Utah Jazz: Sloan's expectations — team-wide confidence and contributions

By Jody Genessy
Deseret News
Published: Tuesday, May 13, 2008 7:03 p.m. MDT
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As he prepared for practice Tuesday morning, Utah Jazz head coach Jerry Sloan was asked what he expects to be different about his team's return trip to Los Angeles for Wednesday night's Game 5 in their second-round NBA playoff series.

"I expect to win," he said at the Zions Bank Basketball Center. "I'm sure they (the Lakers) expect the same thing."

Sloan said he isn't sure whether his team is more confident now than it was prior to the beginning of the Western Conference semifinals, but he does believe his team is indeed confident after picking up a pair of wins at EnergySolutions Arena to tie the series at 2-2.

The 20-year Jazz coach believes his team played harder at home to turn the series around after losing by double digits to the Lakers in both Staples Center games. He looks for much of the same for Wednesday night's 8:30 game on TNT.

"I just hope we come and play hard and put our hearts into it," Sloan said. "I hope they play as hard as they can."

Sloan believes all of his players — from Carlos Boozer, Deron Williams to the bench — need to contribute in order to reverse the trend in Los Angeles where Utah has lost all four times against the Lakers this year.

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"We have to beat teams with our team, not just one guy," Sloan said. "We have to have everybody play well."

E-mail: jody@desnews.com

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