Brewer's start ends with mixed results

It was the first start of his professional career, even if it was an exhibition game, and Utah Jazz rookie Ronnie Brewer wanted to show he wouldn't be nervous and that he could learn from the things he did wrong last week, when coach Jerry Sloan gave him just five minutes of court time at Indiana.

He played better at Detroit Saturday, and in the Jazz's first home preseason game Thursday night at the Delta Center, Brewer was instrumental in the Jazz getting off to a strong beginning, leading 29-16 and eventually beating the Portland Trail Blazers 104-90.

"Definitely, I wanted to do something to get us off to a boost, make a momentum shift and just try to get my hands on some of the balls. That's what I focused on doing," Brewer said.

He made several deflections out of Utah's early 1-2-2 zone and had three first-quarter steals as well as five points and two assists. He finished with seven points, a blocked shot and those same three steals and two assists.

"He had a good start. He was alive," acknowledged Sloan, tough on rookies and only about half-pleased. "He came out the second half and looked like the wheels had fallen off."

Sloan couldn't figure out why. "He shouldn't have been. He's a young guy. If he comes out there and he's tired in an exhibition game, I don't know if I can put him out there in the regular season."

Asked why he started Brewer — coaches try different lineups, of course, in the preseason — Sloan bemusedly second-guessed the decision. "I don't know. I'll probably start somebody else tomorrow night. It's kind of a goofy idea, I guess."

Not to Brewer, under the impression he'd done pretty well. "Definitely, I try to go 110 percent. I've been spending extra time with some of the coaches to learn the offense even better, and I've got that down, too.

"Coach Sloan told me one of the easiest ways to stay on the court is to defend, and that's what I wanted to do."

It just didn't last long enough for Sloan.

Brewer did give fans a memorable play in the third quarter. He ran the fast-break lane like he said he'd been told and got out ahead of Jazz point guard Deron Williams. Williams alley-ooped to Brewer, who dunked the ball over his head with his back to the basket, one of the game's more spectacular-looking plays.

"Me and D-Will made eye contact, and he just put it up there, and (I) made a play on the ball. Backwards. I used to do it in high school and college a lot," Brewer said, explaining he kept his back turned to the basket because the ball came a bit later than he was expecting. "So I just ended up making it easy. I was already in the air. I hope so. I hope to bring more excitement like that. I'm going to play 110 percent and try to be exciting for the fans."

But he'll still have to work on his staying power.

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