I think Hardy has done a fantastic job. We have a bunch of strong bench players, rotational guys etc who are just playing beautiful ball. Almost everyone under the age of 35 have boosted their career numbers this year. Being barely above the .500 mark surely isn't optimal, but I think we are gonna start sliding up the ranks towards the 6th seed now that our schedule starts to look much more favourable.
1) Despite his other shortcomings... Gay passes the ball. He actually averages 18 passes made and 12 received for the season, so he is definitely keeping the ball moving. He plays within Hardys system. Plus we lack guys who can play 4 effectively (not that Gay is effective at 4, but I dont know who beside KO is or even could be since we dont want to put Lauri there).
2) Hardy cannot control players on court decissions... JC obviously has a green light to drive and that is important since it makes the defense collapse and gives us better outside shots. If he kicked out more he would be even better. JC is not the best decissionmaker, but ever since Sexton got injured, he has been our only legit driving threat. Even outside of his driving threat its hard to bench him since he is a fan favourite and #2 PPG guy.
3) We are playing them. Given THT solid minutes before he started stinking the join, given NAW a solid run ever since. Ochai, Bolmaro, Dok and the others obviously havent shown enough to warrant high attempts. Also our top guys rank pretty low in league for minutes (Lauri 44th, Clarkson 68th, Conley 118th in the league).. so its not like we are giving excessive minutes to the vets. Kessler/Vando timeshare annoys me, but even that is a tough spot for Hardy since he has 2 young guys with upside that are both most effective at the same spot. Notice how Vando played 4 and absolutely no one covered him in the corner in the Cavs game? Mobley lived in the paint on defense, and Vando was spectating the offense.
4) I would love to see more touches for Lauri, but he has been recognized by every opponents scouting and they are trying to keep the ball out of his hands every night (vs Cavs Okoro was like glued to him). Its hard to get him the ball if you are not comfortable making tight window passes. I feel like Mike and KO get him the ball in good positions where he can make plays.. but thats about it. Hoping that when Sexton comes back, we might see some Conley + Sexton minutes and see if that results in Lauri getting more opportunities.