{"id":106060,"date":"2024-11-10T18:46:59","date_gmt":"2024-11-10T23:46:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=106060"},"modified":"2024-11-10T18:46:59","modified_gmt":"2024-11-10T23:46:59","slug":"jazz-rookie-silver-lining-taylor-hendricks-injury","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/11\/10\/jazz-rookie-silver-lining-taylor-hendricks-injury\/","title":{"rendered":"Jazz Find Rookie Silver Lining After Taylor Hendricks Injury"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>When <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/h\/hendrita01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Taylor Hendricks<\/a> literally suffered an unlucky break, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/10\/29\/2023-lottery-pick-taylor-hendricks-likely-sidelined-for-season-for-jazz\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">his leg fracturing<\/a> in a non-contact injury, the Utah Jazz were <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nba.com\/jazz\/news\/taylor-hendricks-begins-his-road-to-recovery\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">out of sorts<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Selected ninth overall in the 2023 NBA Draft, the hope is that he can become a cornerstone of their foundation. As he entered the 2024-25 as a starting forward alongside face of the franchise <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/m\/markkla01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Lauri Markkanen<\/a>, he seemed well on his way to becoming that. However, permeating his pro prospects is a persona that his teammates and coaches gravitate towards.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">incredibly unfortunate this has to be muted \ud83d\udd07<\/p>\n<p>\ud83e\udea9 the 2023 rookie dance-off \ud83e\udea9 <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/PGubHy35Ya\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/PGubHy35Ya<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/utahjazz\/status\/1715803568320757885?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">October 21, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>So, what knocked the Jazz off-center wasn\u2019t just the fact they lost a promising player. Hendricks\u2019s season-ending injury was a gut punch because a <em>friend<\/em> was affected.<\/p>\n<h2>Jazz Find Rookie Silver Lining After Taylor Hendricks Injury<\/h2>\n<p>As it often happens, Hendricks\u2019s injury has had a silver lining.<\/p>\n<h3>Sheriff Cody Williams<\/h3>\n<p>Forced to <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/10\/29\/jazz-bench-star-collin-sexton-bizarre-coaching-decision\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">reassess the team\u2019s starting lineup<\/a>, Jazz head coach Will Hardy has promoted 2024 No. 10 pick <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/w\/willico04.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Cody Williams<\/a>. Offensively, Williams has been inconsistent, both in his efficiency and tenacity. However, defensively, he\u2019s proven that he can consistently handcuff his man.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">You have to love the way Jazz rookie Cody Williams plays defense <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Ihnhw4koet\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/Ihnhw4koet<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 \u211a (@qshironalberti3) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/qshironalberti3\/status\/1855745196937384194?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">November 10, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Over time, Williams\u2019s will get more comfortable driving and his threes should start to fall. In the meantime, the Jazz can rely on Williams to take on tough defensive assignments, just as they did with Hendricks. For a team that was sorely missing a lanky defensive stopper on the perimeter last season, Utah has to be pleased with that.<\/p>\n<h3>Kyle Filipowski\u2019s A Keeper<\/h3>\n<p>While Williams has gotten off to a slow start offensively, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/f\/filipky01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kyle Filipowski<\/a> has hit the ground running.<\/p>\n<p>At one time considered a potential lottery pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, the Duke product slid all the way to 32nd because of team\u2019s interest in his romantic life. If teams were casting for a Love &amp; Basketball remake rather than trying to win games, that would make sense. Alas, the Jazz won\u2019t be complaining, as they\u2019re the ones that came away with a draft steal.<\/p>\n<p>Since entering the Jazz\u2019s rotation, Filipowski has done it all. An inside-outside threat, adroit passer, and active defender, the big man has averaged 8.2 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 2.2 assists per game when he plays at least 15 minutes.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"et\">Kyle FiliPASSki <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/UxX7cpSMoS\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/UxX7cpSMoS<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 \u211a (@qshironalberti3) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/qshironalberti3\/status\/1855751762755363161?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">November 10, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>In those games, he\u2019s also nailed 40.0 percent of his 3.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Kyle Filipowski is just good at basketball<\/p>\n<p>The thing that stands out the most is the advantages he&#8217;s creating at this stage<\/p>\n<p>Since the Jazz have him playing 4, he looks excellent posting up smaller players, and he can spread out defenses if they put 5&#8217;s on him <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/yusb3vgGgU\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/yusb3vgGgU<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Jazz Lead (@JazzLead) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JazzLead\/status\/1852500873051599042?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">November 2, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Frankly, he\u2019s played so well that he might challenge for a starting spot even when the team is fully healthy. As previously mentioned, the Jazz have high expectations for Hendricks, but he\u2019s not quite as sharp as Filipowski. Though 2022 No. 22 pick <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/k\/kesslwa01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Walker Kessler<\/a> has had a bounceback season, he\u2019s not a mismatch for other big men. He\u2019s also been <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/11\/01\/lakers-rumors-potential-offer-for-walker-kessler-revealed\/\" target=\"_self\">in several trade rumors<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When Taylor Hendricks literally suffered an unlucky break, his leg fracturing in a non-contact injury, the Utah Jazz were out of sorts. Selected ninth overall in the 2023 NBA Draft, the hope is that he can become a cornerstone of their foundation. As he entered the 2024-25 as a starting forward alongside face of the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5008,"featured_media":106166,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[24,1608,62,556],"tags":[49176,48982,98,4782],"class_list":["post-106060","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-jazz","category-basketball","category-nba","category-nba-draft","tag-cody-williams","tag-kyle-filipowski","tag-nba-draft","tag-taylor-hendricks"],"modified_by":"Quenton S Albertie","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106060","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5008"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=106060"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106060\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/106166"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=106060"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=106060"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=106060"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}