Utah Jazz postgame wrap — 'Unbelievable' loss hits hard; Howard on lineup change
Published on Mar 5, 2012 10:30AM
Jazz enter All-Star break in shock after 100-98 loss to Minnesota
Jeremy Evans flying to NBA dunk contest
Jazz small forward Josh Howard smiled, shook his head and appeared a little embarrassed when informed of coach Tyrone Corbin's postgame statement he's considering officially moving him into the starting lineup after the All-Star break.
Howard on Corbin possibly making a change: I ain't got no comment. … I just come in and play night-in, night-out. It's up to the coach to make those decisions. That's all I can say.
Getting his game back Wednesday: For the most part. Just going out there and enjoying the game. I've always been one of those players that just loves the game. So just getting out there, doing whatever I can do to help my team win. Ultimately, that's my goal night-in and night-out.
OK coming off the bench or starting: Yeah. I'm here [at] his disposal. Whatever he wants me to do, I'm going out there to do it.
Paul Millsap on using the All-Star break to regroup and move forward: Yeah. That's well-needed. Just to get away right now, to forget about this first half of the season. Just try to start anew; something new when we get back.
Gordon Hayward on the Jazz's offense tightening up during the fourth quarter: Right. Um … you know, I just think we — we've just got to execute better. We had a couple costly turnovers that cost us some 3s. Anytime you're on the road and you do that and let a team get back into it, they feel like every shot's going in and they've got the crowd behind them. They picked it up defensively as well, and it just made things more difficult.
Luke Ridnour's game-winning floater: It was a tough shot. I tried to run him off the 3-point line. I should've stayed in front of him a little bit better. I thought there was less time on the clock. But he made a good move and made a really good shot.
Earl Watson on the Jazz's inability to defend J.J. Barea in the pick-and-roll during the fourth quarter, which set up Minnesota's late 3-point barrage: Yeah. We've got to stay focused for four quarters. Stop the ball first. And trust our teammates defensively — that's the key.
Sticking together and making a stand after the break: I don't think the break will cause any negative momentum. I think the break probably is timely for us. We probably need that right now. The only negative about the break is what we can't practice, that's the only negative. But as far as getting away from the game for a while, getting refreshed, I don't think it could be a better time for us than now.
Corbin on whether Jazz are learning how to win or fearful of losing: I think it's a combination of the two. You can't be fearful of losing as much as you're concentrating on winning the game and making the right plays. You've gotta play through it; you can't get cautious and stop executing. I thought we stood around a little too much. We didn't get the ball deep into the post like we were doing earlier. Then, once we threw it in the air, everyone started watching. You've got to cut hard and make plays. We just got cautious — you can't play cautious.
Ridnour's floater: It was — it went up so high for me and I'm just watching it go off. And then he throw it up and I'm looking at the clock and looking at the ball and I'm looking at the clock and it fell through the basket and you just go, like, 'Oh my [God].'
Barea changing the game: His energy. He's a tough cat, man. He split the pick-and-rolls. He went to the basket a couple times and went away from the help and made some shots. He made a couple 3-point shots there. He's a veteran. He was on a championship team before and he's a tough guy and is looking for time on the floor and we've just got to be able to match that. We can't allow a guy to take control of the game like that against us.
Howard playing the best he has since returning from a quad injury: Actually, man, he's done a great job. It looked like he might be better starting for us than coming off the bench. So we'll look at that and evaluate it and see what gives us a good chance.
Using All-Star break to evaluate lineup change: Yeah, I will. I will think about it and see. And maybe it'll be able to jolt the second unit a little bit and give us a little punch there coming off.
Kevin Love: Yes [I need a break]. I thought I was going to die in the fourth quarter.
Ridnour on final play: The last play was for J.J. to come off and make something happen. They double-teamed it and he swung it and I was able to get there and make something happen. I thought it was [going in]. … I saw [the clock] when I got it and it was at 3 seconds and knew I had time to make something happen.
Barea on final play: They trapped me and I was trying to find the open guy and Luke got open. He hit a hell of a shot.
Rick Adelman on Ridnour's floater: He knocks that down all the time. It's a floater; he knows how to get it off against the big guys. That was unbelievable. In traffic, getting around the guy and knocking down. I couldn't be happier for him.
Derrick Williams' late-game effect: … You had different people give you energy and give you a lift and gave you an unbelievable win. A win I don't think anybody expected the way we played the game.
There were a number of weird stats that show just how surreal Utah's loss was. Minnesota's Ricky Rubio was held to seven points on 2-of-7 shooting and never looked comfortable. Kevin Love stepped up during the second half but never approached full All-Star form — he was 3 of 14 from the field for 10 points. Michael Beasley and Darko Milicic combined for two points. Minnesota only hit 71.1 percent of its free throws. The T-Wolves committed 18 turnovers to the Jazz's nine. Utah recorded a season-high 15 steals and dished out 25 assists. But the Jazz still couldn't walk out of Target Center with a win.
The Jazz shot just 1 of 7 behind the 3-point line. Minnesota was 11 of 22. That's a 30-point differential.
Wolves rookie forward Derrick Williams was impressive during the second half. He scored 13 points, grabbed eight rebounds and helped ignite Minnesota's turnaround.
Young Utah bigs Derrick Favors and Enes Kanter only collected 20:20 of combined court time, while the Jazz rode Al Jefferson and Paul Millsap for a combined 75:39. Favors and Kanter also only combined for four shots.
Off night for Hayward, who was held to seven points on 3-of-7 shooting.
Devin Harris started well — 10 points, seven assists during the first three quarters — but faded late before fouling out.
DeMarre Carroll still hasn't gotten in a game since joining the Jazz.
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Brian T. Smith
Twitter: @tribjazz
