London ? With C.J. Miles set to undergo surgery today in New York to repair a ruptured ligament in his left thumb, Deron Williams voiced his disappointment Tuesday at losing Miles on the eve of what seemed like such a promising season for him. "He was really down. I'm down for him, too," Williams said. "I know how hard he worked this offseason. He came in in the best shape of his life. You could tell he was more mentally ready than he's ever been. "I think he had that confidence about him. He was going to have a big year, so I know he's disappointed, but what can you do?"
The Jazz have yet to set a timetable for Miles' return, but the fifth-year guard will miss the start of the season. With Matt Harpring out indefinitely, the Jazz are down to just 11 healthy players under contract.
"That could get to be a problem, obviously, but again we'll take whatever we get, you know?" Jazz coach Jerry Sloan said.
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Survey says
The Jazz were picked by just 17.9 percent of the league's general mangers to win the Northwest Division as part of NBA.com's annual GM survey. Williams (14.8 percent) was second to Chris Paul (77.8 percent) in voting for the league's best point guard.
Mehmet Okur received the most votes (14.3 percent) as the player who does the most with the least across the league.
The Jazz also were rated second to Cleveland in having the best home-court advantage in the NBA.
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Leader to leader
Sloan didn't do much sightseeing in London, but he did tour the Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms for an hour Monday. "It was quite an experience," Sloan said.
Like many of his players, Sloan went unnoticed out in public. "I tried to let people know who I was," he joked, "but they didn't seem to jump up there and say, 'Hey, I know that guy.' "
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Briefly
Because the game was played under hybrid international rules, the referees could not replay James Johnson 's winning shot at the buzzer. Later replays confirmed it should have counted. ... Kyle Korver (inflamed left knee) and Kyrylo Fesenko (sprained left heel) sat out Tuesday. ... Eric Maynor and Ronnie Price played together in the same backcourt in both the first and second half. Although they went a combined 2-for-14, Sloan was happy with Maynor's play in particular.
rsiler@sltrib.com
