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Three qualities to keep us going
Posted by: Lowery Johnson on January 22nd, 2012
The author's views are entirely his or her own and may not reflect the views of the Utah Jazz.I’m guilty of it. I bet you are too.
If someone asks me how I think the Jazz are doing, I can’t help it. I say, “We are doing alright.”
Photo by Kevin C. Cox
We. Not they, not that team. We. For most of us, ”We Are Utah Jazz.” is a slogan we can relate to.It’s been great reading all the blog posts, Facebook posts, and tweets showing pride for our team with that phrase. Those four words convey not only sentiment for the team we root for, but much more. The phrase “We Are Utah Jazz” conveys three qualities that will be essential for the team and fans to remember in the next two months.
- A team of loyalty
When I think of Jazz loyalty I think of John Stockton who poured his entire career into the team. Of course Larry H. Miller comes to mind too. He was the man who kept NBA basketball in Utah and who was so involved in building a successful franchise. I also think of the fans who stay the entire game even when it’s painful to watch. I think of ”True Blue” fans that would still sport Jazz logos even if we finished this season with a 1-65 record.
- A team of triumph
I thought the world ended when Sloan resigned. Then when Deron Williams got traded it was salt in an already gaping wound. Sports Center, ESPN, and TNT never fail to bring those incidents up on the rare occasions the Jazz do get national media attention. But that’s not who we are. We aren’t Jerry Sloan. We aren’t Deron Williams. We aren’t last season.We aren’t defeated. Corbin pulled a young team together in a shortened training camp and has a 10-5 record this season. No matter how rough things were or how rough they will get, there is triumph in that.
- A team of persistence
We have a team of fighters. Paul Millsap’s work ethic is next to none. Earl Watson’s energy off the bench has been much needed. Players like CJ Miles, Enes Kanter, Al Jefferson are stepping up with points, rebounds, and strong defensive plays to make sure every game is a fight. Even after losses players are dedicating themselves to improvement. Fans offer encouragement for the team and individual players via Twitter and Facebook reminding them how much pride there is the work they do day in and day out.
But why are these qualities of loyalty, triumph, and persistence so important?
February and March are going to be rough months for the Jazz. The first week of February starts off with 5 games in 7 days with teams including the Clippers, Goden State and the Lakers. It intensifies with a back to back to back where we play first in the West OKC twice within a week. March holds 12 road games with a 5 game roadtrip. Things might get rough. Games will get more intense, and the fight to prove we are a playoff team will become increasingly difficult. There’s going to be frustrations, some games we lost that we should have won, maybe even some injuries (heaven forbid). It will be vital for the team to stick together, and for fans to stick with our team by remembering where we have been, what we have accomplished and why it’s so important to keep moving forward.
I say bring on the challenge. After all, we are Utah Jazz, right?
Replies: 7
Views: 904
7 Responses
Definitiley haven’t thought of the team as “alright.”
I say we are doing freaking amazing all things considered. We’re currently ranked 5th in the Western conference, but we have the 3rd best W/L record (how the hell does that work anyways?).
That’s more than alright. That’s pretty d*mn good.
That being said, GREAT POST!
Great post Lowery, I am more excited about the Jazz now than I have been for quite a while. But I do think that there will be challenging days ahead. We have played 10 games at home so far and only 5 on the road, a little lop-sided. But like you said if we keep moving forward and barring major injuries, good thing will happen.
@Nick Knows All
“Teams 1 to 4 in each conference are the three division winners and the team with the next best regular-season record,”
no room for Jazz as OKC and Denver have one and two, so technically Jazz are 3rd.
@Nick Knows All haha well I’m superstitious so I am really careful about getting too excited. But thanks, I appreciate that!
@Deb Thank you Deb! It is lop-sided. And I’m hoping you and I can stay excited!
@Mit thanks for clearing that up!
Excellent post!
I’d rather watch a team that plays hard and plays together as a unit on both offense and defense for 48 minutes, which is who we are now. We don’t have superstars so every player has ‘flaws’ in his game, but coach Ty has done an amazing job of getting ALL the players to buy into his system and fitting their individual talents into a cohesive unit where those talents can best be utilized. We are so much improved over last season, it’s just amazing.
@notdeadyet Thank you! I really appreciate that. I completely agree. Big improvements.