The Jazz's offseason acquisition of Marvin Williams left DeMarre Carroll in a strange position. Carroll, who stated nine of the 20 games he played with the Jazz emerged last season as a productive rebounder and clean-up kind of guy. However, Williams added to an already jammed cluster of swing guys. Carroll knew it.
The hole in his game was his perimeter shooting, he acknowledged Monday night in Oakland after the Jazz's 83-80 loss to Golden State, a game in which Carroll scored nine points in 23 minutes. All four of his baskets were on jump shots, and he was 1-of-3 on 3-pointers.
Carroll said he spent the offseason working more on his jumper than anything else, putting up at least 1,000shots a day. And, while he deferred when asked if he took the acquisition of Williams as a challenge, Carroll did smile a little.
"When you know you got shooters around you, it makes you want to work on your game," he said. "I didn't want to get bumped out of the rotation, they kept telling me that something I had to improve so that's something I've been improving."
Last season, Carroll averaged just one 3-point attempt per game, and was a 36 percent shooter. If he emerges as a reliable outside threat, it adds a whole new dimension not only to his game, but the Jazz's as well.
"If I can shoot the ball and play defense, and hustle," Carroll said, "Bruce Bowen got paid for it, why can't I?"
Carroll made his first three shots against the Warriors, all 19-footers from the left elbow extended.
"He's taking good shots," Jazz coach Tyrone Corbin said. "He's making shots. He did a good job tonight, all that added with his hustle on the floor will add to what we want to do."
Bill Oram