Power Rankings Roundup: Are the Utah Jazz sliding?

While it may seem that the Utah Jazz are trending in the wrong direction from their recent play, NBA media outlets would say otherwise.

The Utah Jazz came into the regular season brimming with hope and optimism. Despite a less than stellar preseason showing, the team was able to jump out to a 3-1 start. Ever since then, it’s been an up and down roller coaster for Jazz fans.

The Jazz dropped two consecutive games against the Sacramento Kings and Los Angeles Clippers in which they played well, but ultimately couldn’t finish the game strong enough.

Then Utah surged back to beat the Philadelphia 76ers and Milwaukee Bucks in front of a playoff intensity home crowd. Now the blue, green, and gold are on a two-game losing streak. Mike Conley is still searching for his missing jumper, the Jazz bench is bottom five in the league according to several stats, and Karl-Anthony Towns sank SEVEN three pointers on the Jazz’s hardwood Monday night.

Is it time to hit the panic button yet? The answer is no, not even close.

Roughly 85 percent of the regular season still remains, and hopefully many more playoff games as well. The Utah Jazz have time to do whatever it takes to play better basketball, which includes cutting down on turnovers, snapping out of shooting slumps, and getting a healthier contribution from their bench unit.

Every Monday, media outlets across the country rank the 30 teams in the association based on how they did the previous week, and on the season as a whole. Here is how the Jazz have been ranked each week so far, in chronological order:

ESPN: 7th, 7th, 6th, 5th, 6th

CBS Sports: 6th, 9th, 13th, 7th, 8th

Bleacher Report: 5th, 7th, 7th, 7th, 9th

Hoops Habit: 6th, 9th, 12th, 10th, 7th

While it is true that these were released before the Jazz’s disappointing loss to the Timberwolves on Monday night, don’t forget the Jazz also have the rest of this week to redeem themselves. Even with the ups and downs of the season up to Monday morning, the national media has been friendly to the Utah Jazz, as they haven’t dropped lower than 13th on the season.

I know it can be tough to watch this highly-anticipated team play bad, and it hurts even more when you see teams like the Boston Celtics go on a 10-game win streak to lead the Eastern Conference, as well as the Houston Rockets doing well.

It is normal to think, “Why hasn’t it happened to my Utah Jazz right now?” Rest assured, the Jazz have the bigger picture in mind. While it is nice to be near the top of the early season power rankings, all NBA teams should be hoping to peak in April, May and June.

If you were able to say “my team was the best in November” compared to “my team was the best in June and the last one standing”, which scenario would you rather have?

Obviously the latter would be better, and the championship is what the Jazz are aiming for.

Additionally, as mentioned in the previously listed Tony Jones tweet, the Jazz have played the NBA’s third hardest schedule so far. Currently Basketball-Reference projects the Jazz to finish 48-34 and fifth place in the Western Conference. If that is the floor of this season, just imagine how high the ceiling is once the team as a whole gets back on track.

Here are a couple quotes of what recent power rankings have said about the Jazz. One optimistic, and one pessimistic:

Via Bleacher Report: 

"“Though Donovan Mitchell‘s efficiency spike (career-high 57.1 true shooting percentage) is encouraging, it’s worth noting his gains are built on unsustainably high conversion rates from the mid-range area. He’s making over 50 percent of his looks from 10-23 feet, and he’s attempting more shots from those generally out-of-favor distances than ever.When regression comes, a Utah offense that already ranks just 24th in the league could get even worse.The Jazz have a soft stretch of schedule to figure out their scoring issues. On Dec. 1, they hit a daunting sequence that will include the Sixers, Raptors and Lakers. They’ll need to be their best selves by then.”"

Via CBS Sports:

"“The Jazz were slowly inching their way up the Power Rankings, but a rough loss to the Grizzlies stopped them in their tracks. It’s likely just a blip on the radar, however, as the Utah offense is finally starting to click after a sluggish start. Donovan Mitchell has clearly benefited from his team’s offseason additions, as his scoring average and 3-point percentage have increased while his turnovers have gone down.”"

Drawing conclusions based on just a few weeks of NBA season is foolish, simply because some teams will fade out, and other teams will gain back their mojo before long. It was just two short weeks ago that the Philadelphia 76ers were the NBA’s last undefeated team and were on top of the power rankings. Then an injury and suspension to their two best players marked a rough stretch of basketball for the team. Nevertheless, I still believe Philly will come out as one of the top 2 teams in the Eastern Conference when all is said and done.

Even though the Utah Jazz haven’t had a convincing win yet, I still believe this team will play their best basketball in the spring. That’s the way Quin Snyder’s teams usually turn out, and this year will be no different. Before we all know it, Ed Davis will be back in the rotation, Quin Snyder will have figured out a way to juice up the bench lineups, and Mike Conley will be playing like Mike Conley.

All stats are a courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com and NBA.com