Friday, February 13, 2009

Second Half Schedule

Last year, the Jazz went 17-24 away from the ToxBox. That included impressive wins at Boston, Orlando, New Orleans, Phoenix, and Detroit (remember, they used to be good). But it also included head-scratching losses at the Nets, the Clippers, New York (with Isaiah), Charlotte, and Minny & Sacramento - twice.

This year, the Jazz are at 9-17 on the road, meaning we'd have to go 8-7 after the break just to match last year's road mark. That's not going to happen. Here's why: The Jazz still have a five game east-coast road trip in March, and while none of the teams are finals contenders, all of them are fighting for playoff spots. And then, the dagger: the final nine games of the season include six road games against LEGIT western conference teams. Portland, Denver, New Orleans, Dallas, San Antonio, and the Lakers. Ugg.

Those last six roadies could easily be an 0-for-6. That means, if the Jazz have any intentions of getting anything better than an 8 seed, they need to take care of business in March against the Indianas of the world. The team hasn't given me much faith in their road-readiness thusfar. The signature road win of the season to date was at Philadelphia in Deron's first game back from his first injury. Come March, if that is still our marquee road victory, we better start prepping for the lottery.

2 comments:

Ryan said...

With Boozer and AK healthy, we are at least the third best team in the West and I think we'll play like it down the home strech. Plus some of those teams in front of us are going to crash and burn. The Rockets are a mess with McGrady's knee (or is it his head) and Artest's terrible shooting; the Mavs aren't very good and are going to miss Terry; and the Hornets are not the team they were last year now that Chandler has returned to his old self.

Pasty Gangsta said...

Still, we are TERRIBLE on the road. Even with AK and the Booze back I bet we give away some easy games away from Salt Lake. We've also lost a few at home this year that we shouldn't have.

The good news: with the possible exception of the Boston game, we shouldn't lose again in Salt Lake this year.