Sloan earns NBA monthly honor; Jazz still have Kobe on their minds

The Jazz's Jerry Sloan, three victories away from No. 1,000, on Friday was named the NBA's Western Conference Coach of the Month for November.

The Jazz started the season 12-1 and finished 13-4, which led the league at the end of the month. Utah also went 8-1 at home in November, tops in the NBA.

Sloan beat out fellow nominees Avery Johnson of Dallas, Houston's Jeff Van Gundy, Phil Jackson of the Los Angeles Lakers and San Antonio's Gregg Popovich.

It's the seventh time Sloan — who has never won league-awarded coach of the year honors, despite being the fifth-winningest coach in league history with a 997-662 career record — has been tapped coach of the month.

His first award came in December in 1993, and the most recent in February 2001.

Also Friday, Orlando's Brian Hill was named Eastern Conference Coach of the Month after guiding the Magic to a 12-4 November record, while Orlando's Dwight Howard and Houston's Yao Ming won monthly honors in their respective conferences.

Yao beat out Jazz nominees Carlos Boozer and Deron Williams by averaging 25.7 points and 10.1 rebounds with a streak of 11 consecutive games with 20 or more points.

Charlotte's Adam Morrison was selected Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month while Rudy Gay of Memphis was named the Western Conference's top November rookie, topping a small field that included Jazz nominee Paul Millsap.

NO STOPPING HIM: Though they had the day off from practice, Jazz players still had to be shaking their heads Friday over Kobe Bryant's performance late Thursday.

The Los Angeles Lakers star scored 52 points in L.A.'s 132-102 win, one which ended Utah's NBA-long streak of 22 straight victories when scoring 100-plus points.

Thirty of Bryant's points came in the third quarter alone, but ex-Laker Derek Fisher of the Jazz says he saw it coming before then.

"Earlier in the game, I could see it," Fisher said of the special look Bryant gets in eyes when he's about to go on a scoring binge. "But, you know, one guy doesn't beat you."

The Jazz indeed were beating themselves up for losing Thursday.

Mostly, though, they were singing Bryant's praises — especially for his being able to score over an array of Jazz defenders, including Andrei Kirilenko and the Russian forward's frequently outstretched arm.