With no further delays, here is the fourth report card of the season with the usual props and slams which are both well deserved:
Jerry Sloan has never been one to withhold emotion.
A – Jerry Sloan’s Resilience - Utah Jazz head coach Jerry Sloan is the longest tenured coach in professional sports, he has now been the coach of the Jazz for 20 years. In that time, Sloan has coached over 1,600 wins and amassed well over 1,000 wins. He has lead the Jazz to two appearances in the NBA Finals with Karl Malone, John Stockton, and his short shorts. Sloan also lead the Jazz to 16 straight winning seasons, 18 playoff appearances and is currently 4th in all-time wins in NBA history. All while doing this, Sloan has not once won Coach of the Year honors, nor has he has asked for praise once. Sloan is fine being the one in the background, he doesn’t demand attention, but he does demand respect. Although under-appreciated, Sloan is leaving his mark on the Jazz and the NBA. Nobody coaches, nor cusses, quite like Jerry, congratulations!
B – Cuttino Mobley’s Career – Before joining the New York Knicks, Cuttino Mobley had to take a physical, like every other player traded to a new team. In the physical, doctors found that Mobely’s genetic heart disease (hypertrophic cardiomyopathy) was getting progressively worse and might endanger his life. Choosing his responsibility to family and living a more full life, Mobley decided to forgo his NBA career and retire. Mobley had a solid NBA career and was a dependable starter and bench player for the Houston Rockets, Orlando Magic, Sacramento Kings, and Los Angeles Clippers. In his 10-year NBA career, Mobley averaged 13.7 points and 2.6 rebounds. If there is a Mediocre Hall of Fame, Mobley might get in on the first ballot, but as it stands he was consistent.
C – GMs Firing Coaches - The Philadelphia 76ers and Minnesota Timberwolves each dismissed their head coach s last week. Maurice Cheeks and Randy Wittman became the 4th and 5th coaches to be fired this year. At some point you have to question the general managers that assemble the teams, the coaches can only work with what they are given. Few coaches can work with losers. If Larry Brown, the supposed Godfather of coaching, couldn’t win in New York and is not winning in Charlotte, then maybe there is more to winning than the head coach. Think back to ’06 when the Boston Celtics were horrible. Their team was full of underachievers and head coach Doc Rivers was always speculated to be on thin ice with the Celtics. They decided to keep him and brought in Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett the next year. With the new additions we all know that The Celtics won the NBA Title and now Doc Rivers is an “awesome’ coach.
Could Steve Kerr be purposely sabotaging the Suns?
D – The Jazz Surrendering Their Dominance - In 41 games last year, the Utah Jazz were 37-4 at home, the best home court record in the NBA. We are 25 games into the ’08-’09 campaign and the Jazz have already dropped four games at Energy Solutions Arena. The Jazz have been bit by the injury bug in a big way this year, but they have simply not shown their usual tenacity that we are used to seeing. After taking a 10 point lead into halftime on Saturday against the Orlando Magic, the Jazz were outscored 32-14 in the 3rd quarter and the rest was history. What looked like a promising year for the Jazz is turning sour real quick, as it stands they would be a 7th seed in the Playoffs, definitely not where they envisioned themselves when the season started.
F – Steve Kerr’s Dismantling of the Suns - The Phoenix Suns were within reach of the NBA FInals for two years in a row. Mike D’Antoni’s run n’ gun offense was firing on all cylinders and it didn’t matter that the only person that knew how to play defense was Raja Bell. Raja was a tough, lock-down defender, he even clotheslined Kobe Bryant in the ’06 Playoffs. Things started going south for the Suns in 2007 when Steve Kerr assumed the General Manager position and started by trading Shawn Marion for Shaquille O’Neal. They traded a key piece of their offense for an old Shaq that has a 6″ vertical now. The Suns instantaneously transformed into a different team. Kerr shook things up even more this week when he traded away Raja and Boris Diaw. Something tells me Kerr might not win GM of the year…and that he sucked at Monopoly as a kid. He probably traded Boardwalk for Baltic Avenue in a heartbeat every time.
Oh, and one more thing, Happy Birthday Mom!
Tags: NBA
December 15th, 2008 at 10:45 pm
I think that it is ridiculous that Jerry Sloan has never won Coach of the Year because he is an amazing coach!