Would the defense be better if harkless played?Hard to make defensive rotations when you are playing Love and Nurkic, two guys who cant rotate, nearly 48 MPG.
There's just not defensive talent on the roster to judge Hardy. We are going to have to replace Nurk/Love/Brice minutes with guys who can actually play next year and that will greatly improve the defense.
I mean, there's a reason Nurkic has been bounced around the league and couldn't stick on teams that badly needed center rotation minutes.
Of course, but Harkless is probably a tank buster so they dont want to play him at this point. I'm guessing (hoping) he will get more minutes when the vets start sitting and they can balance out Harkless's positive play with Cody's negative play.Would the defense be better if harkless played?
We can't have Harkless out there flipping games like he did in Boston. Bring him in next year.Of course, but Harkless is probably a tank buster so they dont want to play him at this point. I'm guessing (hoping) he will get more minutes when the vets start sitting and they can balance out Harkless's positive play with Cody's negative play.
I mean, that is what OKC did though in rebuilding their team. In 2022, not a single player over 24 years old played over 1300 minutes (that's 15 mpg average over 82 games). They played all their young guys and let them figure it out.Hardy isn't a good coach. His defensive scheme, whatever the hell it's supposed to be, hasn't made an appearance yet and it's year 4.
But "just play all the young guys all the minutes and *develop* them and they'll be great" is just fantasy.
Young guys on teams like OKC end up being the best version of themselves, because they can learn from great players, they're in a good situation, the expectations are realistic and they have to be at they're best in practice and in games to get any minutes.
Young guys on teams like the Jazz end up being crap, because they have none of the above. Not that the material has been given has been all that great to start with it. No-one's developing Cody into anything useful at the NBA level.
I just want him to start getting NBA reps with the ball to see what he can do.We can't have Harkless out there flipping games like he did in Boston. Bring him in next year.
Honestly he deserves it... so for a guy who hasn't had a real NBA contract I think I'm cool with him showing he belongs and making a living.I just want him to start getting NBA reps with the ball to see what he can do.
I think there is a lot of truth here but also do think NBA reps are important to sifting the wheat from the chaff. Everyone says they see these guys in practice... everyone also says practices are different than games. So I just think they need real NBA minutes and a role.I've seen some discussions on draft twitter about the extent to which a team can affect development and it convinced me that it's much less than we seem to think. What really matters is 1) identifying talent and 2) acquiring talent. I used to believe that a player's situation was crucial to a players development....you know the idea that Kawhi would not become Kawhi unless he went to the Spurs. While I still believe some truth to that, I've started to side with the idea that talent is talent and that will shine through regardless. The special sauce isn't development, it's identifying and acquiring the talent. There are exceptions, of course, but this true in most cases.
So wherever you lie on the "play the young guys" spectrum, I think the effect is fairly muted. If there are gains from more opportunity, it's probably not a ton. And same goes for the possible negative effects. The real development plan for a player like Cody is to just draft someone good like Matas instead. Our current level has less to do with Hardy's development skill/minutes choices and more to do with the the quality of prospect we're giving him.
Except those guys didn't figure it out. Bunch of them are playing in Serbia, China, in the G etc.I mean, that is what OKC did though in rebuilding their team. In 2022, not a single player over 24 years old played over 1300 minutes (that's 15 mpg average over 82 games). They played all their young guys and let them figure it out.
I think there is a lot of truth here but also do think NBA reps are important to sifting the wheat from the chaff. Everyone says they see these guys in practice... everyone also says practices are different than games. So I just think they need real NBA minutes and a role.
Like our guy Keon Ellis is getting like 5 minutes a night. He already has proved to be an NBA player. His coach is motivated to win... yet he sits. Like coaches aren't perfect at it. Folks have been shocked with NAW's rise but it started here. Yet his role was inconsistent, and we were playing guys like THT more than him.
So I think the NBA minutes are necessary to see what if any talent is really there. Either way it has tremendous value for us to find out. With a guy like Cody its pretty clear but giving the FO a bigger sample proves it out.
IDK its an imperfect science obviously.