Will Hardy Gives 'Highlight' to Johnny Juzang After Jazz Win vs. Knicks

The Utah Jazz head coach is giving credit where it's due.

Nov 19, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; Utah Jazz head coach Will Hardy watches game action against the Los Angeles Lakers during the first half at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images / Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

The Utah Jazz finally overcame their lengthy five-game losing streak across the weekend back on their home floor, as they took down the New York Knicks 106-121, marking their fourth victory of the new season and the first at the Delta Center for their 2024-25 campaign.

Overall, it was a great overall performance for a team that's had a fair share of ups and downs early on this season. Lauri Markkanen led the team with an impressive 34-point outing, Collin Sexton chipped in a nice chunk of scoring on his own with 25, and the frontcourt duo of Walker Kessler and John Collins both posted double doubles for a nice collective effort in the starting five.

However, after the win, Jazz head coach Will Hardy dished considerable praise to another big component of Utah's weekend victory: third-year guard Johnny Juzang.

"I do want to highlight Johnny Juzang," Hardy said. "Johnny has put in a ton of work over the past two years. He was on a two-way for two seasons for us. He has changed his style of play from how he played in college, and that is really, really difficult to do. To have the wherewithal as a player to get to the NBA, playing a certain way, and while you're in the beginning stages of his career, instead of saying 'No, this is who I am,' he recognized what he needed to do to stay in the league, make a name for himself, and to earn a full-time contract, and he did that."

Juzang finished his night vs. the Knicks with 12 points on 4/7 shooting from three, also securing three rebounds and two assists during the 17 minutes he played.

In the first portion of this season, Juzang has remained limited in his 15 minutes a night, but the impact he has offensively is apparent when circling his 39.0% three-point percentage on the season (5th on the Jazz roster).

The UCLA product's progression from being a routine part of the Jazz's G League on a two-way contract to a routine rotational piece has been nothing short of impressive, and it's clearly gotten the attention of Coach Hardy.

"Johnny's an amazing kid," Hardy continued. "He's really competitive, and he's worked really, really hard on his game. It's always great to see nights like tonight, where in under 20 minutes, he can have the impact that he had. Johnny's opportunity over the last two years hasn't been that much with us, even in the beginning stages of this season, he's been very in and out, but he has stayed ready and Johnny deserves all of the credit for his approach. I'm really happy for him"

Juzang will have his next chance to keep building on his already successful third year in Salt Lake City come Tuesday night when the San Antonio Spurs travel to take on the Jazz for the fourth time this season.

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