Jazz HC Will Hardy Reveals Key to Creating a High-Effort Defense

The NBA schedulers didn't do the Utah Jazz any favors to begin the 2023-24 regular season. However, Utah could make up for a sluggish start over the next 10 games.

The Jazz will face the Portland Trail Blazers three times while matching up twice at home with the New Orleans Pelicans. Also, six out of the next 10 contests will be played in Salt Lake City.

The Jazz could use some schedule relief after dropping seven of their first 10 games. The good news for fans is that the Jazz have looked better since head coach Will Hardy made some tweaks to the rotation.

Keyonte George and Ochai Agbaji were inserted in the starting lineup in place of Talen Horton-Tucker and the injured Walker Kessler. The other notable change is second-year Jazzman Simone Fontecchio playing 15 minutes per game.

The shake-up has seemingly given Utah more continuity on the offensive end. Hardy noted last week that getting the offense on track is priority No. 1 when he spoke with Jazz beat writer Andy Larsen of the Salt Lake Tribune.

“My first thought is about offense. Offense, to me, is the lifeblood of the team, whether we like it or not,” Hardy told Larsen. “Most guys’ brains think about offense first, and if they feel comfortable and they feel good on the offensive end, they’re more likely to give better effort defensively. If the offense is clunky and it doesn’t quite make sense and we’re not getting any good shots, it’s hard to dig in and just get like five stops in a row.”

Utah’s kryptonite on offense this season has been turnovers. Currently, the Jazz lead the league with a whopping 18.5 turnovers per game. Jordan Clarkson leads the team with 3.7 per game, while Horton-Tucker is giving it up at a 2.7 clip per contest.

The good news is that George appears to have a good handle on taking care of the basketball. The No. 19 overall pick averages 1.7 turnovers in 22 minutes of action per game. Considering he’s only 19 years old, that stat line should improve over time.

Next up for the Jazz is a game at home versus the Trail Blazers on Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. MST.

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