Frustrated Will Hardy: ‘Stats don’t mean (expletive). I don’t care how many points you score.’

The Utah Jazz were tied with the Minnesota Timberwolves at halftime on Saturday night. But the second half saw the Jazz outscored 71-52. But more than the Jazz being outscored, head coach Will Hardy was disappointed with the way in which the Jazz were executing the offense and then giving up on the defensive end.

“Plain and simple tonight, we did not pass the ball,” Hardy said. “And there’s 30 possessions you could point out where there’s multiple people open, and we’re just forcing it. We’ve got to get back to the understanding of who we’re playing, understanding how they want to guard, applying what happens in the film room and practice court to the game.”

It’s been a while since Hardy has come into the postgame press conference room frustrated and disappointed. He’s not a coach that gets mad when his team misses shots (good shots) or turns the ball over on a well-intended play. But he does get mad when players ignore a game plan or exhibit selfishness.

The Jazz have been rotating through some strange lineups recently that include a lot of players who haven’t had much opportunity to play this season. And often, those players end up being the ones that are playing the “right way.” So it’s even more frustrating when some of the selfishness or the forcing offense without seeking out open teammates seems to come from players like Keyonte George, Collin Sexton, Kris Dunn, Taylor Hendricks, or really anyone that has had ample opportunity to prove themselves.

“Stats don’t mean (expletive), I don’t care about your individual stats, I don’t care how many points you score, I don’t care what you post on Instagram, it doesn’t matter,” Hardy said. “It’s a team sport. You play to win. And we have to nip this in the bud now because I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again, there will not be free minutes in this program. So you’re either going to start learning and you’re going to start playing the right way and you’re going to start participating with your teammates, or you’re not gonna play.”

Now, to be fair to Sexton, he actually made good on some of his more questionable shots, and although he did force a lot of stuff, he finished the night with a game-high 10 assists. But some of that forcing meant that he also had five turnovers. George finished the night with just two assists and four turnovers.

But this is not just a guard issue, and it’s not just a not passing issue. The Jazz are also feeling the length and weight of the 2023-24 season. They have played 67 games and are in no way headed to the playoffs. Fatigue and ambivalence have set in.

That’s what Hardy wants this young team to fight against. It’s what he requires them to fight. He needs to see that they care about the bigger picture, about getting better with the future in mind, rather than caring about the short term results.