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Im not one of those "jump off the bridge" fans and I am not posting just because of the two recent losses.

I am a realist, and what is real is that this team wont be doing anything special this year aside from its incredible comebacks. The worst two teams in the league have just burst our bubble. This Jazz team has overracheived, plain and simple. The comeback wins on the East road trip early on were amazing and fun....but look, this team is just plain not great. We get down early and often. We couldn't even hang with the two worst teams in the East....we got down by double digits to both!

We will make the playoffs, and lose in round 1. Thats my prediction. Same old same old for the Utah Jazz.

I love Sloan. He has alot of great qualities that separate him from other coaches. But at the end of the day, you gotta look at someone's track record. Sloan's track record is overacheiving in the regular season and failing miserably in the playoffs.

Before I hear all the "we almost beat the Bulls, two back-to-back Finals etc", I will just remind you that this man has been the coach of our team since I was in tighty whities, and he has had some of the greatest players of all-time at their positions. He has had the talent. He had two of the top 50 players in the history of this game at the SAME TIME for 18 years and could not get it done, not even once.

I like Sloan. But I'm ready for a change...even if that is a gamble. Even if it means becoming a bad regular season team, in the hopes that we get a coach that can lead us on a playoff run.

I dont want Sloan fired....I just kind of wish he would bow out gracefully. But I've been waiting for that for about 6 years honestly, and it hasn't happened.

That is all.

Thing is, the Stockton? Malone days are long gone, and I don't think you can argue that the current core has underachieved in the playoffs under Sloan. Just the opposite, in my mind; they have overachieved in the regular season and in the playoffs. Yes, there are certain aspects of a Sloan coached team which drive me nuts- but his results cannot be dismissed.

There have been seasons when I would drive the fire Sloan bandwagon myself, but this is certainly not one them. I believe he has improved quite a bit as a coach over the last ten years. The problems with this team have little to do with coaching.

expectations officially lowered--maybe we can follow in the spurs shoes

leorn wrote:expectations officially lowered--maybe we can follow in the spurs shoes

The Spurs followed in our shoes... they just did a far better job of it than we have.

Sloan is a great coach and we can all agree to that. But I can also agree that there is something missing from his coaching. Sloan is almost to strict and to the book, I have talked many times to friends about how he doesn't really allow players to grow, I mean Deron is calling his own plays at times but for the most part the "system" isn't really where its at in this league any more. Look at other winning teams, yes they have huge stars but they are more free to play as individuals and as a whole team. I think that if we had players that could carry their own energy and come onto the floor with explosive passion... i.e. Price, then we could be really great.

I feel that IF we did have another coach after Sloan we might see something amazing, or fall flat.

I agree, we will make the playoffs, loose in the first. Unless we can get some amazing trades and make them work but come on.... not going to happen.


Jazz I love you, but your bringin' me down

I can handle loosing games to good teams, especially on the road.
But back to back losses to the worst in the league,

You guys that are saying we will make the play offs may want to rethink that.

There is a problem with this team, I can't put my finger on it, but the lack of fire and passion isn't typical of a Sloan team.

I agree with whoever said the Spurs followed the model better than us. The spurs of 1999-2011 are the Utah Jazz of 1988-1999 but without the "failing miserably in the playoffs" part. The Spurs and Poppovich got it done where the Jazz and Sloan failed.

I think Sloan would make a great scout/assistant GM. He and O'Connor together seem to get pretty good players that can fit our system. I have to give credit to Sloan for getting Williams, and for developing unheralded players like Matthews and Millsap.

But as a head coach....Sloan is and has been underacheiving in the playoffs. I like the guy, as I said...I'm just ready for a change. Its been too long with the status quo. Lets mix it up a little. Think of what a guy like D'Antoni could do with talent like Williams and Kirilenko. And thats just thinking about what ONE other elite coach could do......

DWill_daShizzle wrote:Think of what a guy like D'Antoni could do with talent like Williams and Kirilenko. And thats just thinking about what ONE other elite coach could do......

Mike D'Antoni is an elite coach?

HappyProle wrote:

DWill_daShizzle wrote:Think of what a guy like D'Antoni could do with talent like Williams and Kirilenko. And thats just thinking about what ONE other elite coach could do......

Mike D'Antoni is an elite coach?

If you can consider Sloan one, that you can consider D'Antoni one. Look at the turnaround New York has made under his watch...and thats not taking into consideration that they are still tied down by untradeable assets like Eddy Curry.

If you want to consider only ring-winning coaches, then you boil the pool down to Popp, Jackson, Doc, and Riley in the last decade +. I'm just keeping it realistic.

In all honesty, and I have been saying this since his Kings days, I believe Rick Adelman to be a fantastic coach. He took a Ming-less and TMac-less and Mutumbo-less Rockets team to 7 games against Champ Lakers. Thats way more impressive than anything Sloan did with healthy DWill, Okur, and Boozer. Lets not forget Adelman was embarrasing Sloan in his Blazers days, as well as his Kings days. Why we didnt go after him when he was on the outs in Sacramento still baffles me to this day.

DWill_daShizzle wrote:

HappyProle wrote:

DWill_daShizzle wrote:Think of what a guy like D'Antoni could do with talent like Williams and Kirilenko. And thats just thinking about what ONE other elite coach could do......

Mike D'Antoni is an elite coach?

If you can consider Sloan one, that you can consider D'Antoni one. Look at the turnaround New York has made under his watch...and thats not taking into consideration that they are still tied down by untradeable assets like Eddy Curry.

If you want to consider only ring-winning coaches, then you boil the pool down to Popp, Jackson, Doc, and Riley in the last decade +. I'm just keeping it realistic.

Mike D'Antoni is not an elite coach. If we're saddling Sloan with the "good regular season coach who can't get it done in the playoffs" label, Mike's far worse in that department.

I still find it funny how many people try to find a way to bash Sloan...

Goes to show how many people don't know squat about basketball.

We have alwayed play down to teams, calm the **** down already.

This is just typical of the Sloan led Jazz: a moderately successful regular season with some glimpses of something better coupled with some minor poor performances followed with a complete collapse in the early rounds of the playoffs.

Since the Jazz have difficulty attracting star players they need a coach who implements a great system. Jeff Van Gundy would be a great pickup. He knows how to create a great defensive scheme which works in todays NBA. Sloan's defensive styles were good in the 1980's and early 1990's but don't work in today's NBA. The Jazz usually lead the league in fouls committed and have trouble guarding the perimeter.

dalekjazz wrote:Since the Jazz have difficulty attracting star players they need a coach who implements a great system. Jeff Van Gundy would be a great pickup. He knows how to create a great defensive scheme which works in todays NBA. Sloan's defensive styles were good in the 1980's and early 1990's but don't work in today's NBA. The Jazz usually lead the league in fouls committed and have trouble guarding the perimeter.

I agree that the jazz downfalls are in their defensive scheme. This is one of the absolute worst defending teams I have ever seen. We started the season as the best defensive team in the league per opponent FG % and 3-point %, and over the last 20 games we are the nearly the worst in the league?! WTH happened? I say forget whatever we are attempting on the defensive end, which obviously isn't working, and run more. Just simply try to outscore your opponents. It's sad that with so many once heralded defenders, we can't do jack. Raja, AK, and Milsap and we can't defend for crap.... how does that happen?

The main problem with this team isn't offensive, it's defense. Locke addressed it earlier today. They need to quit going for the steal all the time, and simply stay in front of their mark. Teams are getting far too many open shots, and are nailing them. Letting the Wiz and Nets shoot like that on them is a scourge that can't be ignored. This has GOT to be addressed for this team to get past this dump.

I think people got too excited about the start of our season and expected the jazz to only get better. That has not happened obviously.

As for Sloan, my opinion is that he was an all time great coach, one of the best. Is he one of the best coaches today? I don't think so, nothing against sloan. Saying that Sloan is no longer a great coach isn't a knock on him, its acknowledging that eventually the game passes you by. Its not anything he can help, we all get old, we will all lose a step in our professions.

I understand the frustration and the desire for change--and even share those feelings sometimes. But really have to shake my head at some of the "solutions". Here are some I don't agree with:

Sloan is almost to strict and to the book, I have talked many times to friends about how he doesn't really allow players to grow, I mean Deron is calling his own plays at times but for the most part the "system" isn't really where its at in this league any more. Look at other winning teams, yes they have huge stars but they are more free to play as individuals and as a whole team.

The system run by the Jazz is repeatedly recognized as nearly unstoppable when executed well. The two strongest teams in the past 12 years (Lakers, Spurs) both run sytems that require discipline and execution.

Jeff Van Gundy knows how to create great defensive schemes that work in todays NBA

Really? Van Gundy hasn't coached in today's NBA since 2007 and only coached in 4 of the last 10 years. Ironically he was fired in Houston after failing to get out of the first round against the Jazz.

I think the biggest problem with the Jazz failing to get over the hump and into the finals is the lack of true stars. Since Malone and Stockton retired, the Lakers have been in the finals 7 times in 12 years. They got there with the likes of Kobe and Shaq and then Kobe and Gasol and their supporting casts. The spurs have made 4 appearances with Duncan winning 3 MVPs. Besides those teams, only Boston and Detroit have managed to appear in the finals twice. 7 teams have appeared once. During the past 12 years, who would you label the biggest stars on the Jazz to be? Williams? Kirilenko? Boozer? I'd call all of them semi-stars at their peak in a Jazz uniform so far. All this to me shows that it is harder to reach the finals and win a championship than many seem to recognize.

Sloan is a top 4 coach in the NBA and you are lucky to have him.

The problem with all of the fire Sloan talk is that rarely does anyone have an alternative. It isn't a case of how many coaches in the league are better than Sloan, it is a question of how many coaches AREN'T in the league that are better than Sloan. Personally, I am intrigued at the idea of Corbin taking over. Would definitely be a more fast paced offense, judging by what I've seen in his half time interviews. He is also younger and may connect with the players better. Or he may also be the end all of the Jazz organization... Regardless, something needs to be done. Whether that be a roster change, or a personnel change.