poor team. And that they have. While it’s disappointing to see Jordan lack effort and the Mavs lack cohesion as a whole, their slow start of 3-8 that has them second to last in the West isn’t that shocking to anyone.

Phoenix Suns

The Phoenix Suns are bad. What a surprise.

Yes, I’m being sarcastic. And while I honestly thought they’d be better than at least the Sacramento Kings (time will tell what happens there) and I had high hopes for former Jazz coach Igor Kokoskov, the fact of the matter is that this young Suns squad still lacks talent and particularly lacks discipline. Don’t expect a turnaround any time soon this season.