For a guy who didn't want to talk about it, Karl Malone had quite a bit to say about Raptors assistant coach Darrell Walker.
Walker trash-talked the Mailman during Monday night's game in Toronto, reportedly prompting Malone to respond, "Sit your (bleep) down." Soon after that, Raptors coach Brendan Malone strolled over to his assistant and quietly said something, probably "Shut up, stupid."Asked about it afterward, the Mailman initially said, "I don't know Darrell's problem. I don't know what it goes back to. I don't even want to talk about it, basically. It's over."
Then Malone suggested that, well, that maybe somebody had burnt Darrell's toast, except that's not the analogy he used.
Reminded that it probably dated back to the Isiah "I could have died on that play" Thomas incident of a few years ago, Malone said, "I wondered why he (Walker) had a job here." Thomas, of course, is the Raptors' general manager.
Malone then said, "Basically, everybody's tough until you get them in a dark alley, and then you never see them."
Jazz owner Larry H. Miller knows that his team faces a challenge in upcoming years. While talking about contract extensions for star players Malone and John Stockton, Miller said, "What we're trying to do is take care of them and still remain competitive."
What he means is that the Jazz need to keep enough money around to sign a free agent or two each season. Assuming they continue to have poor draft choices right up until the departure (perhaps simultaneously) of Malone-Stockton, the only way they'll remain in the NBA's upper half is to keep adding free agents - and making the occasional trade for a guy who has been given up on by another team.
Jazz coach Jerry Sloan was asked (predictably) after the Toronto game to compare rookie point guard Damon Stoudamire with John Stockton. "It's not a fair comparison," Sloan said. "Stoudamire is more of a scoring point guard, Stockton is more strictly a point guard, he is always looking to pass. He loves to pass, that's why he's so good at it. Stoudamire looks to shoot a lot more than John did at that stage of his career. John wouldn't shoot unless the 24-second clock was running out when he first started playing."
Malone, who, like Stockton, has never posted a triple-double, came close again last week but sat out almost the entire fourth quarter of a game the Jazz had well in hand. Asked afterward if he was upset to come out with that statistical achievement within reach, he said, "No, I wasn't that ticked off."
The question had been a set-up, since Sloan was lurking behind the assembled media, waiting to hear Malone's response. When Malone said he wasn't angry, Sloan jokingly said, "Boy, I was glad to hear that."
Malone went on to say that he'd like to get a triple-double, but only if it comes naturally. "The one time they tried to get one for me, I think it was in Detroit, Jerry said he was a nervous wreck," the Mailman said. "I was out there for five minutes trying to get that last assist."
From the silly-question department: Stockton was asked by a Toronto writer about his shorts, which are certainly the NBA's shortest. Apparently the writer got the idea from a group of Toronto fans who jeered the Jazz guard for his choice of apparel.
Stockton said, "I'm wearing the shorts that are comfortable to me. I've never gone with trends."
The writer then apologized, saying he's sure Stockton had heard the question a hundred times.
"Actually, that's the first time," Stockton said.
It wasn't a complete shock when Andy Toolson was subbed into the Toronto game with 1.6 seconds left in the first quarter; after all, he's supposed to be a 3-point shooter and that was a good opportunity for a trey. But then Sloan left him out there to start the second quarter, and he ended up playing eight minutes, his longest appearance of the season.
"I can't lie," Toolson said. "I was pretty surprised. But I guess that's why they have guys on the bench."
Makes sense.