Rookie sidelined by 3 quick fouls

After picking up three first-quarter fouls in just more than eight minutes, rookie point guard Deron Williams spent the rest of the Jazz's preseason loss to Phoenix on Monday night watching from the bench.

Jazz coach Jerry Sloan did express some remorse, in hindsight, about matching Williams against Suns All-Star point Steve Nash early on. But, Sloan suggested afterward, fear not for Williams.

"All of these are learning things, and he'll get better," Sloan said. "I don't have any doubt he'll be a good player in this league."

Sloan did, however, say Williams still must learn to balance how to both play aggressively on defense and stay out of foul trouble. That proved to be a problem for the University of Illinois product during Rocky Mountain Revue summer-league play, and it cropped up again in earnest on Monday.

"It doesn't make any difference where you're drafted," Sloan when asked about the three fast fouls by Williams, the No. 3 overall selection in last June's NBA Draft. "They'll call fouls on you anyway."

Williams finished with one assist and two points on 0-of-3 shooting from the field in his abbreviated stint.

LASTING IMPRESSION: After watching free agent guard Andre Owens score 11 points while playing 16 minutes Monday — all in the second half — Sloan sounded impressed.

"He's played very hard almost every day. He's a relentless worker," Sloan said of the University of Houston product. "He's going to make it really tough for us to cut him."

Owens, undrafted and in training camp with a non-guaranteed contract, has been working at both point guard and shooting guard since using the Rocky Mountain Revue to land a fall-camp invitation.

LOCAL GUY: Jazz free-agent hopeful and Utah State product Spencer Nelson, who had more than 20 friends and family members on hand and plenty more fans in the stands pulling for him, had two points and a couple rebounds in nearly 12 minutes Monday.

MISC.: Jazz center Greg Ostertag did not play (coach's decision). Ostertag, making his first Delta Center appearance since Utah reacquired him from Sacramento in an offseason trade, was greeted with about as much booing as applause during pre-game introductions. . . . As expected, Jazz forwards Carlos Boozer (strained hamstring) and Matt Harpring (offseason knee surgery) did not play. . . . The Jazz play their next two preseason games on the road.

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E-mail: tbuckley@desnews.com