Utah Jazz: Sloan turning to 2 point guard lineup with increasing frequency

Be it Keith McLeod or Brevin Knight or Ronnie Price in the past, having a combo guard or fellow point guard next to him on occasion is nothing new for Jazz point guard Deron Williams.

But the use of Williams and rookie point guard Eric Maynor on the floor together is something coach Jerry Sloan seems to be turning to with greater frequency these days — when, that is, matchups on the defensive end allow it.

"It's a lineup that he (Sloan) looks to go to, to get me off the ball coming off screens," Williams said after the two spent time sharing the backcourt in Thursday night's win over Chicago.

"D-Will comes off of screens very well, and can shoot the ball," Sloan added with reference to Williams, a career 46.7 percent shooter. "If we execute the play and set screens to try to help somebody get open, he can make shots."

Sloan loves having in his arsenal a shooter who can make the most of a solid screen, especially with swingman Ronnie Brewer a shaky shooter, small forward Andrei Kirilenko a streaky spot-up type, 3-point specialist Kyle Korver still recovering from arthroscopic knee surgery and former starting shooting guard C.J. Miles still recovering from thumb surgery.

"With this team, if we have somebody who makes those shots, when we run 'em we feel pretty comfortable about what we're doing," said Sloan, whose Jazz face Portland tonight. "We have good rebounding position, we've good floor balance when those kinds of shots are taken — rather than just having to take standing jump shots when a (teammate) doesn't know if you're gonna drive or what's going on."

With Williams and Maynor both having point-guard mentalities, however, communication between the two is key. And so far they seem to have a workable system.

"If I get (the ball), he runs. But if you get it, I run," Maynor said Friday. "We're both thinking out there the same way."

Really, they are.

"If he gets it, he goes with it. If I get it, I go with it," added Williams, who in the past hasn't always embraced the notion of even occasionally playing off-guard.

"At half-court, I usually give it to him and let him run something," Williams added. "But if I feel like there's something we need to run, I just let him know and then he can run it from the point. ... He knows what he's doing. He's a point guard. He's a smart point guard, so we trust in him to run the offense."

And when it comes down to it, the rookie first-round draft choice from Virginia Commonwealth readily defers to his Olympic gold medal-owning Team USA elder — even if Williams is playing out of the shooting-guard position.

"I'm out there listening to him when we're playing, you know? Because he's been there and done that," Maynor said. "Sometimes Coach Sloan just wants me to go, just attack.

"But I (also) try to get him (Williams) shots — penetrate and kick it to him. You know Deron gets easy shots when (he's) playing off the ball. That's my main focus when he's out there — and then just running the offense."

e-mail: tbuckley@desnews.com