Greg Ostertag, like Mark Eaton before him, has heard the fans' complaints that he doesn't score and isn't always a factor. He makes more money than Eaton ever did, so sometimes public consternation is even worse.
He says all the talk doesn't bother him.
"I'm the kind of person, I don't care a whole lot what people think about me. I'm a happy person," he said Saturday evening. "That's the easiest way for me to get around."
He didn't seem to hear the praise, either, after one of those most-tantalizing games of 'Tag, saying it was a good game but not a great one for him even though Jazz coach Jerry Sloan used words like "sensational" and "tremendous" and "best" in describing Ostertag's 26-minute contribution to Utah's playoff-opening 104-93 win over the Sonics in the Delta Center.
Seattle coach Paul Westphal made comparison to Wilt Chamberlain and called Ostertag the difference in the game, and his players said the same.
Worried that the work of Ostertag and others would be overshadowed by his own monster game (50 points), Karl Malone wanted to talk about what Ostertag meant to the Jazz in that playoff opener.
Ostertag, 27, in his sixth season, said he's just doing his job and cited his own growing maturity for helping him progress this season.
When people complain that he doesn't do what they'd like to see, he simply listens to himself. "My job is to rebound and block shots. Whatever people think about me — it's on them," he said.
No, Greg. It's on you. At least on Saturday. Or, more correctly, he was on the Sonics. All over them, in fact.
"Without his blocking shots and offensive rebounding, this game could have been a different outcome," said Sonic Horace Grant. "We didn't expect Ostertag to do that."
He blocked five shots in the first quarter to tie the Jazz record he shares with Eaton, pulled down 10 rebounds and scored seven points. Most of it came when Seattle thought it was in charge, up 20-12 and trying to run away when Ostertag entered. The Sonics were behind 52-49 at halftime, when Ostertag left.
"As crazy as this sounds and as great as Karl was, I think Ostertag was the difference," Westphal said. "Ostertag and our turnovers in the third quarter. If we don't have those turnovers and Ostertag doesn't play like (Wilt) Chamberlain, that game is still winnable despite what Karl did."
Said Sloan, who uses compliments judiciously, "That's probably the best Greg's played in the first half. I thought his first half was sensational. He had a tremendous game. He was effective in blocking shots and intimidating guys. It was great to see him have a game like that. We need somebody in the center position to step up, and he did that today. It was a great performance on his part."
"He made them alter their shots," said Malone, who has also been critical of Ostertag, especially early in the 7-foot-2 center's career. "There were times when they brought the ball to the hole that he made them alter the shot. Maybe he didn't block the shot, but he made them alter the shot. We've been saying for years when we get that kind of production out of the center position, when we have kind of a two-headed center (with starter Olden Polynice), we have a good chance to win ball games," Malone said.
Ostertag played only nine minutes in the second half, perhaps because of a mix-up, perhaps because, as Sloan explained, the coach thought the Jazz needed scoring from Armen Gilliam, who was only 1-for-5 in the game.