As former coach Frank Layden once said, "If you're going to make a mistake, make it a big one."

Besides, you might luck out, as the Jazz did when 7-4 Mark Eaton got out of auto repair and into basketball. He wasn't a scorer, but boy could he clog the lane. He stood them up, strained their backs, tangled their arms and eclipsed the paint.

Though fans complained about his modest scoring ability, all it took was a run of tepid results with varying centers — pretend and real — in ensuing years to realize what Eaton had done for defense.

Thus, when the 44th pick rolled around the Jazz again went big. That time they chose 7-1, 230-pound Croatian Ante Tomic. The word on him is that he has a nice touch and good agility, but is as weak as a kitten.

No matter.

"He's got size — doesn't have strength — he's got skills," said O'Connor.

The Jazz plan to leave Tomic in Europe for a year or two.

It's true that both new big men need polishing. And neither is likely to dominate. Clearly, some of the taller men in this year's draft were considered risky or they would have gone earlier.

Still, the Jazz didn't hesitate.

You can't get sidetracked by small minds when you're thinking big.

---

E-mail: rock@desnews.com