SALT LAKE CITY — Former Utah basketball coach Jim Boylen is in his second year as an assistant coach for the San Antonio Spurs after previously spending two years with the Indiana Pacers. Before that, Boylen was the coach at Utah for four years before getting let go in 2011.
Boylen says he enjoys San Antonio and was privileged to be a part of the Spurs’ NBA championship team last year. However he preferred not to talk in any detail about his previous time in Utah or the current Utah basketball team or even about coaching for the sometimes-quirky Gregg Popovich.
“My family’s great, my kids are great, I’m learning a lot here — things are good,’’ said Boylen. He said he’s been good friends with Jazz general manager Dennis Lindsey for 20 years ever since the two worked together in Houston in the late 1990s. In fact, right after briefly talking about his job, Boylen and Lindsey talked for several minutes at midcourt for several minutes before Monday night's game.
Popovich, who was his usual sarcastic self in his pre-game interview with the media, got serious for a minute in talking about Boylen.
“He’s great — he’s a great guy, he’s fun to be around and he really understands basketball,’’ Popovich said. “He has a wealth of experience and is somebody who I really trust.’’
Boylen says he enjoys living in San Antonio with his wife and two girls, who are now 8 and 9 years old. He wishes the best to the sports fans in Utah.
POP ON SNYDER: Popovich is known for messing around with the media, especially on live interviews between quarters on national TV. He did the same thing in his pre-game interview when asked about the job Quin Snyder is doing.
Popovich: “You think I’m going to say something bad?"
Reporter: “I was hoping to get something insightful."
Popovich: “From me?’’
After that, Popovich did say some nice things about Snyder, who used to be in the Spurs organization as the head coach of the Austin Toros, the Spurs' D-League team.
“Quin is a guy who is easy to follow because he’s clear-minded, he’s intelligent and knows what he wants to get done,’’ Popvich said. “I think the guys are doing a great job of understanding his system and taking on that physicality and aggressiveness that he’s looking for on both sides of the floor. I think everybody is motoring along fantastically.’’
NO METHOD TO RESTING: Popovich was also asked about his practice of resting his starters at certain times during the year, for which he gets criticized and has also been fined by the NBA.
“There’s no sports science, it’s a seat-of-the-pants type of thing,’’ he said. “Every individual, the schedule, what their body is saying and the games we just had and the games we have coming up, the time of the year, all those things come into play. The emphasis is always to be as fresh as we can and to develop a bench. We can’t develop a bench if they sit there, they have to play."
JAZZ NEWCOMERS: Several sources reported that the Jazz were signing two players to 10-day contracts — Jack Cooley, the 6-10 center who played with the Jazz in the preseason, and Bryce Cotton, a 6-1 point guard who played four years for Providence.
Cooley has averaged 15.5 points and 10.6 rebounds for Utah’s D-League affiliate Idaho Stampede and in his most recent game scored 25 points and grabbed 20 rebounds. Cotton had 22.6 points and 4.6 assists for the Austin Toros of the D-League.
The Jazz haven't confirmed those call-ups, but if they come through that would make six D-League call-ups for the Jazz already this season.
So what does Snyder look for with players who are called up for a short time?
“We want guys that are unselfish, first and foremost,’’ he said. “That’s a prerequisite to having success whether you’re here two days, 10 day or 10 years. You want guys that will compete when they get an opportunity to get in a game or in practice or individual work You get those two qualities and guys have an opportunity to make an impact or impression.’’
NEW GUY: Another Jazz newcomer is Grant Jerrett, who came to Utah from Oklahoma City in last week’s trade. This was his first game at EnergySolutions Arena as a professional, although he did play two games at the 2013 NCAA tournament when he played for Arizona. Besides those two games, Jerrett played one game at the University of Utah’s Huntsman Center.
Considered the No. 9 player in the nation coming out of high school, he averaged 5.2 points and 3.6 rebounds in his only season at Arizona before getting drafted by Portland with the 40th pick of the 2013 draft before getting traded to Oklahoma City. After playing in the D-League last year, he played in five games for OKC this year before getting traded.
JAZZ NOTES: Rodney Hood, who is coming back from another foot injury, was able to play, but his minutes were restricted again. Hood finished with two points in 12 minutes. … Hall of Fame running back Gale Sayers was in the crowd as was former Utah football player and current NFL player Paul Kruger. … The Jazz and Spurs split their earlier two games this year, as the Jazz won 100-96 in Salt Lake in December and lost 89-69 in San Antonio in January, their lowest scoring game of almost a decade. The Spurs swept the series last year 4-0.