1. A bounce-back performance, if not a win
The question going into this game was whether Will Hardy’s words would stick. Remember, after Saturday’s game, he was disappointed about the team playing selfishly, with players caring more about their individual stats than the team’s performance overall.
As a result, the Jazz’s film session on Monday morning was pretty “honest,” in Hardy’s words. “I thought we played a selfish style of basketball.”
“We’re trying to become a program that can compete for a championship,” Hardy said. “I feel like with young players in particular, we have to address it head on now, before we let slippage happen too much.”
“My message to all of our team and especially the young players is: we want to go compete for a championship. You guys want to get to a point with our program where you’re competing for a championship. This is the pathway to get there. And these games matter in that sense. ... You can’t take any minute that you play in the NBA for granted.”
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Minnesota Timberwolves forward Jaden McDaniels (3) guards Utah Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen (23), in NBA action at the Delta Center, on Monday, March 18, 2024.
The message did seem to be well received. Keyonte George, in particular, said that he feels a really positive relationship between himself and Hardy is developing, in large part because of the honesty from the team’s head coach. For the first time in the month of March, George had eight assists — though it certainly helped to have Lauri Markkanen back too.
The Jazz lost this game, but played reasonable basketball throughout and weren’t blown off the floor really at any point. The biggest problem was turnovers, but the team can live with that if they’re well-intentioned ones. Meanwhile, there were experience points that can push them forward.
I’m not going so far as to say it was a moral victory, but it was a productive loss. Keeping those coming is the Jazz’s goal for the end of the season.
2. Taylor Hendricks’ defense
Since moving into the starting lineup, Taylor Hendricks has generally been asked to guard the opposing team’s best player. Tonight, that was Anthony Edwards. While it’s impossible to stop NBA stars — see the dunk below, for example — good defenders can slow them down somewhat, and I thought Hendricks did that.
In particular, Hendricks’ ability to recover is already at an excellent NBA level. Take this block: I think he probably doesn’t do his work early enough to get square to Nickeil Alexander-Walker, and NAW is able to get downhill in the paint as a result. But Hendricks swivels his hips so fast and moves his feet perfectly to get the block.
That ability to recover makes Hendricks a good isolation defender. Hardy thinks there’s times when Hendricks can take a half-a-step back when guarding a ballhandler so he’s not driven by in the first place, which makes sense given how Hendricks’ length means he can contest a shot even with the additional distance. I also think he can probably work on his screen navigation, too, as all rookies can.
But the real next development point that I’m excited to see in Hendricks is to have him make more of an impact in team defensive situations, especially as a weakside shotblocker or kickout interceptor. Right now, he’s a little bit too stuck to his man. When his man is Anthony Edwards, that’s probably the right move. But frequently, it’s not.
“Off the ball, I think it’s going to come down to personnel recognition,” Hardy said. “There’s so many possessions where you get cross matched because of the pace that people play with. And that changes your responsibilities. I think it’s easy to be focused on what you’re supposed to do when you’re matched up with the best player... When you get cross-matched in transition and now you’re guarding more of a role player — ‘okay, what are my responsibilities now?’ And I think that recognition will come with time.”
When Hendricks realizes what he’s supposed to be doing in a given possession, he’s pretty darn good at executing it. He’s already taken huge strides at recognizing that, but there’s still much more work to be done. Still, I’m very excited with the growth we’ve seen.
3. Dunk of the year?
Come the end of the season, this game won’t be remembered for anything but Anthony Edwards’ vicious slam over John Collins.
Most online are calling it the Dunk of the Year, and I tend to agree — I can’t think of any better than that this season. Edwards, one of the best athletes in the league, just explodes vertically and jumps through Collins to throw the ball in the basket from way up there.
(Is it an offensive foul? I think there’s a reasonable argument because Edwards leads with his arm. On the other hand, Collins isn’t square so defensive foul might be the right call. I truly don’t know. I also don’t really care — it was that cool of a moment.)
Collins suffered a head contusion, though was able to avoid a concussion diagnosis and the NBA’s concussion protocol. He also had a large cut underneath his eye. Meanwhile, Edwards suffered a dislocated finger on the play, though the Wolves’ training staff popped it back in place without issue in the ensuing timeout.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Jazz forward John Collins (20) walks to the locker room after Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards (5) knocked him to the ground on a dunk, in NBA action at the Delta Center, on Monday, March 18, 2024.
Probably the closest thing I’ve seen to it is the famous Blake Griffin dunk over Timofey Mozgov, but that doesn’t absolutely wreck Mozgov in the same way this did Collins. This was just violent.
It’s a good reminder that these remaining games, even if the Jazz are likely to lose them, can still be tremendously entertaining. The old baseball cliche is that “every time you go to the ballpark, you’ll see something you haven’t seen before.” That’s probably true of basketball, too — except that the out-of-the-ordinary thing you might witness is way more likely to be a ferocious display of athleticism.
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