Jazz 111, Blazers 101
You're Jazz coach Jerry Sloan. You have 96 minutes a game to split up at the two wing positions. Now you've added Kyle Korver and seen what he can do for your team. How do you split up those minutes?
Here's how it worked Monday: Korver played 18 minutes and the entire fourth quarter in his Jazz debut. C.J. Miles, who had been averaging 24 minutes in the five games since Gordan Giricek was sent home by Sloan, played just 12 minutes.
Andrei Kirilenko played 31 minutes and was opposite Korver at the end of the second quarter and much of the fourth quarter. Matt Harpring's minutes were largely unchanged (17) and he had one of his best games of the season with 15 points.
The player hurt the most, besides Miles, was starting guard Ronnie Brewer. He had been averaging 30.4 minutes coming into Monday but played only 18 minutes and finished with four points. He did not play at all in the last 14:58.
For his part, Korver took a cut in minutes after his trade from Philadelphia. He had been averaging 26.3 with the Sixers. Sloan felt comfortable enough with Korver to play him in crunch time against Portland.
How's it going to work going forward? Korver might not be the best defender but he was better than advertised. Sloan had Korver guard Brandon Roy for a stretch in the fourth quarter - - Roy scored six points against him - - before switching over Kirilenko.
If the Jazz can live with the matchups on the defensive end, Korver and Kirilenko (or Korver and Harpring) will see significant minutes together. To accommodate Miles, Brewer's going to have to come out earlier and live with sitting out the fourth quarter sometimes.
It's not the worst thing in the world. I asked Sloan after the game if he liked how Korver's arrival has sharpened the competition for minutes. It's hard to argue with the results when the Jazz bench scores 50 points and they end Portland's 13-game winning streak.
"There should be competition," Sloan said. "Every time you go to the game, you should be competing, if nothing else to get more time for yourself, for your family and also make your team better.
"I think it makes your team better if guys compete for playing time - - if they handle it the right way. Sometimes you say 'I want all the playing time' and then when you get out there and nothing happens, it's hard to get that second chance if somebody else is doing the job.
"It's kind of like - - who was it? - - Wally Pipp."
For one night at least, it looked like the best thing that could have happened to the Jazz was a little reminder that nothing is a given. That starts with minutes but it also extends to success after last season's Western Conference finals run.
* * *
Obviously, Kyle Korver was the story of the game, but I wanted to give Deron Williams credit for a great run in the third quarter. The Jazz were in danger of giving away the game with Mehmet Okur on the bench with four fouls and in the penalty with 7:44 left.
Williams took over the game and the Jazz never trailed again after a 12-3 run. He attacked for a three-point play, hit two jumpers, fed Carlos Boozer for a dunk on the break and pulled up for a three-pointer to push the Jazz ahead 74-71.
He might look for his shot too much for some tastes, but you can't argue with Williams scoring 10 points and assisting on the other basket during the game-turning run. Williams had 18 points and eight assists while playing with an injured left pinkie finger.
You could see Williams during a first quarter timeout unrolling the tape that was keeping his fingers bound together. He walked out of shootaround with what looked like a popsicle around his finger to ice it down.
* * *
The Jazz are hoping to time the future first-round draft pick they sent Philadelphia in the Kyle Korver trade with the first-round pick they'll get from the Knicks, likely in 2010. The Knicks pick will be unprotected that year and the Jazz don't expect to miss the other pick that way.
There's still a lot of time for the Knicks to get their act together and they have a lot of money to do it. But it's fun to imagine what it would be like for the Jazz if the Isiah Thomas mess continues and they wind up with what could be the No. 1 overall pick.
* * *
Mehmet Okur went 2-for-8 in Monday's game and played just 21 minutes because of foul trouble. That makes Okur 12-for-42 (28.6 percent) in four games since returning from a left shoulder injury and drops Okur to 39.0 percent for the season.
-- Ross Siler
Here's how it worked Monday: Korver played 18 minutes and the entire fourth quarter in his Jazz debut. C.J. Miles, who had been averaging 24 minutes in the five games since Gordan Giricek was sent home by Sloan, played just 12 minutes.
Andrei Kirilenko played 31 minutes and was opposite Korver at the end of the second quarter and much of the fourth quarter. Matt Harpring's minutes were largely unchanged (17) and he had one of his best games of the season with 15 points.
The player hurt the most, besides Miles, was starting guard Ronnie Brewer. He had been averaging 30.4 minutes coming into Monday but played only 18 minutes and finished with four points. He did not play at all in the last 14:58.
For his part, Korver took a cut in minutes after his trade from Philadelphia. He had been averaging 26.3 with the Sixers. Sloan felt comfortable enough with Korver to play him in crunch time against Portland.
How's it going to work going forward? Korver might not be the best defender but he was better than advertised. Sloan had Korver guard Brandon Roy for a stretch in the fourth quarter - - Roy scored six points against him - - before switching over Kirilenko.
If the Jazz can live with the matchups on the defensive end, Korver and Kirilenko (or Korver and Harpring) will see significant minutes together. To accommodate Miles, Brewer's going to have to come out earlier and live with sitting out the fourth quarter sometimes.
It's not the worst thing in the world. I asked Sloan after the game if he liked how Korver's arrival has sharpened the competition for minutes. It's hard to argue with the results when the Jazz bench scores 50 points and they end Portland's 13-game winning streak.
"There should be competition," Sloan said. "Every time you go to the game, you should be competing, if nothing else to get more time for yourself, for your family and also make your team better.
"I think it makes your team better if guys compete for playing time - - if they handle it the right way. Sometimes you say 'I want all the playing time' and then when you get out there and nothing happens, it's hard to get that second chance if somebody else is doing the job.
"It's kind of like - - who was it? - - Wally Pipp."
For one night at least, it looked like the best thing that could have happened to the Jazz was a little reminder that nothing is a given. That starts with minutes but it also extends to success after last season's Western Conference finals run.
* * *
Obviously, Kyle Korver was the story of the game, but I wanted to give Deron Williams credit for a great run in the third quarter. The Jazz were in danger of giving away the game with Mehmet Okur on the bench with four fouls and in the penalty with 7:44 left.
Williams took over the game and the Jazz never trailed again after a 12-3 run. He attacked for a three-point play, hit two jumpers, fed Carlos Boozer for a dunk on the break and pulled up for a three-pointer to push the Jazz ahead 74-71.
He might look for his shot too much for some tastes, but you can't argue with Williams scoring 10 points and assisting on the other basket during the game-turning run. Williams had 18 points and eight assists while playing with an injured left pinkie finger.
You could see Williams during a first quarter timeout unrolling the tape that was keeping his fingers bound together. He walked out of shootaround with what looked like a popsicle around his finger to ice it down.
* * *
The Jazz are hoping to time the future first-round draft pick they sent Philadelphia in the Kyle Korver trade with the first-round pick they'll get from the Knicks, likely in 2010. The Knicks pick will be unprotected that year and the Jazz don't expect to miss the other pick that way.
There's still a lot of time for the Knicks to get their act together and they have a lot of money to do it. But it's fun to imagine what it would be like for the Jazz if the Isiah Thomas mess continues and they wind up with what could be the No. 1 overall pick.
* * *
Mehmet Okur went 2-for-8 in Monday's game and played just 21 minutes because of foul trouble. That makes Okur 12-for-42 (28.6 percent) in four games since returning from a left shoulder injury and drops Okur to 39.0 percent for the season.
-- Ross Siler
12:37 AM
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