[deseret news] Jazz Need Playoff Mindset Against Rockets

The enemy speaks.

http://www.deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,660207951,00.html

Jazz need playoff mindset against Rockets

By Tim Buckley
Deseret Morning News

HOUSTON — There is no need to call in a speechwriter, no reason to go all Knute Rockne or John Belushi.

At least coach Jerry Sloan doesn't think so, not with the importance of his Jazz's visit with the Houston Rockets today as obvious as it ought to be.

"I think they just have to come and play," Sloan said. "If they don't know what the situation is, then they're probably lost in this game — or any game.

"You just go play, and not worry about that."

"That" includes the fact Utah's lead over Houston for homecourt advantage in a likely 4-5 seed first-round NBA Western Conference playoff series between the teams dwindled to just a half-game after the Jazz lost Friday in San Antonio while the now 47-26 Rockets were en route to an overtime victory over the Los Angeles Lakers.

"That" also includes the reality that a possible tie-breaker between the clubs has not yet been won, since the initial two meetings of the season series were split (with each winning at home) and the last of four games between the pair does not come until the regular-season finale for both on April 18 at EnergySolutions Arena in Salt Lake City.

Even though the Jazz are guaranteed to be seeded no lower than fourth by virtue of their Northwest Division championship, homecourt advantage in the playoffs is determined by record only after each series is set.

And "that" is as simple as one NBA team wanting to show the other who's boss before postseason play gets under way.

"We know the importance," point guard Deron Williams said.
"Everybody knows it's important," he added. "We know."
Or do they?

Few in the visitor's lockerroom at San Antonio's AT&T Center on Friday agreed on much following the 47-25 Jazz's sixth straight road loss, from the issue of selfishness on certain possessions against the Spurs to the matter of just how critical — and why — today's visit with the Rockets really is.

"I think that every game right now is important. It's not necessarily Houston," forward Andrei Kirilenko said. "Of course it's important to get the tie-breaker and ... of course it's important to win to show them when we're in the playoffs we're stronger, but right now I think every win for us (is) crucial to set up a kind of rhythm to go to the playoffs."

Guard Derek Fisher, though, seemed more concerned about the here-and-now than what is to happen come late April — and really more the now than the specificity of here.

"I think it's important right now in terms of developing our ability to beat the top teams in their building," Fisher said after the Jazz, owners of the league's fourth-best record, lost for the 16th straight time in San Antonio.

"If we're considering ourselves to be one of the top three or four teams in the NBA," he added, "it's something you have to be able to do."
As for setting a tone, Fisher isn't even sure if one established today will translate later this month.

"I think most people know when they play the Jazz what to expect in terms of execution and the type of style we play," he said, "so I don't think there will be any secrets as far as that goes.

"But I do think it's important that we're able to win games on the road," added Fisher, who won three NBA titles with the Lakers. "It doesn't matter, really, one iota to have homecourt advantage if you still can't win a game on the road, because in the playoffs ... every team is capable of winning a game in your building, and you have to be capable of winning games in their building."

The fact the Jazz are 27-9 at home this season, in other words, may be mitigated by the fact they are just 18-18 on the road.

Or is it?

Again, opinions among the Jazz are as plentiful as tacky strip malls in Houston.

"We've got to try to win every single game we've got left in order to try to maintain the homecourt advantage," Sloan said. "That's the bottom line with us.

"We're looked at as a young team," the Jazz coach added. "If we have to go out on the road and play a veteran team in the first round of the playoffs, that's not an easy task. It's not impossible. But ... our record's better at home than it is on the road."

Not that Sloan will necessarily share that sentiment with his club today.
With 10 games still to go in the regular season, he'll probably hold back on over-the-top oratory for now.

Which, Fisher did agree, probably is a good idea.

"I don't think you overdo the talking and wolfing and saying how big this game is and (that) we're going to see this team later and all that stuff," he said. "I mean, it's only 10 games, but (the playoffs are) an eternity away. You know, we still have a lot of basketball to play — and a lot of things to iron out."

So there you go, Gipper. Take that, Bluto.