Utah's Okur adds a little extra in win over his former team

Mehmet Okur tried to downplay the night that he had Saturday against his former teammates, but Utah Jazz teammate Andrei Kirilenko noticed how Okur was more aggressive and more in the flow of plays in a 108-93 win over a short-handed Detroit team.

"He got the great motivation," said Kirilenko.

Okur spent his first two NBA seasons with Detroit and won the NBA championship last spring before signing as a restricted free agent last summer with Utah.

"Right now he should prove (to) everybody they made a great mistake to not re-sign him," said Kirilenko in the postgame locker room, looking at a somewhat sheepish Okur, who was quickly heading for the showers rather than wanting to listen to Kirilenko talk about him.

"But Utah made a great decision," Kirilenko called to him in jest. "Memo for President!"

Okur received his championship ring in the mail from the Pistons last week and then, according to Kirilenko, showed it first thing to all his new teammates.

"Memo," Kirilenko told him. "Come on. Right now you need to put 'Jazz,' not 'Pistons' (on the ring)."

Coach Jerry Sloan is looking for much more improvement from the 6-foot-11 post player, but he liked enough of what he saw to leave Okur on the court for a season-high 30 minutes, even if he didn't play as much defense as Sloan wants.

"He shot pretty well. He was inspired to play against his old team," Sloan said. "He was able to stay on the floor a little more. He's got a lot more confidence shooting and passing."

Okur responded to Sloan's offer of increased minutes with 19 points, his best in a Jazz uniform, shooting 50 percent, making all of his free throws and getting seven rebounds, three assists and a blocked shot.

Okur said his good night was less due to playing his old team than to his getting more comfortable now that he's able to freely work out with the Jazz in practices. He had a foot injury in training camp, then ate some bad fish in Detroit and couldn't play there in the exhibition season, then got poked in the eye in practice.

"I just tried to play just like myself — play hard every single second on the court," Okur said. "I think I did well tonight."

He admitted to having "a little some extra" for the Pistons, but he said he was really more aggressive and able to run the court because, "My shape is getting better. Now I'm take care of my body every day more careful."

No more fish before games.