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The Jazz's C.J. Miles and Earl Watson discuss the team's struggles after a 103-85 road loss to Memphis on Monday.
Miles on effort against Grizzles: Just as a whole, you'd just think that we could've done better. … Our effort defensively and the things that we gave up were the biggest things that you look at. Fourth-quarter meltdown: It was just more frustration than anything. I think it was just some things we were doing well â€- even in the games that we lost lately, those were things we were still doing well â€- and we didn't do it well tonight. We gave up a lot of rebounds, and that's what they're known for. … We knew that coming into the game and we didn't do much. And then when we did help, we overhelped and gave up layups.Still showing fight during last 11 games: You never know what can happen. We didn't want us to be sitting somewhere and thinking back if we'd have won our last two of the season we would've made it because somebody else lost two in a row. Watson on the state of team: I think our expectations from the beginning was to win the West. I never lost faith in that no matter what happened. Adversity reveals a lot of character in a team. And if you can't get through adversity, you can't really win the West. If you're fragile, you're not going to have a successful year. You're not going to do the things you set out to do.Dealing with and reacting to change: I don't know if teams have dealt with the player that we lost and also the coach. People underestimate the value of those two guys. We still put together a team and we're still trying to compete at a high level. I've never been one for excuses; I've just been one for resolutions. Fourth-quarter meltdown: Everything is different for me. If you have a obstacle you work harder, you focus harder. You put in more work, you put in more time and try to find it. Not saying we're not trying to do it, but my belief has never left. I've just always been stubborn that way. I've never played in a game and thought we had a chance to lose. Even the bad teams that I've been on, I always felt like we had a chance to win every game. I just believe in the impossible. Players still fighting: It's a different team that we played. You've seen them add and you've seen them grow. They're pretty strong right now. You've seen their defense take a whole other step in the right direction. We're a team that throughout the moves that we've made, it kind of put us behind as far as progressing, because we've got to catch a lot of people up. And we already catching people up at the beginning of the year, anyway. That's just basketball. And then at the end of the day, will and determination will carry you through those moments. I'm not saying we don't have it. But we're facing teams that is matching it. So we've got to find a way to win. I don't think we're falling apart; we'll ever fall apart. The character of the team; the guys on this team is too good for that. We don't have any bad guys on this team, so that'll never happen. But at the same time, you can only get beat so many times by 20 or fall behind by 20. You've got to go other, you've just got to lose yourself to the game. You've got to work harder. Some of the best players I've been around, I've just soaked up knowledge. I've never seen a great player that didn't work hard. So as a team, we've just got to get better as a group and see where it takes you as a group.
— Brian T. Smith
Twitter: @tribjazz