Having watched both preseason games, it's difficult to peg where the Jazz are going to be. The first few games are going to be rough, and their saving grace is many other teams are going to have a rough going too.
The Jazz don't have a superstar. They have three former All-Stars, and maybe up to four future All-Stars, but right now they're a deep roster of average players. Had they a full off-season, I could hope they could outshine the 42-40 post-Stockton-Malone team, but that team still had coach Sloan and a full summer league, training camp and preseason schedule. 1 thru 14, there's more talent on this team than that, but that team had cohesion. It'll take a while for this squad and this coaching staff ot figure out what they're going to do.
And that's okay. I would say I'd rather have this team land in the lottery than get the 8th seed in the playoffs. Jazz fans will be watching all year hoping Golden State lands exactly 8th in the lottery seating, and that the Jazz finish around 30-36 but miraculously land in the top three again. This 2012 draft is going to alter the trajectories of a handful of franchises for the next decade.
My impressions on the rookies are that Alec Burks is going to be as good as we hoped, and that Enes Kanter isn't as far away as they say. Yeah, he's rough and raw and will need a year or two, but I envisioned him having a Kosta Koufos rookie year the way they've been downplaying expectations. I do believe Derrick Favors will be a multiple-year All-Star and Gordon Hayward could be, but he still has a ways to make his April an every-month effort.
Jazz outrebounded Portland in both games. That's a vast improvement over last year.
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