The Long Road Ahead

Posted by Johnathan Kendrick on December 06, 2007

The Jazz are playing good basketball. They have one of the best records in the league. Predictably they are much better playing at home, boasting an 8-1 record at the Energy Solutions Arena. The home record has some nice wins including a last second length of the court layup by Deron Williams to beat the Cavs and last weeks dismantling of the Lakers despite the fact that Boozer and Okur watched the game in street clothes.

The road however has been anything but predictable. The Jazz beat a solid Piston team in Detroit, and dropped games to inferior opponents in New York and Indiana. Overall the Jazz are 5-4 on the road. Not a bad record but not a trend that will keep them in pace with the rest of the elite teams in the league, especially considering most of the road games thus far have been played against sub .500 teams.

The next stretch of games will go a long way in forming the road identity of the Utah Jazz. Starting Tuesday December 4th – 9 of the next 11 games will be on the road. Including stops in Orlando, Phoenix, and a back to back in San Antonio and Dallas (How many headlines do you think will feature the title Texas Two-step?). That’s games against 4 of the top 5 teams in the league, on the road, in a two week span.
For this next stretch of games to be a success – the Jazz need to win 7 out of the 11 (including 5 on the road). Anything less than that would have to be considered average. Anything more would have to be considered “elite” –and that’s where the Jazz need to be.

The Jazz started the stretch with a loss to the Kings 117-107. It was a game the Jazz should have won. It will be interesting to see if they can steal one in Texas this weekend and right the ship.

1 Comment

RRR on December 06, 2007 said:

Better they not steal but outright beat both of those TX teams this weekend!

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