Whereas the Utah Jazz have made it clear that the precedence this season is to develop younger gamers on the checklist, it is not going to be the identical for everybody.
There’s nonetheless rather a lot to find out about the place a number of these guys are as a baseline or place to begin. However Walker Kessler, coming into his third NBA season, and Keyonte George, coming into his second yr, have extra sport reps beneath their belts than a few of the workforce’s different younger gamers.
As such, extra might be anticipated of Kessler and George and their growth will find yourself being a bit extra nuanced than that of Taylor Hendricks, Brice Sensabaugh, Cody Williams, Isaiah Collier and Kyle Filipowski.
“The most important factor for each of them might be their consistency,” Jazz coach Will Hardy stated. “I am not too centered on what their ‘finest’ is…I am extra considering what baseline we are able to anticipate from each gamers on a night-to-night foundation, as a result of that is what is that this league.
“Even the perfect gamers could have massive explosions and a large sport. However what differentiates the perfect gamers on this league from the remainder is that their flooring is way larger, their taking part in common is way larger. For Keyonte and Walker, they every have expertise beneath their belt now, and for them to tackle bigger roles for our workforce and group now and sooner or later, it is going to be a matter of consistency.
For each gamers, the main target begins at defensive finish. Earlier than the beginning of Summer time League, Hardy posted messages on whiteboards and on the partitions of the apply facility describing the Jazz’s poor defensive numbers from the 2023-24 season. So the summer season workforce gamers who have been on final season’s Jazz squad have been continuously reminded that they have been final within the league when it got here to defensive metrics.
For brand spanking new recruits, the message was clear: this isn’t who we wish to be.
“Disgrace is a giant motivator,” Hardy stated. “It’s everybody’s accountability, they usually acknowledge that they play an vital position in it. We acknowledge that we’re a part of it. It was under no circumstances our (the gamers) fault. It is identical to, let’s all bear in mind what we have to deal with… I am pleased with the place the group is true now. I feel their mindset, their depth and their understanding actually grew all through the summer season.
Because the season progresses, every participant’s targets and success will change and adapt, however Hardy needs George and Kessler to make use of the early days of the 2024-25 season to search out the issues they will do in each match. are efficient and sturdy.
“It’s not nearly what number of factors you rating, what number of rebounds you get, what number of blocks you get,” Hardy stated. “A whole lot of it comes right down to your composure, your psychological and emotional method to every sport…I feel each of these guys perceive that we’re searching for a better stage of consistency from them.
“There’s clearly a number of technical issues that they have been engaged on that we wish to see enhance on, nevertheless it all contributes to the general consistency of their method and efficiency each night time.”
