The symbolism was obvious, and it perhaps reflects this Utah Jazz team the most.
They don’t talk or threaten, complain or whine. They’re not like the showboat Lakers or arrogant Bulls or victimized Pacers. They just remember, and this season they seem to be doing something about it.
“We tell our guys not to think backward,” Jazz coach Jerry Sloan said. “It’s all in the future. You can’t worry about what somebody said or did to you in the past.”
And so Greg Ostertag had nothing to say about “the Slap.”
That, of course, was opening night back in October, when Shaquille O’Neal slapped Ostertag across the face, apparently in response to Ostertag’s overt euphoria as the Jazz was knocking the Lakers out of the playoffs last year.
On Sunday it was O’Neal feeling a deeper pain after his Lakers were swept by the Jazz in the Western Conference finals, in part because of Ostertag’s play.
Ostertag was widely ridiculed in October for allowing O’Neal to walk away, but in victory Sunday he wouldn’t respond.
“I’m not talking about it,” he said. “I haven’t talked about it and I’m not going to start.”
Ostertag just talked with his game. It’s what the Jazz does.
The center who now plays behind Greg Foster and was criticized by Karl Malone earlier in the season for not coming to training camp in shape had 11 points, seven rebounds and five blocks in 30 minutes in Game 4 after Foster got in quick foul trouble against O’Neal.
“I’m sure it meant a lot to Greg,” John Stockton said. “He fought through a lot of things this season. Every dog needs the sun to shine on him once in a while. It certainly shined on him (Sunday). Nobody else brings you the sunshine. You have to do it yourself.”
It’s something of a Jazz motto.
The team is in the Finals again, and if it’s against the Bulls, the Jazz will be ready to respond from the figurative slap in the face it took from the Bulls last season.
And paybacks are something new for the Bulls.
Teams usually don’t get a chance.
In another sign of a diluted NBA, the Bulls in a sixth championship run this season have never met the same team twice in the Eastern Conference finals or NBA Finals. That would end next week if the Bulls get to the Finals again.
And facing them would be a much different Jazz team, one that has felt the slap of Finals failure and believes it knows how to handle it without all the rhetoric.
“Stock and I were talking about it the other day, about how last year it was a different feeling in the conference finals for us,” Jeff Hornacek said. “We felt that was our best chance to win it all. We felt the tightness and nervousness. We got that monkey off our backs. It was such a major hurdle the Jazz never got over.
“This year it’s no big celebration. We know it’s just another step on the way to what we’re trying to do. This year we’re just playing the game. It’s another series. It’s not something we haven’t donye before.”
Without “been there, done that,” the Finals can be an eye opener.
“I was in a fog last year in the playoffs,” Jazz forward Bryon Russell acknowledged. “One year has helped me learn the system. I know everything that’s going on out there now.”
What has been going on for the Jazz is growth and confidence. It’s no longer just Malone and Stockton. In fact, the team often functions more efficiently with Howard Eisley playing for Stockton. The Jazz, once mocked for having no bench, probably has the league’s best now. Eisley, Russell, Shandon Anderson and Co. crushed a Lakers bench that featured two All-Stars 145-96 in the four games.
If there was one trait that marked the Jazz, it was being relentless.
Sloan says they have the league’s shortest and slowest guard tandem, so the Lakers were confident.
“But those guys are tough,” said Corie Blount, who had predicted an easy Lakers victory before the series. “I nailed Hornacek and Stockton a couple of times and thought, `No way those guys are going to set that back screen on me again.’ Then you look back and here they come. You can’t hit them harder than I did without getting a call. I heard Hornacek wince a couple of times, but he kept coming back.”
It’s certainly what sustained the Jazz in a season when few picked it to return to the Finals.
“Playing them is like the project guys against a team,” the Lakers’ Nick Van Exel said. “The project guys always want to do the fancy behind-the-back dribbles, the spectacular plays and the dunks, and they’re a bunch of guys doing pick and rolls and the little things.
“They don’t get caught up in the officiating, they don’t get down on each other, they don’t complain. They stand as a team and stay focused. I don’t think they’re fazed by talent. They stick with what they’ve been doing. They come with a game plan, nothing fancy, and they do it and do it well.”
Which can be a slap in the face to any opponent.
