Utah Jazz: Is rocky preseason an omen of yet another slow start?

The Utah Jazz have yet to win a preseason game against an NBA team. Is it merely just the nature of preseason, or something more troubling?

The Utah Jazz as we know them are no strangers to getting off to slow starts. Two years ago in Donovan Mitchell‘s rookie season, the team began 19-28, which had many believing at that point that the Jazz would be a sure fire lottery squad. However, they eventually turned things around with an electrifying 29-6 finish to earn the fifth seed in the Western Conference.

Last season, many supposed that their hot finish from the prior year would carry over along with the chemistry and compatibility that they had developed. Instead, the Jazz once again limped out of the gates and didn’t truly look like themselves and the team they were capable of becoming until around January.

Sure, the exciting finishes to the regular season were pretty fun, but still didn’t make the frustrating starts feel any better, especially last year when the Jazz were expected to be able to get off to a better start due to their continuity. Not only that, but their early losses cost them precious playoff positioning that otherwise may have changed their fate significantly.

Ahead of the 2019-20 season, expectations are higher than they’ve been for several years. As such, Jazz fans will want to see their team get off to a strong start, maintain it throughout the year and ideally finish strong.

However, some have been wise to temper their expectations considering that the Jazz are introducing several new faces to their squad, including three new starters, assuming either Royce O’Neale or Jeff Green get that nod over former starter Joe Ingles. With such change to the roster, it’s expected that the Jazz would take some time to gel and get a hang for one another.

But with such a talented and veteran squad, the hope has been that the adaptations wouldn’t take too long or produce a start as dreadful as the past two seasons. Guys like Mike Conley, Bojan Bogdanovic and Jeff Green are savvy vets with expansive playoff experience, so they won’t have too much trouble adjusting will they?

Well, if preseason play is any indication, Jazz fans may very well find themselves in for more of the same – another slow start. Sure, preseason is hardly an accurate depiction of a team as games are inconsequential, effort is sometimes severely lacking and rotations can be choppy at best. Nevertheless, there’s still no denying that Utah has had its issues thus far.

Aside from a dominant win over the Adelaide 36ers out of Australia, the Jazz have yet to win a preseason game. They were absolutely throttled by the Milwaukee Bucks in a game where the newcomers couldn’t get rolling offensively as Conley and Bogdanovic went a combined 0-for-14 from the field.

In the following contest against the New Orleans Pelicans, the Jazz starters looked much, much better. The offense clicked and they had a considerable lead in the second half. It’s probable that in the regular season, the Jazz would have had enough to arise victorious. But in this particular contest, the Jazz quickly emptied their bench for the final period and the players at the bottom of their depth chart were unable to seal the deal.

Even though the Jazz starters played better in that bout, defense was still a glaring issue against the Pelicans. But with the strides they made overall in the game against the Pelicans, most presumed we’d see further progress and more encouraging signs in the next game on Monday against the Sacramento Kings.

Unfortunately, that couldn’t have been further from the truth.

Much like they were against the Bucks, the Jazz were once again throttled, this time losing 128-115 to a Kings team that doesn’t figure to be anywhere near as daunting as Milwaukee. While Utah’s offense continued to look impressive, their defense remained putrid, allowing the Kings to have their way early and often, all throughout the contest.

Sure, it was just a preseason game. And, yes, the Jazz played their deep bench to end the game yet again. And, of course, as I mentioned previously, we knew there would be an adjustment period as the Jazz got accustomed to one another. I’ve even said myself that I believe the Jazz will start the year about 12-12, if not slightly worse.

But even with that being the case, I expected better than what we’ve seen thus far.

Maybe the Jazz will end preseason spectacularly against Portland on Wednesday. Perhaps they’ll shake off this early rust and get the regular season started off magnificently. It’s possible the defense will click sooner than later.

But based on what we’ve seen up to this point, Jazz fans may want to prepare themselves mentally for yet another slow start. We know Quin Snyder’s schemes on defense are tricky to master. It’s always hard to build chemistry with new players. And even though preseason isn’t the same as the regular season, it’s also unrealistic to expect a switch to magically flip and for the Jazz to suddenly be amazing defensively.

In other words, this poor showing so far may very well be an unfortunate omen that the Jazz are about to face yet another slow start.

The good news is that I’m fully confident that with Rudy Gobert as the anchor, and with intelligent and capable players like Conley and Bogdanovic in the fold, the Jazz are going to get it figured out and become a staunch defensive team before season’s end. However, the question that will now hang crucially over their heads is, just how long will it take?

And unfortunately, a delay in the defense coming together could very well result in all-too-familiar early losses and an eventual drop in playoff positioning, an occurrence the Jazz simply can’t afford if they want to reach their illustrious goals this season.

Luckily, the start of the regular season is just one week away, so we’ll quickly have answers as to just how potent or disappointing this new-look Utah Jazz can be.