Sloan discontent despite victory

The Jazz beat Houston on Monday, but coach Jerry Sloan still could not keep himself from criticizing their behavior in the process.

Crybabies, he essentially called his players after the win.

The refs permitted play to be physical, and the Jazz — in Sloan's mind — relied too much on complaining to the officials about it and too little on simply responding with some bumping, clutching and grabbing of their own.

Whah, whah, whah.

On Tuesday, the whiners reacted.

"We did cry a few times," said big man Mehmet Okur, who has been called for five technical fouls this season — including two in Utah's three games prior to Monday. "They don't call fouls, we cry to the referees — 'Why didn't you call this, why didn't you call that?' "

Why not, Sloan wonders, just let it go?

Okur chalked it up to the pressure of trying to make the playoffs.

"Because we want to win," he said.

Andrei Kirilenko suggested it's because play Monday simply got too physical.

"It's tough to explain, because I understand guys," he said. "Because I think (Monday) wasn't perfect from the referees' side. . . . They allowed lots of grabbing, lots of different stuff — so I understand when Memo (Okur) starts talking, why Booz (Carlos Boozer) starts talking, why guys start complaining about it."

Sloan, however, isn't buying any of it.

"I don't know," he said, "when I've had a team as soft as we are when it comes to that."

HOME COOKING? Speaking of whining, Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy seemed to suggest after the loss that the clock may have started too early on the game's final play, a would-be tying jumper from Juwan Howard that was ruled to have been released after time expired.

"(Referee) Joey (Crawford) said it didn't," Van Gundy said, "so, you know, I'll take his word for it."

Television replays appeared to confirm the clock started on time..

BLOCK PARTY: Denver and Utah go into tonight's game at the Delta Center with Nuggets center Marcus Camby and Jazz swingman Kirilenko ranked 1 and 2, respectively, among NBA leaders in blocked shots per game.

Camby is averaging 3.33, Kirilenko 3.18.