Have the Jazz too many numbers retired?

Post #1 » by **FJS** » Wed Dec 2, 2009 11:37 pm

Let's gonna start for no brainer decisions

#12 John Stockton
#32 Karl Malone

Then do you think that
Mark Eaton
Darrell Griffith
Pete "Pistol" Maravich
Frank Layden
Jeff Hornacek
and
Adrian Dantley
deserve it?

I think there's to many # retired. I mean, in that logic AK maybe deserve it. Deron it's a lock if he plays 3 o 4 years more with Jazz. How many seasons need Boozer with 20-10 if he would play for us?
Sloan have done more than Layden.

What do you think?

Eaton have a few records in NBA, Dantley was a leader scorer... those aren't bad arguments to have your number retired. Maravich was a legend for his style of play, but Jazz was a bad team and he only played 5 seasons and 17 games of another.
Hornacek numbers weren't fantastic, not at least to be retired in my opinion, altough I loved the guy. Griffith had four 20 ppg seasons and was one of the first players to begin and end a carreer in Utah.

In my opinion, we have retired too many numbers.
One thing it's we love them and another it's they deserved.

Too much in my opinion...

JDubJazz · Post #2 » by **JDubJazz** » Wed Dec 2, 2009 11:49 pm

Dantley and Pistol are in the HoF, so their numbers are no-brainers. I have no problem with Griffin or Eaton, either. Both guys were main cogs here for more than a decade. Layden's management basically saved the franchise. I'm not sure he needs a number retired, but he should be honored. I've always been a bit dubious about Hornacek's number, since he played so many seasons elsewhere, but he was as big a part of the team's success as any player we've ever had (Stockton and Malone excepted). If you want to see a team with too many numbers retired, go check out the Celtics.

Post #3 » by **FJS** » Thu Dec 3, 2009 12:12 am

Yeah... but they have a lot of dinasties... at least they you can say they won several rings as a team.
I think Mchale, Parrish, Bird, Johnson, Hondo, Cousy, Russell... you can't argue vs the most of them.

Post #4 » by **DelaneyRudd** » Thu Dec 3, 2009 2:08 am

It is pretty standard for players of this caliber to be retired.

Post #5 » by **StocktonShorts** » Thu Dec 3, 2009 3:17 am

I've always thought so.. until I looked at all the numbers the Celtics have retired. Tom "Satch" Sanders? Cedric Maxwell? K.C. Jones? Nice players, to be sure, and important pieces of championship teams... but hardly in the same class as the other guys on that list. They'll probably retire the numbers of the current big 3... which means we'll soon see an entire Celtics roster with Ron Artest-worthy jersey digits.

It seems the NBA is much more willing to retire jersey than other sports. The Celtics' baseball counterparts, for example, have pretty strict requirements: you have to be in the HOF; you have to finish your career with the Red Sox; and you have to have played 10 seasons in Boston.

@ndrew · Post #6 » by **@ndrew** » Thu Dec 3, 2009 3:32 am

What's the problem with AK? I think if he's going to spend 3-4 seasons in Utah his number will be retired.

From that list I see Hornacek as the one who didn't deserve it

HammerDunk · Post #7 » by **HammerDunk** » Thu Dec 3, 2009 7:35 am

The only one that is really debatable for me is Horny, and he was really really good for us. If we had a guy like that on our team still, we would be much tougher against elite teams. So really, I think they are all legit.

I guess Layden could be debated, but he has so much strong history with the team that I think he deserves it.

Post #8 » by **FJS** » Thu Dec 3, 2009 12:26 pm

But... you see Bulls for example and they only have 4 retired numbers (Love, Sloan, Jordan and Pippen)... I mean, maybe if they were like us or Celtics Grant, Paxon, BJ Armstrong, Rodman, Harper, Kukoc, Kerr should have their jersey retired....

JDubJazz · Post #9 » by **JDubJazz** » Thu Dec 3, 2009 2:53 pm

FJS wrote:But... you see Bulls for example and they only have 4 retired numbers (Love, Sloan, Jordan and Pippen)... I mean, maybe if they were like us or Celtics Grant, Paxon, BJ Armstrong, Rodman, Harper, Kukoc, Kerr should have their jersey retired....

Everyone on the Jazz's retired number list was a significantly better player than any of those guys, with possible exception of Rodman, who was such a vagabond that he never stuck around long enough to get a retired jersey.

PimpHandStrong · Post #10 » by **PimpHandStrong** » Fri Dec 4, 2009 2:52 pm

Malone, Stockton, Maravich

That's the list. Period.

Post #11 » by **DelaneyRudd** » Fri Dec 4, 2009 3:29 pm

There's only 1 more guaranteed number going into the rafters now. 47

13 and 8 are on track to be.

5 would need a new contract to get that.

Denizfeital · Post #12 » by **Denizfeital** » Fri Dec 4, 2009 6:10 pm

FJS wrote:One thing it's we love them and another it's they deserved.

Well, I think both cases are valid statements for retiring a jersey.

The Jazz dont have any championships, we could argue that we should not have retired any number, but that would be very, very unfair.

I dont have a problem with Hornacek's situation. He was a fan favorite while playing here, he made around 50% of his shots over the years and helped The Jazz to go as high as it could be.

I think if the player stayed with the Jazz for a reasonable amount of time, was a real contributor, a professional athlete and a fan favorite, those are facts to be considered, in my opinion.

Regards,

MeestR · Post #13 » by **MeestR** » Fri Dec 4, 2009 7:39 pm

DelaneyRudd wrote:There's only 1 more guaranteed number going into the rafters now. 47

13 and 8 are on track to be.

5 would need a new contract to get that.

what is the difference between 5 and 4?

Soul Patch · Post #14 » by **Soul Patch** » Fri Dec 4, 2009 8:18 pm

Batu7 · Post #15 » by **Batu7** » Fri Dec 4, 2009 9:08 pm

I think Memo will return to Turkey in 2 years, hence his number won't be retired.

rednecksbasketball · Post #16 » by **rednecksbasketball** » Sat Dec 5, 2009 6:24 pm

I dont have a problem with Malone, Stockton, Maravich, Dantley, Eaton or Layden having their numbers retired. Those guys were all all-stars for the Jazz(Layden coached) and four of them are in the Hall-of-fame.

I do have an issue with Hornacek and Griffin though. They were nice players, but they were role players only. If the Jazz are going to retire guys who played a long time and were only role players, why not retire Thurl Bailey's #41, or Rickey Green's #14, or Byron Russell's #3(#34), or Greg Ostertag's #00(#39), or even Jarron Collin's #31? All those guys played in Utah a long time and in the case of Green were an all-star.

I think retiring a number needs to be reserved for doing something special with the franchise. Stockton and Malone are top 50 players who made Utah relivent. Maravich was the franchises first star. Dantley was a scoring machine who started the long tradition of winning. Layden saved the franchise. Those all all pretty important milestones for the franchise. Griffin and Horny didn't do any of that.

For future numbers being retired, the next one will be 1,000 something for the number of wins Jerry Sloan eventually ends up with. Sloan has done a lot for this franchise and is important not only in terms of the team but in terms of NBA history. Hot Rod Hundley may get a microphone retired in his honor. but again, he's in the Hall and was with the team for 30 something years. Maybe Deron gets his #8 up there one day, but he still has a lot to prove.