There wasn't much for John Starks to get emotional about Thursday night at the Delta Center. There was the play in the fourth quarter in which Bryon Russell passed over his head to Donyell Marshall for a layup. Then there was . . . uh . . . well . . . the fan shooting contest to win a trip to Paris.
And there was the fruit basket in the locker room.
OK, it wasn't exactly a memorable night.
The Jazz went to work in standard fashion, hammering out a mundane 98-87 win over the mundane Vancouver Grizzlies. But there were no complaints to be found. Last year, the Jazz suffered one of their most embarrassing losses ever, when the Grizzlies took a 116-99 win in Salt Lake City— their first win over Utah.
This year, no such surprises.
If the Jazz were only marginally fired up in their latest outing, there was a reason: they were playing Vancouver. Usually, the Utah-Vancouver game is as interesting as lawn bowling. They did what they needed to, staging an 18-7 run in the fourth period to put the game away.
Stark kept his emotions on a low burn on this particular night, which was apropos, given the circumstances. "You've got to keep it in check at times," Starks said. "You need to do it when the team is dead and needs to be picked up. Fortunately, there are guys on our team who can do that."
Actually, "guys who can do that" have been few and far between in Utah. For virtually all of their existence, the Jazz have gotten by on steely determination. Arm-pumping and high-fiving was considered high school stuff. Occasionally they'll turn it on, as they did when Karl Malone passed Wilt Chamberlain on the all-time scoring list. Otherwise, not.
Truth is, the Jazz have a proud tradition of showing little or no emotion. Adrian Dantley and Darrell Griffith, for example, never cracked a smile. Malone and John Stockton tend to celebrate at work as often as people with regular nine-to-five jobs do — rarely.
Coach Jerry Sloan used to yank Blue Edwards out of games for hanging on the rim after dunking. Antoine Carr's best work usually involved barking on television. Greg Foster did add a splash of color when he ran by the Lakers' bench and gave the throat-slashing sign, but his fiery outbursts rarely translated into action. Olden Polynice added some needed emotion when he arrived in Utah and is never short on arm-pumps. Problem is, his arm-pumps to points ratio is about 4-1.
"We've been very lucky that we have a couple of guys that play with a lot of emotion," Polynice said. "That's been a big plus for us. I try to keep it going every night, because I know that's the only way I can get myself going is to be energized, and I hope guys feed off that."
The classic cheerleader-with-no-game was Jack Haley, who stood at the end of the bench in Chicago and San Antonio, waving a towel. But when it came to actually contributing, he was often a no-show.
"Some guys," said Sloan — not naming names — "are phony out there."
Starks, on the other hand, is an important contributor. Against Detroit earlier this year, he became so wrapped up in cheering on the sidelines that Sloan said dryly, "John, is there something you want us to run?"
"You need that at certain points of the game," Starks said Thursday. "You need someone to create some excitement. It's all part of what goes into winning."
This year's team has more fire than the old teams, and a little more show. In Starks, it has someone who actually has a game to augment his cheering. He racked up 18 points against the Clippers and Nets, 16 against the Nuggets and Timberwolves.
All of which is good with Sloan. He doesn't mind histrionics. Just so long as they translate into something in the box score.
E-MAIL: rock@desnews.com