As the Jazz were tearing through their post-All-Star break schedule and working their way up the Western Conference standings, and fans began to discuss in earnest the team’s postseason potential, many such conversations inevitably centered around a single if not wholly definable premise: Progress.
Everyone wants this Jazz team to take the proverbial next step. The problem is nailing down exactly what that is — a task made all the more difficult by the way the playoff seedings ultimately unfolded.
After the previous two seasons ended with Utah making back-to-back trips to the Western Conference semifinals, must the Jazz make it to at least the Western Conference finals this time?