by Stef Sepiel
Do you remember the old joke “I wouldn’t want to
belong to any club that would have someone like me for a member”?
That joke might have wandered through Ben Handlogten’s mind.
Handlogten, a seemingly average basketball player who has played
overseas for years, now is a member of the Jazz. But does he really
want to be a member of a club in which seemingly average basketball
players are manning (almost) every position?
"It has to be," Handlogten said when asked if what he is putting
himself through has been worth it. "I mean, if it's not worth it to
me, why am I here?"
Fortunately, this has been the attitude of all the players on the
Jazz roster. From veteran Greg Ostertag to Ben Handlogten, from
long-time-injured Raul Lopez to the lanky Andrei Kirilenko, all of
them are glad to be with the Jazz, and all of them want to belong to
that club. A club which they think could surprise some people.
And the Jazz certainly surprised in the pre-season, ending it with a
fabulous 7-1 record. That doesn’t mean, however, that the Jazz will
also end up with a winning regular season record.
"Just in my six years, I know the regular season is a lot
different," said Matt Harpring. "Don't get me wrong, it's great to
go 7-1, and we're coming off playing pretty well. But Portland is
going to be coming with everything [in Wednesday's opener]. It's
important for us to take this kind of play and use it to get off to
a good start in the regular season."
Important, because basketball isn’t just a physical game, contrary
to what you might believe when you see the muscled Matt Harpring
walking around the arena. Basketball is also a mental game, a game
that goes on inside your head. Retired sharpshooter Jeff Hornacek
once said that in order to be a good shooter, you have to believe
that you are going to make every shot.
“You’re not going to,” he’s quick to add, “but you have to believe
it.” If you, when you shoot it, think you are going to miss it, you
are going to miss it.
The same thing goes for the whole game. If you think you are going
to lose the game, you are going to lose it.
"We've still got to play them. And I hope that our guys don't come
and say, 'We're supposed to lose,' " Sloan said. "I hope we never
get to that point with this team.”
Winning games might be the best way to prevent the players from
getting that kind of attitude Sloan fears, and winning is just what
the Jazz did on opening night. The Jazz came back from a 13-point
deficit to win against the Blazers, 99- 92.
"It was fun to get a win," Sloan said. "That's what you play this
game for."
The key word for winning even more games seems to be “hard work”.
"We've got to play hard, and we've got to play hard from the jump on
until the last minute in order to have a chance to win games," Bell
said. "I think when we do that — (because) a lot of teams don't play
hard most of the game — we'll have a chance to get back into the
game and pull them out at the end."
Sloan said that he thought that his team did a good job. “Our guys
played really hard, especially down the stretch. It looked like we
had a little bit of an idea of what we were trying to do..... and
the guys played well.
The center of attention on opening night was Carlos Arroyo, who
should be used to being in the spotlight by now. He was in the
spotlight when he was playing for his National Team, he was in the
spotlight when he shook hands with President Bush, and he was in the
spotlight prior to the match as he was the first point guard in the
post Stockton era. Arroyo dished out 13 dimes and made 18 points
while also being able to stick his hand in the cookie jar three
times without getting caught. “I played with Carlos in college,”
Raja Bell said, “so I know his game and I know he’ll come every
night and he’s very capable so I’m not surprise by his 13 assists.”
Arroyo played 42 minutes, and it has been a long time since Sloan
played his starting point guard more than 40 minutes in the season
opener. And it probably has been a long time since Greg Ostertag
played more than 40 minutes in a game as well. Ostertag played 41
minutes and grabbed 9 rebounds. With all the young players, Sloan
now has the option to play the guys who are “hot” for extended
minutes, something that he never really could do with the veteran
team he had last year.
With that said, it might have been a bit of a surprise to see the
team captain, Matt Harpring, and the up and coming star, Andrei
Kirilenko, playing a mere 29 and 32 minutes respectively. In those
minutes Kirilenko shot 7-for-10 while scoring 16 points. Harpring
missed his first five shots before connecting on six of his next ten
attempts. Maybe the election of him as captain was too much
excitement for him to handle.
Someone else who was excited was Sasha Pavlovic, although the young
guy didn’t show it, as he was 6-for-8 from the field.
"That's my game, I made the shots because I was believing in
myself," he said. "It's not unusual. I have confidence, so I was
just doing the best I can."
Sloan also praised this rookie’s defense, although he was quick to
add that Sasha still has much to learn. Raja Bell, also coming off
the bench, was 7-for-11, scoring a whopping 16 points in his Jazz
debut.
This first win boosted everyone’s confidence, and that’s important.
The more wins the Jazz get early in the season, the more they will
believe in themselves. And that’s why the opening win against a team
that is almost a lock for the play-offs was so important. The seven
wins in the pre-season were nice, but this win shows that the Jazz
can also win when there’s something on the line. And if they can
beat a Western play-off contender, why can’t they be one? That’s
what the Jazz players need to believe. And the more wins they’ll get
early in the season, the more they are going to believe they can
actually contend, which will ultimately result in a better season.
Someone who wouldn’t mind having a good season and winning more
games than a lot of people expected, is Jerry Sloan. Sloan doesn’t
believe his team is going to finish last, and he is determined to
make a run for a play-off spot.
"I just want to make sure the message is clear: I'm not trying to
play for a lottery pick," he said.
And that lottery pick is indeed something Sloan wants to avoid
instead of embrace, like some fans have already done. A lot of
people think Utah will get a high lottery pick, and it seems that
many fans even want Utah to get a miserable record and a high
lottery pick. Hell, it even seems that the lottery itself wants Utah
in the lottery. But Sloan doesn’t want to belong to a club that
wants someone like him for a member.
At least not this club.
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