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Why did the Kelly Tripucka experiment fail in Utah?

Release the Kraken said:
Sorry FP but Tripucka never improved any team he was on. He was merely a pick and pop guy. I think he tried to play D but he was the stereotypical white men can’t jump kinda player. He did have a sweet J to go with that mullet.

Didn’t he end up in somebody’s front office?
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Yes, he did. Multiple times. When GM’s told him they were trading his sorry ***.
 
The Dantley/Tripucka trade cost the Utah Jazz a chance at a dynasty and I’m not kidding.

In Dantley, the Utah Jazz had arguably the best scorer in the NBA but Layden and Dantley couldn’t get along, plus Layden viewed Dantley as a PF which meant there wasn’t enough room for him and Karl.

Layden’s thought process made zero sense considering that Dantley was 6’5”, could knock down a 20 foot jumper, and could have manned the SF position just fine. The Jazz starting 5 would have been:

PG- Stockton
SG- Golden Grif
SF- Dantley
PF- Malone
C- Eaton

This is always my biggest “what if” scenario as a Jazz fan. John and Karl were just pups at the the beginning of their careers and I honestly feel like this team could have won 2-3 titles.
 
Jazzman12 said:
The Dantley/Tripucka trade cost the Utah Jazz a chance at a dynasty and I’m not kidding.

In Dantley, the Utah Jazz had arguably the best scorer in the NBA but Layden and Dantley couldn’t get along, plus Layden viewed Dantley as a PF which meant there wasn’t enough room for him and Karl.

Layden’s thought process made zero sense considering that Dantley was 6’5”, could knock down a 20 foot jumper, and could have manned the SF position just fine. The Jazz starting 5 would have been:

PG- Stockton
SG- Golden Grif
SF- Dantley
PF- Malone
C- Eaton

This is always my biggest “what if” scenario as a Jazz fan. John and Karl were just pups at the the beginning of their careers and I honestly feel like this team could have won 2-3 titles.
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The Jazz were seriously and rightly concerned about AD corrupting Karl. AD was telling Karl to save his energy on defense and make business decisions. AD was doing his best to drive a wedge between Karl and the organization.


Sent from my iPhone using JazzFanz mobile app
 
Looking at the stats his FQ% was good and his 3 PT % was insane - so it appears he didn't shoot the ball enough. He got 20-23 minutes a game which was below average for him. Then he left the Jazz after two seasons and balled out again. So it appears the Jazz weren't a good system for him.
 
Bodhi said:
Ah so Sloan wasn’t the coach for every Jazz player ever?
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Fun fact. Maravich scored 31 in one of the Jazz first wins in Utah in 1979. They beat the Bulls coached by Jerry Sloan. Never forgave Nissalke for benching him that year. Didn't even play him on Pete Maravich poster night.
 
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It was a system issue with both Dantley and Tripucka. Dantley and Layden didnt get a long and his style of play made it difficult to develop Malone. Puke didn't play great defense but was a a good shooter and really helped the offense flow. He was a guy that was better with more touches and the offense didnt give him that. To this day I am a fan of both of those guys. AD was a legit all star.
 
Hearsky said:
The Jazz were seriously and rightly concerned about AD corrupting Karl. AD was telling Karl to save his energy on defense and make business decisions. AD was doing his best to drive a wedge between Karl and the organization.


Sent from my iPhone using JazzFanz mobile
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While you’re certainly not wrong, I do have a few counter points:

- AD was certainly a malcontent, but he wasn’t too much of a problem for the Jazz prior to Karl Malone’s arrival. He was threatened by Karl and probably had zero issues with giving the young player some bad advice. I put a lot of this on Layden for not hammering home a “Me and Karl” type of attitude with AD as opposed to “Me or Karl”. For what it’s worth, I don’t think AD’s advice about not playing defense was going to effect a guy who had one of the best work ethics in professional sports history.

- I think AD is one of the first examples of the Larry Miller philosophy of trying to field a team of 12 boy scouts. Larry had a lot of issues with AD, as evidenced by how long he held out before finally giving in and retiring AD’s number. Simply put, Larry didn’t like AD and the second the Jazz knew what they had in Karl, he was out the door.

I think what made Phil Jackson one of the winningest coaches is NBA history was his ability to manage egos and personalities inside his locker room. He was an absolute master at it. If Layden had a little bit of that in him, I think he could have gotten more buy-in from AD and the team woulda been an juggernaut.

From what I’ve heard, AD was a flat out ******* and maybe he was too much of a malcontent in the locker room but he did manage to carve out a 15 year NBA career while playing on some pretty good teams. I’d love to have seen what the Jazz could have been had they kept him.
 
Jazzman12 said:
While you’re certainly not wrong, I do have a few counter points:

- AD was certainly a malcontent, but he wasn’t too much of a problem for the Jazz prior to Karl Malone’s arrival. He was threatened by Karl and probably had zero issues with giving the young player some bad advice. I put a lot of this on Layden for not hammering home a “Me and Karl” type of attitude with AD as opposed to “Me or Karl”. For what it’s worth, I don’t think AD’s advice about not playing defense was going to effect a guy who had one of the best work ethics in professional sports history.

- I think AD is one of the first examples of the Larry Miller philosophy of trying to field a team of 12 boy scouts. Larry had a lot of issues with AD, as evidenced by how long he held out before finally giving in and retiring AD’s number. Simply put, Larry didn’t like AD and the second the Jazz knew what they had in Karl, he was out the door.

I think what made Phil Jackson one of the winningest coaches is NBA history was his ability to manage egos and personalities inside his locker room. He was an absolute master at it. If Layden had a little bit of that in him, I think he could have gotten more buy-in from AD and the team woulda been an juggernaut.

From what I’ve heard, AD was a flat out ******* and maybe he was too much of a malcontent in the locker room but he did manage to carve out a 15 year NBA career while playing on some pretty good teams. I’d love to have seen what the Jazz could have been had they kept him.
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And now he is an elementary school crossing guard.


Sent from my iPhone using JazzFanz mobile app
 
Thee Idiotic Minivan K said:
This thread is so out of left field. Lol I think someone should tweeter Kelley and ask why he sucked so bad in Utah then was good again when he left. I would get a kick out of that. Haha.
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Time for you to register on twitter and do it.
 
The Fresh Prince said:
It's a slow week, so this must be asked.

How the hell does a 20+ ppg scorer from a team that was a top contender in the East come to the Jazz to flop as hard as Kelly Tripucka did? Sloan didn't know how to use him?

Guy goes to put up 7 ppg for us, then goes to Charlotte dropping 22 ppg the year after.

Looks like Kelly could've been the piece that got us a ring if he was used better.

What a boss.
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I wanted to hate this post when I saw it come up on my feed but I love it. The guy's teeth are mad sexy. Imagine if he lived in the era of "grillz"?
 
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