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The Jazz will reach the halfway point of the NBA season Friday against Detroit. Or are they just getting started?
Quin Snyder has done one of the league's five best coaching jobs in the first half of the season. Or is his real work only beginning?
This team has produced enough adventures to last a whole season, and now it gets even more interesting. The Jazz practically are assured of the franchise's first postseason appearance in five years, and even may deliver their first win in a playoff game since 2010.
By beating Detroit, the Jazz would finish the first half with a 25-16 record, conveniently projecting to 50 wins. That should be their minimum achievement, judging by everything they've overcome so far. The standards are higher now that they've played their way into this position.
"It would be unrealistic to think we could be in a lot better place," Snyder said before Tuesday's 100-92 win over Cleveland. "Hopefully, over the next month, we can start to make some real progress."
After beating the Cavaliers, the Jazz were tied with Memphis for fifth place in the Western Conference, two games behind the fourth-place Los Angeles Clippers. That's significant, leading into my list of goals for the Jazz in the second half of the season:
Earning home-court advantage
Would you believe the Jazz have not enjoyed the home-court edge in a first-round playoff series since 2001? That opportunity is available, if they can overcome the Clippers, Memphis and Oklahoma City and finish fourth in the West. The No. 4 seed also would enable the Jazz to avoid meeting Golden State, San Antonio or Houston in the first round.
Even if my modest ambition is for the Jazz to win one playoff game in April, claiming a series would advance their rebuilding project and impress Gordon Hayward about the franchise's future — maybe even enough to keep him in Utah.
Winning a series probably would require home-court advantage. Or would it? The Jazz are 11-9 on the road, which is relatively better than their 13-7 home mark, based on NBA norms. The victory over Cleveland was meaningful in that regard. Then again, LeBron James hasn't won in Salt Lake City since Jerry Sloan stopped coaching the Jazz nearly six years ago. Anyone care to explain that?
Keep everybody engaged
As tough as Snyder's job has been at times, as he pieced together playing rotations, his Duke business management background truly will come into play in the second half of the season. Not everyone is going to be happy with a healthy roster.
"I recognize personally that it's a challenge for me to make those decisions," Snyder said. "Sometimes, they're not clear. Sometimes, it's hard for the players. The most important thing is guys have to not just accept the situation, but have to embrace it. … We're all very egocentric as people. As we become higher-level beings, we're less selfish and, hopefully, we have a group that will strive for that."
That concludes the Psychology Today portion of this column.
In any case, NBA veterans Boris Diaw and Joe Johnson will be needed at various times. The trick for Snyder will be to keep them involved in stretches of the schedule when they're not major components. Along those lines, now that the Jazz have a full roster, be prepared for some Spurs-style resting of players.
As Hayward said, "We're getting used to some of the different lineups, and I'm sure guys are getting used to the substitution pattern, different things like that. For the most part, I think everybody's done a good job of adjusting."
Hayward will have a role in maintaining his teammates' level of interest. He's shrewd about these things, as any good writer would be. In his latest blog, Hayward made a point of validating the work of Rudy Gobert, who's playing remarkably well, and of Dante Exum, who's not playing at all. That shows he's in tune with their mentality.
Turn some into Stars
Part of the solution of giving players enough minutes is to expand the Jazz's reach, to Taylorsville. If the franchise can send a squad of Jazz Dancers to the Salt Lake City Stars once every three games, it can provide occasional playing opportunities for Jazz reserves. That happened Wednesday. Raul Neto posted 14 points, 12 assists and nine rebounds in 34 minutes and Alec Burks had 13 points (5-of-17 shooting) and five rebounds in 21 minutes in SLC's 129-94 win over Grand Rapids - with Hayward and Rudy Gobert among the team personnel in attendance.
That's one way the franchise can keep this from becoming a lost season for Dante Exum, Neto and Burks. And it can be a memorable year for the Jazz, if they respond as well to the condition of having everybody available in the second half of the season as they've done amid the turmoil of the first half.
Twitter: @tribkurt —
Jazz after 40 games
Coach Quin Snyder's overall record •102-102 in third season (38-44, 40-42, 24-16).
Best wins • Jazz 106, San Antonio 91 (Nov. 1); Jazz 120, Houston 101 (Nov. 29); Jazz 100, Cleveland 92 (Jan. 10).
Worst losses • Chicago 85, Jazz 77 (Nov. 17); Golden State 104, Jazz 74 (Dec. 20); Sacramento 94, Jazz 93 (Dec. 21).
First-half MVP • Gordon Hayward. Runner-up • Rudy Gobert.
Biggest surprise • Joe Ingles' ranking among NBA's top five 3-point shooters (.444).
Biggest disappointment • George Hill's missing 24 games due to injuries.
Key upcoming home games • Oklahoma City (Jan. 23), Memphis (Jan. 28), Los Angeles Clippers (Feb. 13).
Don't I know you?
The Jazz have used 15 starting lineups in the first 40 games of the season, involving 11 players. The team's primary fivesomes and their records in those games:
Exum-Hood-Hayward-Diaw-Gobert: 6-2
Hill-Hood-Hayward-Favors-Gobert: 5-1
Mack-Hood-Hayward-Favors-Gobert: 3-3
Hill-Hood-Hayward-Diaw-Gobert: 3-0
Hill-Hood-Johnson-Favors-Gobert: 2-1
Hill-Hood-Johnson-Diaw-Gobert: 1-2
Exum-Hood-Hayward-Favors-Gobert: 2-0
Exum-Hood-Hayward-Lyles-Gobert: 0-2