The J-Notes
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Utah Jazz Season Countdown Begins (24 Days To Go)

By Karthik Narayanan

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Dec 19, 2014; Orlando, FL, USA; Utah Jazz forward Gordon Hayward (20) celebrates with Alec Burks (10) after their game against the Orlando Magic during the second half at Amway Center. The Jazz won 101-94. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

We’re so close. The Utah Jazz preseason will tip off tonight, meaning we’re just 24 days away from the team’s first regular season game. At The J Notes HQ, we could not keep our excitement hidden. After all, for basketball fanatics, the first day of the regular season spells Christmas.

In keeping with the holiday tradition, we will be counting down to October 28th, in freestyle.

On One Hand

The Jazz will face the Los Angeles Lakers tonight in Honolulu, Hawaii. Yes, you read that right. The time has come! The game will be telecast live on Root Sports and NBA TV starting at 7 PM MDT.

While Utah’s European players (Rudy Gobert, Tibor Pleiss) were working hard for their countries in EuroBasket, the rest of the team was gelling in Utah (sans Dante Exum, who just had a successful surgery–our thoughts are with you, young-un).

It’s time to take out the offseason boredom on Lakers, who, some believe, have a chance to compete for playoff spot. While it’s fine to dream, the Western Conference is too stacked even for a team like Utah to say that they are locked into the playoff race. (Ed. Note: Good luck with that, Kareem)

While preseason games need to be taken in stride, the team has many exciting preseason stories to follow through. Expect to see 20-24 minutes of action from Gobert, Derrick Favors and Gordon Hayward, and a lot of time reserved for players fighting for their spots.

For a detailed scouting report about the preseason game, check out the beat by our rock star Ryan–UTA vs LAL.

The Other Hand

The NBA tipped off its preseason on Friday with the Los Angeles Clippers taking on the Denver Nuggets. Emmanuel Mudiay is big and can defend, but needs to tighten the handles and the shutter in his shot. I think he is going to be a fine pick for Denver.

Two more games happened on Saturday, as the Charlotte Hornets faced the Orlando Magic and the Indiana Pacers squared off with the New Orleans Pelicans. It will be interesting to see how Paul George is going to handle being a power forward, a position he doesn’t seem to like.

He cannot hold ground against stronger power forwards like Blake Griffin, Tim Duncan, etc. They also won’t be able to match his quickness, but George’s body may not be able to withstand the everyday bruises. Obviously, this would affect Indiana’s playoff chances.

Wow


Other Things

National TV attention or the lack of it–the Jazz has been getting almost no national TV screen time for the past couple of years. While this is to be expected of a low-rung team, even this year, we have only three nationally televised games (and three more on NBA TV).

Meanwhile, the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Golden State Warriors will play 25 (you read that right) national TV games. However, at least we’re not the Sixers, Nuggets or Pistons–all of whom are not playing any games on national TV.

I am at peace with this, as this reduces all the timing changes for games and players can stick to the schedule.

Next: Utah Jazz Take On the Los Angeles Lakers in Preseason Opener

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