Utah Jazz practice notes — Kanter's secret, Harris and Howard, same starters, on schedule

Notes from Jazz practice Thursday.

Devin Harris (left calf) and Josh Howard (left quad) received treatment prior to the session. They went through practice and remain day-to-day.

Utah coach Tyrone Corbin said he plans to use the same starters — Harris, Raja Bell, Gordon Hayward, Paul Millsap and Al Jefferson — Friday during a home game against Memphis.

"It'll probably be the same for now unless something changes," Corbin said.

Harris said Tuesday he doesn't expect to miss any time due to his injury. Watson will likely start if Harris is inactive.

Corbin said he hasn't spoken one-on-one with Bell since Tuesday's practice.

"No," Corbin said.

Asked about Enes Kanter's as-yet-unseen midrange shot, Corbin joked the Jazz are keeping it a secret for now.

"He's a big guy that likes to play big. And to his credit, he hasn't bailed out much," Corbin said. "He want[s] to make guys pay by trying to stop him in the paint. … We want to really fine-tune that part before he step[s] out and takes jump shots."

He added: "That's where big guys make their name in this league. If you can control that paint on the offensive and defensive end and force guys to stop you close to the basket, at some point they have to double. And if they double, you've got numbers somewhere else."

The Jazz mostly talked, watched film and signed basketballs Tuesday during a light practice. Corbin joked, "Good ball-signing day. We had fun."Corbin's still looking for increased tempo from Utah's first unit. A sped-up game should increase the team's first-quarter scoring, which has been an issue during the first six contests.

Corbin acknowledged forward Jeremy Evans is dealing with a minutes crunch because of Utah's frontcourt buildup. However, Corbin likes what he's seen from Evans and said he continues to make progress.

"Jeremy's great, man. He's a great guy. He's a tremendous worker," Corbin said. "He's learning from game to game, and from last year to this year he's made tremendous strides."

Corbin on going two days without a game: "It feels like a longer period than that. But we've been going at such a rapid pace that it's just the way the schedule is, man. It's been refreshing. It gave us a day [Tuesday] to get off our feet, look at some film and talk. We had a good discussion."

Corbin on whether the Jazz's in-season development is on schedule: "I think so. We're not behind. We've got to get better in a lot of situations but we're not behind where we thought we would be. We got enough stuff on the offensive end and defensive end. We're going to be able to put a few more things in by walking through today. We're coming along."

Brian T. Smith

Twitter: @tribjazz