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Official postgame quotes and notes following the Jazz's 94-83 home win against Sacramento on Monday.
Notes: This is Jerry Sloan's 1,200th career win as a head coach (1,106 with the Utah Jazz) ... The Jazz are now 7-3 in their last ten games against the Kings, and are 8-2 in the last 10 in Salt Lake City ... C.J. Miles had his second consecutive 20+ point night, and finished the game with 20 points, four rebounds and four assists ... The Jazz tied a season low in turnovers with only seven ... The Jazz were out rebounded by 11 rebounds tonight ... Over the last five games they have been out rebounded 186-240 ... The Jazz move to 7-0 when committing fewer turnovers that their opponent, 3-1 when having more points in the paint, and 3-0 when they have more fastbreak points.
Jerry Sloan – (10-5 this season)On the game"Obviously, a win is a win. I thought our second group came in and gave us some life in the first half, and it seemed like they ran the floor much better. We had a difficult time trying to get going, our execution in the first part of the game wasn't that much. Our second group, I thought, executed and got some decent shots. I thought our second group got in and dug the ball out when the ball went inside...that's something we haven't done in a while."
"Our rebounding is really getting to be going downhill. I think we are 29th in the league in rebounding. If you're going to have a chance to do anything, you have to be able to rebound the ball more than we do. When we shot one up, we just took off, not really going after the offensive rebound, and that's why we gave up so many on the other end."
On Earl Watson"Well, he seems to be very comfortable, and he is trying to get more comfortable with everything we do. And with that, everything will get more comfortable for him. He is a veteran player, he is professional, and just a wonderful guy to have on your team."
On C.J. Miles"He made some shots. He knows how to get open, and when he goes on a run, he's a very good player. He's just got to continue to be a little more efficient, and work on getting the ball to the basket and not relying on his outside shot. We need that coming off the bench, we need someone who can help us score, and he has done that for us the last couple games."
Deron Williams– Guard (12 points, 9 assists)On second unit"They have been instrumental in a lot of our wins. The first group is still sluggish to start games. Their group gets out and runs. They run and they get after people defensively, something we need to get that first group to do. They have come together. They know what their objective is – to get after people defensively, execute, to get out and run – and they do it."
On playing with Price and Watson"I have been out there with Earl and I have been out there with Ronnie. I know to expect that at times. I welcome playing with those guys as well."
On pace of second unit"I would like to get that going in the first group. They get out and run they run through it. They get lay-ups. They get dunks."
C.J. Miles – Guard (20 points, 4 assists)On his performance"It felt good. I just tried to be active. Especially in the first half coming off the bench seeing how the game was going. I saw some places I could make some differences on the boards. I just tried to be active defensively and tried to get us up and down the floor because they don't get back well. So that's what I tried to do."
On game"It feels good to play well for three and a half quarters I guess you can say. We still got to close it out. We could have been playing somebody else that could have got even more hot and they could have came back and won the game. We've got to be better. We've got to play well for four quarters."
On driving to the hoop tonight"It's not just about shooting threes, which is what I tried to show tonight. I know I wasn't going to get ten three-pointers off tonight and they were looking for that."
Is there a zone? And has he found it?"There's a zone, but I think, there's also got to be a consistent place when you play. That's the thing I have to find. Where you know what I'm going to give you every night and not seven threes one night and then the next night I might be one for five and not have any rebounds or whatever it may be. I have to be able to play and give my team something every night."
Francisco Elson – Center (4 points, 3 rebounds)
On play of Ronnie and Earl together
"Those two are pretty aggressive on ball defenders. They push the tempo. Me, Fes, and whoever comes off the bench has to follow them with the same intensity. You see what happens when they pick up the intensity. The whole crowd gets into it. The first team gets into it and you have a good game."
Earl Watson – Guard (2 points, 2 assists)On second unit"The first half we knew we had to be the scoring off the bench in order to change the game. I think the first unit came back in the second half and closed it out."
On starting to feel comfortable in the last two weeks"For me, I am growing. It is a process for me. It is a progression in a positive way and I just continue to build off of it. Parts of my game will open up and continue to grow. I am finding my rhythm on offense, especially in transition, which is almost comfortable doing until I learn the half court offense more. Just creating opportunities where we out on the break and have easy baskets."
Raja Bell – Guard (5 points, 2 rebounds)On the second unit"They definitely came in and changed the energy level out there. That's what good second units do and we've got a good one. So we'll rely on them probably many nights this year to pick us up and get that energy level we need."
On slow starts"We came out flat a little bit, but I don't think it lingered as long as it has in the past. We found our stride a lot quicker than we have been, so that's a good sign. I liken it to some of those race horses. They just didn't come out of the gates well and that might be who we are. We might be one of those teams that just don't click in the first three or four minutes and then we find our stride."
Al Jefferson – Forward (19 points, 8 rebounds)On the game"I think we got off to a great start. It wasn't one of those games where we had to fight our way back. I think we lightened it up a little bit towards the end, but I think overall we played pretty good. Even though we lost the game in rebounding, I think we rebounded when it counted when the game was tight. I think overall it was a great performance for the team."
On the second unit"I think we got off to a great start. It wasn't one of those games where we had to fight our way back. I think we lightened it up a little bit towards the end, but I think overall we played pretty good. Even though we lost the game in rebounding, I think we rebounded when it counted, when the game was tight. I think overall it was a great performance for the team."Notes: The Kings held the Jazz to 37.5 percent field goal shooting in the first quarter ... The Kings only shot 32.6% in the first half, but were 7-for-7 from the free throw line ... The Kings only forced one turnover in the first half ... The Kings have not led at the half of any game this season ...Tonight was the first time in three games that the Kings allowed over 81 points, but the third straight game in which they have held an opponent under 100 points ...The Kings had a season-high nine shots blocked ... DeMarcus Cousins was one rebound shy of his third double-double of the season...The Kings won the offensive rebound battle tonight 16-9 and rank third overall in the NBA in offensive rebounds with an average of 14.3 (entering tonight's game).
Paul Westphal – (4-9 this season)On the game"Well, the Jazz did what they do. They executed and I thought that we defended as well as you could reasonably expect to defend but we couldn't make baskets tonight. We cut down on our turnovers a little bit but not enough, shoot 35 percent and you're not going to come in and beat the Jazz. I think that we had some players playing defense tonight that will give us a chance to build something good with this team and when we start making shots we'll have some wins to show for it."
On if the loss came down to an inability to make shots tonight"We could have better execution and judgment no question about that and cut down a few turnovers but ultimately the shots we get you've got to make more than 35 percent."
DeMarcus Cousins– Center (18 points, 9 rebounds)On the game"We really kind of just let the flow of the game and the situation of the game get to us and we got out of sink. We didn't match their physicality and we got outplayed tonight."
On the physicality and battling with Millsap and Jefferson"It's not too much of a battle down low, just slapping for the loose balls. They're doing it and then we come down when they foul us we're hitting the floor and we foul them they're getting the and-ones and we're just not matching them."
Tyreke Evans – Guard (11 points, 4 assists)On the early struggles this season and what they're doing to become a better team"We just gotta to keep our heart. We're playing good, we were right there at the beginning of game and once they get the lead we kind of stop and we just gotta keep fighting and trying to get better. For me I need to pick up more offense, be more aggressive and pick it up more often."
On where the Jazz hurt them most tonight"C.J. came in and put a spark for them. He came in and just about every shot he took gave them a spark and from there, D-Will just ran the team and they got buckets and ran their offense."
— Brian T. Smith
Twitter: tribjazz