* In his pregame press conference, Eddie Jordan said that the pressure of being winless is definitely being felt in the locker room.  The practices were more intense, there was less joking around and there was a playoff atmosphere all around.  He mentioned that he relied heavily on veterans Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison to steady the team and get everyone in the right mind state.  In terms of the Utah Jazz, he mentioned that he was not at all surprised to see Deron Williams back in the starting lineup sooner than expected.  He said his team prepared for him in this morning’s shootaround.  Defensively speaking, the focus on stopping the pick and roll since Utah ran that play better than anyone in the league by far.

* Utah head coach Jerry Sloan said Deron Williams will start again tonight and his minutes will not be monitored.  He acknowledged that he probably played Deron too long last night, because he was definitely winded at points during the third quarter.  If the happens again tonight, veteran Brevin Knight will definitely spell him.  He praised the play of Ronnie Price, who is not a traditional point guard, yet filled in admirably.

* Coach Sloan said that he approached Andrei Kirilenko about coming off the bench to play once Matt Harpring got injured and that Kirilenko agreed to it without causing a fuss.  Sloan said Kirilenko brings experience to the second unit and he also assists in making the second unit more competitive and efficient. Also, with the second unit, he’d have his hands on the ball more than he would if he played with Williams, Carlos Boozer and the rest of the starters.  Sloan said that given the numbers Kirilenko is putting up thus far and the sacrifice that has gone with it he is having is finest season as a pro.

* I talked to Utah Jazz Head Coach Jerry Sloan before the game and he is as an intense, intimidating person as you will ever see.  When I saw him eating dinner with the press and talking to some of the Wizards Event Staff, he was friendly, smiling and he seemed to be a man at peace.  He walks with a slight limp, but his 65-year-old, 6-foot-5 inch frame moves so slow, it is barely  noticeable.  But when the cameras were on him and the discussions turned towards his team, it was as if as a switch triggered in him mind.  He was attentive, he folded his arms and whoever asked him a question would get his full attention until that question was thoroughly answered. Coach Sloan didn’t look down at the ground, or around the hallway; he had his glare firmly set on the person he was talking to. When I asked him a question he looked right at me during the entire 90 seconds, and did not look away from me until I said thank you. Very intimidating. When I asked him how the team was dealing with the loss of Mehmet Okur who is back in his home country of Turkey to tend to his father, Sloan said, “What am I going to do? Cry about it? No. I have to come out, coach who’s here, and try to win.”

* The crowd was definitely pessimistic before the game started.  Right after tip off there were cries of “Put JaVale[McGee] in” and “Fire Eddie” coming from where I was sitting.  When the Wizards gave up an alley-oop off the opening tip and then turned the ball over during their initial offensive possession, the boo birds were out in full force.

* During Tuesday’s practice, Caron Butler wore goggles to protect the nasty cut over his right eye that he received when he collided with Orlando Magic guard Michael Pietrus.  For tonight’s game against the Jazz, Butler started with the mask and then with about seven minutes left in the half, after a he converted on a drive, he threw the mask off, and never put it back on again.  That’s why they call the man “Tough Juice.”

* Utah Jazz guard/forward C.J. Miles has definitely improved his game in this his fourth season in the NBA.  In the first quarter alone he converted on an alley-oop and he hit an impressive three-point shot.  Later in the game, he showed off his handle by bringing up the ball on two different occasions and he also displayed an accurate mid-range jumper.  Despite only playing 17 minutes, Miles scored 16 points on 5-of-9 shooting.  He’s definitely a young player to keep an eye on throughout the season

* When I went to the Wizards’ home opener against the New Jersey Nets I said that Juan Dixon was the crowd favorite.  Two home games later, Dixon has now been surpassed by JaVale McGee.  The crowd was screaming for Coach Jordan to put McGee in the game from the opening tip.  When he ripped off his warmups and ran towards the scorers table, the Verizon Center crowd stood up and applauded.  Conversely, when McGee had to come out due to foul trouble, the crowd booed Coach Jordan and  chanted for him to put McGee back in the game.   Poor Etan Thomas was getting booed for simply getting called for a foul while working hard on defense.

* In terms of McGee’s game on the court?  He is a certifiable beast.  Within 45 seconds of checking into the game, he had a blocked shot and tipped one in.  During a four minute stretch in the third quarter, McGee went to the foul line eight times and although he only converted on five of those free throws, the fact that he is developing a knack for getting to the line is promising.  He still misses assignments, and bigger players like Carlos Boozer can still still physically manuever him around the paint.  Still,  McGee is a force in the middle, and he will only getting better.  As Coach Jordan said after the game, “Thank goodness JaVale is there[in the paint] to clog things up and disrupt shots if he couldn’t block them.”

* McGee finished with his first double-double of the season.  In 27 minutes, he scored 13 points, grabbed 11 rebounds (six offensive) and blocked three shots.  When asked whether McGee’s tremendous performance warranted his insertion into the starting lineup, Coach Jordan said, “I still like the energy he brings us off the bench.” I thought Coach Jordan displayed a lot of class by putting in Blatche for McGee with about 10 seconds left so that McGee could get a standing ovation from the crowd.

* Coach Jordan also had high praise for Wizards guard/forward Nick Young.  Young did not have the best shooting or scoring night, as he shot 3-for-10 from the field and only had 10 points.  But during crunch time in the fourth quarter he drew fouls by driving to the basket and made the extra passes to Butler and Jamison who did have the hot hands.  Coach Jordan said, “He’s learned how to execute and get good shots and he’s become a good passer…and he’s getting better defensively.   Right now he’s one of our smartest players.”

* As good as Young and McGee are playing, Coach Jordan said that he will not replace veterans Etan Thomas and Antonio Daniels in the starting lineup.  He said that the media and the fans often do not see the little things veterans do in terms of setting the tone, but it is very important to him, so the lineup will remain unchanged.  Daniels and Thomas both played exactly 12 minutes and 41 seconds, while their replacments: McGee, Young and Dixon played 27, 31 and 18 minutes respectively.

* Utah Jazz guard Deron Williams played his second game of the season tonight after playing his initial game against Philadephia the previous night. Coach Sloan mentioned before the game that the Utah trainers said Williams was completely healthy and his minutes did not need to be monitored.  And while Williams played 33 minutes and flirted with a triple-double by producing eight points,  seven assists and six rebounds, it was evident that he did not have his wind just yet.  The explosiveness to the basket that he displayed during the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the 2008 NBA playoffs was simply not there.

* Andrei Kirilenko seemed about two steps slow tonight.  I don’t know if it was the back-to-back games getting to him or whether his matchups with Butler and Blatche were too difficult for him, but he never was a factor in the game.  He was 1-for-7 from the field and he finished with just three points.  Despite the fact that Coach Sloan had such high praise for him before the game, it is still a bit perplexing that he does not put up better numbers on a nightly basis.  One has to wonder if he his name will come up as trade bait later in the season.

* Defense is what won this game for the Wizards.  After giving up 109 points a game in their first five losses they finally gave a stellar defensive effort for 48 minutes.  They had 11 steals, 10 blocked shots, held the Jazz to 43% shooting and they forced 17 turnovers.  Given that Coach Jordan said in his pregame conference that this pick and roll offense was nearly impossible to stop or slow down, this was significant.  After the game, Coach Jordan said he had a tremendous amount of respect for Coach Sloan and that made this first win that much more gratifying.  “We respect that team, that coach and that system more than any team in the NBA,” Coach Jordan said. “That was a quality win against a quality opponent.”

* It was fitting that Caron Butler hit the dagger at the end of the game,  which came in the form ofa big three-pointer to put the Wizards up 9 with 20 seconds left.  After that shot on his way down the floor he could barely contain his smile.  And once the final buzzer rang and the Wizards were victorious, Butler ripped off his jersey much like he had ripped off his goggles in the first quarter and let out a tremendous yell.  Although this team has struggled as a whole, Butler has been remarkably consistent and tonight’s 27 point, nine rebound effort was no different.