Jared Dudley Challenges Mavs' Jaden Hardy After Playing 'Terribly' in First Half vs. Sixers

Jaden Hardy was called out by Summer Mavs coach Jared Dudley for playing off-script and hanging his head before a halftime time.

LAS VEGAS — During the Dallas Mavericks' 111-103 win against the Philadelphia 76ers in Summer League on Monday night, Jaden Hardy had struggled in the first half. He had five points, while shooting 0-6 from the floor, 0-4 from 3, and 5-6 on free throws entering the break. 

With Hardy's development being the top priority of the Mavs' Summer League team, it was concerning to see that slow of a start from him. They trailed 62-49 at halftime, which prompted a halftime conversation after Hardy was going off-script and dropping his head.

"I thought [Jaden Hardy] played terribly [in the] first half," Dudley said after the game. "He wasn't listening to the play calls, dropping his head, going too fast, turning the ball over. [Shammgod] had a good halftime speech. I came in to follow him, talking to him about slowing down, making the right reads [and] that we were going to score enough points."

In terms of what was said during that halftime conversation, Dudley shared that Hardy was told that he wasn't listening. Dudley wasn't sure what led to the disconnect from Hardy, but subbed him in and out of the lineup to get him back on track.

"You're not listening," Dudley said after Monday's game. "That's the first thing, more to Hardy because he was just, I don't know. I don't know what happened. I don't know if it was the milkshakes or whatever he had going on last night. I don't know. And it's for him sometimes — I subbed him out, subbed him right back in."

Hardy knew he had to be better after halftime and had to be aligned with the team and the coaching staff. Losing a second Summer League game would have been the sixth loss in Las Vegas dating back to his first year last summer. 

"Just going up back into the half I knew I wanted to come back once we was done with the game, I wanted to win," Hardy said after Monday's game. "I was just trying to get everybody on the same page, telling everybody just.stay together, make the right plays for each other, be there on defense for each other. And I feel like that's what we did and that's what helped us get the wins."

Hardy acknowledged the need for his team to move the ball more and take better shots. After getting back on the same page, he felt the team played with energy and was having fun. The Mavs outscored the Sixers 62-41 after the break, with Hardy scoring 19 of his 24 points, which fueled overcoming an 18-point deficit. 

"Once we went into half time, we had to start making plays for each other, moving the ball, and taking good shots," Hardy said after Monday's game. "I feel like that's what we did the second half, and that's what sparked our run, us moving the ball, playing with energy and having fun."

At Monday's shootaround, Dudley told DallasBasketball.com that Hardy needs to stop over-dribbling as much and simplify the game for himself, knowing that the ball will find its way back to him. 

"Listen, he's the guy who takes three steps forward, one step back each time," Dudley said at Monday's shootaround. "He has so many of the best defenders guarding him at all times. He has to stop over-dribbling as much. I told him, 'Listen, I told you're gonna get an 18 to 20 shots.' Which is about right. He had it [in the first game]."

In order to simplify the game, Dudley would like to see Hardy get creative by involving the bigs more when throwing them the ball isn't an option. Other times, he may need to be a screener for a guard to cut and force a switch to attack after getting the ball back. 

"There are times when he can play, get [action] game, throw it to the big [like] CJ McCollum," Dudley said after Monday's shootaround. "There are times when he has to cut through, be a screener, let McKinley [Wright] and AJ [Lawson] and other guys curl off you so that now when it's a switch, you have a weaker defender, and now the ball's coming back.

"You don't have to worry, young fella. The ball's going to come back to you," Dudley explained. "We have three, I keep saying, unselfish bigs. And so sometimes just watching the film, taking a breather, and it takes the second, third, fourth practice for him to understand and going through these games."

Dudley has been working with Hardy for weeks in workouts at the Mavs practice facility. Among the focus areas for Hardy offensively continue to be his ability to read the low-man in high pick-and-roll and just continuing to tighten up his shot selection.

"I'm focused on this summer are my playmaking, being better at reading the defense when I'm coming off playing in the pick and roll reading the low man," Hardy said after Monday's game. "And I feel like just taking, continue to polishing my tools on offense."

Dudley still believes the game has yet to slow down for Hardy, who is set to enter his second NBA season, but that's to be expected as he continues to develop his game. For him to take the next step, using film to hone in on the nuances will be important. 

"I think for Hardy, watching film too see how the game has to slow down," Dudley said after Monday's game. "It doesn't slow down to some people, you know, if Hardy was top five pick, I mean, there was a reason he was number one or number two in high school, then he had went to overtime and then it's taken him a while, second round going to G League. It's just the game speeds up."

With the Mavs' emphasis in Summer League being player development, Dudley wants to continue to run high pick-and-roll for Hardy even though he's struggled in that area. For reference, he is producing only 0.579 points per possession (PPP) in high pick-and-roll at Summer League and created only 0.650 PPP during his rookie campaign with the Mavs. 

"He struggles in picking rolls. Would you say beforehand? But that's not gonna stop me from putting on picking roll," Dudley said after Monday's game. "But coach George, my assistant coach, we went to our open offense, more dribble handoff using the bigs, and that was huge. It's a great suggestion on him."

"For Hardy, it's like look, 'Listen man, like it's next play.' Russell Westbrook — OKC style. Damian Lillard. These guys in the NBA, they don't care," Dudley explained. "The LeBron's of the world when they're three for 30, like they have to shoot the next shot. And for this, our summer league, if he's not one of our top scorers and not playing at a high level, we're not going to do well. I'm glad. second half, he got out of his funk and came through."

Particularly as it pertains to playmaking, Hardy understands that it's an ongoing process to grow in that area. He's going to keep watching film and get valuable reps. He also understands the importance of listening to the coaching staff throughout the process to refine his game in that area.

"I'm going to still continue to work on it, continue the development, it's not going to come overnight," Hardy said after Monday's game. "So it comes with watching film getting reps at it. So that's what I'm going to continue to do and continue to listen to the staff, continue to do what they want me to do work on."

Hardy is averaging 24.0 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 3.0 assists in 32.2 minutes per game. He's shooting only 37.1 percent from he floor and 30.0 percent from 3, but has gone 88.9 percent on free throws. There is a lot of room for improvement in his efficiency with two guaranteed games left to achieve it. 

The Mavs return to Summer League action on Wednesday when they take on the Golden State Warriors. 

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Grant Afseth is a Dallas Mavericks reporter for DallasBasketball.com and an NBA reporter for NBA Analysis Network. He previously covered the Indiana Pacers and NBA for CNHI's Kokomo Tribune and various NBA teams for USA TODAY Sports Media Group. Follow him on Twitter (@grantafseth), Facebook (@grantgafseth), and YouTube (@grantafseth).

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