When’s the last time an 8 upset a 1...Warriors back in the day against the Mavs? If Mitchell doesn’t come back close to 100% I can see Memphis taking out Utah.
Nobody really see Jazz as a legit championship contenders.
A lot of people are foolish then. They need Mitchell back, but assuming he makes it back with little limitation, I’m picking them out of the West.
Same. It's ridiculous to not rate the Jazz. Amazingly good shooting team, balanced offensive output from an All-Star back-court, the best defensive player in the NBA, two 6MOY candidates. They're so balanced.
But they don't have true top end talent. Their best players are in the top 20 range and that just isn't good enough.
We'll see. You've gone into this debate a number of times with other posters, and there's only one way to find out - let them play the games. If the formula was so perfect why would they even play?
I've had this debate for years and for years I've been proven correct. Eventually there will be another exception to the rule and I will be wrong that one particular year, but then I will go right back to being correct because that quite simply is history. You can't argue with history.
I think that it's a case of many people think this year is one such exception with the Jazz, because they are so strong in multiple areas while not possessing an MVP calibre player. Many metrics absolutely adore them. Especially in a season where many of the top 5 players in the league (LeBron, Jokic, Giannis, Embiid, Curry) play on flawed teams, whether that flaw be injury, missing the playoffs entirely, or a tough road due to seeding. Giannis and Embiid are the best situated top 5 players, but they will have to either face each other or face Brooklyn, a team boasting a couple of other arguable top 5 guys.
The West is pretty wide open, because I don't see LAL making it through and the Clippers are a total wildcard.
The Jazz absolutely could be the exception and I picked them to beat Memphis in 5 games (feeling less confident in that after game 1 obviously), but I honestly think Memphis has a better chance of beating Utah then Utah does of even making the Finals let alone winning them. I just don't think the Jazz are that good. They were very healthy (comparatively) and have a lot of solid depth, that is always a recipe for winning a lot of regular season games and performing well record and stat wise, but that stuff doesn't generally matter in the playoffs. Look at Milwaukee the last couple of years and that is with a top 5 guy. They had a lot of depth and won a ton of games, but when it really mattered the 2nd and 3rd players just weren't good enough and teams could focus heavily on Giannis. This year, they consolidated their depth and upgraded their 2nd and/or 3rd player a lot. Holiday is SIGNIFICANTLY better than Bledsoe. As such, I believe Milwaukee is much better positioned for a deep playoff run despite having a much worse regular season. They obviously could lose to Brooklyn, Philadelphia, or whatever team comes out of the West, but I do think Milwaukee is far more likely to make a big run this year despite having a worse regular season because they improved the roster at the top (not the very top, but in the top few).
Also, as an aside, the 2 most recent champions without a top 5 guy i.e. the 14 Spurs and the 04 Pistons, played in much weaker overall conferences. They obviously beat a great team in the Finals (the Heat and the Lakers), but their roads to get there weren't super difficult (OKC was solid, but not the same after Harden and the East was super weak the Pistons year with the Nets a solid team and tough out, but not an elite team). After Memphis (who isn't an easy out especially with Jackson looking pretty good), the Jazz would have to go through the Clippers or Mavs in round 2, then the Lakers, Nuggets, or Suns in round 3 before almost certainly playing one of the 3 eastern behemoths. That is a tough road for any team, let alone a team without even a top 15 player in the world.
