Utah Jazz Notes

Had to laugh in the first quarter Thursday when Spurs coach Gregg Popovich watched his team give up consecutive baskets and called timeout with 4:19 left. That was barely a minute after a television timeout with 5:34 remaining.

In other words, Popovich was being the anti-Jerry Sloan from Tuesday’s loss in Dallas. It should be noted, though, that the Spurs were outscored 7-2 after Popovich’s timeout and 14-8 the remainder of the quarter.

Just something to think about the next time we have one of these Sloan timeout mini-controversies in the future.

* * * 

Not only did Carlos Boozer finish with 27 points and 14 rebounds, he started his Defensive Player of the Year campaign as well. Boozer had two steals, two blocks and twice tied up Tim Duncan for jump balls in the first half.

For whatever reason, Boozer seems to play well against Duncan. “Any time you play good defense against a great player like Tim Duncan, you build off that and you get confidence,” Boozer said.

It was a huge night for Boozer, who was greeted by boos after he was short on a jumper three minutes into the game. By the end of the night, Boozer’s announcement as the Workers Compensation Fund player of the game was met with strong cheers.

Walking back to the press room after the final horn, I spotted Boozer’s father talking with Jazz general manager Kevin O’Connor’s wife. Just a reminder that for all the attention focused on Boozer, it’s worth remembering that he has a family like everybody else.

* * *

The Jazz managed to hold Tony Parker to just four points and an assist in the second half after Parker had a 13-point second quarter, aided by the seven free throws he shot.

* * *

It’s looking more and more as if Kosta Koufos and Eric Maynor are out of the Jazz’s rotation. Neither played until the final two minutes of Thursday’s game. Koufos has logged more than three minutes in only of the Jazz’s first five games.

Kyrylo Fesenko and Wesley Matthews, meanwhile, are on the fringes. Some nights they play - - Matthews rose to the occasion in 25 minutes against San Antonio - - and other nights they don’t. This is an especially challenging role for Fesenko.

* * *

The Utah Flash made my day - - and maybe even my season - - by selecting Augusta State center Garret Siler in the first round of the NBA Development League draft.

In fact, I’ve already thought about the possibility of the Jazz making a move before the February trade deadline, freeing up a roster spot and signing Siler to a 10-day contract. That way we’d have Silers both covering and playing for the Jazz.

The sight of a Siler nameplate in the locker room would be too good to be true. If that happens, I’m lobbying equipment manager Brian Zettler to put him in a locker next to Deron Williams'.

--Ross Siler

This is an admission of sorts: During the first days of training camp, I dubbed Wesley Matthews “All-World Wes Matthews.” The thinking was that Matthews had to secretly be an all-world talent for Jazz coach Jerry Sloan to talk so much about a player who averaged 6.2 points and shot 34.8 percent at the Orlando summer league.

It also was a way to distinguish Matthews - - “A.W.W.M” - - from the likes of Goran Suton, Paul Harris, Spencer Nelson, Ronald Dupree and Alex Johnson, guys the Jazz invited to training camp but had little intention of keeping. The same originally was true for Matthews, given the team’s $82 million luxury-tax payroll.

Of course, then the Jazz headed to Europe, Matthews got the start in London after C.J. Miles suffered his thumb injury and he responded with a 16-point effort. If he could do it overseas, then Wesley Matthews truly had to be all-world. The nickname stuck, at least among the beat writers.

Not only did he end up making the Jazz’s roster, but after Thursday’s game against San Antonio, the story of “All-World Wes Matthews” keeps getting better and better.

Matthews finished with 12 points and two steals in 25 minutes, playing ahead of Ronnie Brewer in the fourth quarter. Think about it for a second: Sloan had Matthews - - an undrafted rookie - - on the court for the final 15 minutes in the Jazz’s biggest victory of the season to date.

He spent the game attacking the basket, driving on Richard Jefferson for a three-point play in the first quarter, knocking down a three-pointer in the closing seconds of the third quarter to give the Jazz a 15-point lead and getting out for a dunk in the fourth quarter. He could have had a 14-point game had he not gone 1-for-3 at the foul line.

“I ain’t got words for it right now,” Matthews said. “I’m just excited to get this win more than anything. We’re all competitors, we all love to win, that’s what we’re here to do, and to get this win tonight against a team like that, it’s just a great feeling.”

“He played pretty good,” Sloan added. “He’s not afraid. He’s not afraid to use his body. He gets up and tries to play people on the defensive end. We’re looking for some of that, so we let him play some.”

It was said in the first quarter that Jefferson probably had no idea who Matthews was when he scored on him. Actually, Jefferson might have been one of the few, having spent last season in Milwaukee, where Matthews played in college at Marquette.

“Attacking the basket, I feel that’s one of my strong suits,” Matthews said. “If I get a lane, I’m going to go. 

“There’s a couple times earlier in preseason, the first couple games, where I felt like I was putting pressure on the team by not taking the shots or driving to the basket because now I’m making them dribble and shoot at the shot clock. I’m just taking what the defense gives me and trying to finish.”

Even after he made the Jazz’s opening night roster - - thanks in no small part to the injuries to Miles and Kyle Korver - - Matthews vowed that he wasn’t going to be satisfied with just that. I asked him after Thursday’s game if he felt like he was contributing and establishing himself.

“A little bit,” Matthews said, “but there’s still things I can do better. I feel like I can always get better, every player can always get better. I’ve just got to keep going out there, proving myself, making sure that I’m bringing energy every day and defense. That’s my mind-set.

“Offense just happens when I’m playing with guys like Booz and D-Will and A.K. and everybody. I just have to make sure I’m just doing the right things.”

Is he settling into his situation with the Jazz? “A little bit,” he said again. “I’m still new to everything, but I’m excited. This is an exciting time for everybody. We get to play the sport we love for a living.”

Deron Williams said it best about Matthews in the preseason: He might not wow you in any one department, but he doesn’t do anything wrong, either. 

There’s also something about his story. Case in point: Flipping through the Jazz’s media guide after Dirk Nowitzki’s 29-point fourth quarter in Dallas, one name jumped off the page.

It turns out that Matthews’ father, Wes, who played nine NBA seasons, including on two Lakers championship teams in the 1980s, owns the Jazz record for most assists in a quarter by an opposing player. Matthews Sr. had 10 assists in the second quarter of a Jan. 8, 1988 game when he was with the Lakers.

There’s no guarantees what will happen once Miles and Korver make their return. Matthews, however, has seen 65 minutes of action through five games compared to 15 for first-round draft pick Eric Maynor. If he continues to play the way he did Thursday, it seems likely we’ll be seeing a lot more of “All-World” this season.

--Ross Siler

Two days after Dirk Nowitzki torched the Jazz for 29 points in the fourth quarter of the Mavericks' 96-85 win, coach Jerry Sloan was still being questioned about the team's defensive strategy in that game.

After Thursday morning's shootaround, Sloan was asked if he considered switching Memo Okur off Nowitzki in favor of Andrei Kirilenko.

"We talked about it," Sloan said. "I just didn't do it. Phil [Johnson] and I talked about it on the bench. I didn't do it. All your questions are valid. If I could answer all those when the game is going on I'd be perfect. I wouldn't have anything for you guys to talk about."

At that point, TNT's Craig Sager asked Sloan if Kirilenko was the kind of player who would ask to guard the white-hot Nowitzki.

"I didn't hear anybody say they wanted to guard him," Sloan said. "[But] maybe it's my hearing."

According to Sloan, he stuck with Okur on Nowitzki because Carlos Boozer had five fouls and the Jazz needed him on the floor. He didn't run Deron Williams at Nowitzki because he wanted the Jazz point guard to stick with Jason Kidd, who "... has always shot threes well against us."

Sloan considered bringing Paul Millsap into the game to guard Nowitzki, but he probably would have replaced Okur and that would have made the Jazz extremely small. Okur is also the Jazz's best three-point threat

"Maybe we could have done something different defensively," Sloan said. "You always second-guess yourself on those things. ... I could second-guess myself to no end in this business. But give them credit, we let a game get away from us that we felt like we could win and that's like life.

"If things don't go especially well, what are you going to do about it? Hang your head and feel sorry or blame somebody else? The best thing to do about it now is just go play and try to get back on track with a win."

-- Steve Luhm

Deron Williams seemed a little subdued after the Jazz's shootaround on Thursday morning at EnergySolutions Arena.

I guess that's understandable, given Utah's 1-3 record.

Williams stopped on his way out of the locker room to answer reporters' questions, but he spoke quietly and was succinct.

Why are the Jazz struggling to finish games, especially Tuesday's 96-85 loss at Dallas?

"We're just losing in the fourth [quarter]," he said. "No excuse. As a team, we just didn't play well."

Is the problem a focus thing? An effort thing?

"It's a wanting-to-win thing," Williams said. "We've got to want to win and put together 48 minutes of basketball."

Is he getting tired of questions about the Jazz's inability to defend?

"It's a problem area," he said, "so people are going to ask about it."

Through four games, Williams averages 22.3 points, 8.8 assists and 4.5 rebounds. But he's playing 40.3 minutes a game -- over five minutes more than his career average. He's also shooting only 43.8 percent from the field.

All those numbers are probably a direct result of the Jazz having to depend too much on Williams because Carlos Boozer is struggling with this shot (35 percent) and injuries have sidelined Kyle Korver and C.J. Miles.

-- Steve Luhm

Thought you might like to glance at the Jazz-Spurs story by Jeff McDonald in Thursday morning's San Antonio Express-News.

Note Tim Duncan's reference to the Jazz's always-physical style of play.

Obviously, coach Gregg Popovich hasn't made the Spurs watch any Jazz tape lately:

SALT LAKE CITY — There are times when Spurs coach Gregg Popovich can't help but feel overwhelmed by the crush of modernity.

He is an old-school coach and an older-school guy, the type who would rather get his news from CNN than a PDA, doesn't care to know how to check his cell phone voice mail, and still thinks of a “tweet” only in terms of avian communication.

That's why it is comforting, a handful of times each year, when Popovich can look down an NBA sideline and see one time-worn face that seemingly never changes, crooked nose and all. In a fleeting world, thank goodness for death, taxes and Jerry Sloan.

“You know exactly what you're going to get,” Popovich said. “Every single game, every single year.”

Sloan has been on the Utah bench for 22-plus seasons, calling for the same steady diet of pick-and-rolls and preaching the same basketball-as-a-wrestling-match philosophy since John Stockton was in short shorts.

Popovich and Sloan, the NBA's two longest-tenured coaches, renew their relationship tonight at Energy Solutions Arena, in a game that kicks off the stoutest early-season test of the new-look Spurs to date.

After venturing into Salt Lake City, where the Jazz were 33-8 last season, the Spurs travel to Portland on Friday for a game at the Rose Garden, where the Trail Blazers were 34-7.

Spurs guard Manu Ginobili did not downplay the significance of the trip.

“Huge,” Ginobili said. “Two really tough opponents that always give us trouble, back-to-back, on the road. They're going to be really tough games to win. They are good squads, and in their building, they are even stronger.”

The Blazers, especially, tend to ride the crest of their home crowd dramatically.

Led by scoring star Brandon Roy, forward LaMarcus Aldridge — fresh off a lucrative contract extension — and one of the league's deepest benches, the youthful Blazers are a handful for visiting foes. Portland's home mark was second-best in the Western Conference last season, trailing only the L.A. Lakers.

“A lot of times with young teams, you see that,” Spurs guard Roger Mason Jr. said. “They've got great talent, one of the most talented teams in the league. So their fans get behind them, and they get juiced.”

The Spurs' first attempt at negotiating a back-to-back this season did not go well. After routing New Orleans at home to open the season Oct. 28, the Spurs came out flat in Chicago the next night and lost 92-85.

“It was really bad,” Ginobili said. “We didn't play good at all. We didn't bring that energy we need to beat any team.”

With four days off since their last game, energy should not be a problem for the Spurs. Their two opponents, backed by two of the league's more raucous home crowds, could be.

Before the Spurs can get to Portland, where they haven't won since April 6, 2008, they must first make a stopover in Utah.

Despite a hot start from Deron Williams, Utah has struggled out of the gate, going 1-3, including a rare home loss to Houston. After that game, Rockets rookie Chase Budinger wondered what all the EnergySolutions Arena fuss was about.

Tim Duncan, who has received his share of lumps in Utah during his 12-plus seasons, knows better than to question the Jazz's home aura. Visiting teams know what is in store “every time,” he says.

“You're going to get beat up,” Duncan said. “It's going to be a very physical game. There are going to be a lot of fouls. That's set in stone from the get-go.”

It's a hard-nosed approach to the game that Sloan has instilled in his roster since the 1980s. For an old-school guy like Popovich, that consistency can be a comforting thought.

“He is a great coach,” Popovich said. “The discipline and work ethic they display night after night is always the most impressive in the league.”