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Game Thread Mar 27, 2024 07:00PM MT: Jazz vs. Spurs

Added to Calendar: 03-27-24

One complaint I have with Walker (amongst others) dude never makes even a mildly risky pass. A few times off cuts he had good angles to throw passes and prefers to wait and kick it out… those actions have like no meaning or purpose. Just for the love give me something on offense Walker.
 
Just woke up and checked up stats...

What the actual **** is Will Hardy doing to play Lauri 42 minutes+ two other starters in 38 and 40 minutes? in a ****ing meaningless game? To show off to his mentor Pop? And then to manage lose the game as well? What the actual ****? Lol..
 
One complaint I have with Walker (amongst others) dude never makes even a mildly risky pass. A few times off cuts he had good angles to throw passes and prefers to wait and kick it out… those actions have like no meaning or purpose. Just for the love give me something on offense Walker.

He's scared out there when the situation calls for action outside his very narrow skill set.
His fear of failure is palpable.
 
Hey guys, we're at least number 1 at something this year...... Let's give it up for the Utah Jazz for leading the league in turnovers! Take note!
 
It's ultimately good that we won, but a little discouraging to lose to one of the worst teams in the league on your home floor when you are trying to win. I know most of the team doesn't care anymore, but I'm not sure why they would care any less than the Spurs.

Playing Lauri one of his highest minutes of the season is very interesting. Below are my guesses for why this happened, but none of them make a lot of sense.
- Hardy was desperate to win
- To help him meet some minutes/stats threshold related to a bonus before we shut him down
- To help with development/evaluation of end of bench players that we will be making decisions on at the end of the year
 
Again: make any of this make any sense.

A week ago the Jazz are holding out Markkanen for "maintenance". In the 1st quarter Hardy plays seven guys off the bench. In the second half he plays Lauri the full 24. Everything just seems to be by the seat of their pants, in the moment without any plan.

Whereas Pop goes steady with a plan. A tight game, the Jazz creeping closer and he sits Wemby in the 4th for him not to go above 30 mins. The result on the night is secondary.

From Andy's piece:
The bad news is that it’s because none of the players really care if they win or lose anymore. Now, it’s not full zero: the players still compete. They still want the best for themselves and the Jazz, and they’d certainly prefer to win than to lose. But the sting of losing is absolutely gone.

Will Hardy has an impossible job here — try to maintain buy-in and team-first thoughts in this environment. Without it, player development is next to impossible. But there’s just no real reason to put wins first if you’re a player — after all, Danny Ainge and co. aren’t.

The Jazz has three rookies and lots of younger players. What are they learning right now?
 
It's ultimately good that we won, but a little discouraging to lose to one of the worst teams in the league on your home floor when you are trying to win. I know most of the team doesn't care anymore, but I'm not sure why they would care any less than the Spurs.

Playing Lauri one of his highest minutes of the season is very interesting. Below are my guesses for why this happened, but none of them make a lot of sense.
- Hardy was desperate to win
- To help him meet some minutes/stats threshold related to a bonus before we shut him down
- To help with development/evaluation of end of bench players that we will be making decisions on at the end of the year
You left out pumping up trade value. I know it was your list of guesses, but that hypothetical shouldnt be dismissed.

Another one is Hardy just letting Lauri play high minutes since he wants to play.
 
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Last night I had a dream Kira Lewis played well so let's see if he plays well next game.

Nice to see Sexton putting in effort game in and out.
 
You left out pumping up trade value. I know it was your list of guesses, but that hypothetical shouldnt be dismissed.

Another one is Hardy just letting Lauri play high minutes since he wants to play.

Turns out Hard Willy was asking Lauri if he's good to go and as he was, Hardy thought it's good for him have this kind of experiences for the future - for the pLaYoFfS!
 
You left out pumping up trade value. I know it was your list of guesses, but that hypothetical shouldnt be dismissed.

Another one is Hardy just letting Lauri play high minutes since he wants to play.
I don't think his trade value is going to be affected by playing at all in meaningless games. In fact, him getting injured is the worst thing we could do for his trade value, so I don't buy that one.

Letting Lauri do whatever he wants could be it. Maybe Lauri has been complaining about minutes or not playing so Hardy just wanted to make him happy.

The other potential is that Hardy just wasn't paying attention. He's probably checked out a little and maybe forgot to take him out during a stretch.
 
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