Funny, coming into this season, the losing was supposed to stop for the Utah Jazz. Unlike the past two seasons, this bad start was unintentional. They were supposed to compete with the West's best competition, at minimum. Instead, they are tied for the worst record in both the West and the NBA.
Sure, there was expected to be some rough patches, but not like this. Let's delve too much into our own misery, despite how tempting it is. It's time to give the Jazz some slack. As awful as this start has been in real time, they have legitimate excuses.
Let's start with the Jazz's latest injury report. While Keyonte George's injury paved the way for Darryn Peterson to show out yet again last night, he will miss the team's upcoming game against the Miami Heat.
It get worse too. Lauri Markkanen is yet again questionable because of that nagging ankle sprain in addition to Jaren Jackson Jr. and Jusuf Nurkic. As much as losing sucks, is anyone really that surprised that they're losing this many games with their three most proven players and one of their most crucial role players?
That would suck for pretty much any team. You simply won't win when fate removes your three most valuable players this early in the season. Take Karl Malone, John Stockton, and Jeff Hornacek from those 90s teams. How well would they have done with those three out?
The schedule has not let up
This came up earlier, but it's worth mentioning that their early schedule has been a buzzsaw. It's very possible that even with a clean bill of health, they would be below average. That's what makes these injuries even worse when looking at the full scope of it. They could lose games, but at least develop some familiarity with one another. They're not even allowed to do that.
Per ESPN, they have the sixth-toughest schedule to start with their strength of schedule being .554. Combine their badly-timed injuries with an extremely tough schedule and it all adds up that it has been this bad.
When Utah gets a clean bill of health, hopefully before the calendar year ends, we will get to see if this is really because the team construction is that bad or if their circumstances have been behind this. Everyone who is miserable to see this start is totally justified to feel that way, but anyone who thinks the Jazz's schedule and injuries have caused this are also justified.
It shouldn't remain this way, and it won't unless they have the unluckiest season ever. So the question going forward for the Jazz won't be "Should this get better?" because the answer is yes. The question will be "Will it?"
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