Utah Jazz coach Will Hardy did not hold back on his team’s poor defense against Los Angeles Lakers rookie Dalton Knecht during Knecht’s career night on Tuesday.
Knecht scored 37 points while going 9-for-12 from three-point range in Tuesday’s 124-118 win over the Utah Jazz. He absolutely torched the Jazz during the third quarter, scoring 18 points in the final 3:29 to help open up a 22-point lead.
Hardy clearly felt the Jazz had not done nearly enough to try to slow Knecht down, sarcastically remarking after the game that Utah players seemed to be the only ones in the arena that weren’t expecting the Lakers to feed the ball to Knecht.
“In the second half, it seemed like everybody in the gym knew that Dalton Knecht was going to shoot the next shot, with the exception of a few people. The problem was that those few people were on our team,” Hardy said.
Will Hardy: "In the second half, it seemed like everybody in the gym knew that Dalton Knecht was going to shoot the next shot, with the exception of a few people. The problem was that those few people were on our team."
— Andy Larsen (@andyblarsen) November 20, 2024
Hardy is a Gregg Popovich disciple, and he definitely seems to have a similar sense of humor. It’s a pretty harsh quote, but considering how the Jazz failed to keep Knecht in check, it’s hard to say it’s unjustified.
Hardy is in his third season as Utah’s head coach. He has yet to post a winning season, and things do not appear to be getting better for him with a 3-11 start to the current campaign.
