SALT LAKE CITY — Will Hardy is typically stoic during postgame news conferences. Or, if you prefer another description, he is mostly matter-of-fact. Whether good or bad, positive or negative, he lays whatever he has to say out for consumption and then he quietly goes about coaching his Utah Jazz.
It was different on Monday night after the Jazz defeated the Sacramento Kings 128-124. In the bowels of Vivint Arena, his voice cracked a tiny bit. There was a bit of a pause in between his answering questions. He took some time to collect himself.
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“I love this team,” Hardy said, quietly.
“I hope that you do too.”
On paper, what the Jazz are accomplishing looks to be the definition of average as they are 35-36 on the season. The win over the Kings vaults them back into the 10th spot in the Western Conference, which would qualify them for the Play-In Tournament. They aren’t going to win a championship this season. The odds are still long that they qualify for a playoff spot.
But make no mistake: This Utah Jazz team is special. What they are accomplishing is special. The way they are doing it from night to night is downright inspiring.
The Jazz have won four of their last five games. Their last two wins have come over the Kings and the Boston Celtics, two of the best teams in the NBA. They rallied from a 19-point deficit against Boston. They forged a 23-point lead against Sacramento, saw all of it disappear and still found a way to come back and win.
Utah traded almost half of its viable rotation at the February deadline. Collin Sexton, the Jazz’s dynamic combo guard, hasn’t played since the All-Star break because of a hamstring issue. Jordan Clarkson, their dynamic shooting guard, hasn’t played in almost two weeks because of a sprained finger on his left hand. And on Monday night, in addition to Sexton and Clarkson, the Jazz played without All-Star forward Lauri Markkanen.
This has been the very definition of a rag-tag bunch. This team should have surrendered the rope a long time ago. This is a team that should be fighting for more NBA Draft Lottery ping-pong balls. Instead, it’s a team that’s somehow stayed afloat in the West when on paper it’s had no business doing any such thing.
“It’s not easy to go into a season when everyone tells you that you aren’t any good,” Hardy said. “I’m so proud of this group. They haven’t backed off one bit. They haven’t given in. For us to be in the position that we’re in, I’m proud of the guys. I’m proud of how they have carried themselves the whole year.”
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The context of what this current group is working with, well, it’s amazing.
On Monday night, this was the rotation: Talen Horton-Tucker, Ochai Agbaji, Simone Fontecchio, Kelly Olynyk and Walker Kessler were the starters. Kris Dunn, Rudy Gay, Udoka Azubuike, Johnny Juzang and Juan Toscano-Anderson came off the bench.
Of those 10, Olynyk is the only player who started for the Jazz on opening night. Dunn was out of the league until the Jazz signed him to a pair of 10-day contracts and then signed him for the remainder of the season. Juzang is a two-way player. Horton-Tucker has been in and out of the rotation. Toscano-Anderson was a deep reserve for the Los Angeles Lakers. Gay has played hard and played better of late, but he is a shell of his former self. Kessler is the only one in this group other than Olynyk who started the season in Hardy’s rotation. Agbaji was such a deep reserve to start the season that he spent much of his time in the G League with the SLC Stars. Azubuike has been a deep reserve for almost his entire tenure with the Jazz. And Fontecchio just recently began to get minutes.
This is almost like the Cleveland Indians from the movie “Major League.” In fact, where’s Willie Mays Hayes when you need him? Obviously, the Jazz aren’t going to win a championship or come close. But this is a team that has played above its talent level for much of the season even when the veteran core of Mike Conley, Malik Beasley and Jarred Vanderbilt were around. Now, without them? They have been among the most resilient groups in the NBA.
It hasn’t mattered who has been available. They just keep going out and performing night after night. Against the Kings, without Markkanen, Agbaji stepped up and scored a career-high 27 points. Olynyk had a near triple-double while he facilitated the offense. Kessler had 10 points, eight rebounds and five blocked shots and absolutely blanketed Kings star center Domantas Sabonis for much of the night.
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Development has mattered for this Jazz group, particularly among the rookies. And Kessler gave a glimpse on how much he’s progressed this season. Raise your hand if you remember Kessler being benched early in the year against the Chicago Bulls because Andre Drummond got into his body and pushed him around? Sabonis tried to do the same thing but wasn’t able to. And when Kessler stood his ground, he was able to allow his length to do the work in deterring Sabonis around the rim.
“I’ve grown a little bit,” Kessler said. “Obviously, Domantas is unbelievable player, so you have to be ready for a lot when you guard him. He plays with so much physicality that it’s difficult. So, you have to try and match the physicality and then go up and contest shots. Tonight worked for us, but I remember watching Sabonis in high school and thinking how great a player he is. This was a super tough matchup.”
What the Jazz know going forward is that Markkanen is an All-Star type at whatever forward spot they choose to play him. But Kessler and Agbaji have progressed so far and so fast in their rookie seasons that it’s tough to look at them and not see star potential. Could you envision Agbaji dropping 27 in an NBA game in the months of October, November and December? Or him hitting the go-ahead 3-pointer? Or him going off the dribble in the most important possessions and getting fouled and going to the line and hitting a pair of free throws?
This is how far he’s come.
Kessler can be thought of as one of the best defensive centers in basketball. He’s going to make First Team All-Rookie. And his potential as an offensive player carries a high ceiling. That’s how far he’s come as a player this season.
When Hardy coined the phrase Team 49 at the beginning of the season, many scoffed. This was supposed to be the bridge year. This was supposed to be the year in which the Jazz swallowed their medicine like castor oil, lost a bunch of games and attained that high lottery pick.
Instead, it’s turned into an experience that not many of us are likely to forget anytime soon. And, although we will wait for the inevitable slide until the last days of the schedule, this season may very well turn into a postseason.
Against all odds.
(Photo of Ochai Agbaji: Rob Gray / USA Today)
