Utah Jazz First Quarter Report Card: Can The Jazz Be an Elite NBA Team?

The Jazz regular season is already a quarter done. It is time to pass out first quarter grades to Jazz players, coaches, and management.

Deron Williams—Williams is playing like an All-Star, again. It is hard to think that Williams has yet to go to an All-Star game in his career. From the initial balloting it appears that Williams won’t be starting in the All-Star game, but if he continues to plays at this level there will be no way to keep him off another team.

When the game is on the line you want the ball in the hands of Deron Williams. He has been able to take an important next step this season. This season Williams is able to take over games. He is able to put the Jazz on his back for long stretches of the game, and produce wins. This year’s team is Deron Williams’ team. The Jazz will only go as far as Williams is able to take them this season.

Grade—A+

Williams is the best player on the Jazz, and might be the best point guard in the NBA right now.

Wesley Matthews—The rookie who is playing like a veteran. This season Matthews has been able to plug holes, and defend bigger known NBA players. Since his insertion into the starting lineup the Jazz are 11-5.

Matthews is still a rookie and will make some serious rookie mistakes on the court. The difference is Matthews will recover and respond better to his mistakes compared to other rookies. He isn’t afraid to guard anyone in the league, and he is very good at doing the little things to help his teammates while he is on the court.

It is still amazing that Matthews went undrafted, and that he was basically gifted to the Jazz when they were in need of a steady two guard.

Grade—A-

He has exceeded every expectation placed upon him when the Jazz invited him to training camp. Yet, he is still a rookie, and he is still learning and making mistakes.

Ronnie Brewer—His new nickname really should be “Mr. Baseline.” Brewer is an artist in the Jazz offense at working the baseline and finishing around the hoop.

His defense has also improved this season which is a real surprise. Last season Brewer was able to increase his number of steal per game; however, Brewer struggled to stay on his feet and play physical defense against bigger players. This season Brewer is not only playing strong off the ball defense, but he is able to play physical defense and rebound the basketball.

The part of his game which is still lacking is consistency with his mid-to-long range jump shot. There were multiple times last season and this season when teams would simply dare Brewer to take shots.

Grade—B+

When Brewer’s game is going, the Jazz are very tough to beat. Yet, Brewer has the same holes in his game this season as last season. He lacks consistency from the free throw line and his outside jump shot.

Carlos Boozer—Boozer after a terrible start has now turned on beast mode. He was named Western Conference Player of the Week. He is averaging 20.1 points and 11.1 rebounds a game. He is also shooting 54.9% from the field this season, which is over his career average.

He is doing everything on the court he can to not only get back in the good graces of Jazz fans, but also to ensure a big free agent contract at the end of the year.

While there has been some token gestures by both Carlos Boozer and the Utah Jazz front office it seems clear Carlos Boozer is on his way out of Utah at the end of the season. Carlos Boozer is going to want too much money, and the Utah Jazz simply can’t pay him to stay. Nor do the Jazz really want him to stay for that matter.

Utah has invested in Paul Millsap, and they are going to have a high lottery pick which they will most likely use on a young power forward.

This means that the best thing Utah can do is to start shopping around Carlos Boozer now that his trade value has increased. He is going to be an All-Star this season, and he is going to produce for whatever team he is on, because it is his contract year. This will be the best opportunity for the Jazz to move Boozer, and get equal value back for him.

If the Jazz were to move Boozer now it would give the team time to acclimate to the new player in the rotation.

The Jazz can be a very good team, this season, with Boozer on the roster; however, the Jazz could be a better team, in the long-term, if they were to get equal value for Boozer through a trade.

Grade—A

Like him or hate him Boozer is an All-Star this season, and he is one of the major reasons the Jazz were able to rebound from a slow start. Boozer is trying to prove he is an elite post player in the NBA this season. He really needs to stay healthy to prove to teams he can make it through an entire NBA season.

Mehmet Okur—Moneyman has been making it rain from beyond the three point line this season. Okur is shooting 42.9% from behind the arc this season, which is well above his career average. Yet, Okur’s minutes are down from where they are in the past.

Fewer minutes for Okur wouldn’t be surprising if he was still finishing games for the Jazz. Sloan has elected to not finish games with Okur and rather end the majority of the games this season with Millsap and Boozer on the court.

This is odd considering Okur’s attribute of being a big-time clutch shooter at the end of games. What is keeping Okur off the court for the Jazz is the fact that Boozer needs to be on the court. There has been a problem with the Jazz’s defense whenever both Okur and Boozer are on the court at the same time.

Both Okur and Boozer aren’t great defenders, but each can play well when they are surrounded with another good post defender (normally Kirilenko or Millsap). The problem is when both Okur and Boozer are on the court it is the same as giving the green light to teams to penetrate and score in the paint against the Jazz. Neither will rotate on defense, and both play defense too much with their hands and not enough with their feet. This means they will swipe at the ball, and that leads to teams scoring easy points from the free throw line.

With Boozer playing so well the past few weeks there really isn’t a reason for the Jazz to elect to finish with Okur at the end of games.

Okur’s season did get off to a rocky start when he injured himself on basically the first defensive play of the Jazz season trying to take a charge. Memo is such an iron horse of a player it is hard to tell exactly how those early nagging injuries have been affecting his play this season.

Grade—B

Memo is still hitting big shots for the Jazz, but he is still lacking the ability to play on both the offensive and defensive ends of the court.

Paul Millsap—Millsap got paid in the offseason and it seems to be affecting his game. Millsap isn’t dogging it like many other NBA players after they receive big contracts; rather Millsap seems to be pushing himself too much during games.

Millsap has gotten off to a slow start this season because he has been pressing to prove on the court he is deserving of the new contract he received. The stat which is way down for Millsap is his rebounding. His ability to rebound the ball is what got him drafted, and got him a large contract from the Jazz.

As the seasons progressed and Millsap has relaxed his numbers have improved, although not to same level as last season.

Grade—B-

Millsap has been picking up dumb fouls and his rebounding numbers are down. Hopefully he will improve and return to form as the season progresses.

Andrei Kirilenko—Andrei got off to a great start at the beginning of this season. He started to hit his jump shot like the Andrei of old, and his over/under numbers are among the best on the Jazz.

What has plagued Andrei during his entire tenure with the Jazz continues this season. While he is one of the best players on the Jazz with the ball in his hands, he is also the worst player on the Jazz at taking ill-advised shots.

This Jeykll and Hyde mentality which Kirilenko has is one of the most frustrating things about being a Jazz fan. Kirilenko has the ability to control the game on both sides of the court without taking a shot. Yet, Kirilenko seems determined to play outside of the Jazz offense and defense at times.

Grade—B+

Andrei really did get off to a great start this season. He has been active and his shooting has improved. Injuries have hurt his chances to return to an All-Star level of play. It still remains to be seen if AK can play his active style of basketball and be effective with an injury. The simple fact still remains: The Jazz are a better team when Kirilenko is on the court.

CJ Miles—He came into this season in the best shape of his life. Then he was injured early in the pre-season. CJ even after the injury still looks to be in better shape this season compared to where he was last season. He looks more muscular, and he is able to play more physical defense.

CJ has a very good shot, but he hasn’t been able to bring a consistent shot to actual games. He has the ability to give the Jazz an instant spark of offense; however, he is just as likely to shot the Jazz out of a ballgame. Miles doesn’t seem to have the ability to pick the right time to shoot and stop shooting to help the team.

Miles has struggled with running the Jazz offense the entire time he has played in Utah. He doesn’t set good back screens, and he is stagnate when he doesn’t have the ball in his hands. Miles will go to a spot on the floor and stay there waiting to get the ball. This season is more of the same lack of effort from CJ to do the little things to help the Jazz win.

Grade—Incomplete.

It is too early to give CJ a grade due to injuries. CJ does look to be improved from last year in the few games he has played this season.

Ronnie Price—This was the year that Ronnie Price had the inside track to the backup point guard position for the Jazz. Even before he injured his big toe things weren’t going well for Ronnie.

Price’s shooting percentage is way down this season. He is shooting 35.7% from the floor and 22.2% from beyond the three point arc. He struggled to get the Jazz into the offense when he was on the court.

With the way that Eric Maynor is playing it will be hard for Price to earn back his minutes at the backup point guard position.

Grade—C-

The way Price finished the season in the playoffs against the Lakers most likely bought him another year with the Jazz, but he isn’t taking advantage of that opportunity to find regular minutes in the Jazz’s lineup.

Eric Maynor—Maynor took over the back-up point guard position from Ronnie Price after Price’s toe injury. Maynor has shown signs of promise this season, but he has struggled with consistency this season.

He is a terrible three-point shooter(averaging 19%), and he really lacks a full grasp of the Jazz offense. What Maynor does well is pass the basketball. He has made some great passes this season, and he has been able to give good enough minutes in order for Williams to get some rest on the bench.

Maynor is still a rookie, and still makes some very dumb rookie level mistakes during games. Maynor looks to be a very good player in the NBA, and as he gets more minutes he will improve.

Grade—B-

He needs to learn that it is okay to pass the ball at the end of the quarter. Maynor also struggles to run the fastbreak. He is a good backup point guard and he has shown flashes of brilliance this season when given extended minutes.

Kyle Korver—A favorite of the ladies, Korver played in his first game of the season against the Timberwolves. He didn’t look like he was ready to be back on the court.

The downside of Korver has always been his defense. He has a problem staying in front of faster and bigger guards in the NBA. His shooting ability is what keeps him on the court. Yet, outside of his first year in Utah his shot has struggled.

Last season, Korver suffered from a wrist injury on his shooting hand which hurt his shooting percentage. This season he didn’t look much better in his first game back against Minnesota.

It is too early to give a grade to Korver, but with the emergence of Matthews and the play of Miles it will be hard for Korver to find minutes in the Jazz rotation.

Grade—Incomplete

Korver will need to regain his long range shooting prowess in order to find playing time this season.

Kyrylo Fesenko—Fes has now entered the “puppy zone.”

When you get a new puppy dog you are happy with everything it does. It doesn’t matter if the dog is yawning, scrunching its face, or flopping its ear around—you are just happy that the dog is doing anything. The puppy is cute, loveable, and full of potential.

Fesenko is the new puppy for the Jazz. Every time he walks onto the court you aren’t expecting much out of him, which means if Fesenko does anything while he is in the game it is a bonus. The arena seems to erupt when Fes does the littlest things, like rebound the basketball (for that matter even catch the basketball).

He is being graded on potential, and therefore is on a completely different grading scale.

Grade—A Gold Star

Fes has shown flashes of brilliance, but it will be interesting to see if the Jazz will invest in developing Fesenko in the long term.

Kosta Koufas—Yes, he is still on the team. What it takes for Koufas to get on the court is another story. If your team only has nine healthy players, and you can only get on the court in the last few minutes of a thirty point blowout, then you know your place on the team. That place, in the D-leauge.

Grade—D-league All-Star

Koufas is not ready to be in the NBA. In hindsight staying in college would have been the best thing for Koufas. He needs playing time to develop, but even that playing time might not be enough for him to find a permanent home in Utah.

Jerry Sloan/Coaching Staff—Sloan has managed to right the ship quite a number of times already this season. The Jazz got off to terrible start, and there were many who thought they would simply implode. Sloan was able to get players to buy back into his system, and once again soothe egos for the betterment of the team.

Injuries have plagued the Jazz already this season, but Sloan was able to find a rotation with a nine man roster to win key games. The Jazz are still in contention in the West, and they now have a full healthy roster.

Now that the Jazz are healthy Sloan faces another challenge. His bench seems to be filled with players of roughly the same talent level. Jerry has to find the right amounts of minutes to not only help the team win, but to please Jazz players desires to be on the court.

Getting players to accept their roles is a very difficult task for any coach in the NBA. How well Jerry gets certain Jazz players to accept a lesser role on the team will really make-or-break the Jazz season.

Grade—A-

Considering the state of the Jazz when the season started Sloan has proven himself once again a Hall of Fame coach. He needs to now get his players mentally tough enough to get up for game not only against big named teams, but to be prepared to play every single night. He also has to find a way to get the Jazz to win on the road.

Front Office—The Jazz stood firm during the summer against the media, opposing GMs, and Carlos Boozer’s demands. The reward for the Jazz is now they have a more marketable Boozer who is putting together a strong All-Star season.

The Jazz now have many options for how they can deal with Boozer, but most importantly the Jazz have all the leverage to make the decision which is best for the team.

So far you also have to give the front office high marks for handling of the past draft. Maynor looks to be a solid addition to the team. Plus, Matthews was a great find and addition to the Jazz as an undrafted rookie free agent.

There have been some real boneheaded moves by the Jazz management. The marketing department and the ticket sales division have brought inferior products to the Jazz fan base. As a result attendance at Jazz games is well below where the Jazz have averaged in the past.

The hiring of David Locke as the radio play-by-play voice continues to be a terrible move for helping to create interest in the team. Plus, it hurts the creation of new younger fans who simply won’t listen to the worst play-by-play call in the Utah sports market.

The elephant in the room still remains. The Jazz are over the luxury tax this season.

The Jazz are a small market team, and that means they have a limited amount of capital to spend on player contracts. To keep the Jazz in Utah, the Jazz simply cannot go over the luxury tax and be fiscally viable.

The salary cap will most likely decrease again next season. That means it will be increasing difficult for the Jazz to shed the money required to be a non-luxury tax paying team.

Grade—B-

Getting below the luxury tax is the most important task for the Jazz front office. As long as the Jazz are over the luxury tax threshold the front office isn’t doing their job.

Utah Jazz Overall—Watching the Jazz this season is like watching a person who is afraid to succeed. The Jazz have proven they can play with any team in the league.

The Jazz have beaten the Lakers, Magic, and Trailblazers. They have also won the season series against San Antonio for the first time since 1997.

Yet, the Jazz have also lost to Minnesota twice, Sacramento at home, and Oklahoma City at home. All games the Jazz simply cannot afford to lose if they want to compete in the Western Conference.

This lack of consistent play, and the poor play on the road, points to a lack of mental toughness on the Jazz.

The team continues to take steps towards looking like a Jerry Sloan coached team, but right now they don’t have the physical edge which has been associated with Jazz teams of the past.

Overall Grade—B

The Jazz seem to be at a critical junction in their season. A place where they could really step up their game and be an elite Western Conference team or slack off and be a team simply fighting to make the playoffs. How the Jazz play in the next quarter of the season will really set where the expectations should be for the post-season.

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Utah Jazz Happy to Have a Problem like Finding Minutes for Wesley Matthews

Will Matthews keep his starting spot now that Jazz regulars are coming back from injury?

If you are any kind of athletes you like to be able to point to some statistic in order to prove your worth. The ability for an athlete to be able to point to something tangible leads to an athlete getting millions of dollars worth of contracts.

New Jazz man Wesley Matthews has two major stats proving his value to Utah.

First, this season the Jazz have employed a new defensive grading system. After each game Jefferson Sweeney, the Jazz video coordinator, will look at the video of every defensive possession, and put together the grade for each player after each game. Which Jazz player has consistently received the highest grade for his defensive prowess? Andrei Kirilenko? Ronnie Brewer? Deron Williams?

Nope— it is undrafted rookie Wesley Matthews.

Matthews has been able to find playing time because of his defensive abilities. He will do the small things on the defensive end to help the Jazz win basketball games. Matthews seems to be fearless regardless of his defensive assignment.

For a coach like Jerry Sloan, the ability for a player to play tough hardnosed defense is paramount.

Second, the Utah Jazz are 7-2 with Wesley Matthews in the starting lineup, and 3-5 when he isn’t starting. The more minutes Matthews has played the better the success of the Jazz. Can Matthews really take all the credit for the Jazz’s recent success while he is in the starting lineup? No. Nonetheless it is a very impressive stat to show he is making some kind of difference for the team.

There are reasons why Matthews went undrafted. He is not the most athletic player on the court, and he can’t play above the rim like other wing players in the NBA. He is not the quickest player on the court, nor is he a sharp shooter like a Kyle Korver.

What Matthews brings to the court is an incredibly high basketball IQ, a large amount of self-confidence and poise for a rookie, and knowledge of how to play to make his teammates better. All of these traits are lacking in the current NBA. These traits are also normally associated with veteran players in the NBA, and not undrafted rookie players.

Kevin O’Conner stroke gold when he found Wesley Matthews; however, it was Wesley Matthews who took advantage of the opportunity given to him to find a place on this Jazz team. Matthews played for the Jazz’s summer league team, and wasn’t very impressive in any of the summer league games. When he did impress the Jazz decision makers it was during practices in the summer.

After playing for the Jazz in the summer league, Matthews went and played on the King’s summer league team. He didn’t get an invite to the King’s training camp. Instead of giving up on his NBA dreams and heading overseas, like many other players, Matthews got an invite to the Jazz training camp.

He was a long shot to make the roster. The Jazz had a log jam at the two-guard position, and the Jazz were already extended financially. The Jazz are a small market team and they have the third highest payroll in the NBA—the last thing the Jazz wanted was to carry another contract.

Despite all of the obstacles facing Matthews, he was impressive in the preseason. He benefited from a rash of injuries to Jazz players, and made the regular season roster with a non-guaranteed contract. Injuries continued to affect the Jazz until he was finally given an opportunity to start for the Jazz. Matthews was ready when his opportunity came, and he took full advantage of it.

Matthews’ fight to make it in the NBA is by no means over. He still doesn’t have a guaranteed contract, although it seems like it is only a matter of waiting for the January deadline for Matthews’ contract to be made official.

Keeping his playing time is now the key for Wesley Matthews. CJ Miles, Kyle Korver, and Ronnie Price are all on the verge of coming back from injuries. CJ Miles started practicing with the Jazz on Wednesday and appears ready to play in the game Friday against the Indiana Pacers.

Sloan has always had a belief that a player shouldn’t lose their position in the rotation due to injury; however, he hinted that he is reluctant to change the current starting five of the Jazz. What needs to be seen is whether Sloan is waiting for Miles to get back to 100 percent before giving him back the starting job or if he will continue to stick with the rookie Matthews as the starter regardless of Miles’ health.

The Jazz like to have the problem of having too many good players at a position. The trick now is to find the two-guard who will compliment the other players on the court. Matthews could make the case that he is the best fit at two-guard for the Utah Jazz.

While Korver is the best pure shooter of the Jazz’s two-guards, he is also a defensive liability when he is on the court.

Miles has never proven himself to be a consistent player. He is a great shooter when his shot is falling, but he will damage the Jazz with poor shot selection when his shot is off. Miles has also struggled to rebound the basketball, and lacked the size in the past to play physical defense. CJ bulked up in the off-season, in hopes of being a more physical presence on the court.

Price has always been stuck as an undersized combo guard in the NBA. He has too much of a shot first mentality to get the Jazz into the offense when he is running the point, and he is too small to contend with the bigger two-guards in the NBA.

Matthews’ game isn’t perfect. He is still making rookie mistakes when he is on the court, but Matthews does the little things to earn playing time in the Jazz system. Matthews is active on both ends of the court. On offense he will finish cuts, set strong hard back screens, and he concerns himself with the proper spacing the Jazz need to run their offense. Plus, he does the majority of his work on the offensive end without the ball. Something the majority of Jazz players and NBA players seem reluctant to do.

The current starting five for the Jazz are playing very unselfish basketball. Matthews helps to promote this style of basketball with his play. Most rookies think they must shot the ball in order to prove they deserve to stay on the court. Matthews is an adequate shooter at the two-guard position in the Jazz offense, but Matthews’ looks first to create easy buckets for the Jazz. This usually means he will pass the ball to a cutter, rather than taking a jump shot.

Defensively Matthews is very active. He allows the Jazz not to use Ronnie Brewer and Andrei Kirilenko to guard the other team’s best player. This allows Kirilenko and Brewer to play more off the ball and help defense, and that leads to more blocks, steals, and easy transition points for the Jazz.

There is also an X-factor that Matthews brings to the court. He will get on the floor to dig out a ball, and he isn’t afraid to get physical with players. The best example of this normally unheralded skill came against the Spurs in San Antonio.

Early in the game the Spurs were able to knock the ball away from the Jazz and pass it to a cherry-picking Tim Duncan for what appeared to be a wide open lay-up. Matthews, did not give up on the play, he sprinted from underneath his own basket and ran down Duncan from behind. He fouled Duncan hard, throwing the bigger man (cleanly) to the ground. Matthews didn’t catch Duncan, or help him up after the play. He sent a message to both the Spurs and to his Jazz teammates that nobody will score easy buckets on the Jazz.

Matthews cares about winning more than making friends around the league. A lot of current Jazz players need to follow his example, and emulate his attitude.

Small things like fouling Duncan hard on a breakaway lay-up are things which catch the attention of Jerry Sloan. One of the reasons he has given so much praise on Matthews this season.

Sloan recently commented: “He’s played pretty well all along. He plays smart. He’s not afraid.”

Matthews might not think much of such comments, but for Sloan this is high praise. For Sloan to be speaking like that about a rookie is as rare as Charles Barkley hitting a decent golf shot. Remember it when it happens and enjoy it, because it won’t be happening again.

Jazz fans like a blue collar, hard working, tough players like Matthews. So far he hasn’t been given anything in the NBA free, he has had to earn every single minute he gets on the floor. The Jazz have been searching for a solution for their problems at the two-guard, and it seems like Matthews is that solution.

Wesley Matthews beat the odds just to make the Jazz roster, and he defied all logic when he got a chance to start in the NBA his rookie year. Now he has the chance to beat out the Jazz’s incumbent two-guards for the starting role.

How? By continuing to play the style of basketball that caught the eye of the Jazz coaching staff—hard-nosed, smart, Jerry Sloan style basketball.

What do you do with a problem like Wesley Matthews? You enjoy it, and find him minutes in the rotation!

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Byron Scott’s Dismissal Shows Why Jazz and Spurs Have Long-term Success

Another NBA coach fired...

There are a few glaring problems with the modern NBA which are now very common throughout the league. The officials are extremely inconsistent, the arenas throughout the league are looking emptier, and teams will fire their coaches after minor losing slumps.

The New Orleans Hornets have continued a very impractical practice of firing their coach, Byron Scott, at the first sign of trouble. Byron Scott, a coach who took the Hornets, with the assistance of Chris Paul, from a perennial loser into a competitor in a very difficult Western Conference.

Byron Scott coached his team to back-to-back winning seasons. He is also the winner of the 2007-08 NBA Coach of the Year award. So what great fault led to him being let go by the New Orleans Hornets?

He started the year 3-6! Is it a great start, no; however, the Hornets are a mere three games under .500. It does appear as if the Hornets might have been a little hasty pulling the trigger on letting go of their coach.

Was there a single person shocked that the Hornets fired Scott? Any person who follows the NBA should have greeted the news of Scott’s firing with the same shoulder shrug reserved for finding out there are surprise twists at the end of M. Night Shyamalan’s movies. The endings should be surprising, but completely expected.

Scott’s firing is another sign of how difficult it is to have success in the NBA—both as a NBA head coach, and as a successful NBA franchise.

The NBA Coach of the Year award is suppose to given to the coach who did the best job with his team over the course of the NBA season. The award really has become nothing more than an oversized paper weight. It really should be called “The Coach in the Right Place at the Right Time Award.” If it really was given to the best coach each year Phil Jackson would probably just schedule a yearly appointment to pick up the trophy.

To see the sorry state of coaching in the NBA just look at the history of past Coach of the Year winners. A person has to go back to 2002-03 to find a Coach of the Year winner who both is still employed by the team he won the award with, and a coach who really deserved the award.

• 2008-09 Mike Brown, Cleveland Cavaliers (Still with team) – That Mike Brown won a Coach of the Year award is laughable; however, it is embracing the league didn’t take it away from him after he was completely outcoached in last year’s Eastern Conference Finals. Mike Brown might be the worst head coach currently in the league, and that is really saying something.
• 2007-08 Byron Scott, New Orleans Hornets (Fired)—Scott is not just a good coach, he is a great coach.
• 2006-07 Sam Mitchell, Toronto Raptors (Fired)—He is another one year wonder with a mediocre Raptor team. Team let him go at the first sign of trouble.
• 2005-06 Avery Johnson, Dallas Mavericks (Fired)—He took a young team filled with potential and underachieved.
• 2004-05 Mike D’Antoni, Phoenix Suns (Resigned)—He installed his eight second offense with Steve Nash, or as it is better known, an absolutely brilliant coaching move. His reward is an ugly dispute with the Suns, and the opportunity to coach the New York Knicks(Ouch!).
• 2003-04 Hubie Brown, Memphis Grizzlies (Retired)—Sat on the bench and basically didn’t trade Pau Gasol to the Lakers for pennies on the dollar.
• 2002-03 Gregg Popovich, San Antonio Spurs (Still with team)—Popovich is a NBA coaching legend.

What this shows us is it is tough for NBA coaches to keep their jobs. There are very few franchises that support their coach when things aren’t going well. Furthermore, the data also shows there is a lack of good coaching in the NBA.

Teams will fire their coaches in hopes that change brings success to their franchise. There are many problems with this philosophy. Especially for teams who win championships. The 2005-06 Miami Heat are the only team in the last twenty years that fired changed coaches during the season and won a championship (although really Pat Riley was rumored to be forcing out Stan Van Gundy long before the 2005-06 season started).

Championship teams have one major thing in common, consistency. These teams will find a head coach who has a coaching philosophy. The successful championship teams, with a few exceptions, will bring in players to match the coach and not coaches to match the players. Successful franchises will ride out bad seasons with good coaches.

The loyalty franchises give to their coaches help coaches to win games.

The Utah Jazz has a Hall of Fame coach in Jerry Sloan. The Jazz are off to a similar start as the Hornets this season. What is the difference between the Hornets and the Jazz? When things have gotten rough, or when the team is under performing, the ownership has always come out in support of Sloan. This support sends a clear message to the players—either play Sloan’s style of basketball or get out of town!

The Jazz don’t have to deal with players dogging it, or calling for a change in coaching, or any of the other drama which circles other teams. If the player doesn’t like it in Utah, he won’t play in Utah. Sloan will either bench him, which kills a player’s market value, or the Jazz will simply move the player.

How has Sloan repaid the trust the Jazz gave him? Jerry Sloan is in his 22^nd season as head coach of the Utah Jazz. During that time he has only a single losing season, and he has only missed the playoffs three times. Sloan is a proven commodity of success in the NBA.

NBA coaches crave this type of support from their franchise.

The biggest problem NBA coaches face is how they motivate their players. If the coach doesn’t have the support of the front office in their franchise, then there really is nothing they can do to motivate their players. When things get rough during the season, and the coach has to make changes in order for the team to succeed, coaches without front office support cannot dictate to players. In these situations, players have all the power over the coach.

Teams with weak front offices try to appease the players; this completely undermines coaches. Players can call for the coaches job, play outside the coaches system, or simply fake an injury until a change in coaching.

Franchises that make decisions to please players soon find out the players, who call for coaches jobs, will never be happy. These franchises will suffer in mediocrity, wondering what changes they need to make in order to succeed. What these teams need is a good coach, but the problem is elite level coaches will not go and coach for unstable franchises.

Elite level coaches know they need stability for success. Franchises that prove they will be loyal to a coach for the long haul will be rewarded when they are looking for a coach in the future. Loyal franchises breed stability and success.

NBA coaches are like ship captains of the hardwood. Firing a coach is nothing short of mutiny! There are times when it makes sense to remove a poor captain in the Navy, and there are times to get rid of a terrible coach (ahem, Mike Brown).

Yet, if you are going to remove the captain mid-voyage you better be sure you are doing the right thing. You hire a captain trusting they have the abilities to sail you safely through rough water, and stormy weather. Most NBA teams fire their coaches at the first signs of trouble; which is like firing a ship’s captain at the first signs of a storm on the horizon.

If a team doesn’t trust a coach to get them through the bad times, then obviously the front office did a very poor job in hiring. You hire a coach, like a seas captain, not to take care of things when things are going well, but to grind through the trials of adversity.

A franchise will be more successful to trust and support their coach, and let them grind through the adversity of the season. Moving a disgruntled player will lead to more success than continually firing coaches who suffer minor setbacks.

If the Coach of the Year award teaches anything it is the NBA’s current perception of coaching excellence is wrong. The Utah Jazz and San Antonio Spurs should be models of how to hire, and maintain coaches in the NBA. Stability is the key to long term success.

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Jerry Sloan is Set to Lead the Jazz For His 22nd Season; Why Has He Been Successful?

Why has Jerry Sloan succeeded in Utah?

It has always been interesting to me to hear people call for the firing of Jerry Sloan.

Some say he is too old. Others say that he doesn’t know how to manage players’ minutes on the court. Another popular argument is he won’t play rookies. All of these arguments seem odd, and off target to me.

Yet, this vocal group of Jazz fans is waiting for the day when Sloan will retire, and a new coach will take over the team. The logic of these fans is simply any change will be good change for the Jazz.

He is a coaching legend, now a Hall of Fame coach, and it is shocking that he has never won the Coach of the Year award.

Sloan isn’t perfect, but what coach ever has been? Sloan does have a resume to backup why the Jazz keep him around.

In 21 seasons as head coach of the Jazz, he has led the Jazz to the playoffs in all but three of them. Sloan has only has a single losing season with the Jazz since taking over in 1989. He also orchestrated the rebuilding of the Jazz after Stockton and Malone left.

It is clears that his strengths greatly outweigh his weaknesses.

Here is a top five reasons Jazz fans should like the way Sloan runs the Jazz.

Jerry Sloan has an offensive system.

Watching other teams around the NBA is eye opening to see the importance of having an offensive system.

All teams technically have some form of an offense, most being a motion based offense without any set plays. Normally these offenses turn into nothing more than guys playing one-on-five. Players will just sit in the corner waiting for their turn to try and create something off the dribble -- instead of screening and moving away from the ball.

Not having a system also creates discord on any team. If you ever heard Matt Harpring describe playing with Allen Iverson, then you know the bitterness Harpring had playing on a non-system team. Players on the 76ers were told to give the AI the ball and get out of the way.

The system Sloan uses elevates players to play beyond their skill level. Why? It is built around getting open looks around the rim; dunks and lay-ups. His system will make any player look good who will move without the ball.

It amazes me how often other teams, most of which are perennial losers, will wonder how Jerry Sloan has been so successful? Sloan found a system which will win basketball games, and he has stuck to the principles of that system his entire coaching career.

Sloan Intimidates NBA Officials.

Sloan once compared the NBA to WWE wrestling. His point being the known wrestlers will get the preferred treatment. In the NBA you need to have a rep to get the calls.

Young players will struggle to get calls for years. Sloan is able to use his experience in the league to help his players get calls now.

Some members of the Jazz, mainly Deron Williams, are just starting to get some calls; however, they would be getting far fewer if not for Sloan.

Coach Sloan has always told his players to go about playing, and leave the arguing with the officials to Sloan.

The intensity which Sloan uses going after officials has rubbed some officials the wrong way. Steve Javey and Joey Crawford are good examples of this fact (Both officials are known for showing up popular players and coaches).

Overall, Jerry’s ability to terrify officials gives a decided advantage to the Jazz. Officials will think twice about making certain calls and facing the wrath of Sloan. Jerry has also been so hard on officials over the years he is able to push the line further on criticizing the officials.

If a player plays hard, then Jerry Sloan will reward that player.

It doesn’t matter how much money a player makes, or his credentials before coming to the Jazz, if they work hard they will play. He will play the best players, regardless of what is going on off the court. Sloan is about winning.

Jerry Sloan’s ability to let the best players play; helps players shine when they normally wouldn’t get a chance.

Bryon Russell, Shandon Anderson, Howard Eisley, and Paul Millsap are a few examples of players who worked hard and were given a chance. Sloan allowed these players to showcase their talents.

Sometimes, Sloan does get over zealous with making players prove themselves before earning playing time. Using Deron Williams as a backup point guard for the first half of his rookie season was perhaps a bad move.

Sloan is usually on target when he evaluates talent. If you were to name the players who succeed on other teams after failing to produce under Jerry the list is very small. Jerry wants to make players better.

Jerry isn’t trying to be BIGGER than his players.

He doesn’t care about awards, he doesn’t care about accolades, and he doesn’t look for an interview.

Sloan’s Hall of Fame induction speech looked very awkward. Jerry didn’t want to be giving the speech, and he was not trying to hide the fact that he hated every minute the attention of the audience was focused on him.

He freely gives credit to the players when they win, and takes blame in loses. He has admitted that his job is to make the players look good, and to have them succeed. Even when hitting large milestones he plays off his accomplishments.

After his 1,000th victory as a head coach, the crowd at the Energy Solutions Arena stood chanting Jerry’s name. How did Sloan react?

Sloan gave a slight wave that could have been mistaken for him swatting away a fly, and walked off the court. When asked about the accomplishment by the media, he side stepped the question calling the attention on him silly.

He knows that basketball is a player’s game. He has always placed the attention win or loss on his players.

Sloan still has a passion for the game and a competitive fire to win.

There is not a single night you have to ask if Sloan cares about winning the game. He does everything in his power to try to get every ounce of effort out of his players.

He tries to keep his players on an even keel. He doesn’t let them get to high after a win, or to low after a loss. He will go after an official for a bad call whether the Jazz are up or down by thirty points.

Jazz fans don’t have to worry about Sloan taking a Pat Riley like leave of absence during the season. Jerry Sloan’s teams come to play every night. That attitude comes from the top.

The pairing of Jerry Sloan and Utah Jazz has been very successful for both sides. The only thing both the Jazz and Sloan still want is an NBA title.

Jerry Sloan probably won’t win the Coach of the Year award again this year. The thing is he won’t care either way. The only thing Sloan wants to win this season is an NBA title.

Sloan is a link to the past glory of the NBA. The way Sloan is able to run a team is a dying art. There are few coaches left in the NBA who are able to establish a “my way or the highway” philosophy.

The vocal opposition of Jazz fans against Jerry Sloan will probably look back at the Sloan era with nostalgia if the Jazz become the typical small market NBA team. Small market teams do not win consistently in the NBA.

I have to believe the one major difference between the Jazz and the rest of league is Jerry Sloan.

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Classic Sloan Video: Jerry Sloan on Technology

Sloan shares his views on technology...

Story about NBA players using technology, but the best moment is near the end when Sloan explains his knowledge of computers and phones.

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Jerry Sloan Named Coach of the Month, Now What?

Jerry Sloan has been named coach of the month ten times, but has never won the big coaching award...

The Jazz finished February with an 10 - 1 record, and have won their last eight games. Ever since the All-Star break the Jazz have been playing their best basketball of the season. The league recognizing Utah's excellent play by naming Jerry Sloan Western Conference Coach of the Year.

As usual Jerry Sloan didn't seem to pay any attention to the award. Jerry Sloan is an old school coach and is under the impression that players are the people that win and lose games. Sloan views it as his job to have his players buy into his system in order to have their best chances of winning. Yet, even though Sloan's system has proven to be very effective Sloan has never tried to take credit for the success of his teams. Although Sloan is the first to take the blame for the poor play of his players.

It seems odd that the NBA has only named Jerry Sloan Western Conference Coach of the Year ten times, in his twenty-one year coaching career with the Utah Jazz. The more amazing fact is that Jerry Sloan has never been named the coach of the year.

Yes, Sloan has only had one losing season during his time at the helm of the Jazz. He has taken the Jazz to multiple Western Conference Finals, and two NBA Finals. Sloan is the longest tenured coach in all of professional sports. (Well major professional sports, I don't include soccer on that list) Yet, the NBA has not seen fit to give Jerry Sloan, who is a finalist for the Hall of Fame, the Coach of the Year award.

The NBA hasn't seen fit to give the Coach of the Year award to Jerry Sloan, but they haven't seen any problem in giving the award away to unproven coaches. Of the last ten coaches whom have won the Coach of the Year award, only two are still employed by the teams that they were coaching when they won the award. One is last year's winner New Orleans Hornets coach Bryon Scott, and the other winner is Spur's coach Gregg Popovich.

Jerry Sloan has had many seasons that should have been good enough to win the award. Problems that Sloan had faced in the past is the bias against him due to Stockton and Malone being on the Jazz. Media members would discount Sloan's performances claiming that his success was directly due to Stockton and Malone carrying the team for him. Although the hypocrisy of the media is seen when they gave the Coach of the Year award to Phil Jackson when he was coaching the Bulls in the mid-90's. If there was ever a team that gave an advantage to a coach it is Michael Jordan's Bulls.

Sloan deserved the award for each of the 1996-97, 1997-98, 2003-04, 2007-08, and he also deserves the award this season.

The problem is a single Coach of the Year award isn't good enough to honor Jerry Sloan. Sure the media will band together one of these years and give the Coach of the Year award to Jerry as if it is some type of lifetime achievement award. After the media gives the award to Jerry they will pat themselves on the back and consider the job done. Jerry Sloan has done too much for far too long for a single award to give credit to his accomplishments.

What should be done? There are either two options. First, the NBA needs to rename the Coach of the Year award after Jerry Sloan. The problem with this solution is the award is already named after Red Auerbach. It would be very poor taste for the NBA to rename the award for anyone, even Jerry Sloan.

The second option is to create a new award. Jerry Sloan has never looked for the limelight, and has only done the things that need to be done to help his team improve. There are many people in the NBA that do the same thing every year. Yet, they never get acknowledged for their contribution due to their low profile. Enter the Jerry Sloan Special Achievement Award. The award would go to any member, front office, player, coach, trainer, etc. That went above and beyond their call of duty to help their team win.

Past winners on the Utah Jazz could include: Hot Rod Hundley, for his time as play-by-play voice of the Utah Jazz; The Jazz Bear, for his stunts and work in the community; Gary Briggs, long time trainer of the Utah Jazz; or Adam Keefe, for his hustle and small ball play that helped the Jazz. These are just a few of the examples of people that would be eligible for the Jerry Sloan Award. There are countless people on each team that would be eligible, and there isn't currently an award that rewards these people for their achievement.

Just like Jerry Sloan, the award would give credit to the people of the league that go to work and get their job done. Creating a new award would be a far better thing for the NBA to do to acknowledge Jerry's Achievements. Especially because it wouldn't be about making Jerry look good, but the hard working people of the NBA. Just like Jerry would like it to be. It isn't about him, it is about the game.

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The Big Podcast Episode 9 - Election 2008 Edition

Election 2008 Edition, Go Rock The Vote!...

In Episode 8 we discuss...

• BYU's scary win over CSU, the superb offensive effort and the lack of D...again.
  
• Utah's close game against UNM and the biggest game in MWC history against TCU
  
• Utah State gets the W!
  
• Basketball City League Team Names
  
• Utah Jazz and how well Brevin Knight (aka The Dark Knight) fits into the Jazz's system
  
• Some politics, John Stockton for President
• A little TV talk
  

Download here (Right click and save as...) or listen with the player below...

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Jazz Preview: Five Questions About This Season

The season has not started, but there are still questions surrounding this year's Jazz squad...

The 2008-09 season is finally beginning. The Jazz will be without Deron Williams to start the season, but that looks to be a short term arrangement for Utah; as Deron should return to the starting line up shortly. On paper the 2008-09 Jazz team looks very good, but there are still some serious questions surrounding this season. List here are the top five question that will be answered by the Jazz this season:

#5: How are Boozer, Memo, Millsap, and Korver going to handle the contract year?

If you want to be technical about it, Millsap is the only player on the list that is in a contract year. The other three players(Boozer, Memo, and Korver) all have option that they can exercise to make themselves free agents. Yet, everyone really knows that there is little to no reasons for any of them to stay in their current contracts. They are all going to opt out at the end of the season, and they should all receive pay increases for their services next season. Now what needs to be seen is how these players who are in a contract year will respond. The Jazz offense is all about passing the ball to the open man, and getting high percentage shots. The offense breaks down when players are trying to take shots outside of the offense to pad their stats.

Boozer got short chained by playing for the Olympic team. He was downgraded to no more than a human victory cigar, playing only when the game was firmly in hand for the United States. Boozer could try to send a message to the league that he is better than what he showed during the Olympics. That could lead to Boozer becoming more of a black hole on offense looking for his own shot. That would hurt the numbers of Memo and Korver, both of whom get many of their shots by Boozer passing them the ball out of the low post. Typically having a player in a contract year is good, because the player is looking to play their best ball; however, having four players in contract years could lead to problems of players putting their personal interests above the interests of the team.

#4: Can the Jazz stay healthy?

Last year the Jazz were fairly lucky with the injuries that the players sustained. Deron Williams' injury in the early part of the playoffs did slow him down, but didn't hamper the Jazz in their efforts to make it out of the first round.  Kirlenko and Boozer have both proven that their bodies aren't able to hold up to the rigors of an 82 game season. The question isn't if they will go down, but how much time they will miss this season.

Deron Williams starting the season injured isn't a good sign. It is important that the Jazz keep Williams off the court until he is healed. It is better to be cautious and struggle to start the season than to have Williams with a lingering injury for months. Matt Harpring is a huge question mark this season due to his injury. Harpring may never have played healthy since coming to the Jazz. His knees have always bothered him, and limited his minutes; however, the knee injuries have expanded to the rest of his legs. His ankles and feet are starting to go out. Plus, last season's mystery disease that caused Harpring to miss multiple games could rise again and give him problems this season. For the Jazz to be successful this season they need to stay healthy.

#3: What will change this season with Larry Miller stepping down and his son Greg taking over the team?

Greg Miller might have more of an impact on the Jazz during the off season. Yet, Larry H. Miller has always had impact on the Jazz during the season. He was always there to give a bode of confidence to Jerry Sloan, always siding with him over any player. Larry would always say five or six really stupid comments during the season that would cause some sort of falling out with a Jazz player. Larry was always the face of the Jazz crowd, sitting in his normal court side seat. Plus, will we still get the emotional speeches from Larry, when he will break down due to his deep love for _______. (You can really insert anything there. His wife, the crowd, D-Will, his weird bump on his elbow.) Seeing how Greg interacts with the team will be very interesting to see this season.

#2: Will Andrei Kirilenko come of the bench the entire season?

AK is already getting some early votes for sixth man of the year. Sloan seems to have like the way that Kirilenko played coming off the bench, and will start the season using AK as the sixth man. The real question is whether Andrei will continue to keep his emotions/ego in check and fully commit to the role of coming off the bench. It almost seems too perfect for Andrei to fill that role. Kirilenko plays much better with Boozer off the court. AK gets more touches on offense, and he doesn't have to pick up fouls covering Boozer's defensive weakness.

Harpring is the other element that could complicate AK coming off the bench. Whose minutes do you take away and give to Harpring? Miles has played well since being inserted into the starting lineup, and AK's minutes have been cut with him coming off the bench. You could play Kirilenko at the same time as Harpring; however, that would limit the offense of the Jazz and most likely take away minutes from another player(Most likely Millsap). On paper the move of having Kirilenko come off the bench looks really good, but the move does have the danger of killing team chemistry.

#1: How far can the 2008-09 Jazz go?

Likely, this is the last year that the core players of this team will be together. Last year this team made it to the second round and were eliminated by the Lakers, the year before to the Western Conference Finals losing to the Spurs. Just how far can the 2008-09 team go?

A NBA title has to be the goal of the team this year. Anything besides winning it all would be a disappointment. The Jazz added very little from last year's team, but they are relying on the players they have whom are young improving this season. The Jazz don't expect another disappearing act by Boozer in the playoffs. The Jazz are also relying on the fact that many of the core players are improved from last season. This year's Jazz team already looks like they will be in better shape than last year's Jazz team.

Memo, Brewer, Williams, and Miles all look like they dedicated themselves in the off-season and improved their physical conditioning. Okur is the best example of the conditioning change. He appears to have dropped a lot of weight and added muscle. Okur has especially added upper body muscle.

This is the most talented team on paper that the Jazz has ever had. This might be the last chance for this team to win a title due to contracts. It is all or nothing this year.

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