Jazz's Fisher not pleased with Miller's team criticism

Though he wasn't named, Jazz owner Larry H. Miller was the apparent target of pointed words delivered Monday by veteran guard Derek Fisher.

"As far as the players, we have a job to do. We have to do whatever we can do to pick up our performance. But what I do know it's not time for is peripheral people to have comments about what's going on in our locker room and questioning who we are as a team. And I don't really care who that is," Fisher said after the Jazz's morning shootaround in advance of Monday night's win over Portland. "You can question me if you want to, you can say what you want to about me. I can handle it. I've been around. But as far as my understanding of what a team is, what an organization is, what a family is, you don't throw people under the bus — at any time.

"When things are going hard, when you're struggling, you stick together even more. You support people, you encourage people. You don't tear people down when it's convenient to tear them down," he added. "And so, it's really about the 13 guys on our roster molding together and pulling together and making the best out of the situation right now."

Fisher's comments came in response to disparaging remarks about the team made by Miller after the Jazz were blown out Saturday by Phoenix, their sixth loss among seven outings.

"If you've been around long enough, there will be articles at times, there'll be stories at times where guys' performances are questioned, guys' motivation(s) are questioned and those things," said Fisher, who is in his first season with the Jazz after spending most of his career with the Los Angeles Lakers and two years with Golden State. "And that's fair for you guys (media members) to do. That's what you get paid to do.

"But anybody within this organization, within this team — that's not what you get paid to do. You don't get paid to tell somebody they're not good, that they're not performing well," he added. "What if I got on camera or I went to the newspaper and said that my teammate sucked or that my teammate's not doing this or not doing that? I wouldn't be being a good teammate if I did that, even if I that's how I felt."

MORE MILLER: Miller left Monday's game before halftime to tend to what was believed to be a family medical emergency. No details on the matter were immediately known, franchise officials said after the game.

ALUMNI UPDATE: Former Jazz big man John Amaechi, who wrote about being a gay man in the NBA in his recently released autobiography "Man in the Middle," has been selected to serve as grand marshal for the 2007 Utah Pride Festival, which will be held June 1-3 in Salt Lake City.