Struggling Jazz starter believes he has room to turn ship around

After earning the starting point guard job in the preseason, Talen Horton-Tucker has received some criticism for his part in the Jazz‘s slow start this season, writes Andy Larsen of The Salt Lake Tribune. Horton-Tucker is shooting a career-worst 38.8 percent from the field, while his 2.3 turnovers per game would be a career high.

In a conversation with Larsen, Horton-Tucker noted that, at age 22, he’s the same age as second-year wing Ochai Agbaji, so he believes he has “the opportunity to only get better.” He also pointed out that it’s his first time playing point guard on a full-time basis.

“I feel like people should be believing in me,” Horton-Tucker said. “I know I take some shots sometimes that are, like, different. It’s one thing that we always talk about: All the shots that I shoot in the games are shots that my coaches and teammates have seen me make. So it’s not coming from a place where it’s forced or — it’s not like, you know, selfish.

“So I’m just really trying to get everybody understand to me a little bit more, to know that anything that I do is never coming from a selfish place. I’m trying to get better, get my teammates better, get in communication with everybody, and just try to get it right on the court. Being an extension of [head coach Will Hardy], is another thing I’ve been trying to do lately.”

Horton-Tucker is on an expiring $11M contract and will be eligible for unrestricted free agency in the summer of 2024 if he doesn’t sign an extension before then.

Here’s more out of Utah:

• Jazz center Walker Kessler hasn’t yet been officially ruled out for Wednesday’s game in Indianapolis – he’s listed as doubtful – but Tony Jones of The Athletic (X link) suggests Kessler’s left elbow sprain is an injury that may cost him multiple games. While it’s not expected to be a long-term issue, Utah will likely have to replace Kessler in its starting lineup in the short term, Jones adds.
• Collin Sexton is adjusting to a new role early in the season as the Jazz continue to experiment with their backcourt combinations, says Eric Walden of The Salt Lake Tribune. Rather than leaning on him for ball-handling and play-making, the team is asking Sexton to play more off the ball and to not hesitate to shoot corner threes or attack the basket when he gets the chance. “Our roster has a lot of capable guards in bringing it up the floor, and so we tried to shift Collin’s mindset the last (few) games in terms of, ‘Let’s get you off the ball,’ because we think that’s best for him, and ultimately that will help the team,” head coach Will Hardy said. “And he’s responded really, really well.”
• One of the reasons the Jazz’s defense has been so poor so far this season is a lack of communication on the court and during timeouts, according to Sarah Todd of The Deseret News, who suggests that the team has been without a vocal leader since Mike Conley‘s departure last season. “It’s hard. There’s part of it that’s like, who’s gonna talk?” Hardy said. “With a new group, who is the leader? Who are we looking at? And sometimes everybody’s just kind of looking at each other like, ‘Are you gonna say it or am I gonna say it?'”