Press Break: Will Hardy is Good at His Job
Plus I hate labrums and Terry's scaring (defenses)
Welcome back to Press Break a segment where I jaunt around the league and write about whatever intrigued me from the week prior. Sorry that I said this would release every Monday I swear I didn’t lie on purpose I’m just bad at following through but it’s something I’m working on. Here we go!
You Will be Seeing Heaven
The Utah Jazz own the league’s sixth-worst net rating. So they’re bad? you ask. I put a finger to your lips. Shush dear I whisper. You have lots to learn about Will Hardy.
Will Hardy has coached the Jazz for about a year and a half now and if you ask me (you didn’t but you’re reading this so you get my opinion anyway) he’s established himself as one of the best young coaches in the league.
To see how Hardy’s been so good we must look at where Utah is so bad. Because along with the aforementioned 24th-ranked net rating the Jazz also shoot terribly from three (26th in the league) and turn the ball over a lot (30th in turnover rate). Okay so they can’t dribble or shoot thankfully those aren’t important skills in basketball.
WAIT THOSE ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT SKILLS FUCK FUCK FUCK!
AND YET Utah is 11-4 in its last 15 games and now owns a respectable 18-20 record after stomping Milwaukee 132-116 last night.
How is this team competitive? Well good coaching and the power of friendship will take you far. The Jazz are seventh in assists per game (27.7) thanks to Keyonte George Collin Sexton and Kris Dunn forming like Voltron to create one pretty damn good point guard. They’re second in rebound rate thanks to some big white guys bouncing around the paint like plinko pegs and they’re second in total shots contested and sixth in loose balls recovered. A combination of sharing the ball and hustling yields wonderful results.
This team has serious shortcomings but wins games by maximizing what it’s good at and what it can control. That’s the sign of a well-run team. Hardy has done a tremendous job squeezing all production possible out of the rosters he’s been given the past two years. He unlocked Lauri Markkanen (averaging 25 PPG with Utah after being a 14-ish point per game guy his whole career prior) and he’s now in the process of unlocking rookie Keyonte George (who looks a little teeny itsy bitsy bit like a raw Jamal Murray) and second-year rim protector Walker Kessler (third in the league in blocks) and I’m pretty damn confident he will succeed with both. I see All-Star games in both of their futures.
He’s also doing stuff like letting Jordan Clarkson record Utah’s first triple-double in sixteen years (insane stat) by leaving Clarkson in during a 36-point blowout. This is how you win over players:
Utah is currently 11th in the West just 0.5 games out of a play-in spot and I really want to see this team keep playing well because it’s such a joyously random collection of players. And no it’s not embarrassing to say nice things about a team called the Utah Jazz I swear. Gotta give a big fuck you to Karl Malone and John Stockton for the road though. Now I feel better.
A Rollercoaster Week for Our Guys
I have some good news then some terrible news then some more good news.
The good news? A few of our Guys (full list of guys here if you’re curious) had shining shimmering stunning weeks.
Our newest Guy Vince Williams Jr scored a career-high 19 points on Sunday in a win against Phoenix. Look at this move off the dribble! The announcer said “He’s like James Harden” which is a wholly crazy thing to say but I’m rocking with him anyway because when you’re watching greatness you simply have to acknowledge it.
Dennis Smith Jr. violated the entire country of South Sudan by dunking on Duop Reath this hard. I won’t lie this one pained me a bit because I love Duop too but lord have mercy:
Now the bad news: Portland waived Skylar Mays which is a move I genuinely don’t understand and not just because he’s one of our Guys. Back to good news: he quickly found a new home as a Laker! Congrats Skylar you will fix that team I’m sure of it. Back to the bad news: Craig Porter Jr is almost entirely out of the Cavs rotation again (back to the good news:
is officially down with CPJ so go read and subscribe to Jacob he’s supremely talented.)Ja Out but Please Don’t Panic
Well this blows!
Yes Ja Morant is out for the season after playing just nine games and no I do not think the Grizzlies (who are 13-23 and seven games out of a play-in spot) should trade Marcus Smart for picks or search for quick fixes for this season.
I say punt on the season get a good draft pick and make a run at it next year with a fully healthy roster. Smart has two more years on his contract after this season and Desmond Bane is already locked down for a long time and I assume Jaren Jackson Jr will join him relatively soon so Grizz fans just take a deep breath and enjoy low stakes basketball for the next 50 games.
I’m very very bummed for Ja though. He certainly did some dumb stuff but wow the discourse around him got so racist the past few months and just when he’d returned to work and started to find his groove again this happens. The NBA is about 8% less fun when Ja is not in it. Ban shoulders in my opinion.
Pleasure Doing Business
New York and Toronto are embattled in a lawsuit but still traded with each other a few weeks ago and now both teams are considerably better and I think that’s a metaphor for finding common ground with your enemies or something.
I’m not going to take a victory lap quite yet because although RJ Barrett looks like a brand new player back in his native Canada (21 points per game and shooting with extreme confidence) he’s gone through spurts like this before and eventually the shooting percentages come crashing back down but this time is different I think. Toronto is 3-1 since the trade. Immanuel Quickley is really good too.
New York meanwhile is kind of just using OG Anunoby as a defensive stopper who shoots threes which brings a tear to my eye. Don’t make this man dribble the ball! That’s not what he does!
Knicks are 4-0 since the trade and tied for fourth in the East. Truly a perfect trade so bravo to both New York and Toronto.
Put it in Reverse Terry
My working theory that the Charlotte Hornets go out of their way to draft and sign players with as many combined character and basketball deficiencies as possible comes to a snag when I think about Terry Rozier because the dude rocks both on the court and off it. He’s having a career year (highs in points assists and FG%) and he’s definitely still top 10 on the list of players who look really cool when they’re making shots. He scored 39 with eight assists and zero turnovers yesterday:
Charlotte bringing back a player who beat his partner in front of their child made it really easy for me to stop cheering for them but I’ll always wish the best for Scarrence Terrance who has literally been the second-most consistent Hornets guard of the past 20 years behind Kemba Walker.
Rozier deserves some flowers and I doubt he’ll make the All-Star game this season because Charlotte sucks sucks sucks but if you’re forced to watch a Hornets game this season (wouldn’t wish that on anyone) at least you’ll be treated to a show by a player who does this now:
Hey thanks for reading I love you for real. Remember: essentially every high-ranking US politician is currently supporting a genocide in Palestine. They’re all ghouls and they don’t care who lives and who dies. Palestinians deserve life and liberation and we deserve representatives who will at the very least speak out against war atrocities. Talk soon. 💙
I’ll serve prison time before eating that sandwich