The Utah Jazz are 1-9, people. Let's not beat around the bush. This really sucks. The "it's early" leash is getting shorter and shorter with each loss. We're not past the point of no return, as sometime this season, the Jazz will hopefully be healthy.
It's easy to be pessimistic when the Jazz give their fans every reason to be pessmisitic. As a whole, they are disappointing, but hey, at least Darryn Peterson is starting to look more comfortable out there. In fact, not only has he looked good, but he's actively figuring himself out on the court.
It's a shame that it has to happen while Utah becomes more and more undermanned, but at least Peterson is stepping up when the team has asked him to. After his breakout game vs. Dallas, Peterson topped his performance in another tough matchup against Minnesota.
Peterson shot 11-for-21 from the field, leading to 26 points, six rebounds, and four assists. Perhaps even more telling is that in a game the Jazz lost by 15, he had a plus/minus of plus-three. In other words, he wasn't putting up empty numbers in a double-digit loss.
Times like these show that the other night against the Mavericks wasn't a flash in the pan. Peterson is figuring this out. Better yet, he continues to show he has the right mindset as a prospect.
The next step: winning some games
That's where the optimism for the Jazz's outlook ends because, right now, staying optimistic is just annoying. They've lost eight straight. The schedule has been unforgiving and their injuries have only continued to pile up. Peterson finally breaking out to look like the No. 2 pick in his draft is a great sign, but it's only good sign in a season that's had plenty of bad ones.
Peterson's progressing will keept he fans invested because it is a step in the right direction for him and the team, but it's only a small one. Now the team itself has to follow his lead and end this abysmal stretch once and for all.
At this point, the Jazz just want to see this losing streak end. Even if they have more losing stretches if and when they finally notch a win, just ending this would be such a relief. In all fairness, if Peterson was still struggling, then everyone would have every right to be completely miserable.
Even if fans are 99% miserable, Peterson preventing their misery from being 100% is a step up. Hey, you take whatever win you can get. Now let's get some wins, boys!
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