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Jerry Sloan and Phil Johnson Appreciation Thread

vslice02

Well-Known Member
During Tuesday afternoon’s press conference, Jerry Sloan credited Phil Johnson’s recommendation as the main reason he ended up as an assistant in Utah under Frank Layden. One thing that’s often overlooked is just how many times Jerry Sloan’s and Phil Johnson’s coaching careers have intertwined.


While it’s not uncommon for head coaches to forge strong relationships with brilliant assistants (Phil Jackson/Tex Winter) the coaching careers of Jerry Sloan and Phil Johnson not only reflected dedication, loyalty, and longevity, but also an almost ridiculous pattern for crossing paths over the past 45 years.

It began 1962 in Ogden, Utah with Dick Motta, the head coach at Weber State. Motta would go on to win 935 games in the NBA and crossed paths with Sloan by first coaching Jerry in Chicago and then offering him a lucrative position as his top assistant on the Mavericks in the 80’s – which Sloan turned down out of loyalty to Frank Layden (similar to how Phil Johnson would turn down head coaching opportunities – Pacers/Nuggets - out of loyalty to Jerry).
Phil Johnson was one of Dick Motta’s top assistants at Weber State, and replaced Motta as head coach when Motta left to coach the Bulls (Sloan was named an all-star in Motta’s first season in Chicago). As head coach at Weber State, Phil Johnson took the Wildcats to 3 consecutive NCAA tournaments before he accepted a position as an assistant with Motta in Chicago (where he also coached Sloan).

Phil Johnson then left Chicago to become head coach of the Kings where he won Coach of the Year in his second season. He was fired after 5 seasons with the Kings, and returned to Chicago as an assistant under recently named head coach Jerry Sloan. Johnson and Sloan coached together in Chicago until they were both fired in 1982. Phil then returned to Utah where he became an assistant to Frank Layden with the Jazz.
A few years later, the Kings offered Johnson their head coaching position again, and when Phil left Utah for Kansas City, Frank Layden replaced him on the bench with Jerry Sloan – whom Johnson recommended. When Jerry Sloan replaced Frank Layden in 1988, he hired Phil as his assistant and the two coached together for the next 22 ½ seasons - until they resigned Tuesday. I think it was only fitting they resigned together.


Just wanted to share that and say I live and breathe basketball, and I will miss both of them and the way they coached the game even more as a basketball fan than as a Utah Jazz fan. (I know that was long, but if Sloanfeld can make 15 Boozer threads, I can have this one!)
 
They will be missed. I remember Layden coaching the Jazz (vaguely) But for me Sloan and Johnson retiring is the end of an era for this franchise.
 
Thanks, Coach Sloan and Phil Johnson. Together, along with some of the best players to ever play the game, you took the Utah Jazz as far as they will ever go and made a small market NBA franchise one that is lauded and respected across the sports world. The Jazz will never be the same, but I can only hope that we have at least similar success in your absence. An era ended today, and I feel like a part of me went with it.
 
not only being a Jazz fan but also a Cowboys and Braves fan it is weird seeing them all have new coaches now. Bobby Cox leaving wasn't too hard since it was planned in advance, but the shock of Sloan resigning will sting for a bit.

Rarely do kids have coaches as idols growing up, but he was definitely one of them for me.
 
Coach Sloan embodied everything you want in a player, person, and friend. I really looked up to him and his approach to life.

Phil leaving with Jerry just shows how close they were, and leaving together just feels right.

Thanks for all the memories Coach Phil and Coach Sloan. Utah will never forget you.
 
Thanks for posting and I think your justified in creating a new post as long as you don't turn every new thread into a Sloan post.
 
While I have at times been frustrated by certain aspects of Sloan's coaching, I am very sad to see him go this way. Jerry did a phenominal job in the years directly post Stockton and Malone and his system is without doubt a very successful system that produced high quality results for almost a quarter of a century.

I am very sorry that he left this way and wish him nothing but the best.
 
Thanks, Coach Sloan and Phil Johnson. Together, along with some of the best players to ever play the game, you took the Utah Jazz as far as they will ever go and made a small market NBA franchise one that is lauded and respected across the sports world. The Jazz will never be the same, but I can only hope that we have at least similar success in your absence. An era ended today, and I feel like a part of me went with it.

my same thoughts..+1
 
Even though I think it is time for Sloan to move on, I am still melancholy because Sloan/Johnson were the last tie to the Golden Era of Jazz basketball. The lone connection to the group of giddy Jazzmen flying off the bench after Stockton hit that three against Houston. I wish them nothing but the best and sure hope there really are no hard feelings. We better get a Jerry Sloan Expressway or something down the road. He earned it.
 
+6 on this thread.

If I could rep Jerry right now, I totally would.

I second that.

Jerry Sloan was one of the reasons why I started watching and rooting for Utah Jazz beside John, Karl & Jeff. In one hand I will still continue rooting for my favorite NBA team, while in another I won't be that happy if we ever win the championship under Ty or any other coach. But at least Ty is a new head coach and not just a temporary thing. Hopefully they will bring John & Jeff lets say ease the pain and fill the shoes to some level, since I don't think any other coach will be what Jerry & Phil were and what they meant to Utah Jazz organization & Jazz fans, even though some of us fans expressed some anger towards Jerry's decisions over the past few years, but deep down we all loved him, especially knowing that he was what Utah Jazz was all about beside our legends John, Karl & in some way Jeff.

Not sure about others, but he was simply the best coach ever in sports history and I took few minutes to write something about it as my tribute to Gerald Eugene "Jerry" Sloan & Phil D. Johnson.


jerryphil.jpg


It's a sad day to be a Jazz fan. You will both be missed.
 
Hey Sloan, thanks for the great years!!! You've done a whole hell of a lot for this franchise...
 
There's no way I could put into words how great I think Jerry and Phil are as Basketball coaches and as people. They deserved to go out on top, and to go out as winners, and the most painful thing to me right now is to think that that didn't happen.

February 10th, 2011 will go down as one of the saddest days I've felt as a fan of the Jazz or any of my favorite sports teams. More sad then when Stockton retired and Malone left, more sad then when my Seahawks got robbed in Super Bowl XL, more sad then those last moments of the Finals, knowing we weren't going to win it all that year...Although I knew it would happen one day, it's just tough knowing he's gone.

I just wished that there would have been some way he could have gone out with a Coach of the Year and a World Championship trophy... but, in the end, it just wasn't meant to be. .... ....
 
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