Utah Jazz: Raja Bell not feeling it

SALT LAKE CITY — In his actions and with his words — or lack thereof — Jazz guard Raja Bell has shown he's clearly frustrated with Utah's six-game losing streak.

In the Jazz's last two games, Bell has had words with the Lakers' Andrew Bynum and the Spurs' DeJuan Blair, and been issued two technical fouls. After the loss to San Antonio, Bell, a consummate professional, quickly left Utah's locker room without speaking to reporters.

Bell said those incidents aren't a reflection of his frustration level. But make no mistake about it, his frustration meter is currently off the charts.

"I'm pretty down," Bell said. "It's alright though. It's a long season, so you try not to get too high with the highs or low with the lows, but when you're in the middle of something like (a six-game losing streak) it's hard. You want to do well."

Bell would be the first to say that he isn't doing all that well right now. He has lost his shooting touch during Utah's six-game losing streak. He hasn't scored more than five points in the six defeats. In the Jazz's last six games, he is shooting 7-for-30 from the field.

Bell, a career 40.9 percent 3-point shooter, said he isn't concerned about finding his shot. Not impacting games in any type of way is what's mostly troubling him, and something he wants to change when the Jazz host the Minnesota Timberwolves tonight.

"It's the whole performance, I think," Bell said. "I've played on a lot of teams, and I've made a lot of shots and I've missed a lot of shots. It's not about the shots. At the end of the day, I'm going to shoot the same percentage I shoot every year. I've done it for 11 years.

"It's more so that I don't feel like I have an impact and that's frustrating because you want to," Bell continued. "And you want to either impact it offensively or defensively or with your energy level, and when you can't really find a way to put your imprint on the game it becomes frustrating."

Coach Jerry Sloan senses that Bell's frustrations begin with his shooting troubles.

"He's struggled shooting the ball," Sloan said. "I think that's one of the things that's hurt him some. He's had some shots that haven't gone down. He just has to stay with it, keep working."

Although Bell has gotten into it with opponents and avoided the media in recent days, Sloan doesn't think his shooting guard's frustration level is any higher than the rest of the Jazz.