Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
OKLAHOMA CITY — For the second time since the All-Star break, the Jazz opened up a game with a surprise: a play designed to get Walker Kessler open for a 3-pointer.
It worked the first time. But on Sunday, Kessler's above-the-break triple was wide right and dropped the rookie center's career 3-point percentage to 50%.
"Hey, I'm still happy with 50%," the jovial Kessler said after Utah's 129-119 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
There was some gimmick to the plays (no, Jazz coach Will Hardy doesn't want Kessler to suddenly be launching bombs each time down the court), but there may be more to it than that. In some ways, it's a signal for Kessler to take some more risks.
"Walker is somebody that myself and the rest of the staff are constantly encouraging to just sort of let it rip," Hardy said.
What does "let it rip" mean exactly? Hardy mostly wants the rookie center to more assertive. If there's a chance to shoot, he needs to shoot; if there's an opportunity to score, he needs to score. Hardy doesn't want Kessler to try so hard to do the right thing that he misses out on moments where can help the team.
"He wants to do the right thing all the time, which, as a coach, like 80% of that is fantastic," Hardy said. "Like, he wants to follow the game plan, he wants to do everything that we asked him to do. But there's a part of the game that you just have to let go and let it fly around a little bit; don't be afraid to make some mistakes. I think that we see the best version of Walker when he's just highly active."
The final six weeks of the season will be used for some discovery for the Jazz. That's why fans will see major minutes for bench guys, and players will be asked to do more than maybe they would have been asked to do in November or December; and that includes Kessler, who finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds in Sunday's loss.
Hardy said he'll help by putting Kessler in more actions and draw up some more plays for him (and, no, that doesn't necessarily mean a lot more 3-point attempts are in his future). But the young center will still need to try to look for other opportunities to be more aggressive; that's something that is a bit foreign to Kessler.
"I'm definitely someone that wants to win more than anything," Kessler said. "I've never been a guy (that says), 'I haven't got enough shots, I'm gonna get mine.'"
So what does he think of the "let it rip" comment from his coach?
"It's interesting to hear that," he said before thinking of the potential conversation with his coach after trying some unorthodox things.
"What happened? What is that?" Kessler said, playing the role as Hardy.
"The reporters told me you said, 'let it rip!'"
He then said, a little more seriously, that "maybe I'll start trying to do a little more."
In the end, that's probably as close to letting it rip as Kessler will get.
"His personality, it's his natural state is never going to let him go to a place like ruining the game," Hardy said.
That is why Hardy can encourage Kessler to shoot as much as he wants; there's safety there. Kessler isn't going to hijack possessions or disrupt the offense just to take a stepback jumper. In fact, that encouragement is simply part of Kessler's ever-increasing development. He has the talent to be an offensive force; Hardy wants to see him start using it.
"Coach has been great at helping and giving me opportunities to do what I do best," Kessler said. "So it's been fun. Obviously, it's not fun to lose, but I feel really, really, really good about this team, this staff, the state of Utah, the fans. I'm so, so, so grateful that I am here.
"I know a lot of guys who get drafted that feel some type of way. I am so grateful I got picked where I got picked, and got traded where I got traded. Everything happens for a reason in my eyes — the perfect spot for me."
