"Before he took on Kyrylo Fesenko in a friendly game of H-O-R-S-E prior to Tuesday morning's practice, Raja Bell spent time working on his stroke with the Utah Jazz's shooting coach.

The lesson with Jeff Hornacek must've paid dividends. Bell cinched the win over the big center with a smooth-looking 18-foot jumper.

Beating low-post players in fun contests isn't the reason Bell shot with Utah's special assistant coach, of course. But the veteran shooting guard has been trying to refine his mechanics and has worked on catching and popping, screening and his jump shot before practices this week.

Bell's desire to improve, even at age 34, and his willingness to work on his trustworthy shot that had been a bit wayward early in his return to both NBA action (after nearly a year off) and the Jazz (after five years away) has been duly noted by his other coach.

"You would think he's a rookie," an impressed Jazz coach Jerry Sloan said. "He's been out there (recently) quite a bit just working on things he feels like helps him."

Now in his 11th NBA season, Bell knows the fluctuations of shooting success. So, hitting only six of his first 20 shots and going 2-for-9 from 3-point territory didn't make him panic last week.

Previous experiences have proven his aim bounces back. Bell recalls one back-to-back situation a few years ago when he missed a whopping 10 attempted threes in one game at Oklahoma City. The following night, after Suns coaches told him "don't worry about it," he recalls going 8-for-8 in Los Angeles."