Pair of Jazz rookies inactive for tonight's game

OAKLAND — The Jazz plan to make rookies Morris Almond and Kyrylo Fesenko inactive for tonight's 2007-08 NBA regular-season opener at Golden State, said coach Jerry Sloan after Tuesday's morning shootaround.

"He doesn't have much experience," Sloan said Almond, the Jazz's 2007 first-round draft choice out of Rice University. "They're two young kids."

Almond is the Jazz's No. 4 shooting guard behind starter Ronnie Brewer, swingman Gordan Giricek and 20-year-old C.J. Miles; Fesenko, a second-round draft choice, is Utah's No. 3 center behind starter Mehmet Okur and backup Jarron Collins.

The decision — which could change up until an hour before tipoff — means veteran backup small forward Matt Harpring likely will be on the 12-man active roster and should be available to play tonight, despite missing all seven of Utah's preseason games while rehabbing his surgically repaired right knee.

"I figured he'd play tonight, some," Sloan said. "He can't play very much, because he hasn't played."

Also expected to be active, then, is third-season pro Miles, who Sloan acknowledged currently is ahead of Almond.

"Knowing I'm playing against a team like (the Warriors) he would be," the Jazz coach said, "because they're gonna run a lot of different alignments at you and that sort of thing."

The Jazz have 14 players on the current roster, but only 12 can be designated as active on a game-by-game basis.

Also Monday, Sloan said starting point guard Deron Williams and starting power forward Carlos Boozer will serve as team co-captains on a permanent basis throughout the season.

The Jazz rotated multiple captains last season.

A few other thoughts and random items of interest heading into the opener:

• Sloan suggested his biggest positive of the preseason was watching newly acquired reserve point guards Jason Hart and Ronnie Price learn the Jazz offense.

"I think they've really worked hard to try to get some of that done, so that we can play a little bit without Deron (Williams) on the floor," he said.

• Williams has one big regret about the exhibition season. "We really didn't have that much time, as a group, to play a lot of minutes together," he said.

• The Jazz's first five games all are against teams that took part in last season's playoffs, including meetings with the Warriors not only tonight but also Saturday night.