Utah Jazz Notes

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.”

Like many of you, I'm wondering if the Jazz can possibly bounce back from their fourth-quarter debacle in Dallas on Tuesday night.

Losing after taking a 16-point lead in the fourth quarter was one of the top-five meltdowns in franchise history. So I checked the other four Great Collapses to see if a loss like the one Utah suffered in Dallas can have a hangover effect.

The results seem to indicate a mixed bag -- no definitive trend.

-- On April 7, 2007, Seattle rallied from a 87-67 deficit to beat the Jazz, 106-103. Utah lost its next two games, 126-102 at Golden State and 115-106 at home to Denver.

-- On March 21, 1999, the Jazz squandered a 76-60 lead in Detroit and lost to the Pistons in overtime, 104-101. But Utah bounced back with consecutive wins over Miami (84-81) and Vancouver (85-80).

-- On Nov. 30, 1977, the New Orleans Jazz blew a 91-76 lead against Philadelphia and lost, 117-114. They proceeded to lose five straight road games to San Antonio, Buffalo, Indiana, Washington and Detroit.

-- On Feb. 1, 1993, the Jazz owned a 75-60 lead over Chicago before losing, 96-92. But they won four of their next five, with the only loss coming in Los Angeles against the Lakers, 114-110.

-- Steve Luhm

In the wake of a recent blog about the Jazz's lack of toughness, I present the fourth quarter of Tuesday night's inexplicable 96-85 loss at Dallas.

Exhibit A, your honor.

I rest my case.

Dirk Nowitzki scored 29 points during the Mavericks' 44-point outburst, which resulted one of the five greatest collapses in New Orleans/Utah Jazz history.

Nowitzki was outstanding. No question. He deserves all the credit in the world for leading his team back from a 16-point deficit.

On the other hand, did the Jazz ever try to physically stand up to Nowitzki? I know he shot 14 free throws in a span of nine minutes, but did any of the Jazz's fouls send any kind of message? Did any of those fouls notify Nowitzki that Jazz players weren't going to accept being embarrassed? Did any of those fouls do anything except say, "Go ahead, Mr. Nowitzki. Do whatever you want to do. Go where you want to go?"

I don't think so.

Now don't go PETA on me. I'm not advocating that the Jazz should have made like Manu Ginobili and knock the flying Nowitzki out of the air. But I'm sure a little resistance would have at least assured their fans watching in Utah that they cared.

It's ironic, too, that the Jazz treated Nowitzki like fine china. After all, Dirk has been kicked out of EnergySolutions Arena for committing nasty, flagrant fouls more often than Karl Malone.

-- Steve Luhm