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Morning Shootaround — April 2

April 2, 2013  ·  8:00AM

Missed a game last night? Wondering what the latest news around the NBA is this morning? The Morning Shootaround is here to try to meet those needs and keep you up on what’s happened around the league since the day turned.

The one recap to watch: Several good ones to pick from last night, including the sizzling Jazz winning their fifth straight, the Rockets rolling along with James Harden on the bench and the Pacers doing just enough to escape the Clips in L.A. But we’ve gotta give it up for the Grizzlies this morning for their win over the (albeit injury-depleted) Spurs last night.  Memphis was at it’s Grit-and-Grind best and showed they can change up their style a bit, too. With San Antonio pressuring big men Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol all night (and neither one having a particularly wowing stat line), the Grizz turned to Mike Conley, who came through time after time and nailed the game-winning layup with :00.6 left.

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News of the morning

Why Heat weren’t punished for resting Wade, James | Smith becoming an all-around force | Shaq’s big day in L.A. | Corbin pulls prank on Jefferson | Dunlap glad Bobcats have tough schedule

Heat escape punishment for resting stars – Heading into Sunday night’s Heat-Spurs matchup in San Antonio, one of the talking points was the team’s last meeting in December. That game is famously known for two reasons: first, for Spurs coach Gregg Popovich sending Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, Tony Parker and Danny Green back to San Antonio to get rest rather than play them in back-to-back games and second, for the Spurs giving the fully stocked Heat a real game despite missing those standout players. The rematch on Sunday lacked LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Mario Chalmers, who all sat out due to injury but, unlike the Spurs’ quartet in December, were sitting on Miami’s bench during the Heat’s eventual win. Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today explains why the Spurs were fined $250,000 for their antics in December and the Heat weren’t leveled any punishment for theirs:

There are multiple reasons why NBA Commissioner David Stern hammered the Spurs:

It was an early-season game, long before it becomes customary for playoff teams to give top players a game off.

The Spurs didn’t list a reason why their players (who were sent home) didn’t play other than “NWT” — Not With Team. The Heat gave reasons for James (strained right hamstring) and Wade (sprained right ankle).

In a statement addressing the Spurs’ fine in November, Stern said the Spurs violated league policy “against resting players in manner contrary to the best interests of the NBA. … The team also did this without informing the Heat, the media, or the league office in a timely way. Under these circumstances, I have concluded that the Spurs did a disservice to the league and our fans.”

It can be concluded that the Heat informed the Spurs, media and league office in a timely way, since Miami was not penalized.

At the April 2010 Board of Governors meeting just before the playoffs began, Stern said owners addressed the issue of teams sitting players in the final weeks of the season and concluded, “We also had what I would call a spirited discussion on the subject of players being rested down the stretch. And I think it’s fair to say that there was no conclusion reached, other than a number of teams thought that it should be at the sole discretion of the team, coach, general manager, and I think it’s fair to say that I agree with that, unless that discretion is abused.”

It can also be concluded that Popovich abused that discretion in November and Heat coach Erik Spoelstra did not in late March.

Knicks’ Smith picks up his all-around game — J.R. Smith is the reigning Eastern Conference Player of the Week for the usual reason players get that award: he’s been sizzling hot in his last few games. In the last three weeks in particular, Smith has forsaken his love of the 3-pointer for more aggressive drives to the basket and is doing work on the glass as well. Tommy Beer of HoopsWorld.com has more on Smith, who is rolling and fueling the Knicks as they are in the midst of an eight-game win streak:

Smith has been consistently aggressive. He’s relentlessly attacking the basket rather than settling for perimeter jumpers.

Consider these statistics to help put Smith’s recent play in proper context: Smith played 35 games for the Knicks last season after signing with New York in mid-February and attempted a total of 55 free throws over the course of the 2011-12 season. In contrast, over the Knicks’ last 10 games, Smith has attempted 89 free throws. Yes, he has gotten to the line 34 more times in 25 fewer games.

Over this 10-game stretch, dating back to March 14, Smith is tied with Kevin Durant for the most free throw attempts in the entire league.

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During this current 10-game span, Smith is shooting over 48 percent from the floor and has scored 250 points on just 168 field goal attempts. Those numbers compare favorably with even the league’s most efficient scorers.

Smith certainly hasn’t eliminated the three-pointer from his arsenal (he averaged 6.3 three-point attempts in March), he’s just been more selective. In addition, he has drastically reduced the amount of long two-pointers he’s taking. Smith is either taking threes or getting to basket, which typically results in a dunk, lay-up or trip to the charity stripe.

In March, Smith was one of just five NBA players who knocked down at least 20 three-pointers as well as 80 free throws. The other four members of that exclusive club: LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, James Harden and Durant.

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Coming into this season, Smith had never averaged more than 4.1 rebounds per contest, but is pulling down 5.2 rebounds a night in 2012-13. He’s also dishing out a career-best 2.8 assists per game. He is one of just six players this season averaging at least 17 points, five rebounds and 1.3 steals (Russell Westbrook, James, Durant, Paul George and Rudy Gay are the other five).

O’Neal readies for his moment to be immortalized — To a generation, Shaquille O’Neal may mostly be known as the new face on Inside the NBA, a pitchman and an adopter of practically all forms of social media. But before you pigeonhole Shaq as merely and entertainer, don’t forget his days as the most dominant force in the league as a member of the Los Angeles Lakers. Although O’Neal never played an entire healthy season in L.A., he nonetheless ran roughshod over opponents, particularly during the Lakers’ three-peat years from 2000-02. Tonight, his No. 34 jersey will be hung from the rafters at Staples Center, joining other Laker legends as we all take a moment to reflect on his career, writes Ben Bolch of the Los Angeles Times:

If Shaquille O’Neal needed a nickname on his first day as a Laker, it could have been the Big Worrywart.

As dominant as he was, the best big man in the NBA recognized he represented just a fraction of the Lakers centers who had come before him.

George Mikan won six titles while becoming Mr. Basketball. Wilt Chamberlain won two titles (one as a Laker) and scored 100 points in a game. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar won six titles (five as a Laker) and was the league’s all-time leading scorer.

What had O’Neal done, besides help the Orlando Magic go poof in a four-game sweep during the 1995 Finals?

“It was something I was terrified of,” O’Neal said of the Lakers’ legacy of centers. “We made it to the Finals that one year. That was good, but it wasn’t as good as them yet. Because in my mind I’m like, ‘Wilt’s got two [titles], Kareem’s got six and I have none.’”

O’Neal’s insecurities were only reinforced when Jerry West, then the Lakers’ executive vice president, placed his hands on the center’s broad shoulders shortly after he joined the team in July 1996 and told him to look up at the jerseys hanging from the rafters inside the Forum.

“He said, ‘Son, if you do everything correctly and do everything in a professional manner,’” O’Neal said, recalling their conversation, “‘you may be up there one day.’”

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O’Neal was famous for bestowing nicknames upon himself: Shaq-Fu, Big Aristotle and MDE, for Most Dominant Ever.

He never called himself the best Lakers center ever, and he isn’t about to now.

“I’m just good enough to be in the conversation,” said O’Neal, 41, who was given the night off from the TNT broadcast of the Lakers-Mavericks game to enjoy his jersey retirement ceremony.

O’Neal overpowered defenders, using his massive 7-1, 340-pound body as leverage before spinning away for layups or dunks. He teamed with Kobe Bryant to help the Lakers win three straight titles from 2000-02. “My style was dominating and intimidating people, making them quit, making them flop,” O’Neal said.

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He does have a few regrets about a career in which injuries limited him to an average of 63 games a season.

“I’m kind of upset with myself for missing 250 games,” said O’Neal, who ranks sixth on the NBA’s all-time scoring list with 28,596 points. “If I had played those games and gotten an extra 5,000 points, I would have passed Wilt Chamberlain and then I would have the right to say I’m the most dominant big man ever to play.”

Corbin pranks red-hot Jefferson — The Jazz are the hottest team in the West, having won five straight games. Those victories have come at an opportune time, considering Utah is in a scrap with Dallas and the L.A. Lakers for the No. 8 spot in the West (although Utah does hold the tie-breakers over both teams). Key in that surge of late has been center Al Jefferson, who was named the Western Conference Player of the Week and has dominated inside while the Jazz are slowly regaining the rhythm that made them a solid-if-not-certain playoff team earlier in the season. Jody Genessy of the Deseret News has more on Jefferson, his award and a little joke played on him by his coach, Tyrone Corbin:

Al Jefferson got an unexpected phone call from Jazz coach Tyrone Corbin on Monday afternoon.

At first, Big Al thought he might be in trouble.

Jefferson then wondered if he was a prank victim.

“He called me out of the blue, and I was thinking I did something wrong,” said Jefferson, who then quickly was reminded it was April Fools’ Day. “(Coach) was like, ‘Yeah, I’m calling to trade you. …

“But, oh yeah, that’s right,” Corbin added, “we can’t trade.”

The real reason for the call?

The coach was informing Jefferson he’d been named the NBA’s Western Conference player of the week.

“I think it’s a tremendous honor for where we are,” Corbin said. “He’s a huge part of the success that we’re having.”

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Big Al averaged 19.8 points, 8.3 rebounds, 2.3 steals and 1.5 blocks during the pivotal week, which helped the Jazz work their way back into the eighth and final playoff spot out West.

“It really did (surprise me). It caught me off guard so bad,” Jefferson said. “I’m so focused trying to just get into the playoffs. I ain’t really thought about our record this week and what I averaged this week.”

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Jefferson, who had 24 points and 10 rebounds in Utah’s 112-102 win over Portland on Monday, has been named a player of the week five times in his nine-year career, including twice with the Jazz (the first time being April 23, 2012).

That came as a surprise to him. He thought this was his fourth time.

“For real?” he said when informed he’s earned the honor twice in Utah, twice in Minnesota and once with Boston. “It’s a great feeling, but there’s bigger fish to fry. The main goal is to win a championship.”

Dunlap glad Bobcats face tough final schedule — Charlotte is in a game-by-game battle with Orlando for the worst record in the Eastern Conference and is set up for likely a third straight season of 25 wins or less. Of the Bobcats’ final eight games, five are against playoff teams. That would seem to be exactly what a young, struggling team like Charlotte wouldn’t want to face, but coach Mike Dunlap tells Charles F. Gardner of The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel the opposite is true:

Charlotte coach Mike Dunlap said he’s glad his team is playing teams in contention for the playoffs.

“The great thing about playing the Bucks tonight is they have the playoff fever,” Dunlap said. “Every possession presents itself with an intensity that is good for our young guys to understand.”

Charlotte scored 60 points in the first half but only 42 in the second half as the Bucks won their 10th consecutive home game against the Bobcats.

The Bucks and Bobcats met twice early in the season, with Charlotte prevailing at home, 102-98, on Nov. 19 and the Bucks winning at home, 108-93, on Dec. 7.

Charlotte started 7-5, matching its total of victories last season. But it has won just 10 more times since that promising start.

“Youth, is one,” Dunlap said. “And two is you have them in a concentrated period of the training camp and you come right into the season. There’s a bit of fizz there in terms of clarity.

“We’ve had a story line that’s quiet. But we’ve run into major injuries. We’re on the margin, so when a Gerald Henderson is out for the better part of two months, that impacts us. You can see what he’s doing. Then (Ramon) Sessions goes out. We can’t afford to lose a Sessions. That’s like losing a (Mario) Chalmers or something along those lines.”

ICYMI of the night: Game by game, Ricky Rubio is regaining the form that made him a standout last season and, game by game, Derrick Williams is benefiting from Rubio’s play … :

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All That Jazz Puts Heat on Lakers

March 30, 2013  ·  2:22PM

HANG TIME, Texas — As Dean Wormer might have once said to Flounder in “Animal House”: “Losing nine out of 11 games is no way to make the playoffs, son.”

But here are the Jazz, back up and dancing like Otis Day & The Knights are playing at a toga party, suddenly the owners of a three-game winning streak and… wait for it… a road win.

When Utah won at Portland for its first victory on the road since Feb. 13, it jumped the Jazz over the Lakers and back into the last playoff spot in the Western Conference.

According to Bill Oram of the Salt Lake Tribune, the chatter was back in the Jazz locker room after they rallied from nine, 14 and nine down again in the fourth quarter on Friday night.

“Winning does that,” Mo Williams said. “Winning puts you in a good mood, especially when you care. Top to bottom, people care here, when you lose you feel down. It’s not so jolly, it’s not so loose.”

Earlier in the evening, Williams was far from happy. The 30-year-old point guard, in his second stint with the Jazz, was benched by coach Tyrone Corbin in the second quarter. In the final minutes of the game, Williams carried the Jazz to the win, scoring 14 of his game-high 28 points in the fourth quarter and spearheading a 25-6 run in the final six minutes.

“You get pissed off,” Williams said. “Instead of feeling sorry for yourself, you come out and be aggressive.”

The Jazz come home to close out a back-to-back tonight against the Nets and there is light again after it had appeared for weeks that Utah was going to do everything except lift the Lakers up onto their shoulders and carry Kobe Bryant & Co. into the postseason.

Now the two teams are in the stretch run and for the first time in a while, the Jazz might have a leg up in getting to the finish.

Let’s break it down for final nine games:

Jazz

Home — 6

Road — 3

Vs. playoff teams — 5

Back-to-backs remaining: 0

Tonight — vs. Nets

Mon. — vs. Blazers

Wed. — vs. Nuggets

Apr. 7 — at Golden State

Apr. 9 — vs. Thunder

Apr. 12 — vs. Timberwolves

Apr. 15 — at Minnesota

Apr. 17 — at Memphis

The Jazz hold the tiebreaker over the Lakers and if they can take care of business at home, where they’re 26-9 on the season, will be tough for the Lakers to beat out.

Lakers

Home — 6

Road — 3

Vs. playoff teams — 5

Back-to-backs remaining — 1

Tonight — at Sacramento

Tues. — vs. Mavericks

Fri. — vs. Grizzlies

Apr. 7 — at L.A. Clippers

Apr. 9 — vs. Hornets

Apr. 10 — at Portland

Apr. 12 — vs. Warriors

Apr. 14 — vs. Spurs

Apr. 17 — vs. Rockets

Of the 14 players on the Lakers roster, seven are listed on the injury report for tonight at Sacramento, though Bryant, Dwight Howard, Pau Gasol and Antawn Jamison are probable, with Steve Nash questionable and Metta World Peace and Jordan Hill out. Of the Lakers’ three remaining road games, they won’t have to leave their own building to play the Clippers and that next-to-last game against San Antonio could catch them another break if the mercurial Gregg Popovich decides to rest up his veterans for the playoffs.

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James’ Determination Paying Off For Mavs

March 25, 2013  ·  2:30PM

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DALLAS – The NBA Developmental League is designed to develop young talent to one day be NBA-ready. But, hey, if it helps revive an old vet’s career along the way, what’s the harm?

See Mike James.

The Utah Jazz on Sunday night saw all they wanted and more of the 37-year-old fireplug point guard who refuses to stop believing just because NBA general managers did. James carved up the Jazz for a season-high 19 points and five assists to help his Dallas Mavericks to a 113-108 victory that put them in a tie in the standings for ninth place with the wheezing Jazz and two games behind the Los Angeles Lakers for the final playoff spot in the West

James survived two 10-day contracts and earned his keep for the remainder of the season. And he’s hardly been just a passenger as he was last season when the Chicago Bulls picked him up and never found a use for him. James came to Dallas and rather quickly supplanted Darren Collison as the closing point guard. Following a 33-point loss at Houston on March 3, James took his spot as the starter, too.

The Mavs beat the Rockets in their very next game with James finishing with eight points, six assists and one turnover. Dallas is 8-3 sine he became the starter, is just two games off of .500 for the first time since Dec. 20 and is back in the playoff conversation with an April 2 meeting in L.A. against the shaky Lakers.

And the only reason James, a one-time 20-point scorer for the Toronto Raptors, is back in the league — let alone starting for the first time since 2008-09 with Washington — is because he didn’t stop believing and pleaded for one last shot in the D-League. The Texas Legends, the Mavs’ affiliate, gave it to him.

“It was frustrating for me to have to go that route,” James said. “It was frustrating that no team would really give me an opportunity, not because of my skill level, but because of my date of birth. So I just had to prove everyone wrong that what they believe about me, don’t put me in the same statistic as everyone else. So it’s not about living the dream, it’s about this is who I already know myself to be and the things I’ve already prepared myself to be capable of doing.”

In his 33 games with Dallas, James is averaging 6.0 ppg and 2.8 apg while shooting just 36.5 percent from the floor (and 40 percent from 3-point range), so he didn’t earn his playing time by instantly becoming an explosive scorer or playmaker.

Listen to Vince Carter describe what James, a reserve on the 2004 Detroit Pistons title team, has delivered:

“His ability to make shots, he’s been in big games before, he’s been in playoff games before, his toughness,” Carter said. “He’s not afraid to take the shot, he’s not afraid to guard the best player, best guard, whatever the case may be. He’s just very experienced, seasoned, and I think he’s done a great job in taking on the role, and he really brings it in practice. … He’s always ready to play. I recall playing against him and he’s always ready to go. I think that adrenaline can sometimes wear you out, and once he got his legs he had more arc in his shot and he’s just been in an unreal rhythm right now for our team.”

And coach Rick Carlisle, who has granted James — having played 15 games the last three seasons and out of the league entirely two years ago — this new life and finally settled the position after Derek Fisher came and went and Collison couldn’t consistently get the job done:

“The thing I like about him, he’s one of these guys that has great experience and he has great confidence in himself,” Carlisle said. “If there’s blunt things you need to say to him, you can be completely straightforward with him. He’ll take everything the right way, and he’ll keep battling his butt off.”

Most didn’t bat an eye when the Mavs called James up after just a few days with their D-League affiliate, the Texas Legends. Hardly anyone noticed when he got a second 10-day contract and when he was signed for the rest of the season, making it 11 teams (including two stints with Houston) in 11 NBA seasons.

Now, some are taking notice, including Jazz coach Tyrone Corbin, who singled out James’ recent contributions before Sunday’s game. More will take notice after Sunday’s performance and as the stretch run heats up. In his 11 starts, James is averaging 10.4 ppg., 4.8 apg and is 24-for-51 (47.1 percent) from beyond the arc.

“This is just who I am, you know, I’m a worker bee,” James said. “Any time somebody’s started giving me credit and loving who I am as a ballplayer it makes me go in the gym even more and it makes me prepare even more because I understand that the only way that they’re giving me the love that they’re giving me is because of what I’m doing on the court. So I never focus on the praise that people give me. I just continue to keep focusing on my work.”

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Utah’s Only Hope is Eight of 12 At Home

March 25, 2013  ·  12:23AM

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DALLAS – Eight of 12.

Talk about last gasp, this is it for the Utah Jazz. Eight home games among their dozen remaining. It’s the final stand for a team laden with veteran free agents, including four of five starters; a team that prepared to be broken up at the trade deadline by reeling off 16 wins in 23 games, yet was left intact and has since tanked.

Utah is typically a force at home — 24-9 in front of one of the most engaged crowds in the league — and they’ll have to  be invincible starting Monday night against Philadelphia. Considering Sunday’s ugly 113-108 loss to the Mavericks was their ninth consecutive road defeat, any home slip-up will serve as sledgehammer to Utah’s eggshell playoff chances.

Utah flew home with the same record as surging Dallas (34-36) and smarting from allowing a 69-69 tie midway through the third quarter to quickly become a 20-point stomping before a fruitless late rally made it look more respectable. The Jazz allowed the Mavs’ starting point guard, 37-year-old D-League call-up Mike James, to to kill them with 19 points and five assists. He averages 5.6 and 2.7.

Jazz coach Tyrone Corbin could only shake his head

So eight-of-12 is now something of a rallying cry.

“It has to be, it has to be now,” befuddled Corbin said.

Since the Feb. 21 trade deadline, when either Al Jefferson or Paul Millsap or maybe even both impending free agents figured to be moved to make way for developing big men Derrick Favors and Enes Kanter, the Jazz are 3-12.

It’s been almost a reverse effect. Instead of the anxieties and stresses applied by the approaching deadline sabotaging their effort and focus, the Jazz thrived, claiming wins against Miami, Indiana, Oklahoma City and Golden State during that 16-7 stretch from the start of January to the trade deadline.

They even came out of the All-Star break with a 115-101 dismantling of the Warriors 48 hours prior to the deadline.

When management left the team alone to build on a 31-24 record, they’ve flopped. There hasn’t been a road win since Feb. 12 at Minnesota, and Boston, Atlanta and New York have all walked out of Salt Lake City victorious.

Jefferson said the club’s demise and the timing of the trade deadline is merely coincidence, and Millsap didn’t disagree.

“I don’t know, I think everybody’s out there playing their best just like before the trade deadline everybody was out there putting it all on the line,” Millsap said. “This stretch we’ve had a lot of tough breaks, things just didn’t go our way. But we’re not counting ourselves out. We’ve still got a chance.”

Millsap, the Jazz’s elder statesman in his seventh season with the team that shrewdly drafted him 47th overall, said the locker room hasn’t fractured, that the players remain committed to Corbin.

“Absolutely,” he said.

Corbin, however, acknowledged the difficulties he’s had in trying to maximize a roster with four frontcourt players, two proven vets and a couple of emerging, developing talents that all want, and often deserve, the same minutes. (more…)

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The Hunted: Warriors, Rockets & Jazz

March 7, 2013  ·  9:48AM

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It’s not a question of if we make the playoffs. We will. And when we get there, I have no fear of anyone — Oklahoma City, San Antonio, Denver…whoever.
– Kobe Bryant

Over his 17 seasons in the NBA, Bryant could always guarantee that he’ll do something absolutely amazing with the basketball just about every time he steps onto the court.

He can shake off an 0-for-10 shooting start to bury a half dozen jumpers and an opponent in a fourth-quarter blink of an eye.

He can duck and whirl through traffic, change hands with the ball and squeeze through a crack in the defense for a clutch how-did-he-do-that bucket.

He can rise up with a hand in his face, almost down his throat, and knock down an impossible 3-pointer with the sheer grace.

He can lead a 20-0 comeback in the final 6 1/2 minutes to pull out a dramatic and critical 108-106 win over the Hornets.

But no matter how many times or how emphatically he says it, what Bryant cannot guarantee is all that can happen with the teams in front of his underachieving Lakers in the Western Conference standings. For even if the Lakers put on a strong finishing kick — say 14-6 or 13-7 — they will still likely need one or more of the Warriors, Rockets and Jazz to tumble.

Can it happen? Sure. Will it happen? Nothing guaranteed. Sometimes it’s not about the hunter, but the prey.

No. 6 — Warriors (35-27)

Back in those long ago days of early February when his team was threatening to compete for the No. 4 seed and home-court advantage in the playoffs, coach Mark Jackson liked to shake his head and scowl at the doubters who didn’t think his Warriors could run and shoot and play defense all at the same time. Maybe those doubts were just premature. Over the past five weeks, the Golden State defense has fallen off any one of the area’s picturesque bridges and sunk to the bottom of the bay. (more…)

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With No Mo, Can Jazz Stay In Playoff Hunt?

January 3, 2013  ·  3:07PM

HANGTIME  SOUTHWEST – On Wednesday morning, Utah Jazz point guard Mo Williams impatiently waited for news from the doctor about his injured right thumb. Unable to twiddle his thumbs, he used his fingers to express his anxiousness on Twitter:

He felt like his thumb was getting better, so he hoped like heck the doc would ring in the new year with good news. Last thing he wanted was another thumb surgery like he had in 2008.

And then word came down Wednesday evening as the Jazz dressed in their home locker room in preparation to play the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Surgery. And it will cost Williams six to eight weeks, pinning a return perhaps some time around the All-Star break in mid-February.

After a night to absorb the news, Williams again took to Twitter:

But what about the Jazz, a team that’s teetered around the .500 mark all season, slipping in and out of the top eight? How will they respond to losing their starting point guard, who is averaging 12.9 points, a team-high 6.7 assists and had dramatically improved his 3-point shooting in December to 37.6 percent?

Williams sprained his right thumb on Dec. 22 against Miami. Utah was 1-3 without him entering Wednesday’s game.

“We came in and were focused. Everybody is a little heartbroken about Mo, but we know he’s going to be all right,” said big man Derrick Favors after the Jazz put together a complete effort in waxing the Wolves 106-84. “We just came out there and played like he was with us.”

Williams, traded from the Pacific Division-leading Los Angeles Clippers during the offseason, chimed in on Twitter after the win that pushed Utah to 16-17, one game out of the eighth spot:

It’s one thing to lose a key starter for a few games, but to make due for more than a month could set up a catastrophic turn of events. Jamaal Tinsley, who has started in Williams’ place the last five games, will continue to do so.

“We just wanted to go out there and play hard for 48 minutes. It’s the situation we are in, knowing we have Mo out,” said Tinsley, who had 12 points on 6-for-8 shooting, plus six rebounds and three assists Wednesday night. “We just have to go out there and play hard no matter who we play for 48 minutes and give ourselves a chance to win.”

It won’t be easy with Utah hitting the road for five of the next six games. At 6-13 away from the friendly confines of EnergySolutions Arena, the Jazz start things off with a back-to-back Friday at Phoenix and then Saturday at Denver. The lone home game in the stretch is against a desperate Dallas club that appears to be getting better with the return of Dirk Nowitzki. A road three-pack follows at Charlotte, Atlanta and Detroit.

If the Jazz can get through those games in decent shape, they stand a good chance to finish January strong with six of their final seven in the month at home.

“We can’t feel sorry for ourselves,” Jazz coach Tyrone Corbin said after Wednesday’s win. “We can’t look around the corner and see what’s going to happen. This is who we have and we have to figure out how we can be as good as we can be with this group right now.”

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Del Negro Stays Clear Of Hot Seat

December 31, 2012  ·  9:49AM

HANG TIME HEADQUARTERS – What the Los Angles Clippers are doing is just as impressive in person as it is from afar. Seriously, do you have any idea how difficult it is in the NBA to win every night with a schedule that is unrelenting and competition that, for the most part, is as tight as you could get on a given night?

The Clippers do and have managed their league-best 17-game win streak masterfully.

Does it mean they’ve arrived among the NBA’s truly elite? We won’t know that for sure until sometime in late April or early May, when this group fights off the pressure in the playoffs and advances without playing their very best. Does it mean they have officially replaced the Los Angeles Lakers as the top hoops draw in their own city? Of course, not. Lakers fans will simply remind you to look up in the rafters at Staples Center and start counting the banners.

But if this streak proves anything at all, it’s that Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro has figured out the best way to avoid the dreaded coaching hot seat he seemed to be on every other night when his team wasn’t winning all the time. In fact, he’s rarely been mentioned, good or bad, during the streak. And that’s probably the way he’d like to keep it.

The laws of NBA gravity suggest that this streak will have to end sometime soon. A grueling stretch of schedule that has the Clippers walking on hot coals – in Denver on Tuesday, the Nuggets are 9-1,  in Oakland to face Golden State the next night, and then back in Los Angeles for another round of the City Championship series against the Lakers on Friday, followed the next night by a visit from the Warriors — just to survive the next six days.

It’s certainly doable for a team that went 16-0 this month. But adding four more wins this week against that schedule would be grounds for an investigation into extra-terrestrial assistance for a franchise that has never experienced the kind of hoops high the Clippers are these days.

Which brings us right back to Del Negro, whose navigated this mercurial stretch seamlessly. He’s allowed the Clippers’ entire cast of characters to play their roles to perfection. All-Stars Chris Paul and Blake Griffin lead the way, Caron Butler and DeAndre Jordan do some of the heavier lifting when they need to, as Butler did in Sunday’s win over the Utah Jazz with 29 points, while the league’s best bench (Jamal Crawford, Matt Barnes, Eric Bledsoe and the boys) continue to crash open close games with their wave on non-stop energy.

You don’t win 17 straight games without someone knowing when to and when not to push, as Crawford told the Orange County Register after No. 17:

“Everybody here has a decent body of work in some way shape or form,” Crawford said. “They’ve proven something somewhere in the NBA. With that is a confidence that a player has, and there are egos involved.”For him to be able to manage that and put people in the right positions and use people to their strengths, he deserves a lot of credit.”

Del Negro has juggled a rotation full of veterans without much drama, but he’s established roles for everyone from Paul to Ryan Hollins.

“Guys get frustrated sometimes not playing as much, but it’s about the team winning games,” Del Negro said.

One thing Del Negro has done is allow players to operate in their areas of strength.

“He just tells me to be me. It’s been awhile since I was told to just be me,” Ronny Turiaf said. “I think it goes back to the Laker days when Phil (Jackson) told me, ‘Ronny, just go out there and play. I trust your basketball I.Q. I trust your basketball knowledge to be able to make plays for us.’”

Utah coach Tyrone Corbin said managing a roster with so many guys who are capable could present challenges down the road.

“It’s difficult. It’s a good and a bad thing to be in,” Corbin said. “Guys want to play, especially good guys who have had great careers and still think they have something to offer. Things are going well so they all want to be a part of it. It’s easier to manage their minutes, when things are going well.”

Said Crawford of Del Negro: “For him to have the pulse of the team and feel the team and the stuff he draws up, he has us believing we can win every single day.”

Do it every single day this week and someone can toss Del Negro’s hot seat into the ocean sometime late Saturday night!

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Spurs, Not Jazz, Setting The Pace

May 3, 2012  ·  12:43AM





SAN ANTONIO – For all those years and more than a thousand games under Jerry Sloan, the Jazz were the Jazz. Sure, they watched video and analyzed stats and scouted opponents.

But at the end of every day, the Jazz were the Jazz. They played at their pace, played their style, played their game. Come beat us, they said. We’ll do what we do.

Part of the trouble with the Jazz in this matchup with the Spurs is that they have not been able to establish the identity that helped them close the season with a rush and get into the playoffs. Utah has not been able to pound the ball inside to their bigger, bulkier, supposedly tougher front line.

Near-rookie coach Tyrone Corbin seems unsure of himself about when to go big and as a result he’s allowing Spurs coach Gregg Popovich to dictate the lineups and the pace of play. It’s been the Spurs who are getting the ball inside and doing damage close to the basket.

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Parker Ready For Jazz’s Best Shot

May 2, 2012  ·  11:09AM





SAN ANTONIO – In his 11 seasons with the Spurs and more than a decade as one of the preeminent international players, Tony Parker has traveled the world and taken in the sights. In short, there’s not much that he hasn’t seen.

So when the Jazz take to the floor tonight for Game 2 with a new plan to try to slow down Parker, who scored 28 points and dished eight assists in the series opened, the San Antonio point guard will probably shrug.

“My answer’s still going to be the same,” Parker said. “I’m going to stay in the attack mode.

“If they want to take me out of the game, I have to make sure I get Timmy (Duncan) and Manu (Ginobili) involved. That’s why we have a deep team. It’s not only on me.”

There has been speculation in some corners of the Utah media that the Jazz might try to guard Parker with 6-foot-9 Gordon Hayward, but there has been no indication of that from Jazz coach Tyrone Corbin. Likely the Jazz will do more to run double-teams and traps at Parker and try to clog the lane to cut off his dashes through the paint.

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Jazz Must Make Size Matter

April 29, 2012  ·  8:00PM





SAN ANTONIO – The Jazz advantage in the series was supposed to be all about their size. They would have to pound on the Spurs, hammer them on the boards and nail them down with defensive toughness.

Better luck next time.

While the Jazz did come away from Game 1 with a 45-39 advantage in rebounding, they also came away with the 106-91 black eye loss because they simply could not keep the Spurs out of the middle.

If it wasn’t Tony Parker slicing through the lane for twisting drives or nifty reverse layups, it was 36-year-old Tim Duncan wheeling and dealing in the paint like he was a kid again or even Boris Diaw rolling across the lane for a hook shot that was unfolded and delivered with the speed of a tugboat in a crowded harbor.

“I call that the Statue of Liberty,” cracked teammate Matt Bonner.

It certainly appeared just as mobile and, hey, after all, it came from France, too.

But the bigger point is the Spurs were able to do everything except build a condominium tower in the lane. They outscored the bigger, bulkier Jazz lineup 58-44 in the paint, the second-highest playoff total in Spurs history. Even more, they scored 48 points inside of five feet from the basket, which is the most by any playoff team in the past two years.

“I didn’t feel good about our big lineup,” said Jazz coach Tyrone Corbin. “In the second half, I just went with it a little bit to see what we could get. I thought they ran out on us a little bit and they spread the floor.”

“We are learning on the fly,” said forward Paul Millsap.

But the Spurs are too smart, too experienced, too crafty to be treated as a pop quiz. Parker, Duncan and Manu Ginobili, with 10 championships between them, will pick apart a weak interior defense in their sleep. There is a reason by the Jazz only won one of the four games these teams played during the regular season and that was the night when the Big Three stayed at home instead of making a trip to Salt Lake City.

It’s good to have height and length and bulk and reach. But if the Jazz don’t mix in a good dose of smarts before Game 2, they’ll keep learning that size doesn’t always matter.

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