Utah Jazz coach Will Hardy bluntly assessed his team’s lopsided loss to finish their preseason Friday night. Yet, Hardy also shared the good aspects of the team’s overall preseason, which ended up being pretty good record-wise. He spoke with reporters following the game about what he liked and his season outlook.
Utah Jazz Coach Will Hardy Optimistic About Preseason & Team Framework
Jazz Finish Preseason with Disappointing Loss
The Utah Jazz closed out their preseason in blowout fashion. Unfortunately, they were the ones to get blown out, 124-86. On a more positive note, Utah finished their preseason with an overall 4-2 record, which was something that Hardy found he liked about the preseason. However, the loss to the Portland Trail Blazers—well, he didn’t like that all too well as he spoke to reporters in a post-game media session.
“…the second quarter just got away from us, they had 23 points at the rim. Some of that is turnovers, and its hard when you’re at a disadvantage in the NBA in transition when you’re trying to protect the basket. But then we have in the half court too many times of not squaring up the ball, our individual defence at the point of attack has gotta be better. I feel like throughout camp there have been moments and games and stretches where we’ve really guarded the ball…”
Only one Jazz player exceeded double digits in points (13). That same player, Brice Sensabaugh, was also the only player to exceed 20 minutes (24). Jazz starters like Lauri Markkanen, John Collins, Walker Kessler, and Collin Sexton were limited. Still, a blowout is a blowout, no matter how you look at it. Despite the poor performance, Hardy noted that overall, he feels good about where his team is and spoke from an optimistic mindset while previewing the regular season.
“Overall, we have a pretty good framework with this team for how we can play well going into the regular season,” Hardy continued. “It would be very easy to be emotional about tonight’s game and the way it felt. I do think that there is a little bit of training camp fatigue right now, where this is our sixth preseason game, and everybody’s sort of chomping at the bit to get the games that count, but that doesn’t excuse some of the things that we just have to clean up immediately.”
Hardy is just being honest without making excuses—a mark of a really good coach. Despite being the second youngest bench boss in the league, Hardy is on his way to becoming one of the league’s best in what would seem to be just a few short years from now. The Jazz are building a foundation, something that he alluded to earlier in the summer. And thus far, Hardy seems to like the overall framework his team built.
The Jazz will Be Either Mediocre or Worse This Season
Hardy’s perspective is healthy, especially if his players have the right “buy-in” mentality for how Hardy wants them to play. Yet, it is hardly possible to consider that where the Jazz are right now, roster-wise, they have a real shot of competing for a playoff spot this season. You have to like what you’ve seen from Hardy since taking over as coach. However, with the West being one of the most chaotic conferences in professional sports, the Jazz don’t belong just yet. Remember, Markkanen was in trade rumors all summer long. Of course, at this point in this season, he is untradeable. However, his long-term future with the Jazz seems uncertain.
The Jazz are still in a phase of identity-seeking. What type of team are they, and what players are franchise players? This season may be another year when Hardy has a chance to show who he can be as a coach of a future good team rather than a team ready to compete and win now.
