MILWAUKEE — After this, the final night of a three-game road trip for the Utah Jazz, I’m left thinking so much about the future of this Utah team.
Jazz fans, things could be so much worse.
Watching the Milwaukee Bucks — with Giannis Antetokounmpo in the lineup — barely be able to beat the tanking Jazz, it all left me with the overwhelming sense that there are teams across the league that are in such a worse spot than where the Jazz currently stand.
“I’m really excited about where we’re going,” Utah head coach Will Hardy said after the Jazz’s 113-99 loss to the Bucks, “and I’m really excited about the people that we have in our organization — that’s players and staff.
“When you talk about being a winning organization and building a winning culture, the people are everything, and I think we’ve done a really good job in terms of the people we’ve put in our locker room and the people that we put around them.”
That was put into stark contrast inside Fiserv Forum on Saturday night. Bucks head coach Doc Rivers faced questions about potentially retiring at the end of the season, fans have been calling for him to be fired for months — they’ve even stopped introducing him during the pregame introduction lineup at home — and there are reports that the locker room is less than bought into his messaging.
I heard as much on Saturday night from multiple people around the team as I watched the Bucks barely eek out a win against Utah.
If not for a couple of big 3-pointers at the end of the fourth quarter from Kyle Kuzma (whom Rivers unceremoniously DNP CDd on Monday, without explanation) the score would have been even closer in the final moments.
And all of that came against one of the Jazz’s worst offensive outings of the season. Had they shot the ball even moderately well, the Jazz probably would have beaten the Bucks — despite not having Lauri Markkanen, Jaren Jackson Jr., Walker Kessler and Jusuf Nurkić.
The fact that Utah is one of the basement dwelling teams in the NBA, has gone through a rebuild that has drug on now into a fourth year and is only now seeing some light on the horizon, but the players have not grown restless or untrusting of the front office and coaching staff’s vision is reason enough to be hopeful.
But it’s not enough to just say that the team is not restless. The players are bought in and excited about and appreciate Hardy. They are coached hard and given feedback and pushed, even though the games right now don’t matter and losses are preferred by the decision makers.
“Obviously, we know Will is excited (about the future), but at the same time, he’s still focused on right now, on the present,” Keyonte George said. “He can’t let us slip for the last 18 games or whatever we have left.
“It means a lot to the whole group, and especially me, to have a coach that understands that we’re not gonna make it to the playoffs and he comes to work every day and gives us 100%. We see a head coach do that, we have no option but to be as professional as him.”
Even in a loss to the Bucks, even in recent losses, Hardy sees reason for optimism. He sees growth defensively from George and rookie Ace Bailey. He sees more effort from Kyle Filipowski, he sees improvement from Cody Williams and he understands that those things are only possible through committee and because there is buy-in across the board.
“I enjoy coming to work every day and I’m proud to be a part of this organization,” Hardy said. “I think we’re all excited about the future and what we’re building, and these guys obviously do an incredible job of representing our our group and our fan base every night with how they conduct themselves.”
The Jazz return home now to play the Golden State Warriors on Monday and the New York Knicks on Wednesday before heading out on another three-game road trip.
The Jazz are 19-45 on the season.