‘Okur Factor’ (Melissa Majchrzak - NBAE/Getty Images)

On Monday’s edition of 1320, K-Fan’s Locked on Sports we discussed what is the Jazz edge compared to the other teams in the Western Conference. Jeff Hornacek, who will join Locked on Sports every Monday at 4, said the advantage the Jazz have is they have depth and they can score from every position. Hornacek believes the star players will neutralize each other therefore, leaving major possessions in the hands of other players.

I believe in analyzing the game by the single possessions so this falls into the Locke wheel-house. I have a metric (Stud or Dud) that calculates if a players uses a single possession above or below the league average. Any number that is negative is below the league average.

According to Stud and Dud the Jazz have just one player in their 8 player core (excluding Hart or Price) who is below the league average. That player is Memo Okur. His rating is currently, -11, meaning he will likely be above average shortly if he continues to play well.

Does that really give the Jazz an edge? The Jazz currently only use 14 possessions a night that are below average. Here are the best of the rest of the Western Conference.

1. Lakers (8 possessions) – Luke Walton (-33)
2. Phoenix (10) — Boris Diaw (-46)
3. Dallas (11) – Jerry Stackhouse (-41)
4. Utah (14) – Okur (-11)
5. San Antonio (29) – Bowen (-7); Udoka (-17); Finley (-33); Stoudamire (-28)
6. Denver (33) – Camby (-42), Carter (-16); Martin (-12)
7. Golden State (35) – Baron (-2), Barnes (-15), Webber (-164)
8. New Orleans (44) – West (-5), Pargo (-71), Jackson (-41), Butler (-85)
9. Houston (55) – McGrady (-51); Alston (-55); Bonzi (-77); Brooks (-44)

What does it all mean? Time will tell, but it looks to me that the top 4 teams are better equipped offensively for the playoffs.