Kragthorpe: Jazz start fast but fizzle in Corbin’s debut

That’s how long it took the Jazz to efficiently launch the Ty Corbin Era with a three-point play Friday night.
Twenty-three minutes.
That’s how long it took the Jazz to score 21 points in the second half.
So the Jazz’s latest introduction of a new coach resulted in a 95-83 loss to Phoenix, leaving only this consoling information: Jerry Sloan also lost in his debut at home on a Friday — 22 years, two months and two days ago and two blocks away.
Corbin’s start was nice, but the finish looked all too familiar. The defeat was the Jazz’s fourth in a row at EnergySolutions Arena, where they’re only 17-12 this season.
And if coaches are judged by what happens after halftime, Corbin is a huge failure so far. Many of the fans who cheered loudly when he walked out of the tunnel before tipoff were booing or leaving before the final buzzer.
“I understand the job,” Corbin said.
Corbin “made good adjustments,” said the Jazz’s C.J. Miles, citing a variety of play-calls that failed. “We got good looks out of some of the stuff we were running; we just couldn’t knock ’em down.”
Injuries complicated Corbin’s job description. The Jazz were missing guards Raja Bell and Ronnie Price and lost Andrei Kirilenko to an ankle injury just before halftime, leaving him with nine players.
Preparing to move over two seats on the bench following the resignations of Sloan and No. 1 assistant Phil Johnson, Corbin joked before the game about planning to phone Sloan at halftime. Maybe he should have. “It’s different,” Corbin said afterward. “You feel more responsible for the way the guys are playing.”
Well, Corbin’s first minute certainly was spectacular. Known for their slow starts this season, the Jazz stormed to a 7-0 lead. “They wanted to look good for me, I guess,” Corbin said. “I appreciated the effort, but we should have won the ballgame.”
The Jazz were ahead 31-19 after one quarter and 56-44 at halftime, only to crumble in the second half and ruin Corbin’s night.
Jazz legend Karl Malone was in town Friday and made it clear he was unhappy about Sloan’s departure and whatever was behind it, adding to the mystery by saying that the coach he knew never would have quit. The Mailman described the franchise as being at a “crossroads,” which is true in a lot of ways.
This season is still salvageable, but there’s not much hope for a decent playoff seed. Then there’s the whole issue of Deron Williams’ potential free agency in 2012.
Amid everything, Corbin tried to make his debut as ordinary as possible. In his former role as the team’s No. 2 assistant, he always worked with players on the court long before tipoff, passing the ball for shooting practice. When he took the floor Friday evening, one player asked, “What are