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Utah Jazz: Three positives and three negatives about the 2019-20 NBA schedule

By Jared Woodcox

SALT LAKE CITY, UT - JANUARY 23: Donovan Mitchell #45 of the Utah Jazz reacts to a play during the game against the Denver Nuggets on January 23, 2019 at Vivint Smart Home Arena in Salt Lake City, Utah. 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. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Melissa Majchrzak/NBAE via Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY, UT - JANUARY 23: Donovan Mitchell #45 of the Utah Jazz reacts to a play during the game against the Denver Nuggets on January 23, 2019 at Vivint Smart Home Arena in Salt Lake City, Utah. 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. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Melissa Majchrzak/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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PHOENIX, ARIZONA – MARCH 13: Rudy Gobert #27 of the Utah Jazz is congratulated by Donovan Mitchell #45 after scoring against the Phoenix Suns during the first half of the NBA game at Talking Stick Resort Arena on March 13, 2019 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /

The 2019-20 Utah Jazz schedule, which was released on Monday, has its fair share of positives and negatives, but overall looks favorable for the Jazz.

During the doldrums of August, likely the slowest month in terms of basketball activity of the entire year, there is one brief moment of reprieve where hoops fans can enjoy a bit of excitement. That moment came on August 12th this year as the full NBA schedule for all 30 teams was officially released.

Leading up to that date, Utah Jazz fans had been anxious to see just how the new schedule would play out. The past two seasons featured a schedule that was extremely top-heavy, with the Jazz having to play several road games and fierce playoff contenders in the early going of the season. This, of course, produced slow starts and frustration among Jazz fans, but ended with the team turning things around and righting the ship in the second half of the season as the schedule eased.

While that’s worked out relatively well for the Jazz, I’ve stated several times in articles for The J-Notes and on The J-Notes Podcast that Utah absolutely can’t afford to get off to a slow start this season. They’ll need to be aggressive from the 2019-20 campaign’s onset and push hard for a top seed in the West to increase their playoff odds dramatically.

Fortunately, for the most part the Jazz and their fans were rewarded with a much more favorable schedule than what we’ve seen the past two years, as pointed out recently by my J-Notes colleague Ryan Aston. However, that doesn’t mean that everything about it is perfect.

With that being the case, I’ll go ahead and dive into the newly released schedule to discuss three positives and three negatives facing Utah this upcoming season. Here we go!

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