In this game, which was decided in the first quarter, Jerry Sloan notched his 1,000th win with the Utah Jazz over 21 seasons. Since Sloan joined the Jazz, no other team in the entire league besides the Spurs, have had a better record. Congrats. Now, I've been known to criticize coach Jerry Sloan before. I personally believe a lot of coaches could have done what he has done. Look at the facts:
1) He had Stockton and Malone, the two best at their position during his tenure with the Jazz. They are the two most consistent players in NBA history! Plus, since Stockton and Malone retired, he has a super GM in Kevin O'Conner (although he is a bigtime jerk) who delivered him Boozer, Okur and Deron Wiliams.
2) So to win 60% of your games by having Stockton and Malone, then Boozer and Williams doesn't show me much. I think any average coach could have done that. Plus the fact that the Jazz have ZERO titles to show for having the two best players at their respective positions since 1988 means that he could have celebrated his 1,000th victory.
3) But did he? No! Immediately after the final buzzer, he ran into the locker room and wouldn't even do his local media the courtesy of an interview. Instead we had to listen to Kyle Korver talk about his only dunk of the year, yippee! Some people think that it's awesome that Sloan is so "humble," but I just think he is a old cantankerous sourpuss.
Dear Jerry:
Please retire soon so that Williams and Boozer can win us a title, and you won't be the one holding them back. Because you've never won a playoff series as the lower seed, even if you had the better players. But shucks, you've lost plenty of playoff series where we had the higher seed, and always blamed the players lack of effort. How about your lack of mental effort to always be outcoached by a less talented team?
Sincerely,
Disgruntled Jazz fan with an ultimatum.
7 comments:
I disagree. Not that I'm a big Sloan supporter, but to have only 1 lottery pick in your tenure is really saying something in the NBA. It's hard to get players to want to play for Utah. The Stockton/Malone era was cool because we always thought we could have shot. (Jordan was the only thing that stopped us from a ring)
I have high hopes for this team. Many other teams have had big swings up and down over the years, but the Jazz always make the playoffs. The bulls, pistons, celtics, and even the lakers have had huge transitional losses after big player trades. But the Jazz are still competitive and a big part is Sloan.
Or I'm totally wrong and he is the reason we have never won. :)
rhett, you just couldn't post your comment on the entry with the picture could you? i was just coming in to delete the pictureless entry, but now i can't since the comment thread is obviously now based on this one. why two separate entries? because when a mistake is made, google reader doesn't pick up the edits; it only picks up the original. is this a minor thing? most people would think so. joe probably thinks so. when an entry goes up incomplete, it's really annoying to me.
i think i'll go ahead and add a picture to both now.
okay, post number 2 is deleted and the picture was put on the original. it'll still appear twice on reader, but at least one of them is the right one.
also, i probably sound crazier than i've ever sounded right now.
"Sit down Sloan it's not your game!*&%4#@#!" That should have been the title of your blog. Joe if you don't remember that magical night in the delta center where you, me and Clint sat by the two honkies in the nose-bleeds who cussed out Sloan the whole night I can't call your my friend. I seem to remember one had no shirt and a beer helmet, but I could be stretching my memory a bit. That was against the Kings I believe.I remember Webber blew out his knee. My favorite part was when you danced with the two honkies during the half time show. Good times! Personally, I like Sloan as a coach. Sure he could coddle his players more, but I think there is too much of that in the NBA. Sloan tells it like it is and demands respect from his players. I think he helped quite a few get the most out of their game. Shandon Anderson, Raja Bell, Jeff Hornacek, and Howard Eisely. Most of whom had their most successful years on the Jazz. Anyway, I would also like to apologize to anyone offended by my description of the honkies.
Joe, give us the scoop on Okur.
What was the emergency and how long will he be gone?
Also, when are we going to play hoops again? I have been itching to spike one of your shots into Rhett's or Jon's head.
I kid.
Jake,
I'll play ball whenever. I play indoor ball on Wednesday nights.
Johnny,
I remember that game because you will not allow me to forget about it. - Joe
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