Disgruntled Kessler?

[Handlogten's Heros]

View: https://twitter.com/hansenjames/status/1780756944623743263


In the clip it mentions something happened with Walker and Will. I jokingly said something about Walker making an inappropriate joke about Will's wife... maybe closer to the truth than we think lol.

I am guessing it is a basketball thing but it makes sense there is some issue there. The handling of Sexton and Walker's playing time was the most puzzling thing for most of the year. Walker gave plenty of reason to doubt so I kinda understood it, but I wanted to provide a place for reckless, wild, unhinged speculation could begin.

 

[HermanG]

View: https://twitter.com/hansenjames/status/1780756944623743263


In the clip it mentions something happened with Walker and Will. I jokingly said something about Walker making an inappropriate joke about Will's wife... maybe closer to the truth than we think lol.

I am guessing it is a basketball thing but it makes sense there is some issue there. The handling of Sexton and Walker's playing time was the most puzzling thing for most of the year. Walker gave plenty of reason to doubt so I kinda understood it, but I wanted to provide a place for reckless, wild, unhinged speculation could begin.

Walker is definitely a comedian, and everyone who likes to throw around jokes knows how you are bound to step over the line at times.

Whether this is twitterized to be an actual issue is another question.

 

[Handlogten's Heros]

Walker is definitely a comedian, and everyone who likes to throw around jokes knows how you are bound to step over the line at times.

Whether this is twitterized to be an actual issue is another question.

To be clear... I made that up out of thin air and don't think that is it... but I might die and think this is a simulation if that was the actual story.

 

[KqWIN]

Whether there's something there or not, Kessler's playing time indicates that Hardy just doesn't him much as a player. He was not as good as he was his rookie season, but he was still a better player than John Collins this past season and we were 30th in defense. I think almost every coach in the league, especially given the clear tanking mandate, would have prioritized Kessler over Collins.

 

[HermanG]

To be clear... I made that up out of thin air and don't think that is it... but I might die and think this is a simulation if that was the actual story.

I got it.

To speculate a bit further on the narrative:
- I do believe Walker would make an inappropriate joke
- I do believe Hardy might not appreciate such a gesture
- I do also find it plausible that he could carry it to rotation minutes. I mean that would explain Clarksons 30+ minutes as a side dish.

However I'm giving it a 20% of chace of being true.

 

[TheGoldStandard]

I got it.

To speculate a bit further on the narrative:
- I do believe Walker would make an inappropriate joke
- I do believe Hardy might not appreciate such a gesture
- I do also find it plausible that he could carry it to rotation minutes. I mean that would explain Clarksons 30+ minutes as a side dish.

However I'm giving it a 20% of chace of being true.

20%? Based om what data points? Using the following formula show the odds and no greater than 12.62% (rounded)

 

[Handlogten's Heros]

I got it.

To speculate a bit further on the narrative:
- I do believe Walker would make an inappropriate joke
- I do believe Hardy might not appreciate such a gesture
- I do also find it plausible that he could carry it to rotation minutes. I mean that would explain Clarksons 30+ minutes as a side dish.

However I'm giving it a 20% of chace of being true.

I would guess it would more likely be something where Will went too hard at Walker and then maybe things were icy or built from there. Maybe there was a practice blow up of some sort.

I think Will want to hold guys accountable and be a tough coach... which is good. But one thing that pissed me off this year was the things that he would light Collin up or bench a young guy didn't apply to all... specifically there were several JC moments where I thought "if that was Collin we wouldn't see him for a couple games". Collin seems to be up for that... I wonder if Walker ain't with it.

I think he needs to be a little more even in how the rules apply. I also think Walker needs to get way tougher.

 

[sip]

One thing I know for sure is that Jazz management was frustrated this year with the way Hardy used Kessler.

 

[Bawse Dawg]

Feel like we have botched whatever we are doing with him. Saying he will play Summer League is completely insulting.

 

[SoberasHotRod]

Feel like we have botched whatever we are doing with him. Saying he will play Summer League is completely insulting.

It definitely could be looked at as a slap in the face. Hopefully Kessler doesn't look at it that way and thinks of it as an opportunity to develop.

It's pretty rough to go from Team USA one summer to summer league the next summer.

If Kessler has any type of mental toughness, he should be alright.

 

[MT Steve]

When Ainge was asked about defense, he said this:

"It has to be better. I mean, that's horrible. I don't think anybody would dispute that. ... But there's priorities during the season. Ball movement, spacing, running was more of a priority than the defense."

I think reducing Kessler's minutes because he doesn't assist with those specific priorities is a bit extreme (especially since we were objectively better with him on the court vs off the court), but if that's the FO mandate, that's probably why Hardy did what he did.

 

[Handlogten's Heros]

It definitely could be looked at as a slap in the face. Hopefully Kessler doesn't look at it that way and thinks of it as an opportunity to develop.

It's pretty rough to go from Team USA one summer to summer league the next summer.

If Kessler has any type of mental toughness, he should be alright.

Unless he kinda volunteered I am not sure how he can't view it as an insult or at very least a demotion. Not sure playing in that league is a big confidence booster. This is really interesting.

 

[Bawse Dawg]

It definitely could be looked at as a slap in the face. Hopefully Kessler doesn't look at it that way and thinks of it as an opportunity to develop.

It's pretty rough to go from Team USA one summer to summer league the next summer.

If Kessler has any type of mental toughness, he should be alright.

There was plenty of opportunity to develop the second half of the season when winning didn't matter at all and all we cared about was getting younger guys reps. And he was still in the doghouse.

I don't know what happened. But I do think there is some fire with this smoke. I don't consider Kessler a key piece moving forward, or a very valuable asset. I think there is a good chance his value was at an all time high one year ago.

 

[Ferguson_Mellochill]

The only way the Jazz could generate offense was to spread the floor and let our guards attack seams. With Kessler on the floor, it was more difficult to do that. If the Jazz want to do more offensively than to have Collin Sexton kamikaze into the paint, they'll need to put someone else on the floor who can dribble the ball and make a play with a pass. Even then, every team in the league wants to operate on a spaced floor, and Walker probably won't fit that scheme.

The Jazz's best 2-way lineup this season utilized three bigs--Lauri, Olynyk and Kessler--with Olynyk handling the ball much of the time. I haven't see the actual lineup +/-, but that's the lineup that closed and beat Milwaukee and OKC in back-to-back home games this year. Once Olynyk was traded and the Jazz stopped playing Clarkson, Keyonte and Colin were the only guys who could handle the ball.

Yes, our offense is that limited. With Kessler off the floor, our defense was also complete trash, but I think Will Hardy was more focused on seeing who could play offensively.

 

[Handlogten's Heros]

There was plenty of opportunity to develop the second half of the season when winning didn't matter at all and all we cared about was getting younger guys reps. And he was still in the doghouse.

I don't know what happened. But I do think there is some fire with this smoke. I don't consider Kessler a key piece moving forward, or a very valuable asset. I think there is a good chance his value was at an all time high one year ago.

It sucks cuz I thought we were really on to something with the Walker Lauri frontcourt pairing as both had amazing rim protection numbers. Both regressed.

I don't know what happens but if Will thinks Collins or that player type is going to be an answer long term at center we might be in trouble.

 

[brooklynese]

Way back around here I remember a poster or posters attributing Kanter Freedom's rebounding prowess to never having been hugged as a child.
Well, Kessler I think was hugged too much.
Toughen up man you can be special.
And lay of the coach's wife, wisenheimer.

 

[KqWIN]

It sucks cuz I thought we were really on to something with the Walker Lauri frontcourt pairing as both had amazing rim protection numbers. Both regressed.

I don't know what happens but if Will thinks Collins or that player type is going to be an answer long term at center we might be in trouble.

The thing about Collins is that Hardy doesn't even use his biggest strength. The amount of PnR he gets is about the same as it was later in his ATL days. He was a full time 4 playing next to non shooting C's. As a full time 5 he's still not being used much as a roll man. I could get if Hardy preferred using a guy that was a perfect system fit, but truth is neither Collins or Kessler is that guy.

 

[Saint Cy of JFC]

Walker is probably a frustrating player to coach. He's useless on offense if you arent running a spread teh floor, PNR heavy offense w/ a great playmaker. He has very little confidence in himself. He has the worst body language on the team (I guess you could debate Keyonte, but Walker's body language is worse IMO because it's usually very pathetic were as Keyonte's just reads as immature).

Also there is no way Walker made an inappropriate joke that offended anyone. Walker's humor is cornball PG rated. He probably blushes when he hears the word *****.

Walker's frustration is probably the Jazz played less ball-screen offense this year and were more experimental. If you're Walker, your value is not going to be maximized on a team that isnt heavily invested in making the pieces work for a ball-screen offense. Walker has to make going that direction a clear no-brainer with his play and he hasnt. He's a backup big currently and he has to prove he isnt and he probably thought that was already the case.

 

[Saint Cy of JFC]

There was plenty of opportunity to develop the second half of the season when winning didn't matter at all and all we cared about was getting younger guys reps. And he was still in the doghouse.

I don't know what happened. But I do think there is some fire with this smoke. I don't consider Kessler a key piece moving forward, or a very valuable asset. I think there is a good chance his value was at an all time high one year ago.

Walker in the doghouse? He averaged 23 mpg both pre ASB and post. I wouldnt call that the doghouse. He's just an immature young player who thought he had something locked up that he didnt.

 

[Saint Cy of JFC]

One thing I know for sure is that Jazz management was frustrated this year with the way Hardy used Kessler.

I can guarantee Danny Ainge has more issues with Walker than Hardy does.