A sneak peek at the improvements the Jazz are making after losing to the Nuggets
The ability to “think as a group” is one of the qualities Utah Jazz head coach Will Hardy has emphasized in his expectations for his team this season.
In other words, Hardy wants players to be able to identify patterns in the game’s flow and share what they observe with other players so that changes can be made instantly, instead of Hardy having to stop the action every time to clarify things.
Though he acknowledges that there are still instances when the players fall short, Hardy thinks there has been a ton of improvement in this area as the season has gone on.
Having said that, he knows that the degree of change and instability of rotations has made things challenging, so he is not disappointed when they falter.
I don’t feel frustrated because, as Hardy put it, “you see teams where the same five guys play together for a while, they kind of recognize what they all bring to the table and what the advantages might be, what they might be looking for.”
Tuesday night’s fourth-quarter play versus the Denver Nuggets featured a moment that exemplified exactly what Hardy wants his players to be able to recognize more easily on their own.
With 6:57 remaining in the game, Hardy called a timeout, and the Jazz replaced Luka Šamanić with Ömer Yurtseven. The team discussed in the timeout that Yurtseven and Šamanić were switching inside, and that was a good opportunity to try to punish the Nuggets.
After the timeout, Hardy remarked, “We pretended like Luka didn’t exist, and Luka pretended like he didn’t exist.” Luka scored twice in a row in the post after the possession.
The truly great teams are the ones that are able to think collectively, feel the situation, and comprehend what’s happening. They will ride the wave during those times.
Darius Bazley, Talen Horton-Tucker, and Johnny Juzang—all players on the court—should have recognized what was working and attempted to get the ball to Šamanić instead of ignoring it. Šamanić also ought to have been more assertive and aggressive, facing his defender and demanding the ball.
However, during those times, a plethora of other things are also happening. At the moment, Bazley, Horton-Tucker, and Juzang are all competing for their NBA careers.
They are running out of time to try to convince a team in the league, the Jazz or another one, to give them another chance. Giving the ball to Šamanić doesn’t seem like a move that will stick out to scouts for professional athletes.
Similarly, Šamanić isn’t used to being that assertive because he hasn’t played a lot and hasn’t been in a position to demand the ball as the best option on the floor.
Hardy stated, “That’s where I’ll give Luka and I’ll give the team some grace.” There is undoubtedly some natural reluctance on the part of both Luka and the team because he hasn’t been a go-to player for us this season and isn’t used to being in that situation.
I know that, which is why I’m not really frustrated when you ask if I’m frustrated. It’s just a good time to impart that knowledge to them so that, ideally, we will be able to identify it should it occur again.
