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LOS ANGELES — At the 6:25 mark of the first quarter, Keyonte George, Brice Sensabaugh and Taylor Hendricks headed to the bench. None of the rookies returned to the game until midway through the third quarter.
It was pretty clear what the reason was for the benching. After the first five minutes of the game, the Jazz were already down by 20 points — a stretch that set the stage for a 131-102 blowout loss to the L.A. Clippers.
"It's another night where we're on our heels, we're not physical enough, we're not communicating enough, we're not urgent enough, we're not scared enough, and we dig ourselves a deep hole very early," Jazz coach Will Hardy said.
At this point of the season, wins and losses don't really matter (Utah lost its 11th straight game and fell to 29-48 on the season for those still keeping track). What is important to Hardy and the organization then is establishing habits to set up a foundation of success in the future.
Getting blasted out of the gate every game doesn't help with that.
Hardy benched the rookies — the players that this no-fun end of a season should be about — because their play wasn't up to the right standard.
"There are a lot of different methods to teach. There are a lot of different methods to hold people accountable," Hardy said. "We've cycled through a bunch of those methods, and sometimes minutes are the only thing that will reveal to you what needs to be done. That's not meant in a malicious way. I love every person in that locker room. I care about them all as people and as players, and I want to help them be successful."
He had taken a timeout after the Clippers jumped out to a 13-2 lead just under three minutes into the game to give the starters a chance to adjust. When things only got worse, he thought it best for the rookie trio to sit and watch for a while.
"The guys that came off the bench, I thought the intent and the intensity and the general team spirit that we had in those moments was what I'm looking for," Hardy said.
The Jazz even started the second half with Kris Dunn, Omer Yurtseven, Collin Sexton, Johnny Juzang and Darius Bazley — who was making his Jazz debut — and that led to some of Utah's best play of the night.
The surprising substitution patterns didn't lead to a Jazz comeback, but the message was clear: Even at the tail-end of a lost season dedicated to future development, there are still no free minutes; there is a level of effort that is still expected.
"The habits that we want built are generally the things that you would think are unimportant or small," Hardy said. "Do I space correctly? Do I sprint the floor both ways? Do I crash the glass when I'm supposed to crash? Do I cut when I'm supposed to cut? Do I sprint back on defense? Do I communicate the coverage? Can I execute the coverage? Can I get my matchup? Am I physical? Am I playing as hard as humanly possible on every possession?
"It has nothing to do with making and missing a shot," he added. "It's not about your scoring output. It's about being a member of a winning group."
The hope is that sitting large portions of Friday's game helps Utah's youngsters learn how to become a part of those types of groups.
