Even if his ankle returns to 100-percent shape, Jamie Watson isn't entirely sure he should come back this season.
"My thought process has gone from being concerned about my ankle to being concerned about the chemistry of the team, coming down to the playoffs, regardless of whether I'm ready," Watson said just before the Jazz embarked on their current road trip - without him. "They're playing well, coach has his rotation down, nobody's complaining about shots or playing time."Watson said several weeks ago that he hoped to return by March 1, but that date has come and gone and he's still not close.
"Basically I'm just week to week," he said. "I'm a ways away."
Asked about how he handled the inactivity, he said, "It's frustrating, but because it's the first time I've had surgery I didn't know what to expect. I think I'm making progress, I'm just not making enough."
CONTRACT TALK: Adam Keefe has an option year remaining in his contract, but unlike most contracts, it's his option, not the team's. That means he can exercise the option and play next year with the Jazz, at a guaranteed, set salary, or he can become a free agent.
What he'd prefer to do is sign a contract extension with Utah. "I like everything about playing here," Keefe said. "I think it would be great to come back, sign another deal with the Jazz. I'd like to be here awhile."
Keefe said neither he nor his agent have heard anything from the Jazz brass yet, but he'd like to. "It would be very nice to get it done," he said. "I'm not the type of guy to get into a long, protracted, drawn-out thing. I was the first guy to sign out of all the rookies coming out my year."
According to a Dallas Morning News story, Keefe is making $1.65 million this year. Chances are, he's not going to ask the Jazz for a raise so huge it will be a problem.
"With the out that I have and knowing I have a year guaranteed if I want it, you'd think it would make it a fairly easy negotiation unless you expected a big jump," he said. "If you're making two million a year and want to make it 10, then there's a problem."
HEADLINE NEWS: The Jazz got a little attention from the NBA News, the league's official publication, in its most recent issue headlined, "Jazz Poised to Make Run For Title."
In the article, John Stockton is quoted saying, "We are not champions, and anything short of that is not terrific, but we're certainly not going to be the dogs of the league because we haven't won it every year. We have a good chance. We have a very good team. It doesn't really matter how good you're playing right now or 10 days from now. What matters is how you're playing when the playoffs start. If we can get ourselves playing our best basketball of this season, then we can be right up there in the race for the championship."
COACH STUFF: Some leftover comments from coach Jerry Sloan on winning his 500th game:
- "It's amazing to still have a job. That's the bottom line. We can laugh and joke about it, but I've been fortunate here. This organization has been very kind to me, we've had our ups and downs and things got pretty tough, but I'll say this - they supported me when nobody else in the world did, and Larry Miller stuck with me when there was a lot of pressure on him to make a change at times. And I feel like he made the right decision. I approach this job the same way I did being a player. I know how volatile it is and I know it's a day-to-day thing."
- By the way I: Sloan got kidded some after the Jazz beat Minnesota on Sunday, by certain individuals who said that was really his 500th win, since he served a one-game suspension a couple years ago for bumping an official.
- By the way II: It's revealing that Sloan said his most memorable game as a head coach was a loss - to expansion Miami, the Heat's first win ever.
QUOTEBOOK: Minnesota's 19-year-old Kevin Garnett, on the Mailman: "Karl's just a player, man, just a player."
Malone: "People say we're predictable, but we look around the league and a lot of people are running our plays now."
Stockton, on Sloan's 500th win: "He probably could care less, knowing Jerry. He'll compete tooth and nail with you every night, but he's not going to shout about it afterward."