Postgame notes, quotes — Jazz's Sloan says he went with his gut
Published on Dec 27, 2010 11:46PM 1 Comments
Jazz coach Jerry Sloan acknowledged toward the end of his postage interview Monday night that playing rookie forward Gordon Hayward all 12 minutes during the fourth quarter of Utah's 96-91 defeat to the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday night might have been a mistake.
Hayward recorded 12 fourth-period minutes last Wednesday, keying the Jazz's 112-107 come-from-behind road victory against Minnesota.
Sloan's options were limited Wednesday, as starting forward Andrei Kirilenko left the game due to a lower back strain and did not return. However, Jazz reserve forward C.J. Miles — who sank seven 3-pointers to key a rally and ensuing road victory Nov. 20 against the Blazers — was available.
Sloan said that he possibly would have used Kirilenko, but added that "the matchups weren't very good at times."
"You just have to go with your gut, and sometimes it's wrong," Sloan said.
All right
Jazz guard Deron Williams suffered a sprained right wrist late in the game and was temporarily forced to leave the court to receive treatment. Williams' wrist was iced after the game, but he said that he will be "fine." He is listed as day to day.
New looks
The Jazz employed a new second rotation of Ronnie Price, Earl Watson, C.J. Miles, Mehmet Okur and Francisco Elson to start the second quarter. Utah later used a second unit composed of Watson, Hayward, Miles, Okur and Elson.
Feeling better
Okur said that he felt much better and was significantly more confident Monday — a world removed from his season debut Dec. 17 against New Orleans.
"Last time I came back, it was completely different for me," Okur said. "Because I didn't have any confidence. I didn't know what to do out there."
Okur said that he scrimmaged twice during Utah's recent four-day layoff between games, crediting the increased workload to an improved outing.
"It was great to be back on the floor running up and down," Okur said.
He added: "All I've got to do is stay positive and keep working at it. It takes time."
Okur was also proud to put on his home, dark-green Jazz warmups prior to tipoff — his first two games of the season were on the road.
Uncertain feeling
Raja Bell could not pinpoint the exact reason Utah continues to struggle with consistency, but highlighted the Jazz's lack of toughness in key losses.
"It's hard to put your finger on it. It's just something that we're caught falling into a rhythm of doing it," Bell said. "Tonight it was just one of those things that we couldn't get it going.
You could see everybody was kind of sluggish, and bodies weren't moving and we were standing and watching. And when you do that against any team in this league, you put yourself in a bad spot."
— Brian T. Smith
