Here's the scoring numbers the Spurs came into Friday averaging followed by the numbers each player put up against the Jazz: Roger Mason (13.9) 29, George Hill (8.7) 23, Tim Duncan (22.8) 18, Michael Finley (11.0) 14, Matt Bonner (5.0) 12, Ime Udoka (4.5) 10, Anthony Tolliver (4.8), 5, Blake Ahearn (2.5) 3, Bruce Bowen (3.5) 3, Kurt Thomas (2.1) 2, Fabricio Oberto (2.1) 0.

    The odds are pretty good that when you let seven players score about their season average - - and especially when one of them isn't Tim Duncan - - you're going to lose. No surprise the Jazz got clobbered without Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer, giving up almost 29 points a game more than the Spurs came in averaging as a team (90.4).

    The Spurs shot the lights out, hitting 15 of 25 three-pointers. Even Anthony Tolliver (I had no idea this guy was in the NBA) and Blake Ahearn (who looks like a ballboy) knocked down three-pointers in the fourth quarter for San Antonio. But so many of those three-pointers came off uncontested open looks.

    Talking about Michael Finley, Jazz coach Jerry Sloan said: "Finley came out and the first two or three shots he took, he's wide open. If you've been in the league a month or two, you'd know those are the kind of shots he takes and he hits them and you've got to get up and play him. If you just let him take those shots and hope he misses them, that's not very good defense."

    The Jazz also were powerless to stop Roger Mason and George Hill from attacking the basket at Ronnie Price, Brevin Knight and Ronnie Brewer's expense. Sloan was dismayed by the Jazz's pick-and-roll coverage. "They ran their up screen a couple of times and we never did any indication as to what were doing on defense after we'd already talked about it at shootaround," Sloan said.

    Whatever chance the Jazz had at climbing back in the game disappeared after San Antonio called timeout with a 10-point lead midway through the third quarter. Paul Millsap had a turnover, Mehmet Okur missed a shot over Bonner, Millsap missed a layup and the Jazz were down 18 just like that. Bonner did a great job for the Spurs, whether it was hitting three-pointers or grabbing offensive rebounds.

    For whatever reason, your second-tier players always perform better at home than on the road. It's one of the truisms of NBA life. I have a feeling that if the Spurs had come to Salt Lake City on Friday without Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker, they would have gotten waxed by the Jazz. Mason and Hill probably would have combined for 15 points, as opposed to 52. The Spurs would have shot 6 for 25 from three-point range.

    * * *

    The second game of this back-to-back is going to be a great test for the Jazz. They have to match the energy of a Memphis team that starts one of the youngest lineups you'll ever see in the NBA, with three rookies (O.J. Mayo, Marc Gasol, Darrell Arthur), one second-year player (Mike Conley) and a third-year player (Rudy Gay).

    The Grizzlies also will be playing in the second game of a back-to-back after losing 91-76 to Dallas. Memphis shot 36.5 percent - - Gay and Mayo each went 5-for-18 - - and scored 43 points fewer than the Jazz gave up against the Spurs. Sloan has been critical of his team's energy, so it'll be interesting to see what they come with against the Grizzlies.

    * * *

    Talk about your coincidences: Deron Williams came into the season having missed four games in his three-year career due to injury. Doing some digging, it turns out that Boozer also sat out three of those same games. The Jazz had been 2-1 without the two before Friday.

    The last game both missed was in February 2007 against Portland. Boozer sat out with a fractured fibula head while Williams was nursing the groin injury he suffered in the All-Star rookie challenge. The Jazz lost to the Blazers 103-100. Previously, they beat Chicago and Detroit in the 2005-06 season without both Williams and Boozer.

    Williams told us before Friday's game that he was targeting Wednesday's game against Memphis for his return. For those keeping score at home, Williams will have missed 13 games and been sidelined for more than 5 weeks (aside from his premature two-game return last week) with his sprained left ankle.

    * * *

    Instead of being at the Coldplay concert Saturday night at EnergySolutions Arena, I'll be covering an NBA game nobody will be watching on television (Jazz/Grizzlies is up against the Utah/BYU game) and nobody will be at in person (the Grizzlies are averaging announced crowds of 11,706).

    I was hoping that somebody at the concert could post a review here at the Jazz blog, just so I can vicariously enjoy the show through somebody.

    --Ross Siler

   Unlike most injured players, Deron Williams isn't sitting directly behind the bench, but right on it, usually to the right of assistant coach Scott Layden. We also now have evidence of how much he's getting caught up in the games.

    With 5:25 left in the second quarter Wednesday, referee Eddie F. Rush came over to the bench and admonished Williams. Rush didn't issue a technical foul but made it clear to Jerry Sloan and his staff that he didn't want to hear another word out of Williams.

    What did Williams say? I asked after the game and Williams said he told Rush, "That's a terrible call," after Paul Millsap was whistled for a loose-ball foul on a rebound. Even if that's all that was said, Rush still didn't take kindly to it.

    --Ross Siler

   There's a lot of reasons why the timing of Carlos Boozer's injury is unfortunate, but here's one you probably didn't consider: The Jazz forward turns 27 on Thursday. I'm sure he didn't want to spend his birthday hobbling around with a strained left quadriceps.

    Boozer said he suffered the injury when he came down without bending his leg and hyperextended it. A couple of us waited for him long after the locker room had cleared out. Boozer was walking slowly and stiffly.

    He had on a jacket, dress shirt and warm-up pants and was looking for a ride to his car. He said he didn't think the injury was serious, but you'd have to think it's unlikely he'll play in the Jazz's back-to-back games at San Antonio and Memphis this weekend.

    There's no story for the Jazz right now other than injuries. They might have to play this weekend without Deron Williams or Carlos Boozer, but you'd still have to think they have a chance to end that 21-game losing streak in San Antonio on Friday.

    The Spurs are playing without the injured Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili, leaving them to start George Hill and Roger Mason. Jazz coach Jerry Sloan already has put his players on notice that he's expecting more than they showed in last week's 1-4 trip.

    "I'm looking for the question after we play the next game on the road," Jazz coach Jerry Sloan said. "Are we going to be energized or are we going to wait till we get back home to be energized?"

    * * *

    Andrei Kirilenko dropped some knowledge on us after the game. With the Jazz losing Carlos Boozer to injury yet still beating the Bucks, Kirilenko borrowed from the tale of King Pyrrhus defeating the Romans in 280 B.C. yet losing most of his men in the process.

    The victory came at such a cost, Pyrrhus supposedly said, "If we are victorious in one more battle with the Romans, we shall be utterly ruined." That would pretty well sum up the Jazz if they beat another team yet lose another key player.

    I'd count it as the second most surprisingly intelligent thing I've heard an NBA player say postgame after Philadelphia-kid Kobe Bryant once borrowed from Ben Franklin in saying, "We must all hang together or we will all hang separately" after a loss to the Clippers.

    Ronnie Brewer was still around when Kirilenko was talking about Pyrrhic victories. I told him what Bryant said as well. Brewer promised to share some wisdom from the great philosopher Martin Lawrence the next time he has a big game.

    * * *

    Bet you didn't expect to see seldom-used Morris Almond as the Jazz's first player off the bench Wednesday. Those of us who were at shootaround and heard Sloan praise Almond weren't all that surprised.

    "Mo Almond deserves a chance to play now," Sloan said. "He's been making it tough to sit him down. He's played well in practice, he's worked hard, he's worked in the weight room, he's done other things to try to make himself better."

    "I think he's come to the realization he can play in this league," Sloan added, "and end up playing because he's worked on some of the things he needs to work on."

    Which, of course, raises the question of why the Jazz declined the 2009-10 option in Almond's contract now that he's in favor a month later? Or how in the world Almond ended up on the inactive list Monday.

    * * *

    What Ronnie Price did in the second half of Wednesday's game was incredible. I can only think of a handful of times that Jerry Sloan has had Deron Williams go the distance in a game. Price has so much less experience than Williams, but he did the job.

    The Jazz did play C.J. Miles and Andrei Kirilenko together in the first half with Price on the bench. They even outscored Milwaukee 25-20 and built a 16-point lead in the time Miles and Kirilenko were in the game together.

    Kirilenko was the primary ball-handler while Miles had success posting up Luke Ridnour for baskets inside, knocking down a three-pointer and finishing an alley-oop dunk. Miles scored nine of his 25 points in the second quarter.

    You also might never see a more unconventional lineup than the five forwards the Jazz put on the floor to start the second quarter. That would be four small forwards - - Miles, Kirilenko, Kyle Korver and Matt Harpring - - plus power forward Paul Millsap.

    * * *

    The Jazz would be wise not to repeat the start of their second half Wednesday against the Spurs. Sloan had to take a 20-second timeout only 1:15 into the half after Miles had shot blocked by Andrew Bogut and Price missed on a drive.

    Charlie Bell hit two jumpers to give the Bucks a six-point lead. Mehmet Okur missed a shot and Carlos Boozer committed an offensive foul. The Jazz could only watch as Luc Richard Mbah a Moute and Richard Jefferson both hit jumpers against their zone defense.

    Jefferson also sneaked behind the defense for a wide open layup. The Jazz trailed by 10 after two Bogut free throws with 7:55 left in the third and could have been in for a long night before they started to come up with all manner of blocks, steals and deflections.

    "We can't win games unless we play defense like that throughout the entire game," Price said. "We can't have spurts. In order for us to accomplish the goals that we want to accomplish, we've got to play that type of defense the entire game."

    * * *

    Remember when Kyle Korver was the Jazz's fourth-quarter closer last season. He came out in favor of C.J. Miles with 8:29 remaining Wednesday. Korver had five points in 16 minutes against the Bucks and is facing increased competition for minutes from Brewer and now Miles.

    * * *

    The Jazz are now 6-0 at home this season and have won 33 of 34 home games dating to last season. If they can beat Chicago, Memphis, Sacramento, New Jersey, Miami, Toronto and Portland coming up at home, the Jazz would go 40-1 at EnergySolutions Arena for the equivalent of a full home season. Unbelievable.

    --Ross Siler

   There have been more than a few e-mails asking about the availability of HD broadcasts of Jazz games. I talked with Jazz president Randy Rigby this afternoon about some of the issues they're facing and wanted to pass along what he had to say.

    The biggest issue for the Jazz in being able to broadcast every game in HD, Rigby said, is the availability of HD production trucks. Especially in the fall, with college football and the NFL going strong, there are more games than trucks to go around.

    Things are supposed to improve after Jan. 1, Rigby said. The Jazz have announced their HD broadcasting schedule only through January, with 25 of 48 games set for HD. That percentage should increase in the second half of the season.

    The Jazz also have run into issues with finding alternate transponders for the games on FSN Utah, which is an FSN Rocky Mountain spin-off.

    Since they can't show Jazz games in Denver because of the Nuggets' territorial rights, FSN has to find both an alternate transponder and alternate HD transponder for games. There are no such issues for the games broadcast out of Salt Lake City on KJZZ.

    "It's a supply and demand issue for the availability of HD trucks and also transponders," Rigby said.

    As for why the Jazz have more games on FSN Utah than KJZZ when it's easier to broadcast in HD on one channel instead of the other, Rigby said it was due to the existing television contract.

    "That was decided a number of years ago when we signed the contract with FSN," Rigby said. "It's been an ongoing issue. We have to in sports be able to more and more capitalize on both advertising revenues and subscriber revenues."

    There are obviously subscriber fees paid for FSN Utah, but not for KJZZ as a broadcast channel, though Rigby said "that's in the process of changing," with Dish Network being the first to pay for the channel.

    A couple of NBA teams such as the 76ers (with Comcast) and the Knicks (with Cablevision) have been able to televise every game in HD for a couple of seasons. They were able to make a joint investment in both the technology and their teams, Rigby said.

    The Jazz are aware of the demand to have every game broadcast in HD and definitely heard from fans about why none of the games on the recent five-game trip were televised in HD. Hope this helps explain some things.

    --Ross Siler

   With the Utah Flash holding media day Tuesday, we had the chance to chat with coach Brad Jones. The Flash open their season Nov. 28 at Austin and play their home opener Dec. 1 against Bakersfield. They already have one NBA-assigned player in Boston rookie (and first-round draft pick) J.R. Giddens and could soon get another in Bill Walker.

    Q: What can you tell us about Dontell Jefferson? You obviously traded a pretty good player [first-round draft pick Denham Brown] to get him?

    A: You know, Kevin Kruger was planning on coming back all the way up until the last minute and then he got an offer overseas in Bulgaria that he just couldn't pass up. And I even told him, "I can't blame you." It kind of put us in a position where we were a little bit scrambling going into our draft because you know how obviously important with the Jazz system having a good point guard is.

    Dontell is a proven guy in our league and they had a situation up in Dakota where they kind of had three guys that needed to play point in order to try to prove that they could get to the NBA. He was one that we targeted and we actually knew before the draft that we were going to make the trade. We'd already signed an agreement so they told us who to pick. Having said that, we're very excited to have him.

    Q: Is he an NBA-caliber guy?

    A: He was with the Clippers in training camp, was with the Grizzlies last year in training camp. He averaged 17 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists in our league last year. The feedback we've gotten is, and he's gotten is, that NBA guys would like to see him be the guy at point. Up in Dakota, they had Maurice Baker and they had Blake Ahearn and then they had him, so he played some point, but he didn't have enough minutes at point. We obviously had a fit needing a point when Kruger left, so he's our guy. We'll see how it works out. It's been good so far in the first two days.

    Q: Local fans will remember J.R. from his college days. What do you expect from him?

    A: I expect great things. They sent him down Saturday, so he was in our initial team meeting, he's been in everything we've done so far, which is unique, and the Celtics actually wanted him to be here for it, so he could get a feel of how we run things. He's been terrific in practice. Golly, he's a talented guy. He's a terrific defender, he's got a great body. Offensively, he can really rise up above people and make shots, which you have to be able to do in the NBA game. Now the reason he's here, obviously, is to kind of complete himself and learn how to play this pro game. But the thing he does is he really works hard, and because of that he'll be able to get better quicker. Sometimes we get guys and we have to teach them how to work harder, more consistently, but that's one thing I haven't had to worry about so far.

    Q: What has Danny Ainge told you that he'd like to see him work on?

    A: You know, it's interesting. Danny and I have had good conversations, but they've done something different this year. The NBA and the D-League have a new thing where you can send an NBA guy from their team, an assistant coach or in this case an assistant general manager. Dave Wohl, who is their assistant general manager and has been in the NBA for years, is actually here with him and he sits in on every one of our meetings. He works with us and he works with J.R. after practice, so we have very connected information on what they want him to work with.

    Once again, one of the things that they feel like he needs to do is he's got to work at being able to play pro basketball and not college basketball. Because he is such a great talent, I'm telling you he could basically rise up and score over anybody any time he wanted in college. But now he's got to be able to learn the nuances and the intricacies, and basically the ball-handling stuff too, they want him to work on that.

    Q: Playing day after day at this level, that's part of it for a kid coming out of college, too, isn't it?

    A: Oh, yeah. You go from playing two games a week to playing three or four. For instance, our first road trip, we fly down on Thanksgiving day, we play Friday night in Austin and we have a 7 a.m. flight, which means it's about a 4 a.m. wake-up call, and then we get there about 1 in the afternoon down to Rio Grande and we've got to play at 7. So that's part of the reason [the Celtics] wanted to do it early is they looked at some of our early schedule and the back-to-backs just to see how he would respond and be consistent.

    One of the things that we've had with all our NBA guys who have been assigned is one night they're great and the next night you look, you think, ‘Wow, where are they?' That's been a big focus on J.R. this year and hopefully he'll be able to compete at a consistent level.

    Q: From Year 1 to Year 2, anything different as far as the make-up of the team?

    A: We still have a really young team, we have seven rookies on this roster. But yet we did try to get a little bit more experienced because we found that in the D-League, if you're real, real young . . .

    Q: [interrupting] Idaho was really experienced.

    A: I think pound-for-pound we probably had as much talent as them, but they just had the experience factor. We tried to get a mix between still the core value of what we think the D-League is, but also some guys that maybe have been out [of college] three or four years. Dontell's a great example. He's been on the cusp, but now he also has played pro basketball, so he gets it on at least how to play pro basketball.

    Q: When you draft, how much do you factor in the players the Jazz may or may not be sending to Orem?

    A: Our first way that we have to do it is we have to draft as though we will not have any assignees. That's the way we approached it. But then when you get into any draft, when you start looking at, ''Well, should we take this guy or that guy?'' then secondarily it came into, ''OK, well, we may have this guy, we may have that guy.'' It's both, but yet the first one is we've got to draft assuming that we may have none of them.

    You look at the situation now with all the injuries and whatever with the Jazz, I don't know when we'll get any of those guys, if ever. It might be one of those years where you've got to keep them there to have bodies. I hope not for the Jazz's sake. We went strictly on what we have to do to be successful and then when it got down to splitting hairs, we took that into consideration.

    Q: Last season, with the Celtics assigning Gabe Pruitt and Brandon Wallace, did you get a championship ring? Did you get a T-shirt? Did you get anything?

    A: No, I got to hold the ring when we were up in Boston this year. They were sizing them and they gave it to me and I looked at it and the ring is about as big as my dang hand."

    --Ross Siler

   Thanks, first of all, to Steve for filling in this weekend so I could go to my best friend's wedding in Madison, Wis. Also, a shout-out to Shane, a Jazz fan from Hagerstown, Md., who introduced himself at the Wizards game in Washington last week.

    You don't think of the Jazz having a national fan base, but there's always a handful of fans at every road game. I'm sure a lot of it has to do with the church, but I think there's some who gained an appreciation for the Jazz from the Stockton-to-Malone teams of the 1990s.

    Anyway, Shane was a credit to Jazz fans, asking about Carlos Boozer's future and Kosta Koufos' development. He also was probably the most excited person at Verizon Center when Brevin Knight checked in for the first time.

    As for Monday's victory over Phoenix, the Jazz now are 5-0 at home, 2-4 on the road, and looking a lot like the team that went 37-4 at home last season but was doomed to open the playoffs without home-court advantage thanks to a 17-24 road record.

    It seems to me that the Jazz's 1-4 trip as well as their victory Monday illustrated just how tough it is for teams to win on the road.

    Between the injuries/absences of Deron Williams, Mehmet Okur and Andrei Kirilenko and a stretch of four games in five nights, the Jazz were doomed on their last trip. With Monday's game, Phoenix gave up a 17-2 run in the fourth quarter of what was the second game of a back-to-back set.

    Jazz coach Jerry Sloan makes no allowances for a tough schedule, but when pressed on the subject after Monday's game he mentioned the age of the Jazz players (primarily 18 to 25) as well as the fact they often practice during three-game, four-day stretches.

    He noted that "I wouldn't say that if I hadn't played" or if he hadn't watched John Stockton and Karl Malone through "all those years."

    "I think that's something you have to learn," Sloan said. "Learn how to compete when it gets a little bit tough. You get smacked around out there, you feel sorry for yourself."

    * * *

    Things you don't expect to see in a box score: Shaquille O'Neal having a better shooting game at the foul line (3 of 4) than from the field (3 of 11). O'Neal also played 32 minutes and grabbed one rebounds, which is one fewer than 5-foot-9 Brevin Knight.

    * * *

    C.J. Miles got on the kind of roll he said he remembered back in high school, scoring 15 points in the first quarter and 21 for the game. Miles hit a three-pointer against a zone in the first quarter and banked in a jumper to open the second half. It was the third-highest scoring game of his career after a 29-point night against Washington last season and a 23-point game against Golden State as a rookie.

    * * *

    In case you were interested, the Jazz have started keeping track of charges taken in red on the locker room white board. They used to keep track of just deflections, but apparently have added charges. Before Monday's game, Kyle Korver was in the lead with five.

    * * *

    Kosta Koufos played only 4:39 but give him credit for nearly coming up with a spectacular block of Amare Stoudemire in the first quarter. Stoudemire carried the Suns with Shaquille O'Neal ineffective and Steve Nash battling foul trouble and finished with 30 points. Carlos Boozer had his hands full with Stoudemire much of the game.

    * * *

    It's amazing to me how much the Jazz have become a zone-defense team. They went into the second quarter trailing by nine and went into halftime up 57-54 in large part because they played zone much of the quarter and frustrated the Suns. With Nash in foul trouble, the zone was especially effective with Goran Dragic in the game at point guard.

    * * *

    I guess the Suns must not have seen the NBA's points of emphasis video. How else to explain the three inbound fouls for which they were called Monday. That gave the Jazz five free points at the foul line . . . and that's not even counting the technical Kyle Korver converted after Raja Bell argued about his inbound foul with referee Derrick Stafford.

    * * *

    Kyrylo Fesenko was so proud of his outfit for Monday's game. He said it was the best he'd worn since coming to the NBA. Fesenko wore a blood red shirt, a red tie and a red pocket square. Too bad the shades of red weren't perfectly coordinated, but Fesenko is definitely making strides. He didn't get to wear it on the bench, however: Fesenko dressed for the game and Morris Almond went to the inactive list with the Jazz wanting an extra center against Shaquille O'Neal.

    * * *

    With Morris Almond playing 21 minutes Saturday against Cleveland, agent Lon Babby said Monday that Almond was very much still a part of the Jazz even though the team last month declined an option in Almond's contract for the 2009-10 season.

    "Whatever is going on behind the scenes with what they're doing or what I'm doing is inappropriate to comment on as long as he remains a member of the team," Babby said.

    --Ross Siler

Item: Charlotte coach Larry Brown, who has become famous for moving from team to team, told an amusing story prior to the Bobcats' 104-96 victory about Jerry Sloan, the longest tenured coach on pro sports.
In 1992, Sloan and the Jazz played Brown and the Los Angeles Clippers in the first round of the playoffs.
Utah, which had lost in the first round in 1989 and 1990 and the second round in 1991, won the first two games. But the Clippers won Games 3 and 4 in a series that was delayed for four days because of the riots in L.A. that followed the Rodney King verdict.
The Jazz faced another early exit from the playoffs if they could not win Game 5 back in Utah and, according to Brown, Sloan told him before tipoff that he expected to be fired if Utah lost.
The Jazz scored a 98-89 victory, however, and eventually advanced all the way to the conference finals. Sloan's job status was never an issue again.

---

Item: The Jazz were constantly beaten off the dribble against Charlotte, which was the major reason the Bobcats enjoyed a 38-24 advantage in free-throw attempts.
Ronnie Price, Brevin Knight and Ronnie Brewer had an excruciatingly difficult time keeping Charlotte point guards Raymond Felton and D.J. Augustin away from the basket. Felton and Augustin shot 14 free throws, including 12 in the fourth quarter.
Said Sloan: "I thought our technique of trying to guards guys -- keeping them in front of us -- was one of the problems we had because we ended up fouling too much. We committed 30 fouls. That's way too many fouls to try and win."

---

Item: The Jazz also committed 20 turnovers, but Carlos Boozer did not want to blame the mix-and-match lineups Sloan had to put on the floor because of injuries to Deron Williams and Andrei Kirilenko and the continuing absence of Memo Okur.
Said Boozer: "We're not used to some of the lineups that are out there, but we have to adjust. That's what basketball is all about. The same thing isn't going to happen every night. ... At this level, we should be able to adjust to anything."
At one point, the Jazz had Kosta Koufos, Paul Millsap, Brewer, Price and Knight on the floor at the same time.

---

Item: Koufos, the 19-year-old rookie, continues to be a force as Okur's replacement in the starting lineup. Against Charlotte, he finished with nine points, 10 rebounds and five blocked shots.
"I thought he played pretty well," Sloan said. "He hustled hard. He played hard. It's tough to take him out of the ballgame because he gives us a little size."
Without Okur and Kirilenko, the mini-Jazz were outrebounded by the Bobcats, 38-24. Three times during the course of the game, Charlotte rebounded one of its own missed free throws and converted it into points.
"... We just have to concentrate a little harder and take care of the ball as a team, get better defensively and start knocking down some shots," said Brewer.

-- Steve Luhm

   I lost the five briefly items from the bottom of my notebook this morning. Not sure what happened, but just want to make sure everything is accounted for from last night's game.

    Deron Williams, Carlos Boozer, Andrei Kirilenko and Mehmet Okur were all included on the NBA's 2009 All-Star ballot. . . . Now in Washington, former Jazz guard Dee Brown will play against his old team tonight.. . . Ronnie Price was the first point guard off the bench in the first half, while Brevin Knight was first off the bench in the second half. . . .Jarron Collins dressed for the game but was available only in an emergency....Paul Millsap needed three stitches to close a gash under his right eye.

    --Ross Siler

   There was so much going on in Tuesday's game, it's a little hard to know where to begin. Deron Williams returned three weeks and three days after spraining his left ankle. Ronnie Brewer not only played the fourth quarter, he scored 16 points in it. Kyle Korver went back to Philadelphia for the first time and went 1-for-7.

    Probably the most interesting thing to me was watching Kosta Koufos . . . on the bench in the fourth quarter. The 19-year-old who answers questions "Yes, sir" and "No, sir" couldn't have been more animated. He punched the air after big plays, pumped his fist after free throws and hopped out of his seat in frustration after turnovers.

    We hadn't seen anything like this out of Koufos before Tuesday. It turns out the Jazz might have the Greek version of Ronny Turiaf on their roster, minus the dancing, of course.

    "Kosta is high wired, man," C.J. Miles said. "He's ready to go no matter what. You don't have to worry about energy problems, you don't have to worry about effort. You're just going to have to worry about sometimes he's going so fast that he forgets what he's doing."

    Koufos had a pretty impressive debut with six points, five rebounds and two blocks in 21 minutes. Before anyone gets too far ahead of themselves, remember that Kyrylo Fesenko also looked great against the Lakers last season. It's a little hard to judge when somebody's playing on pure adrenaline.

    The true test will come with Wednesday night's game against Washington. We'll see how Koufos handles playing the second game of a back-to-back. He did look pretty good against the Sixers tossing in hook shots around the basket, running the floor and fighting for rebounds.

    Jazz coach Jerry Sloan was especially happy with how Koufos kept his energy level high. Miles remembered how tired he was after making just three trips up the court in his first NBA game - - that's how fast it is at this level - - but said it looked like Koufos had gotten into a rhythm in the second half.

    There's definitely minutes to be had for a backup center on this team and you have to wonder whether Koufos staked his claim Tuesday. Fesenko's camp, meanwhile, has to be crestfallen that a visa appointment cost him the chance to start against the Sixers and prove himself to Sloan.

    Sloan sounded inclined Monday to start Fesenko until learning that he had the appointment in Toronto. Fesenko called Sloan late Monday to ask about rescheduling, I was told, but the Jazz decided it was too important. So Koufos played 21 minutes while Fesenko stood in line at customs, I presume.

    We'll see what happens when Jarron Collins returns, but it's clear he's going to have some competition from Koufos.

    * * *

    Credit to Deron Williams for coming back only three weeks and three days from suffering a second-degree sprained left ankle. If you've been following what happened to San Antonio's Tony Parker, the Spurs ruled him out for approximately four weeks with a similarly severe sprain.

    Williams admitted afterward that he wouldn't have played Tuesday had the Jazz beaten New York on Sunday and not had Mehmet Okur leave unexpectedly to attend to his ailing father in Turkey. Williams said there'd been too many bad trips last season to let another happen here in November.

    He clearly was a little shy about attacking the basket and had a hard time keeping up with Andre Miller on the defensive end. There was a moment in the second quarter, though, when the Jazz had Williams and Carlos Boozer work the pick-and-roll from the right wing.

    Boozer went to set the screen, then slipped it immediately and rolled to the basket. Both defenders stayed with Williams, who hit Boozer with a pass for a layup. That was one of six assists for Williams in the second quarter, on a play that showed just how quickly Williams and Boozer can pick up where they left off.

    * * *

    Didn't have the room in my game story, but the Jazz completely took the Sixers out of their game with a zone defense. Even Carlos Boozer admitted that while the Jazz aren't a team that plays a lot of zone, it definitely worked for them Tuesday. We've seen the Jazz got to the zone for longer stretches than the past in a couple of games so far.

    * * *

    No other way to say it: There's a lot of haters among Philadelphia sports fans. All Kyle Korver did during four seasons with the Sixers was embrace the team and the community. So, of course, Korver was cheered when he checked into the game and booed the rest of the way.

    There were only 12,839 at Wachovia Center, so you could hear a lot of jeers from the stands. One fan yelled out, "Hey Korver, nice socks you toolbag" during the fourth quarter. There was another, "Hey Korver, good game . . . not" cry in the final minute. At least Korver said afterward he knew what was coming from the fans.

    Before the game, I thought that Korver would struggle in his return to Philadelphia. Why? He's too nice not to stop and give every well-wisher a small slice of his time. All that adds up. The Jazz also spent a lot of time in Philadelphia by NBA standards - - arriving Sunday night - - and I'm sure Korver had a lot to squeeze in.

    Judging from the past two games, Ronnie Brewer is playing what looks more and more like true starter's minutes and Korver is playing more and more what look like bench minutes. That first and third, second and fourth quarter split we had last season has tilted in Brewer's favor, though it's still early.

    * * *

    That was a really miserable loss for Philadelphia, which had not played since Thursday. Thaddeus Young and Louis Williams combined to go 5 for 23. If the Sixers can become the Eastern Conference contender everyone expects, though, the Jazz's victory Tuesday could look a whole lot more impressive at the end of the season.

    * * *

    The Jazz held a frigid shootaround at Wachovia Center, where the loading dock was left open to the cold. C.J. MIles wore a long-sleeved warm-up top while several players dug their hands in their pockets on the court.

    "I was afraid to do too much with them," said Jazz coach Jerry Sloan, who remembered once playing a game at Chicago Stadium during his years with the Bulls when the temperature indoors was 39 degrees.

    --Ross Siler

   Since we're talking so much about Kyle Korver's return to Philadelphia on Tuesday, I think it's only appropriate to take a moment and remember Gordan Giricek, who was traded to the Sixers along with a future first-round draft pick for Korver last December.

    In seven months, Giricek was banished by Jerry Sloan, traded to Philadelphia, released by the Sixers after playing in 12 games, signed by Phoenix and then sign a two-year contract with a Fenerbahce, a Turkish club, this summer as a free agent.

    What you probably didn't know about Giricek is that he was on a mission to acquire a pair of hockey skates during his last season in the NBA. For what reason, I don't know. But he was even more determined after going to a Maple Leafs game in Toronto.

    The Jazz had made some calls on Giricek's behalf, but couldn't get anything done before the trade. Giricek, however, had a little more luck in Philadelphia, where the Flyers and Sixers both are owned by Comcast. A call was made. Skates were special ordered.

    By the time his skates arrived, though, Giricek was already on his way to Phoenix. The Sixers packed up the skates and shipped them to him. All I can say is that if Giricek ever comes to the NHL as a 6-foot-6 Croatian winger, you'll remember this story.

    We also will be returning Tuesday night to Wachovia Center, where Giricek had a memorable moment last season as a member of the Jazz.

    If you remember, Giricek was benched on the Jazz's entire three-game trip to Detroit, New York and Philadelphia in favor of Ronnie Price. It was the beginning of the end for him in Utah, although his meltdown with Sloan was still another month away.

    Giricek was walking from the locker room to the bus, talking to a friend. We were heading in the other direction and not going to interrupt him. He gets probably a good 20 yards past us, then turns around and yells, "Strike one. Strike two. Strike three. I'm out."

    You couldn't have summed up his road trip any more perfectly. He kept walking to the bus. We kept walking to the press room. Just one of those moments that you still laugh about as an NBA writer more than a year later.

    * * *

    As I'm typing, the Jazz and Kyrylo Fesenko's representatives are still trying to figure out a way that he can reschedule his visa appointment Tuesday in Toronto and play against the Sixers.

    From what I can gather, the Jazz scheduled the appointment and thought it would be easiest to get him in and out of Canada when they were on the East Coast. But they had no idea that Mehmet Okur would have to leave for Turkey because of a family illness.

    Jazz coach Jerry Sloan's preference would be to start Fesenko, not Kosta Koufos, against Philadelphia's Samuel Dalembert. Fesenko's camp thinks the opportunity is too important to miss and hopes to reschedule the appointment for another couple of weeks.

    The Jazz could have anywhere from 10 to 12 players in uniform against the Sixers depending on what happens with Fesenko and Deron Williams. We might not know more until Tuesday's morning shootaround.

    * * *

    Korver was asked a couple of questions by Philadelphia reporters about Sloan and his 1,000th victory as Jazz coach. Here's what he had to say: ''Everyone thinks he's crazy and yelling all the time. That's not the way he is at all. He's a really good guy, down to earth. He commands respect and he gives you that back as well. He's stuck there in Utah and he's going to stay as long as he wants.''

    --Ross Siler

   I hate the thinking that the Jazz are some team from the sticks that can't handle the bright lights of the big city.

    As someone pointed out, the Jazz have some of the most worldy players (Andrei Kirilenko, Mehmet Okur) in the NBA as well as others (Carlos Boozer, Deron Williams) who have played on the biggest stages basketball has to offer.

    Yet there's no escaping the fact that the Jazz have now lost to the Knicks at Madison Square Garden for a fifth consecutive season. For whatever reason, the Jazz do struggle in New York. Since they can't make it there, you have to wonder if they can make it anywhere, or so the song goes.

    The fact is that New York presents some obvious distractions, although probably not the ones that you think I'm going to mention. For one thing, there's a much larger than usual demand for tickets. Both Morris Almond and Kosta Koufos were looking for extras before the game, which I'm sure I haven't seen before.

    The NBA gives every player two tickets to every game, plus the opportunity to purchase additional tickets. The Jazz had to buy something like 40 extra tickets for Sunday's game. As much as I'm sure players would like to tell everyone to just take care of themselves, life doesn't work that way. It's an unavoidable distraction in New York.

    Another thing is the locker room is just crawling with people. There's extra reporters - - no surprise in the media capital - - but also representatives from the NBA Players Association, the league office and various agents. Everybody wants to say hello. Everybody has a question to ask. Again, it's an unavoidable distraction.

    Should the Jazz be able to handle these things? Of course. I'm not offering an excuse, just an explanation of the challenges that present themselves in New York. It's easy to fall into the trap the Jazz did Sunday of playing the Knicks at Mike D'Antoni speed instead of their own.

    "We've got to continue to play Jazz basketball no matter who we play," Boozer said, "and it seems like every time we come here, we start playing a little bit different."

    * * *

    It seemed to me that the Jazz did themselves no favors at the end of the second quarter.

    They had the chance to take a 10-point lead with two minutes to go. Jerry Sloan actually called a rare timeout mid-possession to make sure the Jazz took full advantage of the opportunity.

    Instead Mehmet Okur was stripped by Chris Duhon and Jamal Crawford wound up at the foul line. Crawford scored the Knicks' last 11 points of the the half, which kept them in striking distance going into halftime. The Jazz led only 54-49 despite shooting 58.5 percent in the half.

    The Jazz also couldn't make up ground fast enough in the fourth quarter. They closed within seven and had three chances to make it a five-point game, but Brevin Knight missed two open jumpers and Andrei Kirilenko missed a three-pointer.

    * * *

    The Jazz went nine players deep in Sunday's game and every one of those players had at least one turnover. Ronnie Brewer led the Jazz with four turnovers. The Jazz had 22 turnovers, compared to 18 for New York, but the difference was the Knicks converted the Jazz turnovers into 30 points, compared to eight points the other way around.

    * * *

    For one quarter at least, I thought I was going to be writing about the best game of Ronnie Brewer's career. As New York hit five three-pointers the first 6 1-2 minutes, Brewer helped the Jazz not only stay in the game, but take a seven-point lead.

    Brewer hit one 17-footer off a curl and knocked down back-to-back three-pointers later in the quarter. The Knicks abandoned him on defense and Brewer made them pay. He ran the floor for another two dunks and had 12 points and four steals at the end of the first.

    But Brewer didn't score the rest of the game. He had a career-high seven assists and seven steals, but also the four turnovers. Talking to him afterward, Brewer was upset that he didn't stay aggressive the entire game.

    * * *

    Maybe the Jazz should have sold high last season with that unprotected 2010 first-round draft pick they're still owed by the Knicks.

    It was hard to watch Wilson Chandler playing 31 minutes and not think that if New York is a lottery team next season, the Jazz won't be getting a top five pick. The Knicks will be good enough for that pick to likely fall between No. 14 or No. 8, for discussion sake.

    The Jazz still could add a solid piece - - remember where they drafted Ronnie Brewer - - but it's likely too much to expect that they'll get a franchise-changing player. Of course, it's probably smart to hold on to the pick and see what happens.

    * * *

    Classic moment before the game when a New York reporter was asking Sloan about his 1,000th victory as Jazz coach. He didn't even spit out the entire question before Sloan offered an answer.

    Q: Coach wil there be a time where you sit back and reflect on...

    A: Probably not. I'll probably still be in basketball.

    Unfortunately, Sloan left New York with his 597th loss as Jazz coach, not his 1,001st win.

    --Ross Siler