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I feel a lot of Jazz fans unfairly hate on Deron Williams.

Xsy

Well-Known Member
I know I sort of forced myself into hating Deron Williams after the trade-- it was the only way I could cope with the shock-- but its been over a whole season since he's been gone, and I've gotten to the point where I've gone back to loving and respecting Deron's game.

A lot of people still think Deron forced Jerry out. These people have a sad case of denial. Remember the bad blood that spilled earlier this year about Malone vs Miller? It was ugly. Utah does NOT do a good job of covering up when bad things happen. It went so far as the owner of the Jazz badmouthing our franchise's historically best player on Twitter. You'd THINK Deron, Jerry, Greg, or ANYBODY within the Jazz organization would have spilled that yeah-- Deron got Jerry fired. But no-- no one's said anything. Jerry Sloan has even made numerous announcements post-retirement that he was, in fact, NOT fired because of Deron. If he wanted to badmouth the Jazz O, he's had plenty of time to do so.

A lot of people also think Deron is a whiny diva. It can be true, but guess what-- every star player is a whiny diva. Don't want a star? Then what the hell do you want? When's the last time a team full of role player and fringe all stars won anything?

I don't disagree with the decision to trade him. I don't feel he would have re-signed in Utah. But I also don't see why he gets so much animosity around here.

Why do you hate Deron?
 
I think it's fair to say that Deron was a reason Jerry left since they just did not get along. The narrative that Deron is a coach-killer or drove him out is clown-shoes. The organization would never fire Jerry, and I don't think Deron would try. I think there was a blow-up that the organization somehow fumbled in Jerry's eyes*, and Jerry said "I'm too old for this ****" and peaced.

*This can be a number of things:
-Jerry wanted to suspend, bench, or punish Deron in a way that would've just been unconscionable and they weren't quick-on-the-trigger.
-When the organization told Jerry to just hold on a little bit longer, and that they were looking at trading Deron but could not risk the plummeting of Deron's value, Sloan was offended at the notion of trading his obviously best player and didn't really want to start over again.
-Jerry needed a break, period.
-Other
-You can mix and match these
 
I don't feel Deron's ego was any bigger than other ego-driven players that Jerry has coached before.

I think you can chalk it up to Jerry being old and done with the NBA attitude more than placing it all on one player's shoulders.
 
I don't hate Deron. Most elite players are driven and demanding. I didn't like 'feeling' like Deron let his competiteveness come out in douchery (whether that's reality or not). It's like why people hate on Rondo .. he's driven with such a fire that it gets misconstrued as being a dick. Probably the same for Deron. I just can't help feeling the way I feel .. and that was that Deron felt too big for the program, his teammates, and his situation.
 
Dwill was kind of a dick but I don't hate him. He was like those stupid jocks you play with that ball their teammates out over every single snafu but when they make a mistake they either blame it on someone else or maybe offer up a limp "my bad." Really annoying BUT he is a great player. Doesn't back down from anyone or anything. Really smart, really cocksure. He's really good. I would love to have him back on the team if it wouldn't cost so much. But it is gonna cost so much. So I think we're ok.

Jazz need to find a PG that is great but not the star of the team - so the PG is NOT the most expensive player on the roster.
 
I didn't and don't hate deron, but I didn't like how his attitude changed during his last few months here once the jazz started losing.
 
I don't hate Deron. Most elite players are driven and demanding. I didn't like 'feeling' like Deron let his competiteveness come out in douchery (whether that's reality or not). It's like why people hate on Rondo .. he's driven with such a fire that it gets misconstrued as being a dick. Probably the same for Deron. I just can't help feeling the way I feel .. and that was that Deron felt too big for the program, his teammates, and his situation.

I like Rondo and generally agree with what you're saying, but he has done some pretty "dick" things.
 
Favorite player of all time to be honest... No one plays basketball like the style of D-Will. Don't hate on him he is generally a nice guy and one of the top 10 players in the league. You can't coach 57 points.


Edit: I guess he is my favorite player because I started following the Jazz right when the stockton malone era diminished, and the Jazz kinda sucked. We bring in Deron Williams on June 28 (my birthday) for the 3rd pick and he brings us to the Western Conference Finals. Trading him completely broke my heart.
 
I know I sort of forced myself into hating Deron Williams after the trade-- it was the only way I could cope with the shock-- but its been over a whole season since he's been gone, and I've gotten to the point where I've gone back to loving and respecting Deron's game.

A lot of people still think Deron forced Jerry out. These people have a sad case of denial.
Really?

Ask yourself--if Deron hadn't exchanged words that one fateful February, would Jerry have hit the road?

DW didn't "force" Sloan out. But he gave 'ol Jer a reason to not put up with players anymore. And thanks to #8, rebuilding started earlier and is ahead of schedule.

Not that I blame D-Will; Sloan's subpar substitution strategy (thus affecting the offense, DW's biggest gripe) frustrated other players also.
 
Really?

Ask yourself--if Deron hadn't exchanged words that one fateful February, would Jerry have hit the road?

DW didn't "force" Sloan out. But he gave 'ol Jer a reason to not put up with players anymore.

Not that I blame D-Will; Sloan's subpar substitution strategy (thus affecting the offense, DW's biggest gripe) frustrated other players also.
Agree with that. What we do know is that Deron stopped running many of Jerry's plays. Sloan went to Greg and/or KOC and wanted disciplinary action taken against Deron. They refused. And Jerry announced he was quitting. Greg and KOC then made a final effort to save face and keep Jerry with the locker room meeting. But Jerry had already seen that he didn't have the same support from Greg that he had under Larry.

So did Deron get Jerry "fired?" Absolutely not. Sloan quit. But Deron was the #1 REASON. He was the catalyst.

Besides that, I hate Deron because he's a quitter. The Jazz were 27-13 and then had a tough road trip. Instead of becoming a team leader, Williams whined and became a cancer in the locker room. I say good riddance. Deron will have success IF he's on a winning team. But ask him to build a team, ask him to work his way through tough times...that's when he outs his tail between his legs and shows his true colors.
 
What we do know is that Deron stopped running many of Jerry's plays.

For the last two years he was here, I remember dozens of times when it was pretty clear that the defense knew what we were doing well before we did it. I also remember Deron continuing to run the plays in spite of this, which predictably, lead to the team losing the game. Jerry was a great coach, but in his later years especially, I think he failed to recognize things like this, and his solution was to just continue to run the plays. That solution worked with John and Karl, because even when the opponent knew what was coming, they still couldn't stop it. I'm not going to fault Deron for not being John Stockton. I watched Deron try to force the plays for long enough, that I have absolutely no problem with him getting frustrated with something that clearly, at times, just wasn't working.
 
For the last two years he was here, I remember dozens of times when it was pretty clear that the defense knew what we were doing well before we did it. I also remember Deron continuing to run the plays in spite of this, which predictably, lead to the team losing the game. Jerry was a great coach, but in his later years especially, I think he failed to recognize things like this, and his solution was to just continue to run the plays. That solution worked with John and Karl, because even when the opponent knew what was coming, they still couldn't stop it. I'm not going to fault Deron for not being John Stockton. I watched Deron try to force the plays for long enough, that I have absolutely no problem with him getting frustrated with something that clearly, at times, just wasn't working.

More importantly, it's not Deron's fault that he was given a Robin that executed the PnR as though he had some sort of legitimate disability.
 
I still like DWill and would never boo him. Hoping he stays East so I only have to cheer against him twice a year.
 
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