The more 'touches,' the better Jazz play

TORONTO — They finally snapped out of it.

In doing so, the Jazz may also have popped the lid on why lately they have lost much more than they won.

After a 103-101 blow-a-big-lead then come-from-behind victory at Philadelphia on Monday night — Utah's first win in eight road outings, and just its third win in its last 13 games overall — a quite-common theme could be heard in the visitors locker room at Wachovia Center.

"Everybody touched the ball," Jazz point guard Carlos Arroyo said. "When we play as a team, we're going to have a good chance to win the game. When everyone touches the ball, everyone's happy."

"I wish we can do it more," co-captain Matt Harpring added when asked about teammates willing to make an extra pass. "There's no question we're a better team when we make passes. I mean, we saw that in the first half. We were beating the 'Sixers pretty good by just passing the ball around, letting everyone touch it. That's when we're a good team."

And when not everyone gets enough touches, the Jazz are not merely a bad team.

They're a moody team.

Jazz coach Jerry Sloan, whose 11-15 club ends a five-game trip tonight in Toronto, dubs it selfishness when so many are so cranky because the ball passes through their hands so infrequently.

Call it what you want, it's a theme.

The Jazz are walking a fine line, trying to keep everyone content and making sure a team with as many scorers as it has does not get a too-many-cooks-in-the-kitchen complex.

Take Monday's game.

At halftime, the Jazz's scoring was oh-so-balanced.

Mehmet Okur had 14 points, Harpring and Carlos Boozer 13 each, Raja Bell seven more and Gordan Giricek another five. Boozer and Bell had 11 shots each, Harpring and Okur 10 each. Arroyo had just two points, but dished six assists.

Nearly everyone seemed willing to make the extra pass. Nearly everyone got their touches. Nearly everyone was in on the scoring. The Jazz were up by 16, and nearly everyone seemed giddy.

In the third quarter, the 76ers outscored Utah 38-20.

Scoring and shot-taking was fairly balanced for the Jazz, with no one putting up more than four points and no one hoisting more than Boozer's and Bell's four apiece.

All too often, though, the extra pass was ignored.