Tuesday report
Unfortunately, we don't get a chance to watch the Jazz practice this year during training camp - - they've opened one practice to the public in years past at Boise State - - so there's no way to assess how things stack up early in some of the position battles.
We don't know yet whether Carlos Boozer or Paul Millsap is going to be starting in Thursday's preseason opener, whether Ronnie Price or Eric Maynor is going to be the first point guard off the bench or whether Kyrylo Fesenko or Kosta Koufos will see more action.
Just from listening to the Jazz players, though, you can tell how much emphasis coach Jerry Sloan has put on defense so far in camp. The Jazz gave up 100.9 points on average last season, the first Sloan-coached team to do so in more than a decade.
Both Boozer and Deron Williams said the Jazz have been working to sharpen their defensive rotations so far in camp. At least in Williams' opinion, help defense has been the focus of camp.
"We got away from that last year, we didn't trust each other last year," Williams said. "We've got to get back and start helping out, start trusting each other and rotating better."
The Jazz's defensive breakdowns were magnified by their abysmal record (3-18) in the second game of back-to-back sets. I haven't done the math, but if you took away five to seven of those games, the Jazz's defensive numbers wouldn't look as bad.
This season, Williams has vowed to take it upon himself to set the tone for the Jazz on the road and in the second games of back-to-backs.
"Just making sure we get out and have energy, get out and push the ball," Williams said. "Sometimes we start off a little complacent. It'll be my job to get out and push the ball and if people don't want to run, I'm sure coach will sub them out."
At the same time, Williams acknowledges that he can't shoulder the entire weight himself.
"We've got to get tougher mentally," Williams said. "It's on me, but it's on everybody else as well. We've got to step up to the challenge and play better on the road.
"Another problem we had was playing bad against teams under .500. We let too many games slip away that if we'd just put our foot on people early, we'd have the game."
Sloan pledged to make changes this year to increase defensive accountability. In particular, he said he would bench players who refused to run the floor or play as physically as he'd like to see.
You can talk about strategies all day, but Sloan never fails to describe defense as being a matter of effort first and foremost.
"We've got to do a better job defensively," Sloan said. "I think everybody's tried to work hard and do a better job there. And that's effort. It's not a matter about athletic ability. It's about effort and who's going to stick their nose in and get after it, try to help us take away some of the easy baskets that we gave up."
* * *
I've gotten a couple of e-mails from fans interested in the Jazz's television schedule this season. (One of the fans splits season tickets, makes the drive from Idaho Falls, Idaho, and tries to pick the KJZZ games he can't get on television at home. Pretty impressive.)
Here's what it says on the Jazz's pocket schedule: "All games televised on FSN-Utah in high definition (except nationally televised games on TNT or ABC)." From that reading, it's unclear whether the Jazz are airing any games at all on KJZZ.
And if that's the case, my question is why the Jazz pushed so hard for a KJZZ retransmission agreement last season with DirecTV.
It also doesn't appear that the Jazz are televising Thursday's preseason opener. According to tvguide.com, KJZZ is set to air game shows and Dr. Phil while FSN will be carrying a Rockies game.
--Ross Siler
We don't know yet whether Carlos Boozer or Paul Millsap is going to be starting in Thursday's preseason opener, whether Ronnie Price or Eric Maynor is going to be the first point guard off the bench or whether Kyrylo Fesenko or Kosta Koufos will see more action.
Just from listening to the Jazz players, though, you can tell how much emphasis coach Jerry Sloan has put on defense so far in camp. The Jazz gave up 100.9 points on average last season, the first Sloan-coached team to do so in more than a decade.
Both Boozer and Deron Williams said the Jazz have been working to sharpen their defensive rotations so far in camp. At least in Williams' opinion, help defense has been the focus of camp.
"We got away from that last year, we didn't trust each other last year," Williams said. "We've got to get back and start helping out, start trusting each other and rotating better."
The Jazz's defensive breakdowns were magnified by their abysmal record (3-18) in the second game of back-to-back sets. I haven't done the math, but if you took away five to seven of those games, the Jazz's defensive numbers wouldn't look as bad.
This season, Williams has vowed to take it upon himself to set the tone for the Jazz on the road and in the second games of back-to-backs.
"Just making sure we get out and have energy, get out and push the ball," Williams said. "Sometimes we start off a little complacent. It'll be my job to get out and push the ball and if people don't want to run, I'm sure coach will sub them out."
At the same time, Williams acknowledges that he can't shoulder the entire weight himself.
"We've got to get tougher mentally," Williams said. "It's on me, but it's on everybody else as well. We've got to step up to the challenge and play better on the road.
"Another problem we had was playing bad against teams under .500. We let too many games slip away that if we'd just put our foot on people early, we'd have the game."
Sloan pledged to make changes this year to increase defensive accountability. In particular, he said he would bench players who refused to run the floor or play as physically as he'd like to see.
You can talk about strategies all day, but Sloan never fails to describe defense as being a matter of effort first and foremost.
"We've got to do a better job defensively," Sloan said. "I think everybody's tried to work hard and do a better job there. And that's effort. It's not a matter about athletic ability. It's about effort and who's going to stick their nose in and get after it, try to help us take away some of the easy baskets that we gave up."
* * *
I've gotten a couple of e-mails from fans interested in the Jazz's television schedule this season. (One of the fans splits season tickets, makes the drive from Idaho Falls, Idaho, and tries to pick the KJZZ games he can't get on television at home. Pretty impressive.)
Here's what it says on the Jazz's pocket schedule: "All games televised on FSN-Utah in high definition (except nationally televised games on TNT or ABC)." From that reading, it's unclear whether the Jazz are airing any games at all on KJZZ.
And if that's the case, my question is why the Jazz pushed so hard for a KJZZ retransmission agreement last season with DirecTV.
It also doesn't appear that the Jazz are televising Thursday's preseason opener. According to tvguide.com, KJZZ is set to air game shows and Dr. Phil while FSN will be carrying a Rockies game.
--Ross Siler
6:31 PM
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