A quick look at the Western Conference standings will tell you all you need to know about the NBA’s biggest storyline so far.
After trading away their two franchise cornerstones in Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell this past summer, nobody was expecting them to win more than 25 games all season.
Despite those expectations, however, Utah has been phenomenal out of the gate, being one of the league’s best and most cohesive teams on both ends of the floor. And while some are questioning if this level of play is sustainable for a Jazz team with no true superstar, you can count former NBA big man Thurl Bailey as a believer in this team.
“I’ve been asking what kind of sample size we need for these guys to prove they are for real, and I think 10-11 games is a pretty good sample size. 20 might be better. The road is tough anyway… but I think it’s sustainable. There are certain things you can’t control. You can’t control the health part. And you can’t control the schedule. So, I believe it is sustainable. You’ve got a well-balanced enough team. Coach Hardy’s thrown a lot of different lineups out there…”
"I believe it is sustainable."
Thurl Bailey likes what he sees in the Utah Jazz#TakeNote pic.twitter.com/scKFxm7H7a
— SiriusXM NBA Radio (@SiriusXMNBA) November 12, 2022
The Utah Jazz Have Been The NBA’s Story Of The Season
Coming into this season, the Jazz were viewed as a team with a bunch of rejects and washouts. They were viewed as a squad, only playing for the lottery.
But credit has to be given to coach Hardy for getting his guys to buy in, play together, and work for each other to make the game as easy as possible.
Jordan Clarkson is having a great year himself. He is still an incredibly reliable scorer who’s using his veteran presence on the court to ease the transition of players like Lauri Markkanen and Collin Sexton into the team. After starting the season 10-3, Clarkson decided to poke some fun at the low expectations people had from the Jazz by joking about going undefeated for the rest of the year.
“79-3?? maybe?? hahaha night yall, love yall,” tweeted Jordan Clarkson amid his team’s hot start.
Whether or not this level of play is sustainable for Utah, they can look back on this stretch and be proud of the way they have played.
With solid shooting, defending, and fundamentals all around, coach Hardy has his team playing the game the right way, and that will almost always result in winning basketball.
