COLUMN: Jazz season crashed and still burning

    Remember the good ol’ days? Back when Jerry was still calling the plays, when D-Will was still dropping dimes left and right? When the Jazz were the comeback kids of the league and when they were winning games? Yeah, I miss those days, too.

    It’s been a rough couple months for loyal Jazz fans. Not only have we said goodbye to two of our most beloved, but we also cannot seem to find our way back into the win column. Over the past little while, as the losses have piled up, the same dark thought has been slowly creeping into the minds of fans everywhere: “Are we even going to make the playoffs?”

    I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but no, the Jazz won’t make the playoffs this year. Not only that, but they very well might end the season with a losing a record, something that only happened once during Sloan’s 23 seasons here. 

    So what happened?! Looking back, I feel like King Theoden from “Lord of the Rings,” from before the battle starts in Helm’s Deep he looks around and says “How did it come to this?” I mean, honestly, the Jazz started the season really well. Who could possibly forget Millsap’s explosion for 46 points against the Heat in what was one of the best games of the year throughout the entire NBA? Or how, early in the season, the Jazz had more comeback wins then I can even keep track of?

    Almost halfway through the season, the Jazz were 27-13 and playing pretty well. They were one of the best teams in the West and contending with the Thunder for the top spot in the Northwest division. Then, inexplicably, they lost 10 of their next 14 games.

    Then, even more inexplicably, Jerry Sloan, the guy who had been coaching for longer than most of rookies in the league had even been living, decided to call it quits. Now, I’m not blaming the Jazz’s failure on Jerry leaving. I am a huge Jerry Sloan fan, but I’m pretty sure it’s safe to say that losing your head coach of 23 years is going to have an impact.

    Sloan was replaced by Ty Corbin, who I think will be a good coach, but like I said earlier, he had some big shoes to fill. Corbin came in and the Jazz have continued to plummet. Under Corbin they have gone just 5-12 as of Wednesday.

    Two weeks after losing Sloan, the Jazz made headlines again, this time in a blockbuster trade that sent Deron Williams to New Jersey for Devin Harris, Derrick Favors, and two first round draft picks. Besides being shocked by the amount of media coverage their team was getting, Jazz fans were even more shocked by Deron’s departure. Deron was a fan favorite in Utah, and losing him was a big blow.

    So here we are, with nine games left in the regular season, no Sloan, no Williams and a very slim chance that the Jazz will play deep into April. As of Wednesday afternoon, Utah is in the 11th spot in the West, three games behind Memphis for the final play-off spot, as well as behind Houston and Phoenix.

    Not only that, but seven of the Jazz’s final nine games come against play-off teams, including the league-leading Spurs, the Mavs, and two games against the defending champion Lakers. Not only will they miss the postseason, but this brutal home-stretch will most likely leave them with their first losing record since the 2004-05 season.

    Sorry to be such a pessimist, but this year is looking bleak. So what do we do? We look to next year.

    The additions of Harris and Favors are good for the Jazz. Harris is a quick, speedy guard who can score in bunches and Favors is that athletic big guy that the Jazz have never had. Then you add the two first round picks, which with the Nets record could be legit lottery picks. Put all of that with the guys we already have like Millsap, Al Jefferson, C.J. Miles and Andrei Kirilenko, the future of the Jazz looks bright indeed.

    So cheer up, Jazz fans. Sure, the season wasn’t everything you hoped for, and looking back, you probably can’t help but wonder how we ended up where we are today. King Theoden thought the same thing, and he won the battle of Helm’s deep. The Jazz obviously won’t fight battles, but I’m pretty confident that they will keep fighting.

Mark Israelsen is a freshman majoring in mechanical engineering. He has also been a lifelong fan of the Utah Jazz. He can be reached at mark.israelsen@aggiemail.usu.edu