Opponent Scouting: Utah Jazz (15-19)
Tonight at 9:00pm EST the Detroit Pistons will be on the road to face the Jazz of Utah. Both teams will be on one day of rest with the Pistons coming off a shellacking at the hands of the Rockets while the Jazz did the shellacking against the Mavericks.
The Them:
When the Pistons last played the Jazz (with many of their worthwhile players injured) it seemed to be their best chance to avoid history. In the time since then however, it seems as though the Jazz are actually putting some positives together, if you go back a few games before that matchup with the Pistons, the Jazz have quietly gone 8-3 in their last 11 games. They’ve gotten a bit healthier, had a few guys get out of slumps, and generally starting to look like a competent basketball team. I will not pretend that I have been tuning into Jazz games on league pass with enough regularity to say whether or not the recent run of good form is something that may last or if it is just a run good games and nothing else, but they certainly seem to be improving.
Lauri Markkanen is still the leader of the team, he’s huge, can shoot, dribble and is generally the complete offensive package. Colin Sexton can score and can be a pest defensively. John Collins has not done well in Utah but he’s still athletic and skilled enough to be a positive on the right night, Kris Dunn can still defend, Simone Fontecchio is a 6’8 shooter who’s had a couple of sneaky-good games (he had 24 against the Mavs last time out). Off the bench Jordan Clarkson is still a capable offensive engine, Walker Kessler is stout defensively, Kelly Olynyk is tall and can shoot, Keyonte George is competent as a ball-handler. Once again, I haven’t watched closely enough to totally identify what has gotten them going recently other than that the whole of the team just seems to be doing better. There are some goofy lineup things they’ve done, but on the whole, its kinda the same guys doing similar things and its just working better as far as I can see. The bad news is that this should now be a borderline unwinnable game for Detroit since they seem to stand no chance against anyone with a pulse and this Jazz team officially has a pulse.
Matchups to watch:
Pistons vs. Giving a shit: The media has moved on for now with the losing streak over. Will anyone in this organization care until the losing streak gets so bad that it gets back into the headlines?
Opportunities for me to look stupid:
The Pistons will not give a shit.