"If I had put Howard out and he had struggled," he added, "I'd still second-guess myself. I don't care who it is."

Afterward, questioned about the coach's dilemma, Arroyo felt compelled to make an impassioned case for how he hopes to be used.

"I hope it's not going to be a problem, because I'm here to play," he said. "I want to play. I want him (Sloan) to play me when it's crunch-time.

"I'm the type of player that wants to be there, and I want him to trust me enough to not feel like that — because I don't want him to be thinking, 'Who do I put in now?' " Arroyo added. "No. He should trust me as the starting point guard of this team — and know that I'm going to do the job."

Still, there were decisions to be made.

"It's tough for us, because we can't bat a hundred percent," Sloan said. "I won't always be right."

By Thursday night in Miami, the Jazz had a new point plan.

Sloan scrapped trying to play all three points. He went with Arroyo to both start and finish, used Eisley behind him and sat McLeod the entire game.

The Jazz lost in overtime, but Arroyo answered at both the end of regulation and the end of the extra session — making pressure free throws, and keeping Utah in position to potentially win.

Still, Sloan offered constructive criticism.

"We didn't protect the basketball well enough," he said when asked about Arroyo, who committed six turnovers against the Heat. "For us to be a good team, we've got to always have a good shot every time. We're not good enough to make turnovers, play loose."

The following evening, Saturday in Atlanta, the Jazz beat the Hawks to snap a two-game losing streak and improve to 7-3 overall. Arroyo had nine points, eight assists and only two turnovers, but he shot just 2-of-10 from the field.

Again, constructive criticism.

"To be honest with you, I think he tried to get too cute," Sloan said. "And you can't get too cute if the other team is playing against you. You know, they're going to take that cuteness away from you . . . because that kind of embarrasses them a little bit."

In his day, Stockton was never cute.

These days, though, the Jazz's rock at the point has moved on. It really doesn't matter what Stockton did or did not do. So Sloan does what he must, playing the hand he has.

Sometime late this month or early in December, Lopez will return. Arroyo and Eisley have their places. McLeod, who also did not play in Atlanta, has only a partially guaranteed contract, leaving his fate somewhat uncertain.

"That's just one of the things we'll have to deal with — because I won't have room for all four of them on the bench," Sloan said. "I'll worry about that when we get to it.

"I realize the ramifications of all of this. The players do too," he added. "But hopefully they'll be as understanding as they can be on it."

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E-mail: tbuckley@desnews.com