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Michael Scotto: Utah Jazz coach Will Hardy has added Steve Wojciechowski to his coaching staff. He is the second coach from the team’s G League affiliate, the Salt Lake City Stars, to be promoted to Hardy’s staff, joining previous Stars coach Scott Morrison. He spent two seasons as Stars coach.
Andy Larsen: On what he meant by saying the Jazz weren't going to tank yesterday: "We're gonna fight to the end. We're gonna let the group fight, whatever group we end up with, and we're gonna let Will Hardy fight and try to win and improve, and we're gonna do everything we can every night."
Andy Larsen: Will Hardy quote on Austin Ainge: “During my time with the Celtics, I really enjoyed working alongside Austin and was able to gain a great appreciation of his basketball insight and acumen. Having Austin to help guide our group as we continue to grow is huge for our program.”
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Jazz sign head coach Will Hardy to contract extension
Ryan Smith: We are excited to extend Will Hardy’s contract as head coach of the Jazz through 2031. Will is a great leader, communicator, and ambassador for our org, and is a tremendous partner to Danny, JZ, and me. Our goal is to hang a banner, and Will is a huge part of this journey.
Dwyane Wade on Utah Jazz: 'It's a slow build'
Getting a chance to understand and know the vision of the team, I think it’s having success because we’re in a reload of losing Donovan Mitchell, Rudy Gobert, and coach Quin (Snyder). We brought in a new coach in Will Hardy, Danny Ainge, and Ryan as a new governor. Everything is new, and you have to have patience. You have to be patient in your rebuild. I think that’s what the Jazz have been doing while trying to build a culture and put together an organization that practices a championship mindset from the top and eventually trickles down to the players. It’s a slow burn. It’s a slow build. But you’ve got to be in this for the long haul. You don’t just walk into this and win championships and be successful. I think we’re all seeing that together. We’ve got a great leader in Ryan, a great leader in Danny, and a great leader in Will.
During that same timeout, second-year guard Keyonte George was not in the huddle. He sat at the end of the bench hunched over, not really paying attention to what was going on between Filipowski and Sexton. Then when head coach Will Hardy joined the huddle, George slowly walked around the corner of the court with a towel over his head. Even John Collins and Taylor Hendricks, wearing street clothes, were engaged in what was happening with the rest of the team and listening in to what Hardy had to say. And this isn’t the first time that George has seemed disconnected or frustrated in a negative way.
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“There’s little things that you can do to continue to carry yourself in a way where you you maintain self respect first, and then you maintain the respect of everybody else around you,” Hardy said. “In your toughest moment, you don’t run and hide, you don’t put your head down, you don’t shake your head, you don’t point the finger, you don’t make excuses. You maintain some accountability, and you keep moving forward.”
John Collins: I still enjoy a coffee every now and then, but most of the time we got mate. This is the gourd, and this is called a bombilla. Obviously, I’ve got the leaves inside in here. It’s a Uruguayan, Argentinian, Paraguayan… I don’t want to offend, I don’t know who created it—but it’s a South American tea. You sort of refill it over the course of the day. Helps me with energy, and I cramp a lot—coffee makes me cramp. So I was trying to find a different alternative."
Coach Hardy: "Almost every time I look over in the locker room, John is refilling the mate, making sure you’ve got your filtration right. I actually don’t think until this interview I’ve called you John for like three months. I think I just refer to you as Mate. That’s your name." John Collins: "He’s not wrong. Every time we come into the locker room, Coach daps everybody up: ‘Mate, let’s go.’ I don’t know, it just kind of stuck. It was a very easy nickname."
Who is the best basketball player of the Jazz assistant coaches? There are three candidates, Will Hardy said: Chris Jones, who played his collegiate basketball at Pittsburgh, Evan Bradds, who played at Belmont, and Andrew Warren, from Bradley University. Jones was the most frequent nominee when Jazz players were asked about the issue, though Bradds’ overall offensive talents were frequently noted. Warren is the assistant coaching team’s best shooter, which makes sense — he’s also the team’s lead shooting coach.
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