If you watched the Utah / Portland game last night, you know that the Jazz were pretty much dead in the water until the 4th quarter. They were getting rained on by Blazer jumpshooters, they couldn’t figure out Portland’s packed-in zone defense, Memo was knocked out of the game with a shoulder injury and then a few minutes later, Andrei Kirilenko had to leave the game after getting cracked in the face fighting for a loose ball.

Jerry Sloan’s shock troops came in - Paul Milsap, Jason Hart and Gordan Giricek - and mounted a pretty furious comeback that turned a blowout into a close game with just a few minutes left to play. One of the reasons that Utah was able to get back into it was that they played with desperation, got after it on D and kicked the game into to a furious pace. Giricek, surprisingly, was the main catalyst for the comeback. And even though the Jazz fell short, Giri was still fired up after the game when talking to the Desert Morning News:

Utah Jazz coach Jerry Sloan wasn’t seeing any emotion from his team until the fourth quarter, when Jason Hart and Gordan Giricek combined with Paul Millsap and Matt Harpring to get the Jazz back into the game, a comeback that ultimately fell short, 97-89 to the Portland Trail Blazers at EnergySolutions Arena Tuesday night.

After the game, Giricek, normally a quiet man off the court, still had some of that fire burning in him, a fire that helped buy him nearly 16 minutes of playing time, his first minutes since getting seven at Sacramento a week earlier and the most he’s played since Nov. 3.

He had just played some pretty decent defense against Portland’s Brandon Roy.

“He’s a tough assignment for anybody,” said Sloan. “Yeah, (Giricek) got up and played him, he got up in where he was close enough to touch him once in a while. I was glad to see that. He has that kind of ability.”

That’s what Giricek has maintained since he joined the Jazz more than three seasons ago, but he has read so many stories and heard so many comments about him not playing well defensively that he was ready to explode about it Tuesday night, even when complimented for how he had played Roy, he heard only a negative thought.

“I’m sick of treating me like — your question right now, you’re surprised I play defense? I’m sick of hearing any more, ‘Giricek doesn’t play defense.’

“You said I was play good on Roy. That’s like (you were surprised that I did).

“I don’t want to hear it no more because I was in Europe best defensive player. I always guard the best. And now I’m in NBA, from the first year of my career, I was guarding the best players on the team, so I’m sick of listening any more that I am not playing defense because that’s not true.

“I read all the newspapers and stuff, and I see what people say, and it’s stupid perception.

“Yeah, I did a good job. It’s not surprise for me. I did a good job. I do my best all the time every time I play,” Giricek said.

Utah’s most glaring weakness is a 2/3 who can get his own shot, and Sloan all but announced open tryouts for the spot earlier in the week (one of the reasons why C.J. Miles was in the game last night). There is literally no way that Utah can beat a team like the Spurs in a playoff series without that player. They were on their way to getting seriously blown out by the Portland Trail Blazers last night because they didn’t have that player.

It would make life much easier for Sloan and the Jazz if Giricek could consistently play like he did last night. The reality is though that he doesn’t. It does them no good to have Deron Williams repeatedly drive the lane and pass it out to guys who can’t knock down shots - you almost always know how the long kickout to Kirilenko or Ronnie Brewer is going to turn out well before the brick hits. Giricek needs to save his anger and emotion for the court before he finds himself permanently on the pine or as part of a trade package to land a legit shooting guard.