Keefe Picks Up Where Others Leave Off : Pro basketball: Former Woodbridge standout plays a key role for the Utah Jazz.

Karl Malone is called the “Mailman” because he always delivers. Less well-known is the Utah Jazz nickname for reserve forward Adam Keefe: “Trashman.”

Why? Because he’s always picking up after everyone, including Malone.

Keefe, who was the star at Woodbridge High and Stanford, is happy to do anything to carve out a niche in the NBA, happy because he has found a team that cares about winning--as a team.

Keefe’s ability to latch onto anything caroming off a rim, an arm, a leg--you name it--and his all-around hustle have made him a mainstay of a revitalized Jazz bench that has boosted Utah to its best regular season record in franchise history.

The nickname is fine with Keefe. “I have a knack for picking up loose balls,” he said with a shrug.

Keefe, a third-year player acquired from Atlanta before the season began, is averaging 17 minutes, 6.2 points and 4.5 rebounds at a position--small forward--that he had never played before this season.

“Everybody here is on the same page,” Keefe said. Everybody wasn’t in Atlanta, or even on the same chapter.

“It was an ugly team,” Keefe said. “People didn’t get along.”

A first-round pick by Atlanta, Keefe was seen as something of a disappointment with the Hawks. He started every game his first year, but the next season missed training camp and a couple of weeks of the season because of a bad back. After that he played in spots.

When Keefe was traded to Utah for Tyrone Corbin and a 1995 draft pick, it was widely believed he would back up Malone at power forward, or occasionally relieve center Felton Spencer. But when David Benoit went on the injured list in January, Coach Jerry Sloan called on Keefe.

At 6-foot-9, Keefe was an unlikely candidate for small forward. But he lost 20 pounds at the suggestion of the Jazz staff to get down to 220. Combining hustle with excellent passing skills, he immediately fit in with Utah’s no-nonsense veterans and Sloan.

“We don’t have people playing for contracts,” Keefe said. “We play to win. It’s refreshing.”

Mike Montgomery, Keefe’s coach at Stanford, said Keefe is suited for Sloan’s idea of team play.

“He’s a tremendously hard worker,” Montgomery said. “He’s a refuse-to-lose-at-any-cost type of guy. He’s not going to succeed simply on athletic ability.”

At Stanford, Keefe’s tumbling-out-of-bounds style made him a second-team All-American two years running and MVP of the National Invitation Tournament as a junior.

Utah, a perennial playoff bridesmaid, has been trying to break out of the mold of a good two-man team--with All-Stars Malone and John Stockton--and appears to have done so with the additions of Keefe, veterans Antoine Carr and Blue Edwards and rookie Jamie Watson.

The bench is contributing 29% of the scoring and 34% of the rebounding as Utah heads into the playoffs.

“We go very deep,” Keefe said.

Sloan, Keefe’s third coach in three years in the NBA, said he didn’t know when the trade was made that Keefe was such an aggressive defender and rebounder and that he ran the floor well.

As for Keefe’s shooting, Sloan said, there is work to be done in the off-season. “He hasn’t taken half a dozen shots more than three feet from the basket. Adam should do nothing but think about how he’s going to make a 15-foot open shot.”

Keefe said the players’ professionalism and their respect for Sloan help make the team cohesive.

“This team has the most lax disciplinary policies of any team in the NBA,” he said, “because we don’t need them.”