Utah Jazz Notes

The questions about the Jazz’s defensive and road woes have gotten so repetitive - - I’m as guilty as anyone - - that there’s rarely any new ground broken with the answers.

Jazz coach Jerry Sloan did make an interesting point Monday, noting that the Jazz struggled on the road even at the start of the John Stockton/Karl Malone era.

“We never won on the road until we brought Jeff Hornacek to this team,” Sloan said. “I had John and Karl for all those years, we never had a winning record on the road. It was basically we were struggling to get to .500.”

“When we put Jeff on our team, it gave us another guy that had some toughness, knew how to play on the road, knew how to make decisions, and once you have people that know how to do that, you have a better chance of winning.”

Hornacek arrived for the 1993-94 season, with the Jazz having finished no better than 19-22 on the road before that with Stockton and Malone. They posted a 27-14 road record in 1994-95 and were 26-15 in their back-to-back NBA Finals seasons.

--Ross Siler

If you happen to receive an autographed Jazz basketball this season, it’s almost guaranteed to have been signed Monday. Every October, the Jazz dedicate one day (and one entire practice court) to taking care of all the autographed items needed.

They set up tables with some 600 basketballs to sign, as well as a host of other items, including children’s books, ceramic Halloween pumpkins, Christmas ornaments and racing helmets from Miller Motorsports Park.

Jazz coach Jerry Sloan even signed three John Deere hats and one throwback Chicago Bulls jersey.

It might be the one day when it’s better to be Wesley Matthews than Deron Williams. Matthews just had to work his way through the balls; Williams had a pile of jerseys to sign next to him that would rival anything seen on the floor at a laundromat.

“You just kind of fall into a little rhythm and then after a while, you’re like, ‘OK my wrist hurts,’” Ronnie Price said.

“I start really nice and slowly signing,” Mehmet Okur said, “and I saw like 500 balls and I was like, ‘Keep going, Memo. You can’t wait.’”

I asked Ronnie Brewer how many times he signs autographs each year and he couldn’t even venture a guess.

“I think more of the fan stuff, it’s a little funner because you get to interact with the people and see their faces and see how excited they are,” Brewer said, “but this kind of gets boring and repetitive. But you have to do it. It’s part of being part of the Jazz.”

My questions are whether C.J. Miles is going to have to sign all those basketballs right-handed, since his left hand is in a cast after thumb surgery, and whether somebody’s going to send Matt Harpring 600 balls to sign. 

Harpring’s at home in Atlanta battling potentially career-ending ankle and knee problems, but he’s still technically on the Jazz roster. Make sure your ceramic pumpkin has No. 15’s signature on it!

--Ross Siler

Former BYU star Lee Cummard is back in the United States after an abbreviated season in Europe and close to signing with the Utah Flash of the NBA Developmental League.

Last summer, Cummard signed a contract with Alba Berlin, a prominent professional club in Germany. He signed for one year with a team option for a second year. But things didn't go well and Alba Berlin recently bought  out Cummard's contract.

If Cummard ends up playing for the Orem-based Utah Flash, could be a perfect fit.

After a standout career at BYU, he would obviously be popular with the fans in Utah County. Playing in the D-League would also give him a continued opportunity to demonstrate his ability to NBA scouts.

As a junior at BYU, Cummard was the co-Mountain West Conference player of the year. As a senior, he averaged 16.8 points, 6.2 rebounds and 3.4 assists while leading the Cougars to their third straight NCAA tournament.

-- Steve Luhm

Based on the roster numbers alone, you’d have to expect that Kyrylo Fesenko and/or Kosta Koufos will see action early in the season. The Jazz at most will have 11 players in uniform, with Fesenko and Koufos offering options as big men.

The two put up impressive rebounding numbers in the preseason, but that was about it. Koufos shot just 35.1 percent (13-for-37) while Fesenko was called for 23 fouls in 73 minutes of action, a foul rate of one every 3 minutes, 10 seconds.

After Friday’s game in Sacramento, Sloan was asked about the young centers and offered a comment that seemed directed toward Koufos, who has had trouble with recognition at both the offensive and defensive ends.

“If we’re running a play, you’ve got to know where you’re supposed to be,” Sloan said. “If you’re doing something defensively, you’ve got to know what the game plan is. 

“You’ve got to get up and guard people if they can shoot the ball. You can’t just lay back and think you’re playing a zone all the time. If you let people shoot in your face, they’ll have you sitting up in the bleachers if you’re not careful.”

At the pregame shootaround, Sloan was asked about Fesenko. It’s probably worth another reminder that Fesenko is only 22, while Koufos is still just 20.

“He’s not being redshirted,” Sloan said of Fesenko. “He’s here to play and try to get better. Obviously, we have some issues once in and while with his work habits. But he’s got to continue to work.”

The Jazz could opt for a frontcourt rotation of Carlos Boozer, Mehmet Okur, Paul Millsap and Andrei Kirilenko (seeing time at power forward) that would cut out both Fesenko and Koufos from the equation.

Sloan indicated that he would use Fesenko only against another true center. Koufos always can get time in the NBA Development League, but Fesenko does not have the same option and either has to play with the Jazz or end up stuck on the bench.

It was interesting to note Sacramento’s interest in signing a free-agent center like Jake Voskuhl, given the much-discussed connection between Fesenko and the Kings through former agent Jason Levien.

--Ross Siler

Having answered so many questions about the Jazz’s road struggles the last two seasons, Deron Williams had a funny exchange with reporters Sunday who brought up the subject once again.

“Speaking of the road, you guys were not good on the road last year....” started the questioner.

“Says who?” Williams interrupted.

“Says 15-26” was the answer. Williams laughed. You can’t argue with that kind of record, after all.

The Jazz will have a prime chance to start the season with something positive on the road when they open at Denver on Wednesday. The Nuggets will be missing the suspended J.R. Smith for the game and made few roster upgrades this summer.

But the Jazz know that it will take a season of consistency on the road to erase their past woes. They did win their last three preseason games on the road, which Williams greeted by saying, “You’ve got to start somewhere.”

“You guys have asked us a lot of times last year, why, what’s the reason, and there’s no excuse,” Williams said. “It’s a matter of wanting to go out and get stops, it’s a matter of showing some character, showing some fight on the road. I love playing on the road, personally.”

The Jazz went 1-12 on the road against the West’s seven other playoff teams last season. General manager Kevin O’Connor said the team discussed changing everything from diet to scheduling in an attempt to produce better road results.

In the end, O’Connor concluded that the Jazz weren’t doing anything out of the ordinary as far as their charter flights, hotel accommodations and injury treatment availability.

“I think we’re very similar to anybody else on the road,” O’Connor said. “I don’t think the travel arrangements are much different than anywhere else. I just think it’s a matter of us getting a little mentally tougher and getting a little older.”

Two things that Jazz don’t do (which I’ve dubbed the “nuclear option”) that they could consider if things don’t improve on the road is holding shootarounds on the second day of back-to-back sets and/or practicing the day after back-to-backs.

--Ross Siler