Will Hardy Gets Blunt on Lack of Minutes for Two Utah Jazz Players

In the midst of the Utah Jazz's latest blowout loss to the reigning champion Oklahoma City Thunder, two players down the rotation saw their playing time cut unusually short compared to their typical minutes out on the floor.

Second-year guard Isaiah Collier and third-year wing Brice Sensabaugh wound up playing just six minutes off the bench, sitting for the entire second half while others down the rotation like Walter Clayton and Taylor Hendricks shined instead, scoring 20 a piece.

It's not the first time that Hardy has used playing time, or lack thereof, as a statement for his young players that certain habits have to be better in order to claim that opportunity moving forward. Against OKC, it was no different for Collier or Sensabaugh, and led the Jazz head coach to make a clear message about the decision after the 30-point loss.

"Minutes are earned. The standards are clear. There's a baseline level of execution that needs to happen," Hardy said. "I think those two guys get a lot of opportunity, but there are certain moments where it's unacceptable."

"Minutes is the only thing that really holds anybody accountable, I feel like. These are all great guys, Isaiah and Brice are both great human beings and they're coachable. I enjoy coaching them, but sometimes, minutes are the only thing that makes it glaring enough that you have to change some of the things that we're doing."

Will Hardy Sends Blunt Message to Isaiah Collier, Brice Sensabaugh

Dec 4, 2025; Brooklyn, New York, USA; Utah Jazz guard Isaiah Collier (8) moves the ball past Brooklyn Nets guard Ben Saraf (77) during the third quarter at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Tom Horak-Imagn Images | Tom Horak-Imagn Images

Hardy is known for holding his young players accountable through his four seasons with the team, and without the proper execution on the defensive side of the ball, Collier and Sensabaugh were the latest to be without the chance to see the floor because of it.

"Run back. Communicate. If the coverage is switch, switch. If you are a weak side, your job is to help. I try not to nitpick. Our league's hard. Being a young player in our league is especially hard, and so we try to set up some pretty core things that we want to see executed on both sides on the ball. I didn't feel like we got that."

Within a season centered around development and the progression of young players, ups and downs are bound to happen through an 82-game season. And for Hardy, part of those steps forward comes down to fixing bad habits that help build a bit of consistency on the defensive side for a team that's trending towards ranking towards the bottom of the NBA on that side of the ball for a third straight season.

Those improvements might just start with stripping some valuable NBA minutes in order to get the message through. Time will tell if that ends up panning out in Hardy's favor, but until then, minutes might be thin for those who aren't putting in the right effort on the defensive end.

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