Reaching the One

As any good office manager will tell you, it’s a matter of using the right touch to get everyone on the same page.

Jazz guard Deron Williams said Monday that when it comes to getting in the faces of teammates, “you talk to different people different ways.”

‘Sometimes you have to kind of talk to them. Some guys say they know when I’m fired up, and when I’m yelling, I’m not trying to downgrade them or belittle them. I’m just trying to get them pumped up. I judge it by who I’m talking to.”

Williams added that “I’m not going to get in everybody’s face. Some people can handle it, some can’t.”

The issue of motivation has been a big one this week, considering the Jazz’s poor start against the Lakers on Sunday.

Asked if the Jazz can get back the nastiness coach Jerry Sloan said they lack, Williams brought up a win in Game 7 in Houston in 2007.

“We’ve had that fire and nastiness before, we just got away from it.”
The reason it has been missing late in the season could be traced to the upheaval that included numerous injuries.

“Hopefully we can get back that confidence and chemistry,” he added.