Sloan blames everyone, not just Williams, for Jazz slump

Jazz point guard Deron Williams took personal responsibility for the Jazz's losses Friday night at Cleveland and Saturday night at Indiana, saying "I'm gonna put these last two games on me."

No need, Jazz coach Jerry Sloan said Monday.

"They're not on him. I just told him that," Sloan said after the Jazz's morning shootaround in advance of tonight's game against New Jersey at EnergySolutions Arena. "No one player on this team has to take the responsibility for us losing. I take the responsibility for us losing. That's the way it's supposed to be. Plain and simple. It's always been that way."

Sloan pointedly directed attention away from Williams and toward himself.

"I've made some mistakes. I did some things, and hopefully I can do a better job," he said. "So, we move on."

Ask if it's not a good thing that Williams was willing to step up and accept responsibility, Sloan said, "Well, if he's the only guy on the team. I mean, I think we've got 12 other people out here that play on the same team. You know, everybody can step up and say, 'I made a mistake' and that sort of thing. But responsibility still falls on 12 people, and myself. I mean, if he was playing 1-on-1 out there and he didn't have anybody coaching him, yeah, he could take the blame for it. But that's not the way this game is. And it's never been that way. That's what I told him. I said, 'Say what you want, you just play and do the best you can — and we, as a team, have to work to get better.' That's the way I see it."

Sloan suggested he's always felt that way.

"I've never thought it was fair for one guy to take the responsibility," he said. "If he's working hard, and continues to work hard, then he'll work himself out of it, if that's what happening. I mean, we all make mistakes. I've never seen a perfect game yet."

Teammate Carlos Boozer backed Sloan's sentiment.

"It's not his fault," said Boozer, the Jazz's leading scorer. "He's taking responsibility because he wants to play better, but it's a team effort. You know, we all can play better collectively."

Williams, for his part, didn't necessarily sound like he was buying it all.