JAZZFAN_2814
Active Member
After watching Sloan's gut-wrenching farewell, itself precipitated by another listless (or is that pissy, premeditated and putrid?) performance from Deron Williams, it occurred to me: what does this franchise stand for?
Loyalty. Commitment. Stability. Honesty. Any sense of right and wrong.
At a bare minimum, I believed that this franchise had these characteristics -- however imperfect or altogether flawed they may have been in execution, either momentarily or as that selfsame manifestation -- and that through them, or in their pursuit, this was itself a source of pride, and there could be some sense of decency in a league that was otherwise both laughable and debased.
After this display -- and have no doubt, this was a shocking mess that would be even more noted if it took place in a bigger market -- I feel that it wasn't so much a lie, as it was (IS) a much more limited, and delicate, thing. Something that's been thrown away in cowardice and desperation.
Phil Johnson and Jerry Sloan again displayed those positive characteristics, to the very bitter, and sad, end. More striking was to realize that, full out, both as regards who was in that press room and the central, absent figure in all this (itself a likely portent, and amusing microcosm-as-characteristic), that Sloan and Johnson were completely separate from that room.
And thus, at least at this point, the rest of the organization. An organization that they're no longer a part of, as is the preferred outcome.
From that, a franchise that can't be said to represent anything Sloan and his lieutenant did as friends and leaders. That these things were clearly rejected -- along with Sloan -- by the rest of the organization, when such concepts became too frightening and difficult to follow through, to actually live with and live up to.
That's the moment you truly learn about someone. When pious words are more than that, when they must be actionable process and inherent character in those decisions, at a difficult time.
Not only did Jerry and Phil live up to these standards, they represent how insular and dichotomous they were relative to this franchise; to me, then, revealing a great deal as to what's been happening not just this season, but likely for many years in this organization, that now simply just is this organization.
So many things become clearer, whereas before I only faintly suspected; from the first quarter deficits, Deron's body language, his "injury", the comeback that coincided with the All-Star announcement, et cetera, et cetera.
Why did the team appear to run its offense more efficiently -- more specifically, with life and coherency; that is, something approaching full sets -- than it had all season, with Deron out and Earl Watson at the point? Even without the talent, there was a sense of a guy over those four games facilitating offensive production.
From the beginning of this season to...whatever this moment truly is, Deron has so often either acted out -- and acted badly -- or shown a lack of interest altogether, that tellingly has mirrored and mired this team throughout the season. A real leader.
From throwing the ball at Hayward's head -- so pathetic -- to just throwing it away against the Bulls -- so apathetic -- Deron's conduct has become a series of immature, imbalanced positions that have likewise helped to put the Jazz in their very sorry position.
And I'll say this, I truly believe that, considering what has now transpired, Deron both sat out when he could have played and, more damningly, made a power play so absolute against Sloan that it carried over to the floor; that he, quite possibly, threw that game against Chicago.
Did he do this consciously? I really don't know. But his lack of interest and effort was so obvious in that game that, combined with the details that came out afterwards, I really doubt if he cared. And, thinking about it further, Deron's looked and played this way for quite a stretch of this season.
I think he wants to run the team. Wish fulfilled. Don't kid yourself that Corbin is in charge of anything.
Miller? He sees Deron not necessarily as the team's leader, but the FRANCHISE's biggest commercial interest. The mistake being made, is that I doubt this move -- no matter what Deron made clear he wanted (and I have no doubt, by explicit and implicit actions, that it was Sloan gone) -- does much of anything to keep him in a Jazz uniform.
Does that mean that I think the Millers wanted Sloan to leave? No, not at all. But it does mean that Gregg did not have the courage to stand by Sloan when the team's star decided to target him, both in the backrooms and on the floor. It means that this is an organization that stands not on principles or character, but little more than the dirt of the Delta Center's foundation. A circular and corrupted outcome, from a group that has no interest in or concept of what this franchise had with Sloan, or the people, players, now gone; an era noted, but not respected.
I do know this: I don't know that I care about this team any longer. I don't think I like Deron. In fact, I think he is rather despicable.
Not so much because Jerry left, but because of the way he was forced out. There's no doubt that he was treated badly, that this wasn't simply a personal decision, a lack of energy or interest, not only in the abruptness of it but also the reaction Sloan's only true ally in the matter, Phil Johnson. Very clearly, Johnson left with Sloan as a statement of principle. There were sides and lines drawn, and Johnson was obviously too connected to Sloan from both vantages.
All of this couldn't help but make me think of Janus, the two-faced Roman god, always looking toward the past&future as one; beginnings and endings, death as rebirth and, for the Jazz, a sense that the head is now broken by these discordant interests made literal. That there is no future, because of what was not only designated as the past, but also because these fundamental elements were treated as separate from the whole. Treated like so much trash.
In the end, I don't know what this team is at the moment. But I do know what this franchise isn't. Some will try for plausible deniability -- for Deron, O'Connor, the Millers -- but, then, some people also think that Jonathan Pollard should be released; these people are, if not zealots, then those with motives and loyalties counter to anything I believe is right or decent.
And because of that, I don't know why I should root for this team at all. Something I never thought I'd say. Itself shocking and kind of sad.
But honest. Which is now something, like so much else, that is missing from this franchise.
Loyalty. Commitment. Stability. Honesty. Any sense of right and wrong.
At a bare minimum, I believed that this franchise had these characteristics -- however imperfect or altogether flawed they may have been in execution, either momentarily or as that selfsame manifestation -- and that through them, or in their pursuit, this was itself a source of pride, and there could be some sense of decency in a league that was otherwise both laughable and debased.
After this display -- and have no doubt, this was a shocking mess that would be even more noted if it took place in a bigger market -- I feel that it wasn't so much a lie, as it was (IS) a much more limited, and delicate, thing. Something that's been thrown away in cowardice and desperation.
Phil Johnson and Jerry Sloan again displayed those positive characteristics, to the very bitter, and sad, end. More striking was to realize that, full out, both as regards who was in that press room and the central, absent figure in all this (itself a likely portent, and amusing microcosm-as-characteristic), that Sloan and Johnson were completely separate from that room.
And thus, at least at this point, the rest of the organization. An organization that they're no longer a part of, as is the preferred outcome.
From that, a franchise that can't be said to represent anything Sloan and his lieutenant did as friends and leaders. That these things were clearly rejected -- along with Sloan -- by the rest of the organization, when such concepts became too frightening and difficult to follow through, to actually live with and live up to.
That's the moment you truly learn about someone. When pious words are more than that, when they must be actionable process and inherent character in those decisions, at a difficult time.
Not only did Jerry and Phil live up to these standards, they represent how insular and dichotomous they were relative to this franchise; to me, then, revealing a great deal as to what's been happening not just this season, but likely for many years in this organization, that now simply just is this organization.
So many things become clearer, whereas before I only faintly suspected; from the first quarter deficits, Deron's body language, his "injury", the comeback that coincided with the All-Star announcement, et cetera, et cetera.
Why did the team appear to run its offense more efficiently -- more specifically, with life and coherency; that is, something approaching full sets -- than it had all season, with Deron out and Earl Watson at the point? Even without the talent, there was a sense of a guy over those four games facilitating offensive production.
From the beginning of this season to...whatever this moment truly is, Deron has so often either acted out -- and acted badly -- or shown a lack of interest altogether, that tellingly has mirrored and mired this team throughout the season. A real leader.
From throwing the ball at Hayward's head -- so pathetic -- to just throwing it away against the Bulls -- so apathetic -- Deron's conduct has become a series of immature, imbalanced positions that have likewise helped to put the Jazz in their very sorry position.
And I'll say this, I truly believe that, considering what has now transpired, Deron both sat out when he could have played and, more damningly, made a power play so absolute against Sloan that it carried over to the floor; that he, quite possibly, threw that game against Chicago.
Did he do this consciously? I really don't know. But his lack of interest and effort was so obvious in that game that, combined with the details that came out afterwards, I really doubt if he cared. And, thinking about it further, Deron's looked and played this way for quite a stretch of this season.
I think he wants to run the team. Wish fulfilled. Don't kid yourself that Corbin is in charge of anything.
Miller? He sees Deron not necessarily as the team's leader, but the FRANCHISE's biggest commercial interest. The mistake being made, is that I doubt this move -- no matter what Deron made clear he wanted (and I have no doubt, by explicit and implicit actions, that it was Sloan gone) -- does much of anything to keep him in a Jazz uniform.
Does that mean that I think the Millers wanted Sloan to leave? No, not at all. But it does mean that Gregg did not have the courage to stand by Sloan when the team's star decided to target him, both in the backrooms and on the floor. It means that this is an organization that stands not on principles or character, but little more than the dirt of the Delta Center's foundation. A circular and corrupted outcome, from a group that has no interest in or concept of what this franchise had with Sloan, or the people, players, now gone; an era noted, but not respected.
I do know this: I don't know that I care about this team any longer. I don't think I like Deron. In fact, I think he is rather despicable.
Not so much because Jerry left, but because of the way he was forced out. There's no doubt that he was treated badly, that this wasn't simply a personal decision, a lack of energy or interest, not only in the abruptness of it but also the reaction Sloan's only true ally in the matter, Phil Johnson. Very clearly, Johnson left with Sloan as a statement of principle. There were sides and lines drawn, and Johnson was obviously too connected to Sloan from both vantages.
All of this couldn't help but make me think of Janus, the two-faced Roman god, always looking toward the past&future as one; beginnings and endings, death as rebirth and, for the Jazz, a sense that the head is now broken by these discordant interests made literal. That there is no future, because of what was not only designated as the past, but also because these fundamental elements were treated as separate from the whole. Treated like so much trash.
In the end, I don't know what this team is at the moment. But I do know what this franchise isn't. Some will try for plausible deniability -- for Deron, O'Connor, the Millers -- but, then, some people also think that Jonathan Pollard should be released; these people are, if not zealots, then those with motives and loyalties counter to anything I believe is right or decent.
And because of that, I don't know why I should root for this team at all. Something I never thought I'd say. Itself shocking and kind of sad.
But honest. Which is now something, like so much else, that is missing from this franchise.
