Bulls 108, Jazz 105
There's no way we'll see the Jazz close a game in the regular season with a lineup of Ronnie Price, Morris Almond, Kyle Korver, Paul Millsap and Kyrylo Fesenko, but it was interesting to watch what unfolded when they tried to do so Friday against the Bulls.
The Jazz led 102-98 with 2 1-2 minutes remaining, but had some key defensive lapses that wound up costing them the game. Ben Gordon was especially a handful for Utah, scoring 13 of his 23 points in the quarter.
With 2:02 left, the Bulls ran a pick-and-roll with Gordon and Andres Nocioni. Instead of keeping Nocioni within reach, Almond tried to help on Gordon and gave Nocioni all the room he needed to nail a three-pointer.
The Bulls were able to take the lead 104-103 on another pick-and-roll, this time with Gordon keeping the ball and the Jazz being slow to help. Gordon got to the basket, Price fouled him and Gordon converted the three-point play.
The Jazz had a couple of miscues in the final minute as Price was trapped, nearly lost the ball and tossed up a desperation shot to beat the 24-second clock. Fesenko also threw away a pass looking for Millsap cutting.
Price fouled out with 10.3 seconds remaining, and with Brevin Knight done for the night after reinjuring his left thumb, Jazz coach Jerry Sloan could have gone to either Deron Williams, Gerry McNamara or C.J. Miles to play point guard on the final possession.
Williams would have been the best theater, although he'd checked out for good with 9:16 remaining. McNamara hadn't played all night but was the only true point guard left other than Williams. Miles had played the position in the fourth quarter and overtime Wednesday.
Miles got the call and wound up having his cross-court pass deflected. Korver collected the ball and backed up Thabo Sefolosha trying to get a shot off. There were three three-point arcs on the court, so I'm still not sure if Korver actually had his feet behind the line.
His shot missed anyway. The Bulls launched 26 three-pointers for the game but made four in the fourth quarter. Most significantly, Almond and Fesenko combined to go 0-for-7. Through five preseason games, Almond has gone 12 of 33 or 36.3 percent.
I asked Sloan after the game what he'd thought of Almond and Fesenko, who was 1-for-4 at the foul line in the fourth quarter.
"I didn't see much, to be honest about it. I'd like to see more," Sloan said. "Defensively, Gordon's going to have the basketball in his hands and other people have got to talk about let us know what's going on. Force a guy back to where you've got some help."
"When you don't play together, you're not going to have any ability to stop anybody," Sloan added.
* * *
Illinois coach Bruce Weber and his assistants attended the Jazz's pregame shootaround Friday. They seemed to marvel most at how young several of the Jazz players are, especially Miles and rookie Kosta Koufos, who left Ohio State after one season.
"They miss so much of that development, I think, and that's what hurts them," Weber said. "I think even the NBA people would tell you that.
"Yes, they've got to take a chance on these guys and you've got to try to bring them along and you hope they develop and if you don't somebody else might take them and they grow up there.
"In the long haul for the kids, that maturity process is so valuable and helpful. You just see it in a guy like Deron that three years makes such a difference."
Don't know if I could say it any better myself.
* * *
The more he plays, the more I think Ronnie Price is my favorite player to watch. He just plays so hard. There was a sequence at the end of the third quarter, when Price took a charge, hit Paul Millsap for a basket off the pick-and-roll and stripped Gordon.
"He's so intense on wanting to play, I think he's like a spring, all wound up and just ready to explode," Sloan said. "But it's tough playing behind Deron because the five or six minutes he gets is not very much."'
* * *
About 90 minutes before the game, Jazz assistant Tyrone Corbin walked out to the court and shook hands with new Chicago coach Vinny Del Negro, was seated courtside to watch warmups.
Over the summer, Corbin interviewed for the job that ultimately went to Del Negro. He sat down once with the Bulls and had a second interview canceled as Chicago reportedly closed in on Doug Collins as coach.
Corbin said he thought the interview went well, but he couldn't gauge how close he was to landing the job. He also interviewed twice with Phoenix, before the Suns opted to hire Terry Porter instead.
What's it like to coach against a team after interviewing for its head coaching job?
"You can sit and you can think a little bit about what you would do differently or what you would do the same," Corbin said, "and the talent on the team and how it could mesh in what you're trying to get done on the floor."
* * *
Sitting courtside Friday, you could really hear Carlos Boozer talking on defense. He was more vocal than I remember, calling out to Ronnie Price at the end of the first quarter to stay down on Gordon, when a pick was coming and how much time was left on the game clock.
Mehmet Okur had three chances to convert three-point plays and missed the free throw every time. Brevin Knight reinjured his thumb but he still was off the bench with 2:20 left and walking with his teammates as they entered the game.
Andrei Kirilenko threw a between-the-legs pass soon after checking in during the first quarter. Paul Millsap played without glasses after doing so Wednesday. Lastly, another thought from Sloan.
"We can't just run the pick-and-roll every time," Sloan said. "When you're running pick-and-roll all the time, then the other guys are standing and watching to some extent and to me that doesn't teach them how to play basketball as much."
--Ross Siler
The Jazz led 102-98 with 2 1-2 minutes remaining, but had some key defensive lapses that wound up costing them the game. Ben Gordon was especially a handful for Utah, scoring 13 of his 23 points in the quarter.
With 2:02 left, the Bulls ran a pick-and-roll with Gordon and Andres Nocioni. Instead of keeping Nocioni within reach, Almond tried to help on Gordon and gave Nocioni all the room he needed to nail a three-pointer.
The Bulls were able to take the lead 104-103 on another pick-and-roll, this time with Gordon keeping the ball and the Jazz being slow to help. Gordon got to the basket, Price fouled him and Gordon converted the three-point play.
The Jazz had a couple of miscues in the final minute as Price was trapped, nearly lost the ball and tossed up a desperation shot to beat the 24-second clock. Fesenko also threw away a pass looking for Millsap cutting.
Price fouled out with 10.3 seconds remaining, and with Brevin Knight done for the night after reinjuring his left thumb, Jazz coach Jerry Sloan could have gone to either Deron Williams, Gerry McNamara or C.J. Miles to play point guard on the final possession.
Williams would have been the best theater, although he'd checked out for good with 9:16 remaining. McNamara hadn't played all night but was the only true point guard left other than Williams. Miles had played the position in the fourth quarter and overtime Wednesday.
Miles got the call and wound up having his cross-court pass deflected. Korver collected the ball and backed up Thabo Sefolosha trying to get a shot off. There were three three-point arcs on the court, so I'm still not sure if Korver actually had his feet behind the line.
His shot missed anyway. The Bulls launched 26 three-pointers for the game but made four in the fourth quarter. Most significantly, Almond and Fesenko combined to go 0-for-7. Through five preseason games, Almond has gone 12 of 33 or 36.3 percent.
I asked Sloan after the game what he'd thought of Almond and Fesenko, who was 1-for-4 at the foul line in the fourth quarter.
"I didn't see much, to be honest about it. I'd like to see more," Sloan said. "Defensively, Gordon's going to have the basketball in his hands and other people have got to talk about let us know what's going on. Force a guy back to where you've got some help."
"When you don't play together, you're not going to have any ability to stop anybody," Sloan added.
* * *
Illinois coach Bruce Weber and his assistants attended the Jazz's pregame shootaround Friday. They seemed to marvel most at how young several of the Jazz players are, especially Miles and rookie Kosta Koufos, who left Ohio State after one season.
"They miss so much of that development, I think, and that's what hurts them," Weber said. "I think even the NBA people would tell you that.
"Yes, they've got to take a chance on these guys and you've got to try to bring them along and you hope they develop and if you don't somebody else might take them and they grow up there.
"In the long haul for the kids, that maturity process is so valuable and helpful. You just see it in a guy like Deron that three years makes such a difference."
Don't know if I could say it any better myself.
* * *
The more he plays, the more I think Ronnie Price is my favorite player to watch. He just plays so hard. There was a sequence at the end of the third quarter, when Price took a charge, hit Paul Millsap for a basket off the pick-and-roll and stripped Gordon.
"He's so intense on wanting to play, I think he's like a spring, all wound up and just ready to explode," Sloan said. "But it's tough playing behind Deron because the five or six minutes he gets is not very much."'
* * *
About 90 minutes before the game, Jazz assistant Tyrone Corbin walked out to the court and shook hands with new Chicago coach Vinny Del Negro, was seated courtside to watch warmups.
Over the summer, Corbin interviewed for the job that ultimately went to Del Negro. He sat down once with the Bulls and had a second interview canceled as Chicago reportedly closed in on Doug Collins as coach.
Corbin said he thought the interview went well, but he couldn't gauge how close he was to landing the job. He also interviewed twice with Phoenix, before the Suns opted to hire Terry Porter instead.
What's it like to coach against a team after interviewing for its head coaching job?
"You can sit and you can think a little bit about what you would do differently or what you would do the same," Corbin said, "and the talent on the team and how it could mesh in what you're trying to get done on the floor."
* * *
Sitting courtside Friday, you could really hear Carlos Boozer talking on defense. He was more vocal than I remember, calling out to Ronnie Price at the end of the first quarter to stay down on Gordon, when a pick was coming and how much time was left on the game clock.
Mehmet Okur had three chances to convert three-point plays and missed the free throw every time. Brevin Knight reinjured his thumb but he still was off the bench with 2:20 left and walking with his teammates as they entered the game.
Andrei Kirilenko threw a between-the-legs pass soon after checking in during the first quarter. Paul Millsap played without glasses after doing so Wednesday. Lastly, another thought from Sloan.
"We can't just run the pick-and-roll every time," Sloan said. "When you're running pick-and-roll all the time, then the other guys are standing and watching to some extent and to me that doesn't teach them how to play basketball as much."
--Ross Siler
2:39 AM
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