After expressing his displeasure – both before and after Wednesday’s blowout loss to Portland – with his team’s effort level and approach to the game, Jazz head coach Will Hardy made a statement with the new starting lineup he sent out on Saturday vs. New Orleans, writes Andy Larsen of The Salt Lake Tribune.
With Lauri Markkanen (hamstring) and Jordan Clarkson (illness) unavailable and center Walker Kessler playing in his first game back from a seven-game injury absence, Hardy dug deep on his bench and sent out Kris Dunn, Simone Fontecchio, and Omer Yurtseven alongside usual starters John Collins and Keyonte George to open Saturday’s contest.
Dunn, Fontecchio, and Yurtseven have each received multiple DNP-CDs in the past month and aren’t among Utah’s top nine most-used players, but Hardy decided it was the right time to start them for the first time this season. As Eric Walden of The Salt Lake Tribune relays (via Twitter), in explaining the changes before the game, Hardy cited Dunn’s perimeter defense and ball-handling, Fontecchio’s size and length, and Yurtseven’s ability to play physically against Jonas Valanciunas.
Really though, as Larsen points out, the revamped starting lineup represented Hardy putting his money where his mouth is after telling his players earlier this week that a lack of effort would result in a reduction in playing time.
“I go home after every game win or loss and I’m constantly beating myself up about things that I did or didn’t do,” Hardy said on Wednesday. “And I just want them to take the same responsibility and ownership over this program. If you’re gonna wear a Utah Jazz jersey, you have to give a s–t about the Utah Jazz.”
The new-look lineup came through on Saturday, helping to lead the Jazz to a 105-100 upset win over New Orleans that included an impressive fourth-quarter comeback.
“I don’t believe in free minutes,” Hardy said after the game. “I think that some of the guys that were on the floor tonight are showing that they’ve earned some minutes and that they’re willing to make sacrifices for the team.
“… This is for sure the first game this year that we’ve won because of our defense,” he added. “I thought that every player that took the court tonight really, really competed on that end of the floor.”
With neither Markkanen nor Clarkson likely to be out for long, it’s unclear how Hardy will adjust his starting five – and his rotation as a whole – when they return. They’re the team’s top two scorers, and obviously Markkanen won’t be coming off the bench, so they’ll presumably reclaim key roles.
Still, when Utah’s roster healthy, with Markkanen, Clarkson, and Kessler all available, there presumably won’t be enough playing time to go around for Saturday’s new starters and reserves like Talen Horton-Tucker, Collin Sexton, Ochai Agbaji, and Kelly Olynyk. Based on his comments earlier this week and his lineup decision vs. New Orleans, Hardy has made it clear how those players can make their cases for regular minutes.
It’s still pretty early in the season, relative to what needs to happen, for Coach Hardy’s sake.
He has such a variety of different players that it’s definitely not been easy for him to find lineups that he can rely on yet. Every player still has major flaws in their game.
That’s why it’s been surprising why Dunn hasn’t gotten more minutes until this game. He’s one of the few 2-way players on this team. He’s just been inconsistent on offense so it’s been hard to play him.
Also, Turtseven has played solid every time I’ve seen him. He’s still just figuring out chemistry with the other players. That’s largely because the PG position hasn’t been consistent until Keyonte took over PG duties.
Keyonte is still learning but he’s been very consistent running the team. He’s just had a rough time with his offense, at times. He’ll still be productive, but at the expense of shooting efficiency. There’s a difference between shooting mechanics and shooting touch. Have to just use feel and aim rather than worry about form in your head. It’s getting better so I’m not concerned.
Ochai is consistent on defense and effort but it’s still learning consistency on offense. So it’s hard to have two guards on the floor who both can’t shoot consistently.
Collins has been very consistent with rebounding and confidence on offense. His outside shot is pretty solid, but could be better. He does contest shots well. He maybe just doesn’t lock in and focus on perimeter defense. Gets burned a lot on defense.
Kessler has been all over this year. Although, the Day 1 injury probably was taking away his focus. Last night was one of the few times he had those runs of dunks he had all the time last year. That time off also likely helped him reset mentally from all that extra time during the Summer with Team USA. Should be much better going forward.
Fonntechio always seems to play with effort. He’s just had a rough time on offense with his jumpshot. Although, he does much better when he remembers to hold his form longer after release. He gets more spin on the ball when he flicks his wrist more. Softens his shot a lot more.
Markkanen has been harder to figure out this year. He’s still productive on offense and rebounding but his outside shot comes and goes from distance. It’s mostly there but maybe he’s had an injury that makes it hard some games. He does seem really tired after some games. Maybe he needs a sleep study to help him get better quality sleep or something. His peak energy needs to improve. Keyonte has the same issue, but that’s more being a rookie.
The rest of the team has had moments of great play mixed with lots of mistakes like too many fouls. Another big one is forcing too many drives to the basket, in traffic, without ever intending to pass. The problem is the defense knows their tendency to do that and collapses almost every time. When these same players shoot more from outside, pass, and just move the ball more, it makes the inside a lot more open.
The team is still very raw and lacks consistent effort on defense. Plus, they haven’t had enough time together to find a flow that works consistently yet. They’ll have good stretches and games, but without a solidified lineup, then they’ll continue to experiment too much out there on offense.
On defense, they don’t seem to have a sense of where to direct guys for double teams, if any. The switching has been half there or mixed completely. However, against some teams they can still outscore so the team mentality was to just try to do well on offense and rebound. That’s not enough to win consistently.
Yesterday’s game shows what’s possible when the team focuses and gives an effort on defense. They forget that great defense can generate extra offense. That’s especially important when shots aren’t falling. It just takes a group effort to make it worth doing all the time.
Buddy wrote an essay. Nobody is reading that lol
All very great points! I’m a Cleveland fan but love watching all the games on LP. I always appreciated the effort I saw last season from the gritty Jazz. I saw that v the Pels who thought they could walk in and step over them. George was showed a ton of poise and obviously being a Clevelander we know what we lost in Sexton. Either way great points and you are spot on. Greener pastures ahead for teams that play games like that.
This is easy. Start PG. Dunn SG. Clarkson SF. Lauri PF. Collins C. Kelly O sixth men Sexton and Simone and Kessler. Let the young prospects develop on the bench. Draft a young SG and SF next year.
Or trade Horton-Tucker and Dunn for Fulks
It’s time to break up the Jazz.