A Dissenting Opinion on Coach Sloan

[JDubJazz]

I waited to write this post until this evening, because I do genuinely respect Jerry Sloan and his remarkable tenure with the Jazz. I am not "dancing on his grave." That being said, the apocalyptic end-of-the-world attitude towards his departure is laughable.

The man was almost 70 years old! This day was coming sooner, rather than later. His departure was a foregone conclusion.

Despite the public castigation, maybe Deron Williams is right. There was an obvious disconnect between coach Sloan and the players. His job was to get the best out of his team, and he very clearly wasn't able to do that with this group. Deron is now the bad guy because he was willing to speak up about his frustrations. It might not have been the diplomatic way to handle the situation, but that doesn't mean he was wrong.

Finally, with deepest apologies to the worshipers of the Cult of Sloan, he was vastly overrated as a coach. His time came and went years ago, but he stayed on because he couldn't think of anything else to do with his life. I will give him credit for the amazing job he did in the year after Stock and Mailman left. That was his masterwork, even more so than his Finals teams. Since then, the Jazz have been a middling team.

Everyone likes to talk about how close the Jazz were when they went to the Western Conference Finals, but that was a fluke brought about by a hot Golden State team that cleared an easy path to the Jazz's eventual demise at the hands of the Spurs. In the Deron Williams era, the Jazz have still never managed home court advantage in the first round, and the team seems to be getting worse rather than better in each successive season.

I'm sad about the way Jerry's tenure ended. I wish he could have gotten that glorious ride off into the sunset with a championship in tow. Instead, he leaves behind a decent basketball team and a legacy of good-not-great basketball.

I do not know how coach Corbin will fare at the helm of the Jazz ship. We may very well look back wistfully on the good 'ol days. But we always knew what that would bring: 45-55 wins and no championships. I'm hopeful that Ty will modernize the Jazz and even more hopeful that the Jazz will change their personnel strategy now that Jerry isn't there to insist on a team full of hard-working late round draft picks with sub-par talent. The Jazz may flame out or rise to new heights. After 23 years, I find that exciting. I find that hopeful. Its been a long time since I had any real hope that the Jazz could be better than just good. I'm going to enjoy that hope while it lasts.

[DelaneyRudd]

You put time and effort into your post so I won't press the issue, but this really should be merged.

[JDubJazz]

I thought about posting it in the main thread, but I didn't want to flame a bunch of guys who are sharing their genuine admiration for coach Sloan. It felt a little to much like dancing on his grave to post it there.

[Luigi]

Keeping them separate is better.

[Neon Black]

I pretty much agree. I disagree though that Sloan was not at one point a great coach. Recently he was just good, but his legacy is in fact great to me.

With me, the hardest thing is not that Sloan won't be coaching. In order of most>least importance, this is what is making me uneasy:

1. Deron Williams. Inside I really want him to turn out to be a good guy, and this whole thing to be a misunderstanding. I'm siphoning out all the media hype and giving everyone the benefit of the doubt. I want him to stay and I'm not sure that's going to happen.

2. Management. I miss Larry. Coaching is going to be a question mark for a while. I hope my team's FO isn't one to get pushed around.

3. I'm frustrated at the multitude of contrary reports circulating. I want to know the straight up truth, but know everyone is going to beat around the bush and paint themselves in the best possible light.

4. I feel for Sloan. It may be time to move on, but man it's hard to see the guy almost cry. Best of luck to him.

[ColdBlue]

I'm not suprised for the "messiah" like response to Sloan on this board, and you really can't expect any of them to objectively evaluate the state of the Jazz, but I agree with you JDub. This team needed a gut check, and this is it.

I'm actually quite optimistic about the future of the team. I think Ty has the respect of the players and could fill Jerry's shoes quite easily. This franchise has never been one to implement self initiated change, but I'm pretty sure it was clear that something had to give, and whoever was the catalyst for Sloan retiring should be applauded. I would love to give Deron that cape, but I don't think it was him. I think it was KOC.

Also, playing Chicago with Booze, Brew, and KK might have been a factor in revealing the fact that the players we have on this team are not suited to run the offense that Booze, Brew, and KK did fairly well last season. It is time for a change, and KOC knows it, Dwill knows it, and I think Sloan knows it.

I've got tickets to Friday's game and am amped to witness the post-Sloan era.

[Neon Black]

This franchise has never been one to implement self initiated change, but I'm pretty sure it was clear that something had to give, and whoever was the catalyst for Sloan retiring should be applauded. I would love to give Deron that cape, but I don't think it was him. I think it was KOC.

I think you're right and I don't understand why that's so hard to see. While I still feel sad to see Sloan leave I'm also excited about the future, and you have to give KOC some credit for doing some really ballsy things.

I want to believe that O'connor wants to win as much as anyone else, and will do what it takes to get there. I think he's pretty active trying to find trades that might benefit the franchise, which is a good thing - a new coach isn't going to completely fix the fact that this roster just doesn't cut it.

[FJS]

Maybe Deron is wrong, but you have to understand the guy.
He is in his prime, 26 years old, and this team isn't going well. They are playing like always still with worse results. When you are six years playing the same, without nothing changing and you watch the same coach giving the same instructions, when all of us know what is wrong and then you watch another coaches like Riley or Poppovich who change their systems when you team has some pieces or another, then you get mad.
I'm sure Deron was sick of waiting something to change. And AK. And others too.

This should happen after or before.
I respect Sloan and I will be a fan of him forever... but it was time to change.

[jazzed77]

IMHO I think that it was past time Sloan to retire....mostly because of his defensive sets/player rotations....with that said I think alot of the heat on DWill is unfounded and is based on how much most Jazz fans like Sloan....I don't think that any of them want to admit that he would/could give up in the middle of a fight and basicly say "no mas" so they're looking for someone to blame