Sloan loses his job; NBA loses the battle

[m3at]

To me the shocking part out of all of this is that Phil Johnson rode into the sunset at the same time. To me that shows there isn't a healthy organization in place.

Larry H. used to talk about how when Coach retired, the job would be Phil's if he wanted to. It seemed like the logical thing to do, especially in a situation where you needed someone to step in for just the last 3 months of the season.

Just seems like another proof that Greg Miller is f*ing up the franchise something fierce.

I know Malone said Jazz fans were smart, but let's not get too ahead of ourselves. Let's keep the speculation out of it and save the delusion for clutchfans. The difference between Greg and Larry is that Greg does not get involved like Larry did. How many times did Larry let his emotions get the best of him that ended up bad decisions (AK's contract)? Not that I didn't like Larry and his emotions, I felt connected to him and the team because of it, but I often felt like he let those emotions make decisions that would be better left to someone not so attached.

From what I understand, he was a micromanager and had a difficult time letting the people he hired do their jobs. Greg stays out from what I can tell. Is that good or bad? I think that remains to be seen, however, let's not assume that there are issues with the organization just because Phil retired with Sloan. Most fans knew that Phil would go when Sloan did and Phil had mentioned it on more than one occasion, not just only during the press conference of their retirement.

 

[vslice02]

let's not assume that there are issues with the organization just because Phil retired with Sloan. Most fans knew that Phil would go when Sloan did and Phil had mentioned it on more than one occasion, not just only during the press conference of their retirement.

Actually that's not true, and Phil set that misconception straight at the press conference here:
https://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=304&sid=14327951 -4th video down "Intervew with Phil Johnson" 1:08-minute mark.
If this was solely Jerry's diminished energy, Phil would've stuck around to help guide this team. His resignation was done out of principle. And this video from 2 weeks ago clearly demonstrates Phil wasn't a guy who was expecting to leave soon.
https://www.ksl.com/?sid=14207386&nid=294

Interesting how this guy dumped all the blame on Deron.
Oh, and Sloan did not "lose" his job. He resigned. He quit. He retired.

If you listened to Sloan's postgame comments after Chicago and Tuesday's press conference, you'll know that never once did Jerry put any type of blame on Deron or any other player.


I know there are alot of Jazz fans who want to believe the company line and believe the best about Deron and the rest of the players, but I see alot of fans allowing their satisfaction at a coaching change distort their judgement of reality.
IMO, if you're buying into what the organization is saying, I think you could be sold on Santa Claus and anything else in the world. If you want to dismiss espn's reports - I understand, but dismissing Brian T. Smith's reports - a reporter who spends every day w/the Jazz and does not work for the team - is a mistake.

I'm not blaming Deron, and I'm not implying Sloan was doing a phenomenal job with this year's team. I'm just saying, where there's smoke there's usually fire.

 

[Stickler]

though reports were widespread in Utah he’d quit on the team and was pushing for Sloan’s ouster.

Stopped reading right here, because this line is a lie, and gives a good enough indication of where this article was going to go.

 

[Lost_Jazz_Fan]

Very good article, sums up Jerry's attitude towards players and the game very well. It's sad to see him go but I'm excited for the future as well.

 

[freakazoid]

That's about where I am. It's funny, right before the announcement I wrote a thread about feeling disconnected, dissatisfied, blue about the Jazz. They are the only sports team I follow. I've been a fan since I was in the second grade for crying out loud. I wanted Jerry to retire at the end of the season, I was ready for something new. But the way everything went down is just bad in so many ways. For one, it taints Sloan's legacy a bit. It's hard to see a coach I respect, even if I was ready to see him go, go out the way he did. Add to that all the drama and problems left behind. The rumor and innuendo, accusations, suspicion, fan disenchantment, locker room dynamics, etc. These other factors make it even worse. And it's all happening right after a dreadful tailspin by the team, the emergence of some pretty obvious flaws, plummeting in the rankings and not playing good ball.

So I have this weird feeling of wanting to believe that things will improve, but feeling some doubt, and feeling like the change-over hardly could have happened in a worse way, so where does that leave the team? Then the first game after it all happens is one of the weirdest melt-downs, and another guy goes down with an injury.

ugh.

I believe KOC (or someone else) said something about the Jazz being at a crossroads.


Everytime I hear the crossroads cliche', I can only think of one thing : Crossroads = deadend.


Hope to God I'm wrong.

 

[Ferguson_Mellochill]

KOC built this team around D.Will, AK, Boozer and Okur. The rest of the team were just rotation players.

Boozer wasn't worth re-upping for five years or whatever.
Okur got injured and hasn't come back.
AK is the same on-again, off-again facilitator-type player he's always been.
Plus, this team never really got past the 2nd round when everyone was playing well.

And so the team, the way KOC designed it, is having a transition year (...at a "crossroads") right when D.Will is entering his prime. D.Will knows it, so maybe he's not competing as hard as he could.

Al Jefferson was a good get. Millsap and Miles are decent young rotation players, but the Jazz are somewhat in the middle of a rebuild.

The Jazz could have kept Wes Matthews, Korver, or Brewer and been a slightly better team than they are now, but they weren't really a contender, and it seems the Jazz are trying to build a new identity for the team. None of those players were all that critical to the bigger picture.

The Jazz really need to make a roster move. They need a legit 2-guard to team with D.Will and Jefferson. They need AK's albatross contract to clear, and they can complete the process of building a team that makes sense.

 

[freakazoid]

KOC built this team around D.Will, AK, Boozer and Okur. The rest of the team were just rotation players.

Boozer wasn't worth re-upping for five years or whatever.
Okur got injured and hasn't come back.
AK is the same on-again, off-again facilitator-type player he's always been.
Plus, this team never really got past the 2nd round when everyone was playing well.

And so the team, the way KOC designed it, is having a transition year (...at a "crossroads") right when D.Will is entering his prime. D.Will knows it, so maybe he's not competing as hard as he could.

Al Jefferson was a good get. Millsap and Miles are decent young rotation players, but the Jazz are somewhat in the middle of a rebuild.

The Jazz could have kept Wes Matthews, Korver, or Brewer and been a slightly better team than they are now, but they weren't really a contender, and it seems the Jazz are trying to build a new identity for the team. None of those players were all that critical to the bigger picture.

The Jazz really need to make a roster move. They need a legit 2-guard to team with D.Will and Jefferson. They need AK's albatross contract to clear, and they can complete the process of building a team that makes sense.

Pretty good assessment, overall.

Disagreements =

Boozer was a damn stud. Our defense is worse without him, but now we are almost worst in the league at rebounding. HUGE F -UP.

AK is one of the only reasons we are winning games this year.

Memo's contract is a bigger detraction.

 

[freakazoid]

Pretty good assessment, overall.

Disagreements =

Boozer was a damn stud. Our defense is worse without him, but now we are almost worst in the league at rebounding. HUGE F -UP.

AK is one of the only reasons we are winning games this year.

Memo's contract is a bigger detraction.

I'm not doing the math, but Korver and Mathews = star player.

Brewer doesn't count. He got injured the first game after he got traded, and would've brought more than Wesly Mathews.



Meanwhile, Karl Malone can kiss my ***.

Malone could have taken less money from Larry, in order to get another high profile player.


Instead, he yapped about liking the rain.




Dear Karl, I still love you, but I hope you like the rain in OKC.


P.S. Kiss my ***


(I support Deron)

 

[Ferguson_Mellochill]

No doubt Boozer is a top rebounder. Rebounding was really his best contribution, and not having him hurts this year. The Jazz can make it up though if they play Al Jefferson at PF and bring in a real center to focus on rebounding and guarding the paint. I think the drop-off is at the PF position due to Millsap not being able to box out bigger players.

If Millsap struggles defensively against bigger PFs and can't clean the glass, he should be coming off the bench. Unfortunately, the Jazz need him as a shooter on offense, since we have so few, so that leaves our rebounding up-front a bit thin.

I agree that AK is a good player to have. He's that Bobby Jones-type player that complements everyone else and can be an X-factor. The problem is that he's getting paid twice what he should be getting paid, and for a small-market team like the Jazz, there just isn't the extra cash available to field a complete team. Imagine having an extra $9M available from AK's contract, plus Raja's $3M, to sign an impact 2-guard. I'm sure the Jazz wouldn't have settled for signing Raja if we had the money to sign a more dynamic player.

Yes, Okur is now a lame duck. It may take him the rest of the year just to get in shape.

 

[Lost_Jazz_Fan]

Same. Phil said he always planned to retire with Jerry during the press conference. Should we call him a liar too?

Of course he's a liar, it's all part of Deron's big plan to throw the whole season down the drain. Everybody knows that, the guys up at ESPN said so!

 

[VINYLONE]

Read the article.

I think Deron is Darth Vader and wants to destroy the Jazz franchise.