"I probably should have gone with Giricek, but he had struggled some in some of the other games," said Sloan. "But then he got back in the ballgame last night and did well."

Giricek already had the plays down and might even know how to play power forward and center. "Two and three — doesn't make any difference, I think. It's guards," he said.

"You try to look what other people are doing in case you find yourself on the court in that situation. So probably you should know also how to play positions four or five in case you find yourself in last second there. It's always good to know many positions."

Playing against the Spurs is another subject. Derek Fisher said many teams are defeated before they even step on the AT&T court. "There's not going to be many opportunities where they make mistakes or they're not ready to play and you can just kind of waltz in there and get a win," Fisher said.

"You can't go in feeling defeated. I think a lot of teams do. Before the game starts they feel like it's harder than it's going to be."

There's good reason for that, and for Utah having lost 13 straight there.

Fisher said Popovich is the one coach that he hasn't played for yet that he can envision wanting to play for, putting him in a category with Sloan and Laker coach Phil Jackson because of the control he has on his team.

"We haven't been as good as they are. Something like talent has a tendency to equalize everything," added Sloan, a fan of Tim Duncan. "He doesn't do it with any fanfare. He just comes and plays, and he does it as well as anybody that's ever played this game."

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E-mail: lham@desnews.com