Such patience, though, doesn't come easily.

"I want to play. I never sat on the bench in my life," he said. "You get down on yourself because you're thinking no matter what I do, I'm not going to play . . . I kept working, but still, it starts to drain you. You get up every morning early, come in early, stay afterwards and there are no minutes coming out of it."

Miles has logged just 93 minutes over 10 NBA games.

Still, he told his hometown paper, "I trust Coach (Sloan) in everything he does.

"If I'm not playing, it's not because he doesn't think I can play," added Miles, who should be back in Utah sometime next week. "It's because he knows what's going on . . . If he sends me down here, it's for a reason."

FREE PASS: After Jazz season scoring-leader Mehmet Okur dished a career-high eight assists in Philadelphia, Sloan did not seem at all surprised.

"He just got the ball to the open man," the Jazz coach said of Okur, who has been double-teamed frequently this season. "They (opponents) know he is going to shoot shots. He finally realized a couple times that all you have to do is pass it."

ASLEEP IN THE PAINT: Sports Illustrated's Rick Riley commenting on the 10,000-square-foot Hardwood Suite at the Palms Casino in Las Vegas, which contains a basketball court along with a Jacuzzi and lockers for 10 guests: "One of the Murphy beds folds down right under the hoop. You can literally sleep in the lane, thus approximating life as Greg Ostertag."

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E-mail: tbuckley@desnews.com