Layden Is Not Saying Anything : Jazz Coach, Angry With Officiating, Locks Out Media

Coach Frank Layden of the Utah Jazz is one of the best talkers in the National Basketball Assn. But Layden wasn’t talking Tuesday night.

Layden locked the media out of the Jazz locker room after Utah dropped a 111-109 decision to the Lakers in Game 5 of the Western Conference semifinals at the Forum.

A handwritten sign on the Jazz dressing room in the Forum basement told the story: “Closed till Christmas.”

Layden, who was fined $10,000 by the NBA after he blasted the officiating earlier this season, will probably be fined by the NBA for failing to open the locker room to the media. Under league rules, the locker room must be opened to the media after a 10-minute cooling-off period.

But Layden, angered that the Jazz was’t awarded free throws in critical situations, felt it was best to put a gag order on himself.

“He (Layden) felt that if he told the truth (about the officiating), he’d get fined and he couldn’t afford it,” said Bill Kreifeldt, Jazz director of public relations.

Layden issued a statement to the media after the game: “We’re going to keep our cool. We have nothing to say. We have no comment.”

Layden emerged from the Jazz dressing room about 45 minutes after the conclusion of the game and shook his head when reporters asked him for a comment.

He was trailed by forward Karl Malone, wearing a pair of wrap-around sunglasses.

Malone, who led the Jazz with 27 points and 16 rebounds, refused to acknowledge a reporter who followed him to the team bus, which was parked just outside the Forum.

Guard John Stockton, who passed off for 24 assists to tie Magic Johnson’s NBA record for most assists in a playoff game, was the only Utah player who agreed to speak to the media after the game.

Stockton, however, said he would have rather gotten a win than the record.

“It (the record) doesn’t mean a whole lot after a loss like this, especially when you get so many chances,” Stockton told reporters in the interview room.

Stockton and the Jazz had a chance to beat the Lakers after Michael Cooper hit a 17-footer with seven seconds remaining to give the Lakers the lead.

Utah, however, couldn’t get off a shot before the buzzer.

Stockton and the Jazz will be replaying the last play for a long time.

Rookie forward Scott Roth inbounded the ball to Stockton, who dribbled down the left side. Stockton ran into traffic, however, and dished the ball to Roth on the right sideline with one second left. Roth launched an awkward-looking shot after the clock ran out.

Said Stockton of the final play: “If no one had picked me up, I’d have taken the shot for two points and gone for the tie, but I had hoped to take it to the middle and dish off for a three-point shot.

“This is the most fun I’ve ever had playing basketball,” said Stockton, who scored 23 points. “Nothing can compare to this game.”

The Jazz, who trail the Lakers, 3 games to 2, are one game away from going on vacation, but Stockton said the Jazz isn’t about to give up.

“The last few years we made a quick exit from the playoffs, but this year we believe we can compete,” he said.

“We’ve got to go back to Salt Lake and play well. If we can win Thursday night, then we can come back and maybe steal one here at the Forum.”

Utah, which trailed by 10 points at the start of the final quarter, almost pulled it out.

Trailing, 109-107, after Laker forward James Worthy hit a 7-footer in the key, the Jazz took the lead when Thurl Bailey, who had 28 points, scored on a 12-footer off a pass from Bobby Hansen.

“Tonight, we kept coming from behind,” Stockton said. “That’s important. The fact that we came back will help us forget Game 4, when they blew by us.

“I know what our team is made of. We’re not going to lie down and die. We’re not going to give up. It’s too much fun being in the playoffs.”