It just keeps getting worse
by Patrick517 on Apr 15, 2009 4:09 PM MDT
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PrintAfter last nights thumping at the hands of the Lakers brought the Jazz's recent record to 2-7, it's getting pretty difficult to be a fan of this team. Now Jerry Sloan is publicly expressing his doubts about his team's chances.
"We didn't give them much of a battle, knowing we have to play them again," said Utah Coach Jerry Sloan. "It looks pretty bleak. . . . "They have a terrific team. They have guys who can pass the ball, do about anything you ask a team to do. They've got guys who can make big shots, who just know how to play the game, make the game look simple. . . . "We're just like a little dent in the road, far as they're concerned. They're very comfortable playing against us and obviously should be."
I don't know whether I should be angry at Sloan for not trying to inspire confidence in his men or if I should admire his candor. It's not exactly the kind of thing you'd want to hear from your coach heading into the playoffs. What do you all think about this?
I for one don't envy Jerry Sloan's job right now. Boozer's comments about how he's a starter conflict with what everyone watching this team already knows. Paul Millsap is the better player and the team plays better when he's on the floor. There are four players on this team who seem to bring any energy to the court when they're playing and three of them aren't in the starting line-up. My only hope is that Mehmet Okur's return to the team provides a huge spark and they can pull off a huge upset in LA. I'm trying to get myself excited for the playoffs and Jerry's words aren't helping things.
Over and out.
All comments are the opinion of the commenter and not necessarily that of SLC Dunk or SB Nation.
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well...
on the one hand, jerry says stuff like that after every game.
on the other, memo hasn’t exactly been great lately, and he hasn’t been out long enough to inspire anything when he does get back on the court.
in other words, i’m not as optimistic as you are.
How can you not be angry at j-slow?
There was this in a Gordon Monson article earlier…
Sloan, though, said he cannot motivate his players, they have to do that themselves.
Which is just insane, because HE’S THE FREAKING COACH!!!
I mean, isn’t it the coach’s job to get his players ready? If they’re not, you play someone that is. Just giving up is sad… and not helpful to anyone.
I know he’s a HOF-er and all, but seriously… if this is his attitude, and he refuses to change things (for example, he seems to think that all rookies are deserving of no playing time… just imagine what happens if the Jazz get a high pick next year via NY), and he can’t (or won’t) motivate the players… he’s doing more harm than good for the franchise.
True Blue Jazz
RIP Nick Adenhart. 4/9/09
i don't necessarily agree with that
i think it’s on the players to motivate themselves. they’re all grown men out there. it shouldn’t be up to jerry to get them motivated. and even if jerry was the absolute greatest motivator in the world and some guys in the locker could care less, it wouldn’t help.
i agree with you about more pt for the young guys though…
Yeah, but
if the players aren’t doing it, Jerry should.
Or he should bench them and let them know that he’s not going to just sit by and watch the team lay an egg every game.
True Blue Jazz
RIP Nick Adenhart. 4/9/09
...and if jerry's not,
then dwill should be doing it. there is absolutely no question this is dwill’s team. he needs to be stepping it up in the locker room.
It is the job of the coach to motivate from time to time, but players need to be hungry and be committed to defense in order to have it come across.
coaches are more responsible for teaching, choosing the plays and the offense or defensive scheme and for substitution patterns and clock and game management. i would say that motivation isn’t in the top 10 jobs for a coach. But I do think sometimes Sloan could be better at inviting players into his office and telling them specific things he would like them to do. Then it’s up to the player to do it or not.
The more you try to erase me, the more that I appear.
He's not Matt Foley
… he’s an NBA coach. He gets paid big bucks and got hired because he knows the x’s and o’s of basketball and knows how to teach what’s in his mind to athletes. He does not get paid to be a motivational speaker. If a motivational speaker is what we want our head coach to be then there would be more Matt Foley’s and less ex-players coaching in the league today.
You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink. Sloan can coach and tell the team to do all the things to win, but it’s ultimately up the them to “do” it. A psychiatrist can instruct and guide his patient to the help he/she needs but it’s up to that individual to do the steps the psychiatrist has laid out.
Over the course of his 20 yrs with the Jazz, Sloan averages 50 wins a year. 50 wins! Only 4 coaches in the league have rings (Jackson, Popp, Rivers, Brown), and only 2 (Jackson and Popp) have multiple rings.
If we get rid of Sloan who are we going to pick up that is going to do better than 50 wins a year for his tenure and who will make it so there are 5 coaches with rings? Jeff Van Gundy would be the only one I would want, but is he that much better than Sloan?
I realize Sloan needs to take some blame, but not all of it. Why are team captains called on a team?? Aren’t they supposed to be the ones to relate to the players and kind of be the mediator between the coach and teammates? Aren’t they supposed to gather the team together if there are team chemistry problems and go hang out and hold special “team meetings” to rally the troops?
So, Sloan is to blame, but also what are Williams and the other captains doing to “right the ship”? And if one person wants out so bad and won’t socialize with the rest of his teammates then a head coach can only do so much.
I think Sloan should be blamed for the horrible back-to-back record and the horrible road record but as far as motivating the team and fixin’ the team chemistry, that is not on him.
He just doesn't seem to be into it this year.
It might have something to do with his wife’s death or maybe he’s just sick of trying to coach players like Carlos Boozer and AK. His comments seemed pretty inappropriate to me but maybe he’ll light a fire under the player’s backsides.
AK47 must start NOW!
Jerry=Larry?
There was a famous post-game comment from Larry Bird (86 or 87?) when he said it’s hard to beat anybody when you play like a bunch of women. That comment would be more insulting these days, so hopefully nobody would say that again. But maybe Jerry’s just calling the guys out – a little reverse psychological anti-unjinxing them.
I don’t know. Go watch a Utes game sometime and watch Boylen getting as sweaty as the players. Chuck said on TV last night that the toughest player on Utah’s team is the coach. And while it’s true that he can’t go in and rebound for the guys, doggone it, at least he can get loud and angry and redfaced and in their face and kick their asses of the bench and into the game. He should be on the verge of an aneurism every minute of every playoff game. Not resigned to the offseason. Maybe his bags are next to AK’s, packed and ready. Don’t let him fool you with that “I don’t know how computers work” line. He’s on Craigslist every day looking for new Deere’s to ride in spring weather.
I'll make it coach.
so to just sum up all of my comments above
i do agree that jerry has looked resigned lately, and that he needs to take some of the responsibility for losses that could have been avoided through certain in-game adjustments.
however, the bottom line is that sloan is the epitome of overcoming adversity, hard work, and competitiveness, and has been all his life i’ve heard him say that he will retire the day he loses the competitive fire.
i’m not singling boozer out here—i’m just using him as an example—for example, i don’t think that the greatest motivator in the world can make boozer play defense. and in cases like that, what can jerry do besides sitting his ass and putting in someone that will? he HAS done that in recent games.
He has done that in some games but he's not consistent.
One game Millsap will play the fourth quarter and the next game he’ll stick with Boozer. I hope it’s all part of his secret plan like someone posited earlier. Maybe he told the team to tank it in the final few games knowing that the Lakers would be watching the tape and when they meet in the playoffs Jerry will have them playing like they were a month ago. ; )
AK47 must start NOW!
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