Utah Jazz: Players react to RSL title

(by Tim Buckley desnews.com 11-23-09)

Not everyone with the Jazz tuned in to ESPN on Sunday night and saw Real Salt Lake win the MLS Cup by beating David Beckham, Landon Donovan and the Los Angeles Galaxy.

But Ronnie Price did, from beginning to penalty-kick end.

"I'm happy for them," the Jazz combo guard said. "They deserve it. They played well. They stepped up big. It was fun to watch."

Price had a rooting interest, spurred by his friendship with Real star Robbie Findley.

The two have known each other since shortly after Findley was traded to Real in June of 2007.

How?

Findley is related to Hawks guard Mike Bibby, who played in Sacramento when Price was with the Kings.

"When he first came out here Bibby texted me and told me his cousin was out here," Price said, "and we linked up and then we just kept in touch and . . . we became pretty good friends.

"I'm happy for him, excited for him," added Price, who sent Findley a congratulatory text message Sunday night. "He had a great year, and that entire team, they deserved it."

And they won it the hard way, on penalty kicks after a 1-1 tie in regulation and 30 minutes of scoreless overtime play.

That's rough akin to deciding an NBA championship with a post-OT free-throw shooting contest in Game 7 of the finals, something that had Jazz players pondering the possibilities Monday morning.

Opinions were mixed.

"I'd take that one," said Kyle Korver, who just so happened to lead the NBA in free-throw shooting percentage at 91.4 in 2006-07.

"Imagine yourself. . . . You're shooting two free throws, everything is on you," said Mehmet Okur, himself a career 79.6 percent free-throw shooter. "That would be tough."

Difficult for some, too, is the digesting the fact underdog Real won its Cup despite having a losing regular-season record.

Korver, though, can see how it happened.

"I don't follow soccer real close, but it seems like upsets are more possible in something like soccer," he said.

"In the NBA, especially when you have these seven-game series, (it's) the hardest for an upset," Korver added. "Football is one game; there's possibilities. But NBA playoffs, the better team almost always wins — 99 percent of the time, it seems like. But, good for them. It's awesome."

Price sure thinks so, and he, for the record, seemed intrigued by the notion of NBA ties being broken by free throws.

"That would be an interesting way to end a basketball game, I'll you that," he said. "Maybe they should try that some day and see how it works — in a preseason game."