Offense is center of talk after Jazz loss
By Phil Miller
The Salt Lake Tribune
Article Last Updated:11/27/2006 02:12:37 AM MST

Whether it was Golden State's zone defense, or the Jazz's habit of starting
slowly - "casually" is their coach's favorite word to describe it - Utah's
offense seemed particularly off-balance in the early moments of Saturday's
91-78 loss to the Warriors.
    Five minutes into the game, in fact, the Jazz had taken just five shots,
a number nearly equaled by their four turnovers. Four of those five shots
were taken by point guard Deron Williams, and none by frontcourt scoring
leaders Carlos Boozer or Mehmet Okur.
    In fact, Boozer and Okur came into the game averaging 16 and 13 shots on
the season, but they managed only 12 - combined - the entire night.
    "We couldn't get the shots we wanted, the shots we normally get," said
Williams, flustered by the zone into an uncharacteristic (and season-high)
six-turnover night.
    But Jerry Sloan wasn't buying the zone-defense theory as the reason for
the Jazz's second loss. To Utah's coach, defense - or his team's lack of it -
was a much bigger culprit. The Warriors owned the lane, finding 54 points
worth of layups. [ culprit: 被告 ]
    "We were totally confused [by the zone]. We were so confused, they got 20
offensive rebounds," Sloan said drily. "I'm sure the zone defense was a big
topic of discussion, but I was disappointed in the way we defended them. . . .
 I'm always concerned with what we do offensively, because that so often
controls what we do defensively."
    That's why Sloan was annoyed with Andrei Kirilenko, though he wouldn't
criticize the Russian by name. One night after focusing on feeding his
teammates and defending the Lakers - Kirilenko took only one shot in the win
over the Lakers - the recently returned starter tried to jump-start his
offensive game again.
    Kirilenko missed his first six shots in Oakland, and went 0-for-5 from
the three-point line. He refused to blame rustiness borne of a two-week
layoff with a sprained ankle, saying, "Whose [shot] was going? I mean, I'm
trying to get us going. . . . I'm not in 100 percent shape, but it's not
something [that mattered]. They just beat us. They outhustled us. That's bad."
    Sloan, however, wasn't crazy with his team's shot selection, at least in
the first quarter.
    "Here's the problem we have sometimes in the early part of the ballgame:
They have to prove they can take the shot," he said. "Sometimes I'm a little
patient with it because I think everybody has to get themselves going once in
awhile. But it's a hazard to us when we just take shots. Because we've got
four other people out there who don't know when the shot's going to go up.
When you pull up and take it, now that puts them in a situation where they
don't know how to react defensively."
    So Boozer and Okur's lack of shots was a symptom of a bigger problem,
Sloan added.
    "It's pretty hard to find [Boozer] if you're not looking to pass, you're
just looking to shoot the ball," he said. "Even against a man-to-man defense,
that's a huge concern."

    [e-mail]

http://www.sltrib.com/jazz/ci_4727613

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