Phx-Suns.Net

Jazz didn't have Hayward, favors, or Burks. I wouldn't read too much into a close loss on the road against a good Portland team that shot 68% from 3.

Marty [Mori Chu] wrote:They picked up a few nice vets this offseason, and all their young guys are a year older. I think they will be good. But the Hayward injury is tough, and they still haven't proven anything. Having Gobert in the middle to guard that rim is such a luxury for their defense; that alone will win them some close games this year.

their coach isnt good, that's why i'm slightly down on utah.

Even so...I look at their team and I like their players but just can't get excited. None seem really dominant or have take-over ability. Hill is a nice player. Burks is OK. Hayward is a solid 3rd option. Favors doesn't seem to have grown into that franchise big. Gobert is a tremendous defensive center. So what else is there?

ShelC wrote:Even so...I look at their team and I like their players but just can't get excited. None seem really dominant or have take-over ability. Hill is a nice player. Burks is OK. Hayward is a solid 3rd option. Favors doesn't seem to have grown into that franchise big. Gobert is a tremendous defensive center. So what else is there?

Hood is pretty good. Exum has a ton of potential. And I am higher on Lyles than most. But overall I think they are missing something (didn't have them making the playoffs in my prediction). Getting rid of Burke was a good decision, though.

Memphis beat Minnesota last night, so that's two more common predictions that didn't pan out on opening night.

Exum can't shoot. Hood...again, pretty good. Lyles could end up being the best player on the team but is at least another year away from making that kind of impact.

Utah is the prototypical one-player-away pretender right now, but what they have is extremely solid. If they get one true crunch time guy, or let's say one develops from within, they are truly scary. Can you imagine a Carmelo on that team?