Will Hardy's 1st Step for Correcting Jazz Defensive Woes

Utah Jazz head coach Will Hardy identifies the first step for getting better on defense after the New Orleans Pelicans hang 153 on his team.

Transcript

00:00 Yeah, I think the first

00:02 The first part of it is naming it I think it's just saying out loud what's happening right now and

00:10 It's late January in the NBA and

00:14 The initial part of the season has passed

00:18 Everybody's a little bit banged up

00:21 You know rumors start to swirl in the media about what's gonna happen with the team and the trade deadline and every and everyone's names

00:29 Are being thrown around like your mind can drift

00:32 this time of year I think

00:34 You know, I'm always gonna try to be very aware of the fact that these guys are human beings and those things are

00:43 natural

00:46 But it's our job to fight our natural instinct. There's plenty of days where I would you know

00:53 Prefer to rest

00:56 But that's not what this job is. This is an everyday business. This is an 82 game season

01:01 and so I think the first thing the team needs to do and

01:04 What we've just done is we have to name it and say like yeah

01:09 this is what's happening right now, and this is the issue and we can address it and

01:12 Whatever happens at a shoot around or a film session or in the middle of the day

01:17 When we get here and the ball goes up at 7 o'clock or 730 whatever time tip-off is wherever we are

01:24 We've got to find a way to crank up the gas

01:27 Sometimes

01:29 You got to kind of create an alter-ego like you got just

01:33 Figure out a way to become a crazy person with your hair on fire for two and a half hours

01:37 And then you can go back to being tired

01:39 And that's all of us. That's the staff. That's the players

01:42 and

01:45 So I think naming it addressing it head-on taking responsibility for it is the only thing we can do right now

01:53 Because I really believe that it all starts from like a mental and emotional

01:57 Standpoint like physical fatigue is every single person in the NBA right now

02:01 That just is

02:04 But we've got to keep our minds from thinking about that part

02:09 And try to find a way to stay as mentally sharp as possible