WE are officially on the home straight for season 2016-17. Some teams have living up to the hype and exceeded expectations, others not so much and they have plummeted towards the bottom of the lottery. Teams were be reviewed at the quarter, halfway and three-quarter mark of the year. Let’s quickly wrap the third portion of the season so far for the teams from the Northwest division.
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Utah Jazz (39-24)
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OVER the past two months the defensive juggernaut that is the Utah Jazz haven’t missed a beat. They help opponents to the fewest PPG in Jan and Feb and the Snyder led Jazz team is clicking on all cylinders as they roll into the postseason.
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THEY lack a true facilitator on offense to help score points. They are able to hold other teams to small totals, but their own point totals are somewhat uninspiring. If they want to take the next step someone like a Rajon Rondo type to run the offense through is a must.
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PART of the reason their opponents stat totals are smaller on average is due to the slow pace that Utah plays at. While that’s not a bad thing they are forced to create a lot of offense in halfcourt sets and they lack the playmakers to really threaten teams like the Spurs and Warriors without those players. Hopefully they can prove me wrong come May.
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Oklahoma City Thunder (35-28)
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TRADING for Doug McDermott and Taj Gibson could very well help the Thunder advance to the 2nd or even 3rd round of the playoffs. Getting more capable players to flank Westbrook is a massive plus.
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MAINLY because of Westbrook’s ‘foot to the floor’ mentality on offense the Thunder don’t do a stellar job taking care of the ball.
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THE biggest storyline for the remainder of the year, perhaps in the entire league surrounds Russell Westbrook’s triple double quest. With averages of 31.7ppg, 10.6 rpg and 10apg, Westbrook has a real chance to be the first players since Oscar Robertson in 61-62 to average a triple double for the entire season. All eyes will be on the Westbeast in his final 19 games.
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Denver Nuggets (28-34)
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THE reason Denver seem like a the likely eight seed has been because of their offensive improvements. They are now ranked fourth in the league for PPG and it can be traced to their three point shooting. Not long ago the Nuggets blitzed a healthy Warriors team, tying the then record for made three’s in a game with 24. If they can keep that hot hand through the postseason watch out.
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A common trend in teams not named Cleveland, Golden State or San Antonio is their weakness on one side of the ball. For all the good Denver does offensively they do give up the 3rd most PPG a night. Their recent team success hasn’t equated to improvement on defense and that doesn’t bode well for a likely first round matchup with the Dubs or Spurs.
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SERBIAN sensation Nikola Jokic has taken his play to another level again lately. He averaged close to 20/10/5 in January and while his scoring dropped off slightly in February, he did manage to post three triple doubles in the month, while leading the team rebounds and assists. How far they go in the rest of the year will be dictated by how well Jokic can continue to play.
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Portland Trailblazers (26-35)
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IT looks like adding Jusuf Nurkic is going to be good get for Portland. An average of 14 points and seven rebounds with a block and a steal through his first six games a Blazers is a tick in my eyes.
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PORTLAND has been definition of mediocre this year. Endless three game winning and losing streaks isn’t a recipe for success, and there is no clear path for how to get out of the ‘bubble’.
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SITTING a game and a half behind Denver for the final playoff spot, the Blazers haven’t done a lot to convince us they deserve to be a playoff team. Backcourt superstars C.J. McCollum and Damian Lillard make Portland interesting on occasion, but these two can only carry them so far. Will they be enough to unseed the Nuggets though?
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Minnesota Timberwolves (25-37)
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SINCE the calendar flipped to 2017 the T-Wolves have gone an even 14-14 including impressive wins over the Rockets, Raptors and Clippers. Andrew Wiggins scoring increase has helped Minnesota pull off these W’s. Since the 1st of Jan Wiggins has averaged close to 25 ppg including blowing up in February for 28.8 ppg, good for 5th best in the league.
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LOSING Zach LaVine to an ACL injury sucked. The highflying guard was having a career year and derailed any small chances the Timberwovles had of sneaking into the playoffs. Their lack of bench support was even more exposed without LaVine as well, putting even more importance on their off season moves.
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The future is bright in Minnesota and as they as they emerge injury free and continue to compete at a high level the W/L totals from the rest of their game is irrelevant.
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