This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Houston, Dallas and Memphis lost by an average of 32 points as the NBA's Western Conference playoffs began this past weekend, suggesting the Jazz could find some comfort in staying home and avoiding embarrassment.
That's the wrong answer. The Jazz should feel even worse about allowing those teams to finish ahead of them, causing them to miss the playoffs again. The franchise's four-year absence from postseason play matches the longest period in the Utah era, dating to the first four seasons after the move from New Orleans in 1979. It all makes the ongoing playoffs difficult for Jazz fans to watch.
As of the opening weekend, nobody could rationalize that the Jazz simply lost out to superior teams in race for the West's last three spots. The Jazz would have come closer than 32 points against Golden State, Oklahoma City or San Antonio in Game 1, wouldn't they? And if not, it still would have been interesting to see how Quin Snyder responded to his first NBA playoff coaching opportunity.
That's just one part of the Jazz's would-be playoff involvement that I'll wonder about. Even if their series vs. one of the West's top three teams lasted only four games, it would have been fun. And all the Jazz had to do to make this season successful was win one playoff game for the first time since 2010.
Yeah, I miss the old days around here. How long ago does the Deron Williams-Carlos Boozer era seem in Jazz history? After missing the playoffs for three seasons, the Jazz teams of 2007-10 produced four years of great playoff memories, which become further removed all the time. A franchise that made 20 consecutive playoff appearances has succeeded in making postseason qualification seem like an achievement.
The consolation is history shows the Jazz never go more than four seasons without playoff participation in Utah — and when they get there after an extended absence, the wait becomes worthwhile. Some parallels also exist between the 1982-83 Jazz and the 2015-16 club, providing encouragement.
The franchise was both a tragic and comical operation in the early days in Utah, an era marked by long losing streaks, drug issues, financial problems and other struggles. "The problem with the team was we didn't have a philosophy," Frank Layden, then the Jazz's general manager, has said.
Yet even with All-Star forward Adrian Dantley missing 60 games with a broken wrist and John Drew spending time in drug rehabilitation, the Jazz improved from 25 wins to 30 in '83, Layden's first full season as the team's coach. The play of guards Darrell Griffith and Rickey Green and the defensive impact of rookie center Mark Eaton provided some hope, and the Jazz went 45-37 the following year, reaching the second round of the playoffs.
Any of that sound familiar? The current Jazz have dealt with all kinds of injuries, while establishing a defensive foundation that should enable them to make a jump in 2016-17 with better health. Improving by 15 wins is asking too much. But at least there's a plan in place now, in contrast to the pieced-together strategy of the original Utah Jazz.
Of course, that's not solving this month's problem of a dark Vivint Smart Home Arena. Amid his tearing down and rebuilding, general manager Dennis Lindsey views only one non-playoff season as his shortcoming, not the entire four-year run. That's reasonable. Yet it also is fair for fans to want the Jazz themselves to feel as much disappointment as they do and to watch other teams compete in the playoffs with the same degree of regret about what they're missing.
They can reassured in multiple ways by Rodney Hood's words: "It's going to be hard watching the playoffs, knowing we were in control in the later part of the season. … I think people around the league — and we—- know we'll be one of the powerhouses in the West for years to come, but it just hurts not to be in there right now."
It should hurt to have another season end in mid-April, after the Jazz were positioned to grab the No. 6 seed in the last week of the schedule. Sure, their 2016 playoff experience could have turned out like 2012, when coach Tyrone Corbin and his team were overwhelmed in San Antonio's sweep, but who knows? The Jazz would have found out more about themselves, and maybe made some memories.
So many moments of the 2007-10 playoff years stick with me: the Game 7 victory in Houston, Derek Fisher's clinching shot in Game 2 vs. Golden State the day of his daughter's cancer treatment, some great battles with Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers, Jerry Sloan's coaching job against Denver without the injured Andrei Kirilenko and Mehmet Okur and my personal favorite, the practice session between Games 3 and 4 of the '07 Golden State series. While the Jazz worked out in Berkeley High's gym, the sixth annual Pagan Festival & Parade was unfolding on the street outside the school.
The event featured costumed witches, goat-driven carriages and booths offering information about a school of wizardry and the upcoming Faerie Masque Ball, in addition to a Tarot to Go reading.
Such a service may or may not provide any clues about where the Jazz are headed in 2016-17. I'll just say the franchise's playoff absence has persisted too long already.
Twitter: @tribkurt —
Missing out
The Jazz's four-year playoff absences during the franchise's Utah era:
1979-83
Season Record Pct. GB* Attn.
1979-80 24-58 .293 14 7,821
1980-81 28-54 .341 12 7,508
1981-82 25-57 .305 21 7,665
1982-83 30-52 .366 15 8,679
Total 107-221 .326 15.5 7,918
2012-16
Season Record Pct. GB*Attn.
2012-13 43-39 .524 2 18,861
2013-14 25-57 .305 24 18,176
2014-15 38-44 .463 7 18,830
2015-16 40-42 .487 1 19,305
Total 146-182 .445 8.5 18,793
* Games behind last playoff qualifier in Western Conference; total represents the average number of games behind.