<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Utah Jazz coach Jerry Sloan has told this Rocky Mountain Revue club of 2006 that one of the things that likely kept the 41-41 Jazz of last season from reaching the playoffs was toughness. "No, we didn't practice it, but a lot of guys got the message when he said we need to be a tougher team this year," said the Jazz's slender first-round draft pick Ronnie Brewer out of Arkansas. "I think a lot of guys took it in their heart to step up and be more tough on defense and get some stops." That toughness was evident throughout Friday's first Revue game a 98-76 Jazz win over the Atlanta Hawks, despite 22 and 20 points from the Hawks' second-year players Marvin Williams and Salim Stoudamire and despite the ejection with 6:14 left in the third period of BYU product Rafael Araujo with his second flagrant foul of the game. "We've got some tough guys on this team," said the Jazz's own second-year man Deron Williams, who was outstanding shooting 7-for-9 for 16 points and tossing out seven assists in less than 20 minutes of play. Williams' controlled quickness with the offense got the Jazz into the offense pretty well for a first game for most of the players, and his three quick baskets helped up their lead from 30-25 to 40-25 just before the half. "That's a big part of what coach Sloan talked about for next year and what we lacked this year that possibly could have got us to the playoffs, so guys are coming in there fouling hard, going up strong, just being tough," said Williams.</div> <div align="center">Source</div>
