Is hustle alone enough?

When shooting guard Ronnie Brewer was asked if the Jazz can sustain what they did tonight all season long, he about freaked, thinking the question meant playing that whole time without injured point guard Deron Williams.
It wasn’t, of course.
Instead, the query was to ascertain whether or not he thought the Jazz can display the same sort of hustle for however long Williams is out.
It was, after all, enough to win their season-opener without Williams, as they beat Denver 98-94.
Brewer’s response:
“We’re gonna have to find a way to do everything — just rebounding more, defending better, knocking down shots, getting to the basket, getting to the free-throw line,” Brewer said. “We’ve got to find a way to pick up the slack, because D-Will adds so much to this team offensively, scoring points, getting assists, getting us in the offense, and defensively.
“You saw a lot of guys diving on the floor to get the basketball (tonight), chasing down long rebounds, running the lanes trying to get a fastbreak,” added Brewer, who scored 15 on a night the Jazz out-rebounded the Nuggets 46-35. “I mean, you’ve got guys like (Paul) Millsap, (Carlos) Boozer, Memo (Okur), A.K. (Andrei Kirilenko) crashing the boards and getting the ball to us (guards) so we can finish. So, we’ve got to do those things to be successful this year.”
Whether or not they do that won’t be known until sometime in April.
But can they at least do it for two more games, which is how much longer Williams expects to out? And, if they can, will that alone — hustle play– be enough to open 3-0?
For these questions, Brewer’s off the hook.
Instead, how about … you make the call?

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