Actually, Hardy knows that he stole the win by shrewdly playing Anderson for 26 minutes.
Game Thread Jan 08, 2026 07:00PM MT: Dallas Mavericks @ Utah Jazz
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homeytennis
Well-Known Member
Kevin Love is a crafty dude. He knows where the ball is going to end up and he waddles there. I think he could play decently until age 50 is he stayed semi healthy.
So many people in here are fooling themselves. Hardy isnt in on any "tanking schemes". Closing this game with Kyle Anderson proves that as well as playing Lauri 39 minutes on a B2B (albeit latter could be "All-Star campaigning"). If he wanted the other result, he could have put Flip at C in the end and it would have been an easy L and no one could have complained about it at all.
The only reason we have such a bad record is the quality of roster. Playing guys like Brice, Flip, Ace, Collier, TH and Cody who are all inferior to most vet minimum guys other teams run with is the thing that keeps us from winning. If we simply made that switch we would be above .500 fighting for playoff spots.
I mean Kyle Anderson, Kevin Love and Svi look great out there because the comparison points are trash.
The only reason we have such a bad record is the quality of roster. Playing guys like Brice, Flip, Ace, Collier, TH and Cody who are all inferior to most vet minimum guys other teams run with is the thing that keeps us from winning. If we simply made that switch we would be above .500 fighting for playoff spots.
I mean Kyle Anderson, Kevin Love and Svi look great out there because the comparison points are trash.
Yeah, he had best plus/minus for the Jazz players and tied for both teams.
NVM that was Love- Anderson was minus 4...
Also I dont think Svi being healthy scratch is a straight up tanking move but sort of 50/50 in that category.
My theory is that they are pushing one last ditch effort to see what Brice can do, but I gotta feeling he may be gone soon. We need to do a lot of clean up work on the roster before next season and he is a logical cut. He has so many flaws as a role player and you dont really need to hold on to "bench flamethrowers" at all in this league. You can get them cheap any time you want.
My theory is that they are pushing one last ditch effort to see what Brice can do, but I gotta feeling he may be gone soon. We need to do a lot of clean up work on the roster before next season and he is a logical cut. He has so many flaws as a role player and you dont really need to hold on to "bench flamethrowers" at all in this league. You can get them cheap any time you want.
In my view I'd be shocked if Brice was in even slight danger. His shot form is the best on the team and he has significant upside- there is absolutely no reason to cut him at this stage.
Step-Back Lauri
Well-Known Member
It's not that simple. There's very big chance of having one or two injury replacements and a top ten scorer like Lauri is one of the first ones to called over, unless he makes it into top 8 of internationals. It's a real chance he gets in and Jazz gotta live with that and let these guys, especially Lauri play.
That said, B2B 40 minute playing time for Lauri is reckless. I'd play no one, literally no one 40 minutes in two nights B2B.
Upside in what role? What is "his job" in a contending team?
He is a 3rd year player. We cant use the "draft prospect logic" in analyzing him anymore and marvel his shot form or whatever. I dont even care that he has poor efficiency this year, my problem is I dont see any other value from him besides scoring, and in that area he wont surpass Key or Lauri ever due to his athletic disadvantages.
Brice does not have the best shot form lmfao. It's Lauri and Key. I would give it to Ace and Clayton over Brice.
Brice shoots with his body too much
Havent done any real analysis but based on ability to shoot off balance I would also probably put Svi ahead of Brice. His shot is quick and very compact.