Jazz showing versatility in overlooked postseason run

	Deron Williams and Andrei Kirilenko have delivered for the Jazz against the Warriors. Harry How/Getty Images

Also in this column:
• Importance of the regular season?
• Doc's extension a good move
• NBA players help one of their own

May we take a moment to recognize the contributions of the Utah Jazz?

They've been neglected amid the other stories of the playoffs -- Long John Baron Davis' one-legged plundering of the Mavericks, the sudden death of Miami and resurgence of Detroit, and even Steve Nash's nose -- yet there has been no more diverse and interesting group than Utah. After all of these years, Jerry Sloan is coaching the most adaptable team in the tournament.

It's quite a thing to win four straight in the same week against Yao Ming's structured Rockets and Baron's amorphous Warriors; that's like winning at the French Open and Wimbledon without any time off in between. The Jazz executed under pressure in Game 7 at Houston, and now they are applying pressure to Golden State by dominating the boards, feeding Carlos Boozer inside and altogether holding Don Nelson accountable for his small lineup in ways that were beyond Avery Johnson.

Before we get carried away, let's be clear that the Warriors could have won either game in Salt Lake City. If they hold serve this weekend in Oakland, they'll return to Utah with an evened series and the requisite momentum to upset the Jazz on their home court. Until Utah wins at Golden State, this series is a pick 'em.

Which shouldn't preclude early recognition of two contributions in particular: Utah sophomore point guard Deron Williams (24 points, 11 assists) is virtually offsetting the production of Davis (30, 7) over the first two games, and Andrei Kirilenko (16.5 points, eight rebounds and 6.5 blocks vs. Golden State) has doubled his production across the board since the series against Houston, when his failures moved him to tears. (And people think pro players don't care.) His blocks from the blind side are outscrambling the Warriors.

Imagine if Utah is in fact able to win one of the next two at Golden State: If Kirilenko carries his form into the next round, the quirky yet balanced Jazz will create problems for either San Antonio or Phoenix.

Emphasizing the regular season

Pat Riley is already preparing for next season in Miami by demanding an 82-game commitment from Shaquille O'Neal, who has missed 75 games the past two years. But these playoffs are suggesting that a contender's dedication from November through March should not be absolute.

The most impressive regular-season teams of the last two years were the 2005-06 Pistons and the current Mavericks, and their ensuing playoffs proved that both teams had peaked too early. The Pistons learned from that experience: They won 11 fewer games than last year as team president Joe Dumars urged them to build toward the playoffs.

San Antonio ceded home court advantage to Dallas and Phoenix, and after pacing themselves through the regular season, the Spurs are now the pick of many league coaches and executives to win their third title in five years. The Jazz collapsed over the final month of the season to yield home court to the Rockets -- then Utah won Game 7 in Houston to advance against the Warriors (42-40), who, like the kindred Nets (41-41), are in the conference semifinals after a mediocre regular season.

Even Miami won its title last year after struggling to win 52 games. When Riley talks about getting a full season from Shaq, he doesn't want O'Neal necessarily playing his best basketball in December and January. But he does want his biggest presence to set the example of someone coming to work every day and laying the foundation for the kinds of performances that we're seeing now from Detroit and San Antonio. In exchange for O'Neal's $20 million salary, that's not asking too much.

Something tells me that ...

• Sam Vincent is going to wind up as coach of the Charlotte Bobcats.

• The Celtics were smart to bring back Doc Rivers despite their 24 wins and 18-game losing streak. Rivers is the party least responsible for the Celtics' breakdown, and he'll have more incentive to win next year than any replacement coach with a new four-year contract. Management was smart to continue supporting Rivers throughout this horrid season, because anything less would have diminished the growth of the Celtics' young players.

• Lenny Wilkens can't be the future leader of the Seattle SuperSonics. It made sense to hire Wilkens as a local legend to help land an arena in Seattle. But if the team is moving to Kansas City or Oklahoma City, why would new owners entrust one of the league's most promising young teams to a 69-year-old who hasn't managed an NBA franchise for two decades? The entire business of the NBA has changed in that time. As a coach Wilkens is a Hall of Famer; as an executive he is vulnerable, and the Sonics will have a hard time hiring a promising GM who is willing to take orders from Wilkens. As a matter of faith in owner Clay Bennett, I'm predicting that he reassigns Wilkens within the next month -- while there's still time to develop a strategy around the upcoming draft.