A target on his back?
After the Jazz-Nuggets game on Saturday night, I asked coach Jerry Sloan if he thought point guard Deron Williams was becoming a target for overly aggressive defenses.
Against the Nuggets, Williams was knocked down on a third-quarter drive to the basket by Carmelo Anthony. Williams landed on his backside and left the game briefly before returning.
Anthony was charged with a flagrant foul which, probably, was not the correct call. It was more of a hard foul with a bad result -- Williams' crashing to the floor.
In any event, I thought Sloan's response to my question was interesting, so here is the whole thing:
"Nah, I don't think so. I think he's trying to take the ball to the basket and he's been a very effective player doing that, so that's the reputation you're going have. And if you get on top of the basket, people are going to come after you.
"The biggest thing is, you've got to come away with something and you've got to learn to protect yourself. I think, for the most part, he's done a good job with that. Tonight he got on top of the basket pretty good and was able to come away without getting too banged up.
"He's been banged up a little bit [this season], but that's part of this game, if you're going to go in there. People who go in there night in and night out, you know, they're going to get knocked down sometimes. But they have to get up and go at it again.
"The other team is not going to say, 'Hey, just keep driving in here and we'll let you shoot a layup.' They are going to come after you and you've got to protect yourself. That's part of the learning process as you go down the line."
After Monday morning's shootaround, Williams said he felt "great" and he was going to play tonight against the Rockets.
-- Steve Luhm
Against the Nuggets, Williams was knocked down on a third-quarter drive to the basket by Carmelo Anthony. Williams landed on his backside and left the game briefly before returning.
Anthony was charged with a flagrant foul which, probably, was not the correct call. It was more of a hard foul with a bad result -- Williams' crashing to the floor.
In any event, I thought Sloan's response to my question was interesting, so here is the whole thing:
"Nah, I don't think so. I think he's trying to take the ball to the basket and he's been a very effective player doing that, so that's the reputation you're going have. And if you get on top of the basket, people are going to come after you.
"The biggest thing is, you've got to come away with something and you've got to learn to protect yourself. I think, for the most part, he's done a good job with that. Tonight he got on top of the basket pretty good and was able to come away without getting too banged up.
"He's been banged up a little bit [this season], but that's part of this game, if you're going to go in there. People who go in there night in and night out, you know, they're going to get knocked down sometimes. But they have to get up and go at it again.
"The other team is not going to say, 'Hey, just keep driving in here and we'll let you shoot a layup.' They are going to come after you and you've got to protect yourself. That's part of the learning process as you go down the line."
After Monday morning's shootaround, Williams said he felt "great" and he was going to play tonight against the Rockets.
-- Steve Luhm
12:06 PM
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