Midseason Grades For Every Utah Jazz Player
By Ryan Aston
The Utah Jazz hit the numerical midpoint of the 2016-17 season recently and remain firmly in the hunt for a Top 4 seed in the West. Here’s a look at how each player has performed so far.
It’s officially that time of year. The Utah Jazz have gone through more games than are left on the schedule, meaning the NBA All-Star Game, trade deadline and playoff race are just around the corner. And for the first time since 2012, the Jazz have put themselves into postseason position.
At 27-16 through 43 games, Utah currently holds the seventh best record in the league. Given the fact the team lost 100-plus games to injury and illness over the first half of the season, that’s an incredible mark and the basketball press is taking note.
Earlier this week, NBA.com’s Lang Whitaker recognized the Jazz band with high marks in his midseason grades for the club. He gave the team a B for its overall efforts, but doled out an A for its league-leading defense and a B-plus for Quin Snyder’s coaching efforts. The team didn’t hit lower than a B-minus in any category.
Most of Jazz Nation would probably be on-board with this evaluation. In looking at the team as a whole, you’d be hard-pressed as a fan to be dissatisfied with what Gordon Hayward and Co. have been able to accomplish so far in spite of massive injuries. They continue to boast a whole far greater than the sum of its parts.
However, if you break things down on a player-to-player basis, there has definitely been some good, some less good and some straight-up disappointing performances after three months of basketball.
Here are my grades for each Jazzman as we look toward the season’s second half.
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