Utah Jazz: Brewer has a tough task ahead of him

When the Jazz-Lakers first-round series tips off Sunday, Ronnie Brewer will have the unenviable defensive assignment of guarding the only player in the NBA whose career-high scoring mark is common knowledge.

He also might be the only player who gets a bit of sympathy from his coach for the challenge.

"Anybody that matches up against Kobe Bryant," Jazz coach Jerry Sloan admitted, "has a tough job."

Tell Ronnie Brewer about it.

"He's a talented player … has a talent to score a lot of points," Brewer said.

And, yes, though he wasn't even in the NBA at the time, the third-year Jazz guard remembers exactly how many Bryant tallied against Toronto three years ago.

"He's scored 81 in a game," Brewer recalled, "so you've just got to make him take tough shots and make him work for everything he gets."

The Lakers' superstar never scored even half that in a playoff game last year, but he averaged 33.2 points and seven assists during L.A.'s 4-2 Western Conference semifinal victory.

It helped Bryant that he seemed to take up residency at the free-throw line, where he attempted 91 free throws, including 17 or more in four games.

"You've got to keep him off the line, but at the same you've got to be physical with him," Brewer said. "You can't give him anything easy. You can't (let) him drive to the basket, because that gets him going. He gets easy dunks, layups, that's going to be a long night for you."

Andrei Kirilenko, Kyle Korver and Matt Harpring, perhaps others, will also likely get some tango time with the reigning MVP. The Jazz know they can't shut Bryant down, but they at least hope to slow down the guy Sloan admiringly admits can "punish you at the end."

"It's hard to guard Kobe Bryant," Sloan said. "We've never really had an answer for him as long as he's been in the league, except when he was real young. But now he's a terrific player."

"You've just got to be ready and prepared for everything he's going to throw at you," Brewer added. "I mean, he can shoot the three ball. He can drive to the lane, post up and he's a good passer. He has a great all-around game."

While LeBron James is a load to handle, Korver admitted Bryant is "the hardest player to guard" for him.

"He's a great shooter, he can put the ball on the floor, he can pass," Korver said. "He doesn't have any kind of weakness, so he's tough."