<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Since returning from a back injury two weeks ago, Keith McLeod barely has resembled the player he was before he got hurt. McLeod has played little, and when he did play, it mostly was ineffectively. He had hit only 36.4 percent of his shots, averaging just 3.3 points. So naturally, it was time to put him back in the starting lineup. "I just wanted to bring a little energy," McLeod said, sounding a little shocked himself. He brought more than energy: He brought a career-best scoring night, a staple-gun defensive effort, and one of the gutsiest baskets of the night, a driving, spinning bank shot with 13.8 seconds left in regulation that pulled the Jazz within a point. "I got out top and I felt like I could get to the bucket," McLeod said. "So that's what happened." Yeah, simple as that. McLeod handed out four assists, and though his back-to-back turnovers with three minutes to play hurt, he redeemed himself. His pair of free throws to clinch the game with 3.5 seconds left in overtime gave him 22 points, most of his three-year career. "Keith had a terrific game," said Jazz coach Jerry Sloan, who informed McLeod he would be starting Monday morning. OK, the move isn't really so crazy. In his two seasons with the Jazz, McLeod always has played better as a starter, and Sloan was looking for a way to get the 26-year-old point guard to snap back to his old self. When Gordan Giricek's Achilles' tendon acted up again over the weekend, Sloan figured he had an answer: McLeod at the point, and Deron Williams at Giricek's spot. McLeod, having experienced Sloan's unpredictability for two years, said he wasn't especially surprised. "We have a lot of lineup changes, you know?" McLeod said. "The main thing I've found out here is, you never know what the lineup is going to be, so it's sort of a motto: Be ready at all times." As for Giricek, the injury is not considered serious, just nagging. The Jazz had him wearing a protective boot on his foot Monday, and he will test his leg tonight in Houston before deciding whether he can play." Harpring rooting against Utes For one day, anyway, Matt Harpring is willing, even hoping, to be a hated man in Salt Lake City. Like plenty of other Utahns, Harpring intends to spend Thursday watching the Utes play football in the Emerald Bowl. Unlike most of them, he'll be rooting for Georgia Tech, his alma mater. "It's going to be a fun day," Harpring said of the matchup between the 6-5 Utes and the 7-4 Yellow Jackets. "It'll be great having everyone against me." Harpring could have quarterbacked Tech a decade ago, had he given up basketball. A two-sport star at Marist High in Atlanta, he was recruited as a quarterback and a small forward. "It was fun playing football, and there were a few times in college where I wished I had played college ball," the 29-year-old said. "But I look back now, I'm so glad I played basketball. I picked the right sport." Just not, as far as Ute fans are concerned, the right school. "I'm up for a little trash talking," said Harpring, who hasn't decided where he will watch the game. He's pretty certain of the outcome, though. "It's going to be a really good game," he said. "And Georgia Tech is going to beat the Utes by 30, 40, something like that." </div> Source
