As the losses continue to pile up, the frustration is starting to take its toll. On Saturday night, an undermanned Utah Jazz team lost to the Minnesota Timberwolves in Salt Lake City. Jazz head coach Will Hardy didn’t mince words in his post-game press conference after the defeat.
“Stats don't mean s***,” Hardy said. “I don't care about your individual stats. I don't care how many points you score. I don't care what you post on Instagram. … I've said this before, and I'll say it again. There will not be free minutes in this program.”
This isn’t the first time Hardy delivered a stern message to his players in a post-game press conference, and it won’t be the last. Sharing the basketball is something Hardy has always harped on, and Utah did a poor job in that department on Saturday night. The Timberwolves out-assisted the Jazz 31-23, but even more alarming, Utah’s starters only accumulated eight assists.
Rookie Keyonte George has been Utah’s best player since Lauri Markkanen has been out with a quad injury, but that wasn’t the case against the Timberwolves. George finished the contest with an inefficient 18 points on 5-for-16 shooting and only dished out two assists.
With the Jazz still in striking distance, George was pulled from the game with 3:58 to play. However, despite the poor play, Hardy told the press he wasn’t removed because of his lack of passing.
“No, it was a lack of execution coming out of a timeout,” Hardy said. ”I hold Keyonte to a high standard. If he’s going to be the future of this program, which is something I think he’s capable of doing, he has to hold himself to that standard as well.”
The encouraging words were well deserved, considering George’s play on the court as of late. He’s been a much more efficient scorer since being reinserted into the starting lineup. In March, he shot 39.1 % from long distances and 46.8% from the field. Over the year, George's is 35.5%, from three, and only 40.1% overall.
George looks to have the starting point guard of the future job on lockdown. Ultimately, Hardy will want him to facilitate more in that role. That said, Utah’s front office has to be ecstatic with what they’ve seen from the 2023 lottery pick since the All-Star break. How George responds as a facilitator will be something worth watching when the Jazz run it back against the Timberwolves on Monday night.
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