Those lineups tonight by Will Hardy were inexcusable. The love affair with the vets (who aren’t even any good btw) needs to stop. The priority simply has to be on the guys who actually have a chance to be on our next competitive roster. In 3 years time, Mills will be retired, Eubanks probably playing in Europe somewhere, etc. Collier, Flip, and Sensabaugh should all be in the rotation if healthy and able to play… they just have to. It would be one thing if the vets were playing better and we were actually trying to win a championship, but neither is true.
Relatedly, trying to claim the lineups as being some sort of way to showcase trade pieces doesn’t hold water for me either. Nobody wants Eubanks or Mills. Clarkson is over the hill and it’s very debatable if anyone wants him either. Collins has played well but his contract is still such an albatross that it kind of negates any of his on-court value. Sexton is valuable and is probably the only vet (outside of Lauri) you can make a legitimate case for.
More generally, I firmly stand by the fact that prioritizing youth development and landing a top-5 draft pick in June is most important. Any marginal assets we might acquire from trading a veteran isn’t worth the cost to get there. That means less playing time for players that matter and we also likely win a few more games than we probably ought to. That’s why we’ve picked 9th and 10th in the draft the last few years. We do a half-assed tank and only get serious after the deadline. I’m sick of that mentality and really hoped this year would be different.
Ill call Hardy and tell him to tell Lauri that to tell the team its his fucking team and to play balls through him. For fucks sake!
At least the Utah Jazz helped former Utah Legend Damian Lillard get a win, while helping the Jazz improve the tank
Think everyone crowned Hardy too early… Maybe he’ll be fine, but idk why everyone decided we couldn’t question him on anything…
Might be controversial long term but.. Wouldn’t be all that shocked if in the case we fell out of the top 3 picks that we made an offer for Giannis. Milwaukee is going to be desperate for draft capital here soon and unless OKC makes an offer.. only a few teams can
I don’t wanna see anymore of the George experiment. Treat the young guys in equal playing field none are better than another. Some young guys didn’t even pay tonight . What are we actually doing ? They have to make this make sense. And nothing tonight made sense. Lauri, sexton and Kessler are struggling in the starting lineup because they have someone who is not a point guard starting . Sexton is the teams point guard. Hardy needs to give collier a shot or he’ll even Brice . No reason why they should be set in stone with George . It’s simply not working. He’s missing easy reads , plays entirely too slow, very streaky offensively . He doesn’t do anything well . That’s just the truth. Some people hate to hear it but show me something otherwise
Cody really needs to be in the G-League. I kinda agree with u/Jkajazz7 but when you’re as overmatched as Cody is, it does not benefit you going out there, dysfunctional, showing no improvement, and being set up to fail and killing your confidence. He has no pathway to being effective at this level currently and needs to be in the G-League with the ball in his hands.
Outside of that, Hardy did play a veteran rotation today and we see the results.
They’re not gonna win enough games for it to matter who they play, that should be clear at this point. That isn’t a concern anymore. There is marginal difference between 15 and 20 wins at this point with the lottery.
What is true is that vets who don’t contribute shouldn’t play over young guys who honestly are better than those vets already. I’d play Filipowski over Eubanks for sure. JC is basically forced to play, but doesn’t deserve to play. That’s a really tough situation. Collier is also a G-League guy at this point coming back from injury, and if he acclimates himself well I’d prefer to see him with the big club.
Juzang himself is only 23 but I’d play Brice over him. We gotta kinda know what Brice can really do. But really I’d play both Juzang and Brice over Cody and have Cody in G-League. I don’t think he’s served in the current role he’s in.
First half was awesome to watch. Game got away from us after a poor first 7 minutes in the third, here’s my thoughts on the guys individually.
Cody – Great to see him knock down a couple of threes. Defensively again I thought he was good, he continues to develop quick.
Lauri – First game back, always going to be tough with Giannis guarding him a lot. Would like to see him keep curling but then pull up mid range like he did for one of his scores, as referees don’t want to whistle anything when he goes to the basket and gets mugged. He will get better but it’s tough as every team will plan to try keep him under 20.
Walker – Was ok, two turnovers on handoffs were annoying to see – needs to be more solid. Got driven to the rim a few times against Lillard and couldn’t block the shot. Did ok against Giannis, would like to see him be a bit more physical in general.
Collin – Decent game from him, starting to get some consistency and will probably keep his starting spot now if he continues this play.
Keyonte – Had 8 two point attempts and didn’t make any, shooting 27.3%. Defensively he isn’t great so we really need him to score the ball in a variety of ways, trying to finish inside against huge guys probably isn’t the smartest thing for him right now. Would like to see him pull up from mid range more often.
John – Had some nice moments offensively, but 4 turnovers is too many.
Johnny – Ahead of Brice in the rotation now. Showing he can shoot, needs to keep working on his defense.
Jordan – Caught fire in the first half but like John 4 turnovers is too many. Not getting a shot off at the end of the first half was annoying.
Patty – Just continues to play hard and well – only player who played meaningful minutes in the plus column for us today. By no means the perfect player but is a true professional.
Drew – Was ok, couple of mistakes and an airball which was annoying. Could be out of the rotation should Will go towards Collins at the 5 with Flip maybe at the 4.
Isaiah – Congratulations to him on his debut. Didn’t see much other than the turnover but seems to see the court well. On the turnover, maybe Cody could’ve stayed in the corner.
Kyle – Garbage time minutes, nothing of note to say.
Brice – Scored the ball a few times in garbage time, he has an uphill battle now to get minutes. He was averaging 1.4 turnovers a game in 14 minutes without being a ball handler, which I think is the reason why Will has taken him out today.
Will – Good game plan but Giannis and Lillard are always very hard to stop. I see some comments saying why are the vets in. Will isn’t going to put out a lineup of Collier Juzang Sensabaugh Filipowski Kessler just for the sake of it, with Clarkson Mills and Collins getting DNP’s. This is the NBA, you still have to earn your spot in the rotation and compete against your teammates, not receive minutes just because you are young. Will is doing a great job starting Cody Williams (I know it’s injury enforced but Will still had him getting rotational minutes from opening night) and Juzang is a great example of a player who is earning his spot in the rotation.
Onto San Antonio we go!
I agree with you u/Lazy_Variety that Keyonte is very bad overall right now but he’s gonna get the leash he does because this season basically is all about his development, he is the key of this season, they wanna know what they have and whether he’s the PG of the future or not. He’s gonna play and he should play. He’s not a rookie. He’s got enough time under the belt…he has to perform.
I don’t think Sexton did a great job running the offense either tonight, they both struggled with ball pressure, Sexton is a questionable decision maker, but Sexton looks to bring pace and is better in getting Walker involved in the PnR. He’s got a midrange game. He makes quicker reads and decisions. And it is true the offense grinds to a halt with Keyonte because he doesn’t process fast enough and he doesn’t pressure the rim.
This is ultimately a development season. Gonna take our lumps but the question is whether something is being gained or not. With Keyonte I think there is, but with Cody I really don’t see the argument to throwing him out there.
Will Hardy says post-game they can’t play the young guys every night…so what was the point of the pre-season messaging lol. Says he doesn’t want to hear emotional reactions from the reporters about the rotations after games…BRUH their job is to literally ask questions. Says players have to earn minutes and play well…so I guess that just doesn’t apply to players like Mills and Eubanks? Just an all around rough post-game interview IMO.
The Jazz are solidifying that top five pick guarantee in the 2025 NBA Draft I see.
Didnt we want the tank? It was never going to be pretty and I think yall gotta come to terms with that. I still think a top 3 pick will be worth it imo
What everyone needs to realize is, that you can’t say they’re not giving young guys a chance, when they’re starting two of worst starters in the NBA currently in George and Williams. They’re starters. Let’s see what comes of future games with the rotation.
Filipowski entered the rotation after Hendricks injury even before Lauri’s injury. Tonight he was out. Maybe he returns. I think it’s all fluid but you can’t say young guys aren’t being given a chance. Brice was in the rotation up to tonight. Juzang took his spot, and has earned minutes. Brice as mentioned by u/Curious_Pomelo_5977 has a 22% turnover rate. He will get his chance but Juzang deserves his as well and he’s young also.
They are giving these young guys a shot, even if they don’t perform. Because if it were about performance, George and Williams would not see the court.
Absolutely weird, meaningless game. It felt like the Jazz thought they had an opportunity to not be the worst team in the league and wanted to take it, and the cost was valuable time for the young guys. The turnovers came back in full force, we have not been able to win the 3rd quarter to save our skin. And the moment just snowballed into an ugly fourth that we could not come back from. Was disappointed with how t
Walker was probably the best player on the court for us today. Provided valuable rim protection, hit all his attempts, played well. The main issue for him today was his handoff game in the 1st was sloppy, felt like he cleaned it up tho.
Johnny Juzang hit some nice shots, continues to be a steal of a player. I know a lot of people want to get high value from him, I’m happy to keep him around.
Otherwise, oof.
Lauri hasn’t been able to get into any type of flow. Defenders have been sticking to him like glue, the guards aren’t looking for him, and Giannis kind of manhandled him on the defensive end.
Throwing all of Sexton/George/Clarkson together. This guard rotation has been really frustrating to watch. Sloppy play from all of them. At least the 3s went down but they need to work on getting the best player into the flow of the game early. Keyonte had a couple of good plays with Lauri but that can’t come that late in the game.
John Collins went back to the 4 and didn’t look that great today. Had 4 TOs, which was more than his rebounds he got.
Eubanks is a competent back up center, that’s all he really is, I’m happy for him to move down in the pecking order until we get some trades done.
Patty Mills is so weird, he doesn’t usually pop out when watching him or in the stat line. He still ends up +4. Hopefully Collier can take over soon.
Cody Williams went 2-4 from 3, I’ll take that. I think his slashing has actually been pretty neat, he’s just not strong enough to make use of it. Got lit up by Lillard, no surprise there.
Back to 1-7, see if we can a good game against San Antonio.
The most one of our players shot the ball was 12 fgs. They had 3 players 1 with 15 and 2 over 20. Why aren’t our best offensive players shooting the ball?
Let me also say that I’m OK with them not shooting the ball #capturetheflagg
![[Post Game] The Utah Jazz (1-7) lose to the Milwaukee Bucks (2-6) 100-123](https://www.rawchili.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/OTjO8qRZ8uasGgdZi0UZrF3_sZYjfgodq7n52ukFZTk.jpg)
17 comments
First half was fun at least
Okay I need to rant.
Those lineups tonight by Will Hardy were inexcusable. The love affair with the vets (who aren’t even any good btw) needs to stop. The priority simply has to be on the guys who actually have a chance to be on our next competitive roster. In 3 years time, Mills will be retired, Eubanks probably playing in Europe somewhere, etc. Collier, Flip, and Sensabaugh should all be in the rotation if healthy and able to play… they just have to. It would be one thing if the vets were playing better and we were actually trying to win a championship, but neither is true.
Relatedly, trying to claim the lineups as being some sort of way to showcase trade pieces doesn’t hold water for me either. Nobody wants Eubanks or Mills. Clarkson is over the hill and it’s very debatable if anyone wants him either. Collins has played well but his contract is still such an albatross that it kind of negates any of his on-court value. Sexton is valuable and is probably the only vet (outside of Lauri) you can make a legitimate case for.
More generally, I firmly stand by the fact that prioritizing youth development and landing a top-5 draft pick in June is most important. Any marginal assets we might acquire from trading a veteran isn’t worth the cost to get there. That means less playing time for players that matter and we also likely win a few more games than we probably ought to. That’s why we’ve picked 9th and 10th in the draft the last few years. We do a half-assed tank and only get serious after the deadline. I’m sick of that mentality and really hoped this year would be different.
Ill call Hardy and tell him to tell Lauri that to tell the team its his fucking team and to play balls through him. For fucks sake!
At least the Utah Jazz helped former Utah Legend Damian Lillard get a win, while helping the Jazz improve the tank
Think everyone crowned Hardy too early… Maybe he’ll be fine, but idk why everyone decided we couldn’t question him on anything…
Might be controversial long term but.. Wouldn’t be all that shocked if in the case we fell out of the top 3 picks that we made an offer for Giannis. Milwaukee is going to be desperate for draft capital here soon and unless OKC makes an offer.. only a few teams can
I don’t wanna see anymore of the George experiment. Treat the young guys in equal playing field none are better than another. Some young guys didn’t even pay tonight . What are we actually doing ? They have to make this make sense. And nothing tonight made sense. Lauri, sexton and Kessler are struggling in the starting lineup because they have someone who is not a point guard starting . Sexton is the teams point guard. Hardy needs to give collier a shot or he’ll even Brice . No reason why they should be set in stone with George . It’s simply not working. He’s missing easy reads , plays entirely too slow, very streaky offensively . He doesn’t do anything well . That’s just the truth. Some people hate to hear it but show me something otherwise
Cody really needs to be in the G-League. I kinda agree with u/Jkajazz7 but when you’re as overmatched as Cody is, it does not benefit you going out there, dysfunctional, showing no improvement, and being set up to fail and killing your confidence. He has no pathway to being effective at this level currently and needs to be in the G-League with the ball in his hands.
Outside of that, Hardy did play a veteran rotation today and we see the results.
They’re not gonna win enough games for it to matter who they play, that should be clear at this point. That isn’t a concern anymore. There is marginal difference between 15 and 20 wins at this point with the lottery.
What is true is that vets who don’t contribute shouldn’t play over young guys who honestly are better than those vets already. I’d play Filipowski over Eubanks for sure. JC is basically forced to play, but doesn’t deserve to play. That’s a really tough situation. Collier is also a G-League guy at this point coming back from injury, and if he acclimates himself well I’d prefer to see him with the big club.
Juzang himself is only 23 but I’d play Brice over him. We gotta kinda know what Brice can really do. But really I’d play both Juzang and Brice over Cody and have Cody in G-League. I don’t think he’s served in the current role he’s in.
First half was awesome to watch. Game got away from us after a poor first 7 minutes in the third, here’s my thoughts on the guys individually.
Cody – Great to see him knock down a couple of threes. Defensively again I thought he was good, he continues to develop quick.
Lauri – First game back, always going to be tough with Giannis guarding him a lot. Would like to see him keep curling but then pull up mid range like he did for one of his scores, as referees don’t want to whistle anything when he goes to the basket and gets mugged. He will get better but it’s tough as every team will plan to try keep him under 20.
Walker – Was ok, two turnovers on handoffs were annoying to see – needs to be more solid. Got driven to the rim a few times against Lillard and couldn’t block the shot. Did ok against Giannis, would like to see him be a bit more physical in general.
Collin – Decent game from him, starting to get some consistency and will probably keep his starting spot now if he continues this play.
Keyonte – Had 8 two point attempts and didn’t make any, shooting 27.3%. Defensively he isn’t great so we really need him to score the ball in a variety of ways, trying to finish inside against huge guys probably isn’t the smartest thing for him right now. Would like to see him pull up from mid range more often.
John – Had some nice moments offensively, but 4 turnovers is too many.
Johnny – Ahead of Brice in the rotation now. Showing he can shoot, needs to keep working on his defense.
Jordan – Caught fire in the first half but like John 4 turnovers is too many. Not getting a shot off at the end of the first half was annoying.
Patty – Just continues to play hard and well – only player who played meaningful minutes in the plus column for us today. By no means the perfect player but is a true professional.
Drew – Was ok, couple of mistakes and an airball which was annoying. Could be out of the rotation should Will go towards Collins at the 5 with Flip maybe at the 4.
Isaiah – Congratulations to him on his debut. Didn’t see much other than the turnover but seems to see the court well. On the turnover, maybe Cody could’ve stayed in the corner.
Kyle – Garbage time minutes, nothing of note to say.
Brice – Scored the ball a few times in garbage time, he has an uphill battle now to get minutes. He was averaging 1.4 turnovers a game in 14 minutes without being a ball handler, which I think is the reason why Will has taken him out today.
Will – Good game plan but Giannis and Lillard are always very hard to stop. I see some comments saying why are the vets in. Will isn’t going to put out a lineup of Collier Juzang Sensabaugh Filipowski Kessler just for the sake of it, with Clarkson Mills and Collins getting DNP’s. This is the NBA, you still have to earn your spot in the rotation and compete against your teammates, not receive minutes just because you are young. Will is doing a great job starting Cody Williams (I know it’s injury enforced but Will still had him getting rotational minutes from opening night) and Juzang is a great example of a player who is earning his spot in the rotation.
Onto San Antonio we go!
I agree with you u/Lazy_Variety that Keyonte is very bad overall right now but he’s gonna get the leash he does because this season basically is all about his development, he is the key of this season, they wanna know what they have and whether he’s the PG of the future or not. He’s gonna play and he should play. He’s not a rookie. He’s got enough time under the belt…he has to perform.
I don’t think Sexton did a great job running the offense either tonight, they both struggled with ball pressure, Sexton is a questionable decision maker, but Sexton looks to bring pace and is better in getting Walker involved in the PnR. He’s got a midrange game. He makes quicker reads and decisions. And it is true the offense grinds to a halt with Keyonte because he doesn’t process fast enough and he doesn’t pressure the rim.
This is ultimately a development season. Gonna take our lumps but the question is whether something is being gained or not. With Keyonte I think there is, but with Cody I really don’t see the argument to throwing him out there.
Will Hardy says post-game they can’t play the young guys every night…so what was the point of the pre-season messaging lol. Says he doesn’t want to hear emotional reactions from the reporters about the rotations after games…BRUH their job is to literally ask questions. Says players have to earn minutes and play well…so I guess that just doesn’t apply to players like Mills and Eubanks? Just an all around rough post-game interview IMO.
The Jazz are solidifying that top five pick guarantee in the 2025 NBA Draft I see.
Didnt we want the tank? It was never going to be pretty and I think yall gotta come to terms with that. I still think a top 3 pick will be worth it imo
What everyone needs to realize is, that you can’t say they’re not giving young guys a chance, when they’re starting two of worst starters in the NBA currently in George and Williams. They’re starters. Let’s see what comes of future games with the rotation.
Filipowski entered the rotation after Hendricks injury even before Lauri’s injury. Tonight he was out. Maybe he returns. I think it’s all fluid but you can’t say young guys aren’t being given a chance. Brice was in the rotation up to tonight. Juzang took his spot, and has earned minutes. Brice as mentioned by u/Curious_Pomelo_5977 has a 22% turnover rate. He will get his chance but Juzang deserves his as well and he’s young also.
They are giving these young guys a shot, even if they don’t perform. Because if it were about performance, George and Williams would not see the court.
Absolutely weird, meaningless game. It felt like the Jazz thought they had an opportunity to not be the worst team in the league and wanted to take it, and the cost was valuable time for the young guys. The turnovers came back in full force, we have not been able to win the 3rd quarter to save our skin. And the moment just snowballed into an ugly fourth that we could not come back from. Was disappointed with how t
Walker was probably the best player on the court for us today. Provided valuable rim protection, hit all his attempts, played well. The main issue for him today was his handoff game in the 1st was sloppy, felt like he cleaned it up tho.
Johnny Juzang hit some nice shots, continues to be a steal of a player. I know a lot of people want to get high value from him, I’m happy to keep him around.
Otherwise, oof.
Lauri hasn’t been able to get into any type of flow. Defenders have been sticking to him like glue, the guards aren’t looking for him, and Giannis kind of manhandled him on the defensive end.
Throwing all of Sexton/George/Clarkson together. This guard rotation has been really frustrating to watch. Sloppy play from all of them. At least the 3s went down but they need to work on getting the best player into the flow of the game early. Keyonte had a couple of good plays with Lauri but that can’t come that late in the game.
John Collins went back to the 4 and didn’t look that great today. Had 4 TOs, which was more than his rebounds he got.
Eubanks is a competent back up center, that’s all he really is, I’m happy for him to move down in the pecking order until we get some trades done.
Patty Mills is so weird, he doesn’t usually pop out when watching him or in the stat line. He still ends up +4. Hopefully Collier can take over soon.
Cody Williams went 2-4 from 3, I’ll take that. I think his slashing has actually been pretty neat, he’s just not strong enough to make use of it. Got lit up by Lillard, no surprise there.
Back to 1-7, see if we can a good game against San Antonio.
The most one of our players shot the ball was 12 fgs. They had 3 players 1 with 15 and 2 over 20. Why aren’t our best offensive players shooting the ball?
Let me also say that I’m OK with them not shooting the ball #capturetheflagg