I mean really from day one they should have been trying to win.......... with the young guys. Ochai, NAW, Sexton, Kessler (especially him), THT, Vando, Lauri, Beasley, etc should have been getting the lions share of minutes and Conley and KO should have been getting 20 minutes or less (starting or coming off the bench, whatever) and Gay should have never played a single minute. If the team wins a ton like that then so be it. Thats great!. If they lose a few games more than they would have then that is also great. Should be looking to trade KO/Conley/Gay for sure since the start of season and continuing up until today (my guess is ainge has been working to move those 3 from day one and still is).
Clarkson is the one old dude that you probably should start and play big minutes since he has a lot left in the tank and the jazz seem to love him and want to re-sign him.
I dont blame Hardy too much though. Its gotta be really hard for a rookie head coach to go up to guys like Conley and KO and tell them that we are putting you out to pasture and just gonna give you token minutes. Plus if you want to trade them then you kind of need to showcase them a bit.
For me the biggest mistakes Hardy has made in minute distribution and rotations is that Ochai wasn't playing at all for the first 39 games and that kessler should have been getting more minutes for such a long time now and that Gay really should have never been getting minutes. That might have been hard for Hardy too though so i kind of give him a break. Should have bought out gay or cut him or whatever. Ochai and kessler are my two biggest complaints.
Overall i think Hardy has done a really good job and im very very happy that we hired him as our coach. I love his personality and demeanor too and his sarcasm and jokes in the post game interviews are pretty good.