The combination of next week's busy schedule and a loaded home slate this past week —including three games in four nights — prompted Sloan to call off Saturday's shooting session. He also decided not to hold practice this morning, seeing as the Jazz play four games in five nights, beginning Tuesday night in Sacramento.

"My own personal feeling, I think sometimes we needed time off to gather your legs and everything about you back together," Sloan said prior to Saturday's game, referring to his own playing days.

"Now they practice and lift weights; they do this and do that," he added. "Nine million things."

Certainly not like the old days, suggested Sloan, who isn't softening up so much as he is simply facing reality.

"When I played, we didn't have shootarounds," he said. "Didn't have to go work out if you didn't play 20 minutes. Didn't have to go work out in the weightroom for an hour-and-a-half.

"Your body," the Jazz coach added, "gets kind of worn down with some of that stuff after a while."

Now Sloan just hopes his team doesn't allow this loss to fester.

"You feel sorry for yourselves sometimes with this business. You see them drop their heads down," he said. "But that's where you learn how to fight and you learn how to compete and they jump right back into it the next day and say, 'I'm ready to go."'

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Contributing: Tim Buckley