Korver, Cheeks, Kaman and cheesesteak
PHILADELPHIA — With Kyle Korver’s wrist still bothering him a bit, and his shooting hurting as a result, Jazz coach Jerry Sloan played starting shooting guard Ronnie Brewer 36 minutes and backup Korver just 14 in Sunday’s loss at New York.
Afterward, he addressed the matter of choosing Brewer over Korver to finish– relevant on a day in which small forward Andrei Kirilenko clanked two final-minute 3-point attempts as the Jazz unsuccessfully tried to rally.
The explanation rapidly turned to a discourse on defense — something for Korver is not known, and Brewer is supposed to be.
“I’ve got to try to guard the other team when you’re behind,” Sloan said when asked about the two. “I thought maybe we could do a little bit better job trying to defend them (with Brewer).
“They beat us off the dribble on a couple occasions,” he added. “In fact, they beat us a tremendous number of times right down the middle of the lane.”
Sloan also played Brewer and Korver together for a bit in Sunday’s third quarter, and he addressed that as well.
Again, defense dominated the discussion.
“That was fine,” he said. “But you still have to guard them. That’s the bottom line. We all have to do a better job defensively — if we’re going to be any factor. (Otherwise), then we’re gonna have to maybe change this thing around and see if we can get some people to defend some people.”
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Maurice Cheeks, Korver’s old coach in Philadelphia, clearly is a big fan.
Cheeks on Monday recalled a rare day in which Korver reported late for work, a terrifically atypical happenstance.
He didn’t have it in him to fine a guy of whom he thought so highly, so the coach offered to let him shoot his way out of the situation instead.
“Knowing that he was gonna make it,” Cheeks said, “and to get him off the hook.”
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Korver has missed 3-of-12 free-throw attempts so far this season, something quite out of character for someone who led the NBA in freebies at 91.4 percent when he was with the 76ers in the 2006-07 season.
His sprained right shooting wrist clearly has been a factor, and — while Korver said the joint has been feeling better the past two days, post cortisone shot — it has played a part in what he considers a less than satisfying personal start to the season.
“It hasn’t gone as smoothly as I would have liked it to, obviously,” he said.
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There was a confession this week from longtime and now former Chicago Tribune NBA writer Sam Smith, who is writing exclusively for the Chicago Bulls’ Web site these days.
Wrote Smith, in part:
“I watched the Knicks beat the Jazz Sunday afternoon (were there any other sporting events going on?) and I again began thinking about my poor, underfunded Jazz. I’m always looking to help them.
“In their market, they’ve had to be more careful and smarter, and they have been. There’s much less margin for error in places that size, especially in the still coming economic slowdown.
“I tried to foist Ben Wallace on them last season and their general manager, Kevin O’Connor, a good guy, got mad at me because he thought I wrote they were seriously considering it. I proposed it, but, as I said, they’re smart guys.”
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Quite a telling quote appeared this week in the Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles Clippers center Chris Kaman, whose club already has been beaten by the Jazz (sans injured Deron Williams) twice this season — and who was a teammate this past summer with Dallas Mavericks star Dirk Nowitzki on Germany’s Olympic team.
“I don’t want to take anything away from Dallas, but I don’t think they’re on the same level as the (Los Angeles) Lakers or the Jazz,” Kaman told the Times. “Right now, they have the potential, but they’re just not there yet.
“I talked to Dirk yesterday,” Kaman added, “and he was saying they’re not playing together. They’re not playing the right way. And we’ve had the same problem.”
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One of Philadelphia’s longstanding and great debates: Who has the better cheesesteak, Geno’s or Pat’s? The two compete kitty-corner from each other in Philly’s Little Italy, and on a decent-weather day little beats sitting at both and trying to decide.
Some might argue the issue is moot, because Jim’s on South Street in Philly bests those two and any other Tom’s, Dick’s or Harry’s — and frequently has lines outside the door and wrapped around the corner to prove it.
But one Philadelphia sandwich shop whose cheesesteaks filled multiple bellies from Utah today could end any and all fighting. It’s Larry’s on North 54th Street, not too far from where the Jazz practiced this afternoon. A picture of Kobe Bryant working the grill hangs on the wall, but this isn’t a place to come for celebrity sightings. Rather, it’s somewhere that the combination of griddled top round, cheese and a hogie roll coexist in perfect harmony. So if ever in Philly — and before you make the call — be sure to try all four.
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