Utah Jazz 2009-2010 Season Preview, Picks & Odds

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Utah Jazz 2008-2009 NBA Record: 48-34, 3rd in Northwest Division

Utah Jazz 2008-2009 ATS (Against The Spread): 39-43

Utah Jazz Betting Trends & Betting Angles:

• 17-3 SU past 20 at home to Denver

• 0-6 SU and ATS past 6 trips to Portland

• 14-2 SU, 12-4 ATS past 16 at home to Trail Blazers

• 2-11 ATS past 13 games on no rest

• 1-8 ATS past 9 as double-digit favorite

• 5-15 ATS past 20 games as underdog

• 12-2 SU, 11-3 ATS past 14 Nov home games

Utah Jazz 2009-2010 Preview & Prediction

The Jazz lost some of their mystique as a physical team last year, but that’s partly an attitude thing. They could get that back quickly with a couple of hard fouls.

Though they took a step back last season, they did so in partly because of injuries. They won 54 games in 2007 and advanced to the conference finals.

In the past three years, the Jazz have lost in the playoffs twice to the eventual NBA champion (L.A., San Antonio); the other time they lost to the conference champ (L.A.).

The home court advantage remains among the best in the league; last year Utah tied for the fifth-best home record. But it was just 15-29 on the road, counting the playoffs.

Utah Jazz Coach: Jerry Sloan (22nd season)

Utah Jazz Returning Players: Forwards Carlos Boozer, Matt Harpring, Andrei Kirilenko, Kyle Korver, C.J. Miles, Paul Millsap; guards Ronnie Brewer, Ronnie Price, Deron Williams; centers Kyle Fesenko, Kosta Koufos, Mehmet Okur.

Utah Jazz Key Additions: Guard Eric Maynor (draft).

Utah Jazz Key Subtractions: Guard Morris Almond (signed with Magic), center Jarron Collins (signed with Trail Blazers), guard Brevin Knight (free agent).

2009-2010 Utah Jazz Point Guards:

While the American public still seems a tad indifferent about Deron Williams – he’s never been an All-Star – he’s no secret in Utah or among NBA players. He is physical, competitive, smart and has an ankle-breaking crossover.

Williams is the only Jazz player who can put the team on his back and carry it. Sometimes he tries too hard to do that, but it’s a condition the Jazz can abide. His free throw percentage, scoring and assist averages were the best of his career, last season.

Ronnie Price has experience and competitiveness, and is a deep backup. But the Jazz apparently don’t see him as the long-term solution. They drafted VCU’s Eric Maynor, who played four years in college. He was off-and-on in the summer league, but his potential to challenge the lane and find spot-up shooters is a major reason the Jazz took him at No. 20.

2009-2010 Utah Jazz Off Guards:

Aside from his ability to get to the rim, fourth-year pro Ronnie Brewer is steadily improving defensively. But he needs to extend his outside scoring accuracy.

Kyle Korver has never fully found a rhythm in Sloan’s system, and shot poorly (39 percent) in the playoffs last spring. Still, he’s a commodity the Jazz have always craved – good 3-point shooters.

Price and Andrei Kirilenko can play at 2 in a pinch, but it remains a position where the Jazz still haven’t entirely found consistency.

2009-2010 Utah Jazz Small Forwards:

The Jazz still haven’t given up on the athletic but laid-back Miles. But entering his fifth season, youth is no longer a good excuse. His scoring average continues to climb and his free throw percentage is soaring.

With 72 starts behind him last year, he now has experience enough to take the next step.

Kirilenko continues to turn in quirky box scores and uneven results. He’s great at doing things without the ball. Unfortunately for the Jazz, sometimes he starts feeling a need to get touches. Though Horacek’s shooting tips have helped, a bad sign for the Jazz is when A.K. hits a couple of treys early. Then he thinks he can do it all night. Kirilenko will never see eye-to-eye with Sloan, but he’s a good comrade and has settled in to wait it our until he becomes a free agent in 2011.

Tough veteran Matt Harpring spent the summer debating whether to retire his aching knees.

2009-2010 Utah Jazz Power Forwards:

Millsap is undersized but a great worker. Teammates and fans love his ability to get put-backs. He’s a fantasy player’s dream and a slacker’s nightmare.

He has patiently waited his turn, and now he’s the future starter. Last season he averaged 16 points and 10 rebounds as a starter, including a streak of 19 straight double-doubles in Boozer’s absence, 29 overall.

While an undeniably valuable player, it’s doubtful Millsap will be an All-Star like Boozer. Eventually, the Jazz could wind up backing up Millsap by committee, which in some situations includes the versatile Kirilenko or second-year center Kosta Koufos.

O’Connor insisted all summer that if Boozer played out the 2009-10 season in Utah, that would be fine, too. In some situations, both he and Millsap played well together in the same frontcourt. Question of the summer in Salt Lake: What if Boozer stayed all year and Sloan had to decide
whether to go with his future (Millsap) to start, or kept Boozer out front to shop him?

2009-2010 Utah Jazz Centers:

Interior defense is a problem with the Jazz. Come to think of it, so is interior offense. The Jazz haven’t had a consistent down low defender since Karl Malone. Okur stretches defenses with his 3-point skills but isn’t a major force inside, nor is Koufos or rookie Coran Suron, Russian giant Kyrylo Fesenko hasn’t fully proven his commitment to improving.

The Jazz have long lacked a true center. That wasn’t addressed over the summer. They remain painfully shy of points in the post.

Utah Jazz 2009-2010 Season Predictions

We predict that the Utah Jazz will finish 3rd in the NBA Northwest Division .

Utah Jazz Betting

Utah Jazz NBA Championship Odds: +1200

Utah Jazz Eastern Conference Odds: +2000

Utah Jazz 2008-2009 Betting Stats

Utah Jazz Straight Up: 48-34

Utah Jazz ATS: 39-43

Utah Jazz Home ATS: 22-19

Utah Jazz Away ATS: 17-24

Utah Jazz Record As Favorite: 43-16

Utah Jazz Record As Dog: 5-18

Utah Jazz Over/Under: 41-39-2

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