Jake & Ben: Full Show | The Utah Jazz have extended Head Coach Will Hardy | Recapping the weekend…
And now it’s 10:00 a.m. Let’s just get down to it and it’s time for your sports pick. Strap yourselves in, folks. From two guys who have covered the teams you’re passionate about for years, we are professionals. This is Jake Scott and Ben Anderson on 975 the KSL Sports Zone. Jacob Ben 975 the KSL Sports Zone. We were uh we were just talking about bad luck off the air. Richie Valance maybe the worst luck ever. All time bad luck. All time bad luck. Yeah. Uh Jake and Ben show. Happy Monday to everybody. Ben weekend good. Solid. Yours. Uh it was good. Yeah. Maggie scored her first goal ever. Oh, great. Yeah. So, the four-year-old had one of those. Nice. Uh but uh we went shopping and I got new shoes, Ben. I saw that. Yeah. Yeah. Because you’ve been wearing old shoes for a while. Well, been wearing some weird like quasi dress shoes that aren’t really dress shoes. Oh, are you talking about my awesome rock ports? Whatever they were. I love those shoes so much. Uh, I used to wear those shoes every single day and they probably looked like it, but whatever. So, I did I bought some sweet Reebok Uhhuh. months ago. Uhhuh. And they’re like off-white, right? And here’s what I didn’t think about when I bought those is like I don’t I don’t want to clean my shoes. You really got to be committed to cleaning your shoes. And I am not wear different shoes every day person. You you I have a lot of pairs of shoes. You rotate shoes. That’s not me. I have one pair of shoes. I wear them until it rains one day and I feel the like liquid soak through to my sock. You’re like, “Well, well, it’s time.” You see the grid like the padding grid that has worn through? Uh, so I realized that maybe these Reeboks are not really what I need them to be. So I bought some different shoes, but uh, not the point. I also had a sweet impulse buy, Ben. And I actually I I made a self censorship of myself today. Okay. Which I’m I I don’t know how I’m feeling about it. Can I explain? Okay. We went to the tar. We went to the tar after the after the shoe store and I saw a sweet t-shirt and I made an impulse buy. And then I was like, I’m going to wear my sweet hilarious t-shirt to work today. And then you know what? I bocked at the last minute. I was like, I can’t do it because we have cameras now. So I have to worry like what what message I’m going to send. By the way, check it out. KSL Sports uh the app. KSLports.com YouTube. Yeah, make it happen. Uh, we have cameras now because the Swede shirt I bought, Ben, was a Keystone Light shirt. Okay. Keystone light. I was wondering if you were going to tell us. Uh, yeah. I I’m fine talking about it. The The problem is the visual and if people like Yeah, it’s not a it’s not a work appropriate shirt. Got the the wrong idea, right? You know, and then I thought to myself, like, what if people thought I was endorsing Keystone Light and not just that I thought it was hilarious? Now, I’d be more than fine endorsing Keystone Light, but you know, does the station want to be associated with with Keystone Light? Absolutely not. Does Ben want to be associated with Keystone Light? Does Christian Christian wants to be associated with Keystone Light every second of the day? You got that right. He wants to have a tall cold one in his hands at all time. No, it’s it’s the the reason I bought it is because it gives me flashbacks like of to what Keystone Light represents to me because I’ve never nobody likes Keystone Light, right? I mean, for our non beer drinkers out there, I I apologize. You might not identify, but it’s a very uh cheap low end. Yeah. And it what makes me laugh is you knew if somebody I think they only sold them in 30s. Uhhuh. That’s that’s all I saw. The big cube of Keystone Light. And so if the wreck if somebody showed up to the party with Keystone Light, you knew one, they were very generous because they were more than happy to pass those out, but very few people would would take them, right? and they were committed to quantity, not quality. Correct. That was that was going to be how their night went. And you’ve chosen that to be your identity with your t-shirts going forward, which is funny to me because I do have Pap’s blue ribbon uh uh board shorts. Okay. So, to combo that with the Keystone Light shirt at the beach, you’re going to be is so funny to me. Decked out. Is that not Is that not definitely in a fraternity? Yeah. Right. This is the This is the frat Jake coming out. And And it’s not me certainly anymore. What are we missing? Like Natty Light socks, the necklace with like the shark tooth on it. He’s got that. He’s still wearing that. Um I probably have one. I’m not I’m not currently wearing it. No. Then what else? What What’s the other low-end? PBR is not even as low-end as these other ones we’re talking about with Natty Light and Keystone. I mean, there used to be Milwaukeekey’s Best, but I don’t know if you can still find a Milwaukeee’s Best at Bush. Yeah. Bush Light. Uh oh. My uh There you go. My brother got a uh a Miller Highife hunting hat, like the Elmer Fud hunting hat, and it says Miller High Life on Champagne. Yeah, buddy. But so I I don’t know. I thought with the cameras and the show, I don’t know. People wouldn’t think it’s funny maybe. And And I’m just My dad, which is funny, uh had like a I don’t know what it was, a Coors Light sweatshirt or something one time. And he uh he wore it to work day at school, which is the parents came in and talked and he realized as he was walking in and he uh took it off and he flipped his sweatshirt inside out, which he thought was the better option was to have an inside out sweatshirt while he talked to a class of eight-year-olds who were all like, “Why is your sweatshirt inside out?” No, that is better though. It is. I see. I just seem to have these these things where like your dad, I just step in it. That is something that the like the in the cell phone department I’ve got a bunch of examples that are just terrible. Yeah. But yeah, just I mean, have you ever driven on a golf course in front of Steve Starks? Well, I have. Yeah. Yeah. In your car. In my car on the the old John Elway mobile. You’re talking about a real car. A real car. My Hyundai Sonata at the time. And I don’t have time to explain this whole thing, Christian, but it did happen. I had to I had to like turn down my radio cuz people were swinging. It’s probably why he was giving you those dirty looks when we were out at the LA You are the bozo who drove on the golf course. Way to go. How did we not can you that day? Yeah. Yeah. So, I got a bunch of I got a bunch of those cell phones, but I’m more than more than willing to own it. But I I felt cell phones. Selfowns. Self owns. Not cell phones. No, I actually did need that clarification, right? Yeah. So, yeah, that’s the story. I’m over here thinking Android. That’s the story of my uh Keystone Light shirt. Well, he can wear wears Keystone Light to the hockey game and he will fit right in. Oh, so I’m an Android guy, so bring your Android and your Bush Light or whatever. Oh, Bush Light. That’s another one. Did you mention that one before? Christian did. Oh, he did. Yeah. What about just Bush regular? I don’t think that Bush is that step up in the I don’t think that’s a thing. All right. I’d wear a Modello shirt. No, now you’re talking fancy. And it’s Cinco de Mayo. There’s probably a lot of Mello shirts floating around. Oh, for sure. Modello. But yeah, I didn’t think I’d just uh automatically uh associate the show with Keystone like. Yeah. I don’t know if that’s what the rep you want. Probably not. I know a lot of people in our building who don’t want that. Well, that was another thing to including all of our bosses. So, good start. Yeah. Nate doesn’t strike me as a Keystone light guy. Not at all. No, not in the slightest. Uh, all right. Lloyd, maybe. Yeah. No, Lloyd likes heisen. That’s his thing, which is kind of highbrow. Okay. So, yeah, that was my weekend shopping shoes and a Keystone uh light shirt that I’m afraid to wear. Big news, Ben. Yeah, Will Hardy signs an extension. Definitely a Keystone Light kind of guy. Uh he’ll be in Utah now through 2031. At least he’s under contract through 2031. What I think this is a reasonable question. What what prompted this with the Jazz? He was under contract through not just this year, I think through next year. Didn’t he sign a rework deal at the beginning of the season? He had a five-year deal and the last two years I think were team options or maybe the first last three years were team options and they have picked them all up in September. They picked it up for his fifth year option. So, he was already under contract for the Jazz through 2027. So, while you know, Shams this morning tweeted it’s a six-year extension. It’s really a four-year extension, but they tacked four more years onto this. Theories on why they would do this today? Uh, cynical me. Uh, sure. Yeah, that’s one of your best aspects other than beer drinker Jake. Cynical Jake is what we sign up for. Uh well well one I think it and let me start here actually before we we dive into the more cynical side. I do believe Will Hardy is a really good coach. I also agree and that’s actually part of the explanation. I agree that he is legitimately deserving of one of the 30 coaching jobs in the NBA. I think he’s good with the players. I think he’s uh his strategy is terrific. I think he’s transparent about his shortcomings. I think um his messaging is really good. I really like where he picks his spots to be upset or not upset, that’s not the right word, but a little more firm, a little more vocal about I’m I’m not super psyched about what’s going on around here. He doesn’t do it all the time, but he’s not afraid to do it. Seems like he manages his coaching staff really well. like all super positive things in the reason why you’d want to invest in a coach. So that’s that’s the headline and I don’t disagree necessarily with any of that. But I do think that there is a reward part of it. I think he is being rewarded for I mean bismerching his coaching record if you want to look at it that way. But PK PK when I filled in last week, he he asked I referred to Will Hardy uh intentionally coaching to lose. Yeah. And PK was, I guess, a little bit surprised that I would say that, but and he said, “Do you believe that happened?” And my answer, and maybe I don’t know, maybe people over there with jazz don’t want to hear it, but I’ll explain. Uh the answer is yes, he did. And so that kind of behavior I think merits a reward from the franchise standpoint. And I don’t have any problem with that. You know, it’s funny and I was thinking how to explain this, but like we don’t expect front offices to have any integrity, right? We don’t expect that from Danny A. In fact, he’s kind of famous for, you know, being cold-blooded a little bit. We don’t expect front off We expect front offices to encourage bad records in the NBA. We don’t We don’t all of a sudden think differently of them. We all for some reason think um oh I do the same thing. Yeah. Right. But then we get to coaches and then we get further down the line to players and integrity becomes interesting because you’re not supposed to try and lose. you know, from the coach on down, you’re not supposed to actively try to lose. And I would believe with my whole heart that Coach Hardy protected the integrity of the players. Yeah. I do not believe that he would ever in a million years, and I guess I shouldn’t say, you know, you never know anything, I guess, but I don’t think he ever pulled a player aside and said, “You got to go boot this game.” I don’t think that would ever happen. I don’t think he would. I I would hope no coach would ever do that, but I don’t I certainly don’t think he would. Right. So, I think he probably really protected the integrity of his players. But what do you call what where do you draw the line with coaching to lose? Where is that where does that fall on the morality scale and playing horrible lineups down the stretch in close games? You’re coaching to lose. Yeah, that’s that that is a thing. and he he did do that and you can say, “Hey, I’m I’m giving guys experience. I’m tinkering with lineups or whatever.” And that’s that’s all baked into the cake, but it’s not coaching to win. And that’s not what he was asked to do. In fact, he was asked to do the opposite. And so, you know what? If he’s going to swallow that pill, give the man an extension. The fact is he’s he’s too good a coach because if he coached to win, they’d win a ton of games. Yeah. I do think he’s being rewarded for following orders, right? That’s what I’m getting at. He’s following orders. Yeah. The Jazz front office set out with a goal of we think the best way to build this team is to get a really high draft pick and we need a coach that will follow those orders and we think you can do it. But with that inevitably, and you and I have talked about it off the air, uh I’ve heard people ask me about it. I’ve answered it in mailbags before. Uh I’ve talked to other writers about it. Like was Will Hardy being set up to get his head cut off after the rebuild is done? To get Brent Brown essentially, right? Even though they did give him a what, one playoff run, two, but basically you tank, we deconstruct the roster. You’re a young coach who’s not going to push back because it’s your first job and then we move on and then as soon as we feel like, oh, we’ve landed our Cooper flag or Dylan Harper or AJ Debonsa or whoever, once we’re like, okay, this is a veteran team now. we’re gonna cut your head off and we’re gonna go win and thanks for all the fish. You know, you’re gone now and that that was your job. Uh this protects will be on that. I think that’s a big part of it. Oh, I would I would totally buy into that 100%. And I think it does also give you a sense of when the Jazz might be looking to hopefully, if you’re a Jazz fan, exit the rebuild, which is beyond the 2026 2027 season, which he was under contract for. The idea is, hey, we want you there when we do start to put or when the rubber meets the road. Sure. Um, which I which is is well, it all circles back to the fact that he is a good coach or or they believe they believe he’s a good coach. It would appear that he’s a good coach because if you’re the Jazz, you’re fine with that. Yeah. You know what I mean? Yep. And uh you give him a chance maybe to put a few more W’s on the resume. And also, you don’t want to be a coach who the players can see the end of your contract before the end of theirs and then they tune you out. Then they can tune you out. So, you want to make sure that’s involved. I also, pure speculation on my part, wouldn’t be surprised if some teams had reached out. Um, yeah. Well, he was under contract anyway. So, he was under contract, but teams still, yeah, reach out, ask say, “Hey, Greg Papovich retires. Anything you might be interested in potentially if the Jazz don’t think you’re the long-term fit or could we execute some some sort of trade, which has happened before. Coaches have been traded.” I wouldn’t be surprised if there had at least been some interest in Will Hardy by other NBA teams looking to either initiate a rebuild, begin to exit a rebuild because you look at the coaching tree he comes from and not just Greg Papovic, which I’m really curious to see how coaching trees in the NBA change post pop, but you know, he coached with Eime Udoka, who just had a very good year with the Rockets, even though they had a very disappointing ending to their season, uh, losing to the Golden State Warriors yesterday in game seven. But, you know, I I bet will there would have been some interest around Will potentially had he become a free agent or was available from the Jazz. So, yeah. Yeah. I just think I I think the easiest part though is you you give him a contract out beyond the players and you give him a contract out beyond when you think this rebuild is going to end and you start trying to win games and it allows him to have comfort in his role and security in his role. Also, the other thing we should add is that this probably I mean this makes it more comfortable and easier for him to greenlight him to have another bad season next year. Well, there’s that, too. Yeah. He’s not then saying, “Am I only going to have one year if we tank again next year to try and get another top five pick? I’m only going to have one year after that to put this together and try and win.” Yeah. It allows him to get beyond that because at some point he’s going to have to prove it. Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. Of course, at some point he’s going to have to put it together, win and then win at the next level and then all the steps, you know. Uh but this does hedge your bets a little bit on if you don’t get the number one overall pick and don’t get Cooper flag because I do think Cooper plus Will Hardy plus whatever you have on your roster next year is going to win more games than they did this year. If you get Cooper, if you get the fifth pick or the fourth pick, I’m not sure that’s guaranteed. But so you might be back at winning 17 or 18 games next season. But if you get Cooper, you’re probably up around 25 or 30 in all honesty. I think he might be that good. Well, depending on what they do around him. Yeah. And if they just collapse everything around him. Well, and are they trying? Because I They could have been at 25 or 30 easily this year. Yes, they could have. So, you add a good player. I mean, so, but what are you what’s your intent? Yeah. Are they going to try and win? Are they going to try and lose because that measuring stick is irrelevant, frankly. Who’s on the team? What are they trying to do? And by the way, I don’t I don’t know what one or the other leads to. Like if you get Cooper Flag, that might be the best time to say trade everybody. Totally restart because he’s that good. Or maybe if you get the fifth pick, you say, “H, we don’t like the idea of continuing to press our luck cuz what if we get the fifth pick again next year, then we’re stuck.” So they may try and be more aggressive in the offseason. If they get the fifth pick, trying to make a trade to get somebody different. So I it’s hard to read those tea leaves or what the Jazz might think. And they we don’t know what’s going to become available yet. We spent last week talking about Giannis. You know, we don’t know what the Houston Rockets are going to look like after an early disappointing exit. There’s a lot of there’s a lot of potential outs. Frankly, from a selfish standpoint, which is all that matters. Uh I really enjoy his pre and postgame availability. I agree with you. I think he’s he’s really good. I think he’s uh pretty respectful when it comes to trying to answer the questions and do it in an insightful manner where most coaches, I would say, are not. So I like that and I have to listen to a lot of Will Hardy throughout the season. So I like that. Like that. I just enjoy Will. So I’m with you. I like the pre and post. It It makes my job easier honestly because he does give good quotes. So it makes it he’ll answer bad questions which I ask frequently. So he makes my job a lot easier in that sense. Not that frequently. He gave you an A minus, dude. But so somewhat frequently, not an A+. Hey, we’re not there’s we’re not all perfect, Ben. Um, but we can’t bat a thousand. You’d probably give him an A minus as a coach. I also just enjoy him compared to a lot of the other coaches. Not that I’ve covered, but you see around like Joe Mazula is a crazy person. I don’t want to cover Joe Mazula. I don’t have any interest in like the nonsense being a jerk about answering questions the same way Pop did. You know what I mean? Like I don’t Michael Malone did it. I just I don’t want that. I don’t that doesn’t make my day better. It doesn’t make my life better. I don’t think it makes their job easier, actually. Wait, what kind of crazy person? Because Don Nelson was a pretty crazy person and I would be number one might be number one on my I’d like to cover list. I speaking of Keystone Light, I remember Don Nelson every time I interviewed him when he was in town to play the Jazz or not me personally one-on-one but in the in the availability, he had a beer in his hand every time. and similar to Mike Leech would give kind of answers that were a little offthe-wall, but so he was crazy. But Will doesn’t seem to bring other stuff in his life to work with him or put it in our place as writers. And then also, you know what I like? He seems to make very defendable defensible decisions on the court. He’s not made it hard for me to have to be like, “Yeah, I don’t know why he’s doing any of that.” He like he’s not I don’t think he’s a bad coach at that point. Yeah. Well, he learned some interesting lessons in year one. He had some clock management, foul or not foul kind of stuff, but that’s all all stuff you would expect. I still go back to there. There are two things you can point out if you want to, you know, kind of diagnose him as a coach in my opinion. And that’s not this year, but last year they had an offense all designed in camp. Uhhuh. And it failed miserably. Uhhuh. And one day he’s like, you know what? This is failing miserably. and he wadded it up and he threw it in the garbage can and he came up with something that would work better for the players and for the team and for the people that were just hoping they would take that year. Well, he ruined it because he went on a run in the month of December that was like lighting the league on fire and then uh post trade deadline they they blew up the team and tried to lose and all the stuff. We all all know how that turned out. But I thought that was brilliant. And then what he got out of Colin Ston, right? Sure. Yeah. How he had and I loved him explaining this, how he had something envisioned and built in his head about Colin Ston. This is what this guy is. And then was like, “No, that’s not what this dude is. I’m going to get this and this and this out of him and figure it out.” And Colin now is this big- time leader that they love that they probably shouldn’t hang on to in all honesty, but they’re kind of torn from within because they love the guy. and the Tony sets with other players and all this stuff, all this really positive stuff that he didn’t initially see. And then his coaching, I think, has has really brought Colin to be a really well-rounded, terrific player and a good lead uh leader. He’s going to stick around in the league until he’s 48. Big questions for Will going forward. Biggest one will be player development. Yeah. Um which I again I think he’s done a good job. You know, Colin has bought in to doing less. And you know, his numbers as a thirdyear player in Cleveland, I think, he’s averaging 24 points a game. He’s not doing that in Utah, and he still seems very bought in. Uh John Collins had a very good bounceback year his second year. I think there’s an argument John was Jazz’s best player this year. Uh if not, it was Walker Kesler who also had a huge bounceback year. Those are positives, but you’ve got to figure out which of these young players are going to develop into stars, including this draft pick, uh which we’ll figure out where they’re drafting a week from tonight. uh for the NBA draft lottery and then very minor some he’s had a lot of movement on his coaching staff and not a lot I guess I should say but you know Alex Jensen which was not his guy I get it Evan Brads did just leave to go take a job with Duke somebody uh else just left so I’m a little curious about that but that’s not a red flag it’s just a curious kind of how the coaching staff is operating honestly it isn’t uncommon in the NBA either I think all of us and I’ll throw myself in there. Picture Gordy and Phil and Jerry’s, you know, that stayed there forever and it’s not really the norm. Guys are the G-League staff and all this stuff where you’re Yeah. There’s there’s, you know, ops guys and all this movement that just happens in the league now. And also, colleges are paying real deal money. I mean, honestly, Evan Brads may have just gotten a raise to leave Utah to go be a lead assistant in Duke or one of the lead assistants. May just got more money, right? So, but you never know. Yeah. So, uh Will Hardy big story gonna be here for a while. He must like Utah Ben. By the way, classless Skip. Not a surprise that that handle tweets in. Says, “Uh, stopping at Target after work to get a Keystone Light t-shirt. You enjoy it.” Glassless Skip. I had to buy it, too. Bought it right there. I have to buy this. I have to buy this. All right. Stay tuned. Jacob Pen 975 DKSL Sports Zone. Ladies and gentlemen, may I present This is JJ and Alex. Big TH Bailey joining us. Thor, it’s so weird that the fate of a franchise can come down to a random drawing, but that’s just how it is in the NBA. Is it too much hyperbole to call this one of the most important moments in franchise history? Look, it’s not a perfect science, but I don’t think it’s hyperbole at all because your goal is to hopefully get the top pick. I mean, that’s not just your goal, but you know, the other teams that are involved in that as well, but again, it may not happen. But there’s some great players coming out in the top five. I know everybody’s talking Cooper flag this and Cooper flag that, but you know, I I think there’s definitely talent there that can help the Jazz continue to progress based on maybe what they’re trying to do with all their other assets. But no, I I don’t believe it’s hyperbole at all. It’s it’s it’s a really important time and and there going to be a lot of eyes on it. Catch JJ and Alex afternoons from 3 to 6 presented by G2G bars on 975 the KSL Sports Zone. It’s time to break down the biggest stories of the day. This is the top three stories of the day on kslsports.com. 975 the KSL sports zone. Jacob 975 the KSL sports zone. Want to remind you you can big wi win big every Wednesday on the KSL Sports Zone with Win Ticket Wednesday. This Wednesday, win tickets to Eric Church and the Free the Machine Tour uh October 23rd at Delta Center. Find your tickets on SeatGeek starting on Friday, May 9th at 10:00 with special guest pre-sales starting on Tuesday and then uh listen to the KSL Sports Zone on Wednesday for your chance to win. So make that happen. Time for the top three stories of the day at kslsports.com. Brought to you by Jbrooks Jew uh jewelers. Cherish your love with Jbrooks Jewelers. Explore their expertly crafted engagement rings made from the finest materials. Jbrooks Jewelers. All right, Christian. Where do you want to start today? Number one, the NBA gave us two game sevens over the weekend and they were both kind of duds if I’m being honest. Uh last night’s ended up with a big blowout. It was pretty good through the first three and a half quarters though. I was watching the game. Six minutes left. The Rockets had 70 points. I I I think they ended up scoring what 95 or whatever. They lost by 20. But yeah, all of their points came in the last six minutes of the game. It’s just they they cannot score and we knew that going into the series. And defensively they can hang. But at some point, if the Warriors get hot and break through, and it’s not just Steph, you will lose. And they got hot. And it wasn’t Steph. It was Buddy Heel who had maybe the best certainly the best playoff game of his career. One of the better games overall of his career. But he was on fire early in the game. And you can account for Steph and you can try and account for some of their other pieces, but if somebody slips through the cracks and it’s Buddy Heal, and he gets hot, you’re in trouble. And the Rockets were in trouble. Um, I’m glad you brought up Buddy Healed, but I want to bring up something else in a quick uh jazz hot take for you. Okay, you need to put Buddy on the phone with Keonte George. Okay, because Buddy has figured out how to guard. He had some really good possession. He He is a defensive plus, whereas for his entire career, he’s been a defensive minus. And I got to think somebody got in his ear and was like, “Buddy, you’re not going to be a superstar. That’s not going to be your future in the league. your future in the league’s going to be your your gift for shooting the basketball. Yeah. And you’ve got to be able to guard well enough that they are they have to put you on the floor. You know what I mean? Like you got to become more of a Bruce Bowen and less of uh Kobe Bryant. Warriors were up 10. It’s like six minutes to go. Like I’m talking about five minutes to go. Um no, they’re up eight at this point. And the Thunder No, sorry. They were It was five. It was a five-point game. The Warriors had been up 10. The Rockets cut it to five. Uh Alprin Shenon gets the ball being guarded by Buddy Heield in the paint. You think he’s just going to turn around and get a layup on him. It’s going to be a three-point game. All the momentum is going to be on the side of uh of the Rockets and Buddy Heield blocks the shot of Alpen Shenon and it leads to a Jimmy Butler layup and the game’s over. It totally flipped the game. It was a huge possession. So, to your point, you’re right. And then he forced a turnover on Fred Vanble the next or two possessions later. It was a huge plus. Yeah. Uh and then Houston missed 32 shots in the paint. How many threes did they take? Uh the Rockets 18. How many did the Golden State Warriors make? Uh 18. Can’t take as many as the other team makes. Uh oh, no. Jaylen Green stinks. That’s their problem there. Yeah, he is not good. They they can’t score. I if I were them, I would again I’m knocking on the door. I’m trying to see like who are the true offensive creators like number one lead guys that become available. I wouldn’t be surprised if like a Jaw became available actually and he might fit but he’s not a good enough shooter is the problem. Like there’s a real chance where they end up with Lowry Mark and an extraordinarily high on their board this off season of like preferred targets that probably won’t cause you to break the bank the way a Giannis would. I mean you can get Giannis go. If he’s not available you can’t get him. Um if Deon Booker’s not available you can’t get him. Kevin Durant, you’re renting for a year or two. He’s 37 years old. I think there’s a real chance where you kind of walk through all the scenarios and Lowry, even though he’s not a true offensive creator, you’re not going to finish the night with 18 shots. He’s going to take seven threes by himself in every playoff game and he shoots 40%. And you just think like that’s kind of what you need the most. And then you hope an Amen Thompson or whoever on their roster that is still on their team after trading for Lowry develops into a shot creator based off of the space that Lowry provides. It’s not unrealistic, man. If Jaylen Green were to be in involved in a deal like that, it would be have to be a lot more. Although, if I are the if I am the Jazz, I’m looking into trading for Jaylen Green. And I’ll tell you why. Because his stock right now is kind of low. Absolutely. The lowest it’s going to be. You trade for him and he’s going to be a scorer on a bad team, which means he’s really going to go out there and Bradley be it. Uhhuh. I mean, he’s going to put up 30. He’s going to take 30 shots. you’re gonna lose a zillion games and then you flip him after the league thinks he’s good again. I talked to a person with the Jazz when they were talking to me about their decision to lose games and how you have to have luck in the lottery to get guys and one of the names they specifically mentioned to me was to get guys like Jaylen Green you have to be bad. Now that doesn’t mean their opinion hasn’t changed since then. This was a while ago, but Jaylen Green was the number two overall pick. And that was a stretch where Jaylen Green was averaging 28 points a game and took over the NBA for the second half of last season. And you have to remember that he is 23 years old. He just turned 23. So I’m I’m actually with you. Like it’s not the craziest scenario where the Jazz take on Jaylen Green for Lowry Markin. Jaylen Green’s contract is actually shorter than Lowry’s. He’s younger. He still has star upside. Maybe he never turns into anything and if it’s fine, but you also are probably asking for something back in addition to him because you’re right, he’s at his lowest point. Lowry didn’t have a great year, but Lowry still fits a lot of what they need. So maybe you get Jaylen Green and an asset either draft picks or another young player they have and he has potential to turn into something or you still have a chance to trade him. I wouldn’t rule that out. Then the other game seven um the the Clippers totally totally no-showed. Yep. mailed it in. And for James Harden to just bounce after the game is pretty weak in my opinion. Yeah, he hasn’t talked to the refs in a while or the the media in a while, excuse me. Probably talked to the refs plenty. Uh yeah, you know what? He’s terrible. I I keep trying to buy into the Clippers over and over again and I don’t know, bad idea. really tough for Kawawaii to be as healthy as he was, as good as he was, which is clearly the anomaly and everything to be clicking for them and it just not work at all. You know, they got to seven games against Denver. Okay, it kind of worked, but they had the series won. They were up two games to one. They only needed to get a stop on a Hail Mary three from Joic. They didn’t get the rebound. Gets dunked in uh at the buzzer by Aaron Gordon and they just never really fully came back. It was pretty disastrous. I don’t know if Kawhai’s really in it to win it either. Yeah, he might not be at this point in his career. Nope. So, anyways, a 6-7 match up in the second round between the uh Timberwolves and the Warriors. And the Timberwolves is the six seed get home court advantage. All right. Uh what’s next? Number two, the hype train is back on the tracks. Utah has found their next great wide receiver. Uh Tobias Merryweather has transferred from Cal via Notre Dame to the University of Utah. He was a former, according to our guy Steve Bartle, top 80 recruit in the country. Um, 6’5, has not caught a lot of passes in his life. Oh, he doesn’t need to. But he’s got upside. No, here’s the thing. I don’t care about his upside. 6’5 who doesn’t catch passes is right up Utah’s alley. Yeah, that guy’s going to block. That guy’s going to block his mind out. Yep. Devin Dampier has his favorite target. Run behind the that wide receiver. Yeah, that guy. That dude’s a beast. Get out on the edge. He’s going to block somebody. I’m not trying to sound rude about it. I know that’s kind of the joke about Utah’s receivers, but yeah, a 6’5 guy who’s going to take up a who’s going to be a good blocker. Fine. Great. Yeah, you’ll cease the catching production from Landon King, which is what, like 12 catches a year for 115 yards and four touchdowns because he’s just a big body. You do that and you block, you have done your job at Utah. Correct. It’s also why though you are one of the last players still available on the transfer portal. Yeah. Uh in his 2024 season with Cal, 11 receptions, 125 yards, one touchdown. Yeah, great. Get three more touchdowns, but uh you’re going to get the ball thrown your way maybe in those situations as a big body, but go out and do some blocking. If you block, they’ll reward it. Happy to have you. Throw one your way once in a while. Yeah. All right. What’s next? Number three, back to the NBA. Round two of the playoffs is underway. We have already witnessed one game. Uh, how about the Cavaliers losing at home? Not that surprising. Not surprising in the slightest. In fact, I really like the Pacers in this series. Pacers are very complete. They are not super deep. I wish they didn’t have to play Thomas Bryant ever because Thomas Bryant is terrible. Yeah, sure. He’s not a playoff player and it stinks that they have to turn to him. That might honestly cost them the series, but they’re up 10 now and they looked like the better team throughout. Uh, Cleveland’s problem is number 45, Donovan Mitchell, and it was their problem last night. Uh, Donovan did Well, I I will disagree, but I’ll let you make your case. Donovan in the fourth quarter, Ben. Mhm. Minus 10, six points. Yeah. Zero assists. How many field goal attempts? He had six. He was three, four, six. Now, Ty Jerome was the more uh offensive uh offensive shot taker going three for eight, but it’s when Donovan did it and when he was not effective and I watched I I’ve seen Donovan have a lot of those games and I I think I saw you uh fire out a tweet that Donovan is better. He is better and it I don’t know it it kind of it got me thinking which is the sign of a a good opinion. I don’t know. I watched Donovan have a lot of these types of games in Utah. And when we talked about Cleveland making a jump this year, and of course you and I know all, but what was our diagnosis on why they were better? Donovan was doing less. Donovan was doing less to to his credit. And I think actually Quinn knew that. And Donovan did less here, believe it or not, at times. I think he goes to Cleveland and he starts stat packing for a lot of the the contract stuff and then this year he gets his contract and he’s like, “Okay, I don’t care about stats as much anymore, so let’s get the team involved. Let’s get let’s do this team thing. Team on three, right?” And that’s not really what we saw against the Pacers last night from Donovan. I didn’t think. And he was effective in the first three quarters right up to the point where he wasn’t. Um it’s only the fourth game of Here’s where he’s better. He’s a lot tighter than he used to be. He used to get a little erratic. He doesn’t do that as much anymore. Um he had a horrible shooting night last night. One of 11 from the three-point line. It’s the worst three-point shooting night of his career uh in the playoffs. So that was his biggest failure. Now he still took 11 threes when he only made one. So that’s a problem, right? He just kind of thought the next one was going to go in the next one was going to go in. He’s actually quite exceptional inside the paint. I think he was 12 of 19. A really good night. Um, zero turnovers. So, fourth time he’s ever done that in his career with four assists. That’s fine. Like, those things are good. His rebounding numbers always go up in the playoffs. So, he does those things well. I think their biggest issue is they were missing Darius Garland, who is probably their third best player. Uh, missing him is a problem. And the other thing is they’re just not that big. And that’s a problem. You look at they have two really big front court players in Evan Mobley uh and Jared Allen who I love a great combo. They are small outside of that. As soon as those guys are either one of them are on the floor or even if they’re both on the floor, you don’t have positional size anywhere else. Donovan’s small when Darius Garland’s on the floor. He’s small. Ty Jerome is not very big. He’s a really good player but he’s not very big. They just don’t have that great size. And you look at Indiana and Tyresese Hallebertton who also has he has less interest in playing defense than Donovan Mitchell does. He’s atrocious. Yeah, he is bad. He’s like 66. It’s just nice to be huge. You can get shots off. Aaron Nemhart plays really big. Pascal Seakum is huge. He is huge. He’s a huge person. He’s like 6’9 and he plays like he’s 6’9. He grabs a huge rebound late in that game that seals a deal for them. It’s like Well, they they created that flaw when they traded Lowry Markin. Correct. because that’s what gave them. You remember that year where Cleveland was a play was seven feet tall play in play in they lost were they play in but Lowry was seven feet tall and played small for and Darius Garland was like the only small guy they had who was playing too I’m trying to remember or uh uh Colin oh right uh even though he had kind of been hurt a couple years before. So, yeah, they have Isaac Aoro, too, like they’ve got some guys. Um, but yeah, so they they’re just not very big outside of their two big guys, and it’s going to kill them. And if it they survive this series, which they should still probably win this series, you’re going to go play the biggest team in the NBA next in Boston who has Jaylen Brown and Jason Tatum who have exceptional size, and then they have a 7 foot4 guy and Chris Porzingis and El Horford’s big. They’re just big. Uh, and that’s going to be a problem. I thought they should have traded Darius Garland for Pascal Seakum when Toronto wanted to get rid of him. I thought that would have been a great trade for both teams. They didn’t do it. He goes to Toronto when it might haunt or he goes to Indiana and it might haunt them. U tonight the Knicks uh will fall victim to the Celtics, I’m sure. Yes, they will. And then the Nuggets are are big underdogs against the Thunder. Quick turnaround. Really curious to see how the Thunder’s front court handles Nicolic which you know what the Clippers actually did a very good job. about as good a job as you can because Vu is or excuse me Vita Zubots is really good player. The Hardenstein move uh in the offseason was a really good one there. It was for this. Yeah, it was much more specifically for this equipped for this type of situation. And you know, you think about how would you game plan Joic. Well, I’d foul him a lot and I make it hard. Yeah. And make it difficult for him to do what he’s going to do and Hardenstein can do that. All right. Coming up next, uh, we will talk a little more Will Hardy as we lead into Will Hardy’s press conference, which will be at 11. Stay tuned. 975 the KSL Sports Zone. The Utah Jazz selection. Do you believe in karma? Well, we here at the KSL Sports Zone absolutely believe in creating good vibes for the Utah Jazz in their hopes of securing the number one pick in the NBA draft lottery. Go to kslsports.com to donate $2 to Inter Mountain Primary Children’s Hospital. Wait, why $2? And isn’t that the jersey number? Uh, Bob, it’s it’s just a random number. Okay, just uh stick to the copy. It’s a real two for one. Your donation will help Inner Mountain Primary Children’s Hospital and help the Utah Jazz capture the Good Karma flag in their hopes of recouping winning basketball in Utah. Fingers crossed, guys. Donate your $2 right now at kslsports.com. Who’s got it better than us? Your home for the best sports coverage in Utah. You’re listening to Jake Scott and Ben Anderson on 975 the KSL Sports Zone. Jake and Ben 975 the KSL Sports Zone. Happy Minky Monday to everyone. All day long we’re giving away Minky Couture Monster Blankets for mom this Mother’s Day. be caller number 1281575 zone to win. Uh, also of course KSL Sports Zone listeners get 50% off with code zone 50 for details and additional chances to win. Go to kslsports.com. Oh man, the monsters too. Ben, you got to get the monster, dude. Well, you call it the big daddy, but that’s it’s not it’s for mom’s day. Just drown in that thing. Yeah. Uh, all right. We’re going to hear Will Hardy’s uh press conference. uh talking about his extension coming up at the top of the 11:00 hour and I’m guessing he’s going to be pleased. He should be. It’s a lot of uh money. It’s a lot of security. Well, and the the the franchise is showing uh uh you know, putting their money where their mouth is that they think they’ve got a good coach. Yeah. And I think you and I both agree they I think they do. Yeah, I do too. Certainly not proven to be a a bad coach. There’s not really a lot of red flags if any I’ve seen. You mean like noted uh now Bozo the Somalier JJ JJ Reick and he’s not been in any real high leverage situations. So we’ll see what Will Hardy does when he gets to the playoffs. But uh yeah, seems to have some flexibility. He seems to be willing to listen, which again I think is a positive. But is he going to guard James Harden from behind? Probably not. Maybe. Maybe he’ll get creative. Uh yeah, that’s uh what Quinn Snyder famously did. Yeah, you hope that doesn’t happen. I mean, it didn’t that wasn’t the reason the Jazz lost that series, but there were some other more egregious Quinn Snyder failures in the postseason by not having guys prepared to play certain ways like having Rudy Gobear in different spots. All right, stay tuned. Will Hardy’s uh press conference is coming up right around the corner. It’s the Jacob men show 975 the KSL sports zone zone with you wherever you go. Download the KSL sports app to get live streaming of your favorite shows. Downloading. Download the latest podcasts and get all the latest breaking news on the teams you can’t live without. Everything you need delivered right to your phone. Let’s go get them where we can get them. Just search KSL Sports on your app store of choice. Download it now. The KSL Sports app presented by University of Utah Health. The sports you love. The teams you can’t live without. Sense of urgency. This is Jake Scott and Ben Anderson on 975 KSL Sports Zone. Jake and Ben. 975 the KSL Sports Zone. Do you believe in karma? Log on to kslports.com to help raise money for a great cause and create some good vibes for the Jazz in the NBA draft lottery. It’s the KSL Sports two for one. Donate at least $2 to Inter Mountain Primary Children’s Hospital in hopes of the Jazz recouping winning basketball here in Utah. Go to kslsports.com and donate your $2 today. We are uh waiting for the Will Hardy press conference to begin, Ben, which we are being told is a matter of moments. I’m happy for Will Hardy’s agent today. Yeah. I wonder who his agent is. I don’t know that. I’ve never seen him like talk to anyone. Not that agents are around very often, but not coaches agents. Yeah. Certainly never coaches agents. You hardly ever see him. So, uh, I’m sure he got it figured out. Who is Will Hardy’s agent? Do you think that’s Googleable? Yeah, he’s probably a CAA guy. Uh, not publicly known. Yeah, I’ve never heard him talk about it, but you know, he also went to Williams College. Like I’m sure he has some buddy or maybe he’s doing it himself. I doubt he’s doing it himself. He’s probably smart enough to know. Get somebody else to help you with that. I don’t know. Who wants to cover off three points when you don’t have to or carve off three points when you don’t have to? Isn’t that what agents are making these days? Your first contract, you’d probably want somebody else to help you. And then maybe on your second one, you do it yourself. But they’ve got like a like a Turboax kind of lawyer thing for that sort of thing, right? Like, hey, AI, look at this contract. Yeah, chat GBT. Just throw it in there. Microsoft co-pilot. Am I getting screwed here? Is this a good deal? 34 years old, first time becoming an NBA head coach. Is five years $15 million enough money or whatever we think his deal was. Five years 20. Any language in here I should be worried about? These the golden handcuffs. What’s going on? Is this like like Disney Plus where if I What was Disney doing where if you sign up for Disney Plus, you also Oh, you waved all liability at uh you can be at the parks. They can uh test food on you. That’s right. Oh, somebody tragically passed. That was a sad story, right? And it was a food thing. Oh, I don’t know if it was a food thing. It was like an allergy thing. Yeah. And uh you can’t sue. And they were Disney Plus, right? You signed up for Disney Plus. You can’t sue over that sort of thing. Yeah. If I’m a head coach in the NBA, I’m like, “Make sure I don’t get Disney Plus. That mouse is greedy.” You think that was in his Jazz Plus subscription when he signed up? Oh, all liability all gone. Sorry, Will. So, we can fire you for cause for whatever your every contract is not guaranteed. Oh, that’s in everybody’s user agreement. I didn’t know you didn’t see that. Didn’t look at that when you read, Kyle. You should really should really read that sort of thing. It’s really important. You’re agreeing to everything. You’ve seen the South Park with the human seni. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That is one of the funnier bits though is the joke that every kid except for who was it? Stan. Whatever. Everybody reads the entire Apple. Oh, it’s Kyle. It’s Kyle. Yeah. Every Everybody is like, “Are you crazy? You didn’t read the entire user agreement?” Because he was just agreeing to stuff and they were doing weird human experiments. It’s like, “Well, you agreed to it.” He’s like, “I didn’t read it.” And everybody’s like, “You didn’t read that.” That’s funny. Good. Good. You didn’t look through that. Yeah. You you you read all terms of service now. No. I can’t remember the last time I did. Who knows what you’re agreeing to? Yeah, right. Rightfully so. Yeah, right. I have no idea. Why they do it on purpose? We said we can fire you at any time for What are you talking about? Well, you uh signed up for Jazz Plus, so you automatically You didn’t read the terms of agree. Oh, well, here we are. Can you imagine Disney trying something like that. Anyway, like that. We’re waiting for uh Will Hardy uh to hear what he thinks about the I’m honestly curious to hear his thoughts on what’s in the future and what’s next. I hope he gets into that a little bit. Yeah, I uh he he’s just in an interesting spot. The Jazz are in an interesting spot where it’s not really We We talked about a lot last week. These kind of teams that are facing inflection points. The Jazz kind of aren’t. You know, if you get a great draft pick, that’s great. If you don’t, you move on again. Same thing next year. All right. Here’s Will Hardy. Have a question? Please raise your hand. Andy Larson. Hey Will. Uh just want to ask from your perspective like how that how this unfolds to go, you know, how the contract negotiations unfold, who represents you and kind of how those conversations happen. Yeah. I mean, I have an agent like most or all coaches. Um, you know, Ryan, Danny, and Justin are the ones that communicate with them. Justin being the primary communicator. Um, you know, these are conversations that happen over a period of time. It’s not a one-day thing. and um yeah, so they they they’d speak about, you know, the kind of the aim of the program and what their thoughts are. Um I’m I’m fortunate that I work for this group. I think Ryan, Ashley, Danny, Justin have been incredibly good to me from the first day. we’ve been in very aligned um the entire way through this process. And so calling it a negotiation um that word sometimes draws up this thought in your mind like it’s a contentious thing back and forth and it’s not. Um you know I’m very proud to be the coach of the Utah Jazz. Um so this is something that everybody was really excited about. Ryan Miller. Hey, Will. Um, six years is a long time. It’ll be what, like nine years when this thing is all done. Uh, how much does that help you just as you’re like looking forward to long-term fans future to be like, “Okay, I will be here. This is my my job for the foreseeable future.” Yeah, I think that’s ultimately a big sigh of relief for any coach. Um, you know, we all see every day that this business is not um it’s not one where you see a ton of coaches getting long-term commitments. Uh, I think ultimately the goal is to continue to build this program and ultimately hang a banner at Delta Center. And to get a commitment of that length shows the belief that you know our group has in our coaching staff and so it makes you feel the confidence from them. That’s not something that I’ve ever doubted. I think the communication that we’ve had the entire first three years I’ve I’ve felt that I have the confidence of our group. But to get that, you know, quote unquote, put on paper is definitely meaningful. Um, you know, I’m all in on the Utah Jazz. I’m incredibly humbled and grateful to have this opportunity. You know, there are there are very few moments where I’m I’m really at a loss for words. And this is one of those where the the perspective on all of it, the understanding of the commitment that they’re making to me and to our staff is is really humbling. Um, and we’re excited to continue to work. You know, I love representing this organization. I love representing our community and our fan base. Um, so it’s it’s a really exciting day. Bryer. Yeah. Coach, uh, you have a real close connection with the guys you mentioned, uh, Ryan, Danny, Justin, and yourself. You guys hang out together, play golf together. How important is that to you to have that connection with those guys? I don’t know if that exists in a lot of other NBA coaching positions. Yeah, I think it’s it’s what sets us apart is the alignment that we have every day. It’s one constant conversation. Um I think I’ve said publicly I’m not sure in three years we’ve ever scheduled a meeting because we don’t need to. The the conversation is ongoing. We all spend so much time together and are intentional about making sure we all spend time together that the perspective is always there for all four of us. Um, I understand the things that they’re thinking about, the things that they’re worried about, the things that they may be focused on in the current moment, and they understand the things that I’m worried about and focused on. So, I think that connection allows us to navigate what is a hard landscape in professional sports. Um, it’s very much a business that is judged and reacted to in sort of an A or F manner. Um, it’s either great or it’s terrible. And I think that it allows us to really block out all of that noise and and stay focused on, you know, the intent of our group and why we’re doing what we’re doing. Um, I I couldn’t be luckier to have three people like that that I get to work with every day because like you said, it’s not lost on me that this is not normal. Tony Jones. Hey, coach. Um what does it mean for you that you know this is you know been able to get done um you know in this manner you know just kind of as efficiently as as as it it has been done and you know as a secondary question what’s been you know some of your favorite moments uh in in these first few years of your your tenure? Yeah, it means a lot to to get this done and sort of put this part behind us. Um there’s so much work to be to be done. We have, you know, a lot that we have to do as a staff um and as an organization moving forward to get where we want to get to. And so to have this element solidified in the moment is definitely relieving and allows us to focus on the things that we need to focus on. Um, I mean, memories of the first three years is that’s a hard one to pinpoint. Um because I go back to, you know, the first press conference when I got the job and meeting all of you for the first time and sort of starting to initially feel the weight and responsibility of this job, but also feel the the passion and the support of our fan base. Um, you know, the first home game at Delta Center was, [Music] um, a moment that I’ll never forget. You know, little things like the first time the team brought it in at the end of practice in training camp and you realize like, wait, I’m the head coach. I’m the one that’s supposed to talk right now. Um, but also more than that, it’s the time spent with everybody that’s in our travel party. There’s so much time behind the scenes on the planes, on the buses. There’s so many people who do incredible work for us who get no credit publicly and forging those relationships along with the relationships with our players. Um, you know, it’s a day like today when the news comes out and you’re getting texts from guys that were on the team. my first year here. Um, you know, I was a 34 year old first time head coach and they let me coach them and they embraced me as the head coach and they were ultimately the ones that fed into my confidence in this job because of the way that they approached me every day. Um, the games are always fun, but ultimately I think that this job and and coaching in general, it’s it’s the relationships and the time spent are the things that run through your head when you really look back on it all. Um, and so I’m very very grateful that I’ve been surrounded by and am still surrounded by so many amazing people. or Todd. Hey, Will. Uh, the first extension kind of, you know, gave gave a glimpse that you would be here kind of through that first rebuilding part of the rebuild or first section of the rebuild of this team. And this extension gives you an opportunity to kind of look beyond what would be the rebuild and sort of sort of what it would look like when you guys are maybe trying for contention. And I’m I’m wondering what are your worries, concerns, thoughts about how maybe your job will change once it shifts. Yeah, it’s not something that I’m concerned about. I think that’s what we all want. You know, you want to be in the big game. You want to be in the pressure situation. You want to be competing for the championship. That’s what we’re all hunting. And I do recognize that there will be a lot of changes for all of us as our team continues to grow. It’s not just me, it’s the assistant coaches, it’s the players, it’s the front office, it’s Ryan and Ashley. Like the feelings and the emotions attached to it all um will be a little bit different. And I’m excited for that. Like I’m excited for our fan base to pack the building for a big playoff game. I think that’s what we’re all anxious for and excited for. Like I watch these playoff games at night and you’re just staring at the screen going that’s that’s what I want. Um and that’s what we’re building towards. like we are we’re a group that’s very committed to the process of building a championship level team and we said in the beginning and we will continue to say that does not mean that there aren’t hard moments. Um but I think that those hard moments are ultimately what makes it all worth it in the end. So, I don’t really have concerns about my job changing um as we continue to move forward because I think that’s ultimately what you what you sign up for when you’re a head coach in this league is um things are constantly changing around you and you have to be a steady force throughout all that change. Andy Two questions for you. First, uh, with the NBA lottery, are you headed out to Chicago for that or what what’s your plan with that? Yes, I will be in Chicago. Okay. And then wanted to ask, as you watch playoff basketball and, you know, we’ve talked about this before, it’s a different style of basketball than regular season basketball. How do you think your current team and and and young players especially are equipped to kind of handle what we’ve seen in some really tough and close playoff games so far? Yeah, I think our our young players are on the right path of growing towards being ready for those. Um the reality is this season we weren’t ready for for that level. And some of that is outside of their control. um because there there is an element of some experience but also some physical maturity and some of those things that stand out in some of these games. We’ve seen a really really physical playoffs to this point. But the part that I’m most excited about is that ultimately in my experience in the playoffs uh and continuing to watch it all unfold, your mental toughness and your mindset is the most important thing to get through the playoffs because there are big emotional swings. You’re physically exhausted and you’re getting tested every single night. And I think that our group is building that resilience and continuing to improve and work on our mindset every single day because that’s what it’s going to take. Um, you know, if you watch the series after one game, the reactions are generally this team is playing great, this other team is playing poorly. You know, Golden State loses two games in a row and everybody’s sort of writing them off and they go win game seven on the road. And yes, it’s because of the ability of their players, but more than that, it seems like it’s because of the mindset of their players. And that’s the thing that we have to continue to address as a group as we grow. Physical things are easier to measure. How strong you are, how high you can jump, how many shots you make out of a certain number. Like those things are easy to measure. Your mindset’s hard to measure. And so that’s the thing we have to monitor really closely as a group as we keep going. Yeah. Um you mentioned means were hard to come by this season, but man, the fans every time I went to a game, they’re they’re packing the arena. Uh which surprised me uh every time I showed up that that many people were there to watch. uh what do you want to say to them about how they’ve supported you, maybe where you are in this process? Yeah, my my message to our fan base first and foremost is thank you. Their support means the world to me. It means the world to our team because we need them. And ultimately, we’re trying to conduct ourselves in a way that represents them. And you always want your fan base to be proud of how you’re operating as a team. And I think that ultimately that’s why they showed up every night. Um, I give our fan base a lot of credit. They have perspective and they understand what we’re ultimately hunting and they understand what we’re doing to try to get there and playing a lot of young players trying to develop our young talent. Um, the fan base understood that that was going to be hard from a wins and losses standpoint at certain moments, but I do think that they continued to show up because they enjoyed watching our young players compete. There was not a lack of effort on the floor. There was not a lack of passion wearing a Utah Jazz jersey, and that’s why they continued to show up. So, um sorry. Um, I want to continue to thank them and to continue to tell them and remind them that this is all going to be worth it. And growing these young players is is going to give us the best chance to hang a banner at Delta Center. And I understand frustration in certain moments. I understand that some of the losses are hard and especially when you care so deeply about the team, but um their support does not go unnoticed. I’m very grateful for our fan base and their approach and this is all going to be worth it. Sarah. Well, as the season was ending, I I asked pretty much on everyone on the roster like, “Is Will a good coach and how does he keep you guys accountable?” And like the general consensus was great coach, everyone said glowing things about you, so that’s nice. Um, but the thing that stood out was that everyone was like, “Well, he’ll call Lowry out in a film session or during a practice or during a game just as soon as he’ll call out a two-way guy or Cody or Isaiah.” And so it that even playing field, is that a concerted effort kind of in your coaching philosophy and something that you want to continue? Yeah, that’s going to remain a core principle for us every single day. And that’s because I believe ultimately everybody can improve. And secondly, we all want the same thing. We’re all trying to win. My responsibility is to hold them accountable. It’s not personal. I care very much about all of these guys as human beings, but when we’re doing the basketball piece, we’re trying to improve as a team. They’re trying to improve individually. And it’s also a credit to our veteran players like you mentioned Lowry and he allows me to coach him hard in front of the team because he understands that allowing me to do that. Lets me coach the young players hard and not have them bat an eye and they don’t we don’t get into this situation of well you don’t yell at him when he did this, you know, he did this on that play and you didn’t say anything. It’s we want everybody to be held accountable to the same standards and that’s something that you know I I was fortunate to witness you know up close and personal throughout my coaching career the coaches that I’ve worked for and I ultimately think it’s the best way to build team cohesion is everybody understanding that the standards have to be the same for everybody. body and just because you’re on a different contract or you play more minutes doesn’t mean that you get to just let things slide and I want them to continue to want more for themselves. That’s my responsibility. And if that means that in certain moments they’re all mad at me, that’s fine. Um that comes with the territory and there’s um that can be good for a group as well. But, you know, our players deserve a lot of credit for how they’ve handled themselves. You know, I’m very grateful that they allow me to coach them as hard as I do. Sorry. Did you have a followup? Yeah. Um, you mentioned having seen the coaches that you’ve worked for and learning from them and kind of as the news recently that Pop won’t be coming back like to a coaching bench. I’m wondering how much of your coaching style philosophy was learned through him and is he someone that you think about or talk to when like you know you get a big contract extension? Yeah, I I learned an incredible amount from Pop. Uh I think he really set the foundation of values for me that you carry into your team. I also recognize that I’m not Pop and our personalities are not the same. And so I’m not trying to emulate pop. I do think that the values system though is similar. Um, that being said, you know, he’s taught me more than I could even explain. Um, allowing me to be a part of his program and their program for 11 years, the opportunities that I was was given there, getting to learn from him, getting to learn from the players, getting to learn from, you know, countless assistant coaches that I got to work with and for while I was there. has ultimately shaped a ton of my coaching identity, but I do have to remain true to myself and do it my way and with my voice. Um, so I’m forever grateful to him, you know, that organization and all the coaches and players that I was around while I was there. There’s way too many to name each of them by name right now. Um, and yeah, of course, he’s somebody that, you know, I I speak to. Um, he’s a mentor to me in a lot of ways. Um, he’s been a very prominent figure in my adult life. You know, I was in San Antonio from age 22 to 33, which is just a very formative part of my life. Um, and so yeah, getting to to share the news with him is uh, you know, that that’s a great moment. There’s, you know, other coaches as well that you get to share the news with and you get congratulatory texts. Um, it’s one of the few moments where you take a moment and take a step back and think about the journey to this point and all the people that have been very impactful along the way. Pop obviously being the most prominent. Okay, that’s all the questions that we have. Will, thank you so much for taking the time to join us this morning. Congratulations. Good to see you. That is Will Hardy talking about his uh contract extension. Um I don’t know, Ben, that was that was a thorough pro uh press conference. I don’t know how much we learned that is new. Certainly, it seems like his synergy within the whole ecosphere that is the Jazz is pretty good. I had talked to some people above Will Hardy at the Utah Jazz and they had also echoed how the through line between Ryan Smith and Danny A and Justin Xanic and Will Hardy is tight, really tight. Um, and this was even like this was mid-season this year and I know some people are like, “Is Will good? Is like Will doing a good job?” It’s like well he’s doing exactly what they’re asking him to do. Whether that makes it good or not, I don’t know, but like he’s clearly doing what they’re telling him to do. Otherwise, as you’ve said, if he wanted to win games, the Jazz would have won more games. Um, so I have heard that and he echoed that. You know, he said the line that in three years he doesn’t think they’ve ever scheduled a meeting because they’re just always talking. And, uh, I would believe that. All right, stay tuned. We’ve got a lot coming up next. You’re licking your lips about this a lot. I don’t like the smile on your face. We’ve got a lot with what’s coming because coming up. It feels at best quasi sports related. Oh, it’s all sports related. Okay. But but you’re a little too excited about what I don’t know what we’re talking about next, but you’re too excited about it for me to feel like I’m prepared for what we’re going to talk about. Okay. So, here’s my tease. We’re going to be talking North Carolina football. Okay. Well, and I guess this is not entirely sports related. So, here’s the other part of the tease. We’re going to be talking about the Met Gala. Okay. And North Carolina football. Okay. Now, that is a tease for you. All right. Stay tuned. Can’t wait. Jake and Ben 975 the KSL Sports Zone. This is Hson and Scotty J. former Bronco great Nick Ferguson. Where are you at on the Ashton Genty move? And how good of an off season does it appear that the Raiders have had? Look, I’m a Broncos through and through, but real recognized real and Ashton Genty in my opinion was a dog of a running back. When you know that you are the bell cow back, the opposing defense know you’re going to get the ball and they still can’t do anything with you. That says a lot. And now you have Gino who’s a smart player. You have Chip Kelly who knows the league inside and out. And then you got a tight end and Brock Bowers who’s going to create a lot of favorable boxes, right? That’s what you want. You want a favorable box. You want to get those linebackers outside the box so you can run the ball. And when you know you got a guy with Genty who can run with power and he can run through contact, that’s going to be a problem. Catch Hansen Scotty weekdays from noon to 3 on 975 the KSL sports zone. So whether it’s the Jazz Utes Cougars or Aggies, these guys have got you covered. Time to eat fellas. You’re locked on to Jake Scott and Ben Anderson 2 on 975 KSL Sports Zone. Jacob Ben 975 the KSL Sports Zone. Jake Scott Ben Anderson. Uh, will the Jazz end up with the number one pick in the NBA draft? Join the KSL Sports Zone from 3 to 6 for the NBA draft lottery. Watch party and find out on Monday, May 12th at JCW’s in Haramman, uh, 5251 Anthem Park Boulevard. Should uh, be a lot of fun. Yeah. All right, Ben, two stories for you. Uh, do you want to start with the MetGala or do you want to start with North Carolina football? It’s up to you. Yeah, usually. No, no, you pick. I’ve got both ready to go. Um, all right. Let’s go Met Gala and we’ll get to Bellich or North Carolina football or whatever. Uh, LeBron James has been busy on the snap talk. Ben, LeBron threw this out uh not what Christian like a half hour ago. says, “Unfortunately, because of my knee injury I sustained at the end of the season, I won’t be able to attend the Met Gala in New York tonight as so many people have been asking and congratulating me on. Hate to miss an historical event. My beautiful, powerful queen will be there holding the castle down as she always has done.” Okay. There are so many things that are incredible about this uh snap talk. I mean, so many. But first, can I ask you, do you think LeBron was trolling people who were waiting for his retirement announcement? Uh, yeah, potentially. Cuz a lot of response was, “Oh, I thought you were retiring.” Yeah, of course. Yeah, of course. So, there may be some troll aspects to this that I had not uh initially considered, but this has it all. I mean, LeBron saying that I’ve been invited to the most exclusive event in the country. Correct. Like, I mean, they couldn’t have it without LeBron. I’m sure he still has to pay the entry fee. Uh, his wife is still going. So, you know, his queen. She’s Is that what he called her? His queen. Uh, but I do I do really like that he also got the excuse for losing in there. Oh, my knee hurts. Yeah, absolutely. Oh, my knee. I can’t even go to the Met Gala. I think it’s three straight years he’s says he’s suffered an injury in the playoffs that has when they lose been the reason they lose. And have you seen the play that they blame it on? a collision with Dante Dven Shenzo who’s half LeBron’s size that doesn’t mean you can’t go knee to knee but it didn’t even necessarily look like they wouldn’t need a knee you know you know what tells the whole story honestly go back and watch that that replay Ben and while LeBron’s acting like uh he just got knifed Julius Caesar style not one teammate responds like not one concerned look not one go over and save your head none of it none of it it’s this LeBron uh riing around. So, got to get that excuse. Oh, well, the reason I’m still I’m not playing in the playoffs and able to go to the Met Gala is because Oh, my knee. Don’t forget about my knee. It’s my knee and my crappy teammates. It’s mostly them, but also my knee. But just so everybody knows, I was invited to that. It’s definitely not me. You know that I was invited. I’m curious if Jordan Clarkson’s going to be there. I bet D. Wade’s going to be there. Pull up Jordan Clarkson’s Snap Talk, as you like to say. No stories about where he is currently at the moment, so we’ll see. But I bet Dwayne Wade’s going to be there. Dwayne just got uh announced that he’s going to be a part of the Amazon Prime NBA viewing broadcast team. Did Dwayne Wade just suffer a vicious knee injury? I don’t think so. No, he was on SNL over the weekend. Uh, in all seriousness, Dwayne’s been battling his Monday. He’s already Oh, he’s already getting ready for it. Oh, he’s Wait, hold that back up. Is Dwayne going pits out for the Met Gala? Uh, I bet he is not unleashing what his Met Gala outfit is yet. Oh, okay. That’s kind of the thing is the big debut. He’s got like a tank top thing going. Yeah. So, LeBron not going to be there. Dwayne Wade, I bet. Not LeBron because he can he can barely walk, Ben. Let’s be honest. Yeah. You saw how vicious that injury was. He’s probably the I’m surp I’m surprised he could even walk. Yeah. All right. So, there’s your LeBron update. Are you ready for your North Carolina football update? Can’t wait. Have you been following uh this story as it continues to just go involving Bill Bellichic? What’s the latest and his uh girlfriend? We talked a lot about his girlfriend’s Jordan Hudson place of work last week. Uh yeah, she owns an adult novelty store. That’s Jordan’s mom. Uh, so there’s she should really change the name of the store to Jordan’s Mom’s Novelty Store. Uh, yeah, that’s world famous now. Marketing 101. Yeah. Right. Uh, so there’s two parts uh that I want to uh explore as this story advances. One, an exclusive from Page Six, of course. uh that uh a source close to Bellich calls it amateur hour and uh but here’s the thing that they reveal Ben is that it started off as a way for him to pay her like oh you know get her on the payroll or whatever okay but it’s now morphed into she’s Rasputin she runs the team she is in control of all that’s going on according to sources close to Bill now I would say that this is really a bad sign that things are going down a bad road. And I would give further evidence by the other part of the story. Yeah. What’s happening? Uh TMZ Sports has spoken to Joshua Zuckerman. Any idea who Joshua Zuckermanman is? Uh my guess would be a former friend. Former boyfriend. Okay. Admittedly former boyfriend. Okay. But he uh he talked to TMZ Sports. Now to admit it that I dated her. Now, do you want to guess as to his age? Uh 81. No, I wish he was 81. That’s funny. Uh he’s 64 cuz how old’s Bill? Uh 73. Okay. He’s 64. So this guy is 64 and he dated her. So Bellich and this Jordan gal have been like officially now for what? Two years. Yeah. So that mean and she’s 24. So this has to be two years or more before that. Yeah. Not a fling. And by the way, I don’t think you fling with 60 years old. 60 year olds, right? No. You didn’t have a weekend together. Well, sometimes you do, but not in this situation. Uh and and just so you know, what what do you think? Uh old Joshua Zuckerman, I don’t know. Well, I’m not going to make that joke. Never mind. Uh what is what does uh old Joshua do for a living? Um, I would suspect he’s in real estate. Uh, he’s a healthcare exec. Oh, okay. Yeah. A CEO. A CEO. Yeah. Yes. A sea sweetite at the very least. Uh. Uh-huh. So, not u mowing lawns. Correct. Not. So, she has a type is what you’re saying. Uh, yeah. But this guy came out to defend her. Uh he says uh she is quote she is wise beyond her years much more than any 20some I’ve ever met in my life. The narrative about her character is not fair to her unquote. And he talks uh he says to be honest uh I wish these internet trolls and paparazzi would leave her alone. Let them live their lives. And uh he talks about how they have mutual interests in things like philosophy and he and Bill or he and no he and her uh like he in this article Zuckermanman and Hudson’s relationship was grounded in shared intellectual pursuits. They bonded over discussions on psychology, philosophy and nature reflecting a deep mutual respect. He, by the way, continues to regard her as a good friend, uh, emphasizing the current Platonic nature of their connection. I love philosophizing with people that are 21 years old. No one loves to tell you more about philosophy than 20-year-olds. I’ve been around 20-year-olds. Yeah, I know. I was 20 at one point. I thought I knew what the world was about. I thought everyone else was an idiot and probably just hadn’t thought about it and not realized that no, it was the opposite. Everyone thought about it, thought they knew everything, and then realized through life experiences, what which is what happens between the ages of 20 and every other second of your life, you don’t know anything about anything ever. You know less every day you’re alive than you thought you did the day before. That’s when you get older and you start to understand something. So, I can’t understand anything less than 20-year-old, what’s her name? Jennifer Hudson. Uh, Jordan. Jordan Hudson. Love Jennifer Hudson. Jordan Hudson. I bet Jen Jen might be at the Met Gala tonight. Jordan Hudson, I don’t uh don’t want to hear her thoughts on life. Well, apparently internally they’re very uh frustrated or any 20-year-old, not her specifically. They’re very frustrated internally that uh that the conversation isn’t surrounding uh The Art of Winning: Lessons from My Life in Football, which is the book he is promoting. So, they’re frustrated. They can’t control the message about the 73y old dating the 24 year old uh uh um wonderkin apparently. Do you think that book’s going to sell? Like it’s going to be a New York Times bestseller because every book that gets released is New York Times by a celebrity. Yeah. Um but yeah, no one’s going to read it because everyone’s going to want to read it for this and they’re specifically coming out and saying none of it’s in there. Like do the opposite. say never know. Some of those last chapters are pretty exciting. Honestly, would you want Don’t even bring her up. Would you want to read Bill Lick’s book? No, I don’t have any interest in doing that. No, you don’t have life figured out, Bill. Yeah, right, Bill. You’re getting showing me that you know less than anybody. You’re getting manipulated by a 24 year old woman who is uh taking over your life apparently. And you you have no problem with that. I do appreciate Bill at the end of his life. this last he’s in his last third, you know, his his his second chapter was was the NFL. His third is now retirement and this last little run with North Carolina that he’s just like, I know what I want. I just get my kids hired and I’m going to date a young girl and I don’t care what it looks like or what anyone thinks. I’ll let her make every decision. It doesn’t matter. That’s what he’s doing. This is not a guy who’s fighting for anything. This guy’s not trying to prove anything. He is just cashing in his chips and just says, “Uh, whatever. What? What? Who cares about my legacy?” No, he’s not because he can’t let it go because he’s selling a book. Because he’s the head coach at North Carolina. You’re right. He can’t that aspect of that that hasn’t changed. The attention. He can’t let it go. No. No. That’s the thing. He loves it. Yeah. He He wants that. He’s not hiding that. That’s what he wants. He’s not protecting his former legacy, though. He’s just such a psycho. He thinks that his description of himself is what people find interesting. It’s like no, no, your your genius or your self-labeled genius is not uh what the message is is not why you have ever gotten or why you get attention. Welladjusted coaches are not super common. Again, like uh Don Nelson, let’s because let’s get back to the video you showed me of Greg Papovich is all over the snap talk right now. That guy can’t walk, right? He’s a very bad he needs help to stand up. He’s not the president of the team, right? Because the whole video was him taking off his warm-up or whatever and it said Elfe or something on his t-shirt underneath. He’s like, “I’m now Elfe.” It’s like, “Go take care of yourself, man.” Yeah. Spend your millions and and get set up somewhere where it’s really comfortable and you can enjoy life. Go away. No offense. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Bill, go away. No offense. You’re getting your kid a job at the North Carolina University in North Carolina and writing some stupid book no one wants to read. I don’t know it it why can’t these guys let it go? I think that is hard to let go of. I think fame, the spotlight, the power, the attention is all really hard to get rid of. But Bill’s whole bit throughout his whole career is I don’t care. Yeah, I don’t care. I don’t care. Well, yeah, you do. You care a lot. You showed it up to the roast with your girlfriend. the first one who actually doesn’t care will be the next one, I guess, or the, you know, it’s the other way around. The the next one will be the first one. We’ve never seen it. Not a lot of coaches disappear. You’re right. Don Nelson has been the best. And he was really old when he left, don’t get me wrong. Yeah. And he still comes back and does TV appearances occasionally when you want him to, but you know, George Carl can’t leave. You know, George Carroll still wants to weigh in on every decision that’s made in the NBA. Stan Van Gundy, Jeff Van Gundy want to stick around. Guys want to hang around. George is more forgivable to me because it feels like he’s just morphed into being a normal fan a little bit. Yeah, maybe it’s still about the attention, but it also feels like he’s just watching the games at home and doing what Christian does. Maybe sending out emotional responses to what’s happening now. Yeah. All right, stay tuned. We wrap up the show coming up next. 975 DKSL Sports Zone. Who’s got it better than us? Your home for the best sports coverage in Utah. You’re listening to Jake Scott and Ben Anderson on 975D KSL Sports. [Music] Star with a star. Oh my. [Music] I’ve been a Jake and Ben listener long enough that when I saw Tyrese Hallebertton’s dad do something like that, like that towards Giannis, that I immediately knew what Jake Scott would say about this. You ready? Mr. John Hallebertton sat himself on the front row of his son’s game, got nice and comfortable, one of the most important games of his son’s career, and asked himself, “How can I make this about me?” And I say this all the time, what fans don’t understand, and this goes for flatfaced dad fans as well, is that there’s a line between the where the game happens with the players and where fans can interact and have fun. And Mr. Hallebertton crossed that line. Good for Yiannis for not putting that man in the hospital. and for talking to the media about it after a tough loss. Imagine that. That is our buddy Brigham. How did he check all your I didn’t even know. Some of those things that you say I don’t even recognize are your staples. Uhhuh. And I talked to you all day. How do I make this about me is a very very good. What was the last thing he said? The very last line he said uh was exactly right. It’s something you say all the time which I didn’t even notice. Speech uh speech patterns. That is so awesome. Guy Brighgum. Uh yeah, I the Hash played that for me last week and uh for talking to the media about it after a tough loss. Imagine that. Imagine that. Yeah, he’s so good. A call in. He’s so good. As good as it gets, my man. You can uh There’s so many reasons to go to the KSL Sports app. You can see and listen to the show and also submit a callin and uh we will play it. Just say at the beginning, say this is for Jake and Ben and the uh like that. Yeah, he had the like that in there. Of course he did. That is a that is a listener. I my rule of thumb is I kind of just suspect that because people are listening to us at work or as they’re driving, they might gather 30% of what we say, which is why we might get repetitive, but it’s like, yeah, I don’t expect everyone to hang on every word we’re saying. To catch up on all of those was truly a great call in. Imagine that. Shout out Brighgam. Way to make it about you, my friend. That’s exactly what he did. sat there in his chair, probably had a beer. Comfortable. His son hits a big shot and he thought a guy named Brigham was drinking a beer. He’s like, how how no uh Oh, John. John. Okay. Thinking, well, I’m happy about this win. But uh how do I make this about me? Well, he figured it out. A brilliant take, Brigham. Thank you. Thank you very much. Want to remind you about our friends at Peach Doors and Windows. Amazing home transformations begin with Peach or fivestar reviews are the norm. Call them today for your free inhome estimate. 801-5661255. Peach doors and windows. Hansen. Scotty, you’re coming up next. Thanks, Christian. Jake and Ben 975, the KSL Sports Zone.
Jake & Ben Full Show from May 5, 2025
Hour 1
• The Utah Jazz announced that they have rewarded Head Coach Will Hardy with a contract extension that keeps him here through 2031.
• Top 3 Stories of the Day: Clippers & Rockets disappoint in Game 7’s, Utah lands a new WR from the Portal, Round 2 of NBA Playoffs are underway.
• More from on Will Hardy’s contract extension.
Hour 2
• Hear from Utah Jazz Head Coach Will Hardy after the announcement of his contract extension.
• LeBron James gives the world a long-awaited update surrounding his serious knee injury. Also, an update on the dram surrounding Bill Belichick and his girlfriend Jordon Hudson.
• Shoutout to another one of our awesome listeners.
