SALT LAKE CITY — It’s nothing Deron Williams hasn’t seen before and something he fully expects to see again. After totaling 33 points and 14 assists in Game 2, Williams is prepared for the Nuggets to start trapping him with a second defender to force him to give up the ball.
“Let them trap me,” Williams said. “That means they’re taking one of their guys off of one of our guys, so we have an advantage. Most of the time, I’m going to find the open man, so that’s great.”
With Denver interim coach Adrian Dantley stressing the need to better control him, Williams said the Nuggets have trapped more “every quarter, every game, so it’s probably safe to say they’re going to want to try to get the ball out of my hands.”
In the final minutes of Game 2, the Nuggets committed two defenders to denying Williams the ball in the backcourt, which left Kyle Korver to dribble across midcourt before handing off to Williams.
“We definitely worked on that (Wednesday),” Williams said, “so I’m not expending so much energy trying to get the ball as I was late in that game. We’re making adjustments to that.”
Name that tune.
Korver confirmed he encouraged Kyrylo Fesenko to switch from listening to thumping European techno to something softer in the hopes it would help Fesenko better focus now that he’s starting at center in Mehmet Okur’s absence.
“I told him to chill out and find some new music,” Korver said. “Before the game, he’s like, ‘Kyle, I think I am too mellow right now. I need to get more excited.’ I was like, ‘Once the game starts, you’ll be fine, believe me.’ “
Not only does Fesenko regularly play his techno at louder than loud volumes, he often sings along too, Korver said.
Coaching carousel.
According to a report, the Jazz’s Tyrone Corbin is one of four assistant coaches around the NBA to watch as New Orleans searches for a new head coach. The others were Portland’s Monty Williams, San Antonio’s Mike Budenholzer and Orlando’s Steve Clifford.
On Melo.
Jazz coach Jerry Sloan joked about Carmelo Anthony: “He’s only averaging (37) points a game in the two games and we think we’ve guarded him? So I wouldn’t get too excited about that.” Ross Siler, The Salt Lake Tribune
