#2 – An easier schedule in the back half of the year
I know that several Jazz fans are sick of hearing excuses about this team. And guess what? I absolutely agree. Despite the fact that the Jazz have had a tiring, road-heavy schedule in which they’ve faced several tough opponents, it’s still no excuse for how poorly they’ve started. Even through a rough stretch of schedule, the Jazz have to be better. No excuse can or should be made.
Nevertheless, there’s still no denying that there’s quite a bit of a significant light at the end of the tunnel once the season flips over into the new calendar year. As noted by The Salt Lake Tribune’s Andy Larsen coming into the season, 16 of the Jazz’s first 24 games come on the road. Though November has been especially tough in terms of travel, December will be daunting in terms of strength of opponent.
However, the Jazz will benefit from a lighter slate in January and then a quite favorable stretch to close out the year. They have some nice home stands in January, February and March, then actually end the year with a run of 14 of 16 games against opponents that didn’t make the playoffs last season. Sure, some of those teams are much-improved already this season, but it’s definitely a long slate of winnable games.
The Triple Team! 3 thoughts on
— Andy Larsen (@andyblarsen) November 22, 2018
1. Jazz's transition defense being real bad against a real fast Kings team
2. Jazz defensive rebounding
3. The Clayton Bros' two guards theoryhttps://t.co/kymwtkZl8G
Although Jazz fans would love to see Utah not have to go through a miraculous bounce-back as they did a year ago (and of course due to the makeup of this team, it was thought that such wouldn’t have to be the case at all), the way things have started and the way the schedule goes, we may just be in for something similar. As bad as things have been thus far, if the Jazz are hovering right around .500 by January 1, I’m going to feel really good about their chances.
It might feel a little painful considering the expectations that surrounded this team heading into 2018-19, but I felt this following statement about the schedule from the aforementioned Salt Lake Tribune piece was particularly accurate–
"Overall, the schedule sets up well for the Jazz for what has been a familiar pattern during the Quin Snyder era: tread water early, then explode through the end of the season with momentum for the playoffs."
It may not be exactly what Jazz fans hoped for, and the slow start is still about as discouraging as can be, but the fact that the schedule will ease up eventually and provide Utah with a great chance to surge and build momentum for the playoffs is certainly something to anticipate and be grateful for moving forward.