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Jazz center Francisco Elson said that Utah's coaches had an important message for their team during halftime Saturday night against the Los Angeles Clippers.
Utah was down by 18 and the Jazz were again getting killed on the boards. Moreover, Utah was getting pushed and bullied around by the Clippers — highlighted by rookie forward Blake Griffin's 12 first-half rebounds — at EnergySolutions Arena, the Jazz's home court.
So Utah's coaches distinctly pointed out what many packed inside a sold-out ESA were already thinking, Elson said.
"Basically, the [coaches] told us that we were playing like sissies out there," said Elson, who did not register a point but played 12 emotional minutes during Utah's 109-107 double overtime victory over Los Angeles.
The proud, tough-minded veteran center agreed.
"We weren't playing hard the whole [five] games that we had played, and that's not Utah basketball," Elson said. "We want to play at home, we want to play extra hard, because this is your home; you've got to protect your home court."
After the call out, the Jazz (3-3) did just that. Utah outscored the Clippers 31-18 during the third quarter, then endured two tight overtime battles to emerge with the victory.
In doing so, the Jazz displayed the outer armor and inner resiliency coach Jerry Sloan's teams have long been known for.
Everyone from Deron Williams and Andrei Kirilenko to Paul Millsap and Elson dug in and refused to let go. And for an in-flux team still searching for identity, consistency and on-the-court chemistry, the come-from-behind victory over Los Angeles has the potential to be an early-season turning point.
"A good win like that, where we had to stick together and pull together to get out of a hole, hopefully can maybe open our eyes to the way we start games, No. 1, and try to fix that," Jazz guard Raja Bell said. "And No. 2, show us that when we put our mind to it, we can do some pretty cool things. So, we'll see what we can do in Miami."
But therein lies the struggle for the Jazz. With Utah's offense, defense, rotation and overall in-game execution still a work in progress, the team is about to embark on a demanding four-game, five-day road trip that does not possess a pause button. The Jazz will first face a superpower in Miami led by LeBron James, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh, as well as teams in Orlando and Atlanta that have jumped out of the gate to post a combined 10-1 record.
In addition, Utah's starters have clocked heavy minutes during the first six games of the season, and Williams, Bell, Millsap and Al Jefferson have all fought off minor injuries. The Jazz are one of only two teams in the league with two players ranked in the top 10 in average minutes. Williams played nearly 54 minutes during the double-OT win over the Clippers and is ninth in the NBA with 39.5 average minutes per game. Jefferson is 10th at 39.3.
Compounding the heavy early-season workload for Utah's stars is the fact that the Jazz's bench has been wildly inconsistent from opening night. Second-unit players such as C.J. Miles and Ronnie Price have added energy and helped delivery victory during some outings. But outside of an emotional lift from Elson on Saturday, Utah's reserves were nearly nonexistent. The bench totaled just seven points on 4-of-21 shooting, marred by a 1-for-13 outing by Miles.
And while role players such as Earl Watson, Gordon Hayward and Kyrylo Fesenko continue to search for a rhythm, and starters such as Bell and Jefferson continue to find their way in a new system, the Jazz continue to move forward, one foot pointed toward the future, one still searching for a foundation.
"We're still figuring this thing out," Williams said. "We're still trying to figure out how to score, how to help each other out on defense. It's not perfect right now. It's not even close."
Twitter: @tribjazz —
Tough road ahead
P The Jazz face a challenging four-game, five-day road trip:
Day Team Record
Tuesday Miami 5-2
Wednesday Orlando 4-1
Friday Atlanta 6-0
Saturday Charlotte 1-5 —
2 Jazz players almost part of 40-minute club
Most average minutes played in the NBA:
Rank Player Minutes
1 Kevin Durant, Thunder 42.4
2 Rudy Gay, Grizzlies 42.0
3 Rajon Rondo, Celtics 41.3
9 Deron Williams, Jazz 39.5
10 Al Jefferson, Jazz 39.3 —
Jazz Notes
V For exclusive news, interviews, video and analysis, check The Tribune's Jazz Notes blog. > sltrib.com/blogs/jazznotes —
Tuesday's game
P Jazz at Miami, 5:30 p.m., FSN Utah