by The Boss on April 7, 2009
in Blog
The 2009 NBA Hall of Fame Class was announced yesterday, and to no surprise, the greatest player of all time, Michael Jordan, was inducted on the first ballot. I believe Jordan should’ve been inducted after he pushed off Byron Scott in the 1998 NBA Finals. But here it is, 11 years later, and Jordan joined John Stockton, David Robinson, Utah Jazz head coach Jerry Sloan and Rutgers womens head coach C.Vivan Stringer. During the press conference, Jordan joked with the press that he was dreading this day in a way.
“This is not fun for me,” he said. “I don’t like being up here for the Hall of Fame because at that time your basketball career is completely over, the way I look at it. I would hope this day was three more years (away) or actually when I’m dead and gone.
I am not one to think that Jordan could dominate today, but could he make any team’s 12 man roster?
Four Reasons Why The Jazz Will Not Win it All
A LayupDrill.com Exclusive
There are a number or analysts, so-called experts, and prognosticators that will tell you all the reasons why ____fill in NBA contender here___ can win the NBA title. Here at LayupDrill.com, we like to tell our readers the facts, and never sugarcoat them. We all can agree on the half a dozen legitimate title contenders out there. Each one of those teams have many strengths, and if the chips fall their way, you could see any of them hoisting the NBA Championship in June. However, we want to take time out to break down the top four reasons why each team will not win it all as well. We continue our exclusive breakdown with our focus turning to the Western Conference, and the Utah Jazz.
1. It’s All About Match ups.
The West Playoff seedings will be more important than ever this season. The difference between the 2 seed(Spurs) and 8 seed(Dallas) is only 4.5 games. While Los Angeles will likely be the top seed in the West, whoever ends up 2, 3, or 4 will covet homecourt. The Jazz sit right now 4th in the West at 40-23 as of today. They have the best record in the NBA since 2/1/09, and a potential classic first round match with the New Orleans Hornets would pit Deron Williams against fellow class of 2006 guard Chris Paul. However, Williams does boast a better supporting cast, and the deepest, most dangerous front line in the NBA. The fearsome foursome of Andrei Kirelenko, Mehmet Okur, Paul Millsap, and Carlos Boozer are a point guards dream, as pick and rolls and give and go’s are plentiful in Salt lake City.
2. From good to great?
The Jazz, under head coach Jerry Sloan, have been good all season long. While injuries have slowed this team in the early months, the core seems to have found their swagger at the right time. With Carlos Boozer due to get back in the flow in short order, the Jazz have now went from not looking like they would make the playoffs, to having homecourt in round 1. However, do they have enough to sepeate themselves from the crowded pack?
3. No Kobe Stopper.
A Lakers/Jazz playoff match up would be even more intriguing this season, as the Jazz seem to be a formidable foe to derail the Laker’s title hopes. Unfortunately, Jazz fans have to come to the realization that when it is “winning time”, there is not one player on their roster that can defensively attempt to stop Kobe Bryant. Deron Williams has shown flashes of greatness in past postseasons, yet he is not the answer to defending Kobe. We have even seen AK-47 being assigned to play against KB24, yet the end result was the same.
4. Will the real Utah Jazz please stand up?
While the Jazz are certainly rising right now, are they peaking? Their play over the last five weeks has been among the best in the game, but with over five weeks left in the regular season, can they withstand it? One bad stretch can take them from potential division champs to going on the road as against San Antonio or LA in round one. I would give the Jazz the edge against the Blazers, Mavericks, and Hornets in a seven game series, but I am not sure if they have enough to take out either the Spurs or Lakers.
by Dustin on January 19, 2009
in Blog, Jazz
The Desert News is reporting that the Utah Jazz have reached an agreement on Sunday to a one year contract extension with Coach Jerry Sloan. Sloan who is the longest tenured coach in all of professional sports will be rejoining the Jazz for his 22nd year at the helm.
Recently Sloan’s contracts have all be one year deals, the difference this year is that the agreement has not waited until season’s end to be finalized. This year alone six NBA coaches have been fired.
During the time that Jerry Sloan has roamed the bench of the Utah Jazz over 225 coaches have been fired in the NBA alone. Each team in the league has made at least two coaching changes since Sloan was hired on December 8th, 1988.
Coach Sloan is the only NBA coach to have won over 1,000 games with the same team(1019 and counting). He is also the fourth winningest coach in league history. Meanwhile Jerry has led the Utah Jazz to 18 playoff appearances in his first 20 seasons.
by The Boss on December 19, 2008
in Blog, Jazz
ESPN.com broke this story late yesterday, but in case you haven’t heard, Carlos Boozer has decided he will be opting out. Boozer, who would earn 12.66 million dollars in the final year of his contract, said he wants “see what happens with the Jazz and stay here.” Yeah, right.
We said that Jerry Sloan and the Jazz were in a good situation, as the injuries Boozer has had over the last season and a half has allowed Paul Millsap to blossom into a potential All-Star. The Jazz management have said they will be definitely resigning Millsap, and that means Boozer is expendable. Millsap is in the final year of his rookie contract, and is making less than $800,000 this year.
Knowing Boozer will opt out forces the Jazz hands this season. Will Utah entertain trade offers this season, in order to get something in return for him? Or do they try to put it all together with their current cast for one more run in a very deep Western Conference? My advice is trade Boozer while he still has value, and you can get some quality talent back. There are plenty of teams that would be willing to take an expiring contract and a motivated player looking to earn big money this offseason for a short term run.
The World Famous LayupDrill Rumor Mill
12/16/08
After a tough 100-91 loss to the Boston Celtics Monday night, Jazz coach Jerry Sloan called his team “soft” . Sloan went on to say his team was “afraid they’d get hurt” if they drove the ball inside on Kendrick Perkins and KG, and that the champs had his team intimidated, and they never did fully recover. Whether this was just frustration of a game that Utah gave away in the 4th, or the true feelings of a coach knowing his team is starting a tough five game road trip remains to be seen.
- Credit Boston.com
The crown for 2008-09 most overrated player in the NBA may be headed to Miami. No, we aren’t talking about MVP candidate Dwayne Wade, but rather free agent to be Shawn Marion. Marion, who has never fit in Miami’s half court game since the day he arrived, is averaging 12 points and 9 rebounds a game for the Heat. Those numbers wouldn’t be bad for Marion if he wasn’t getting paid over $17 million dollars this year, and those are near career lows(1999-00 season was career low/rookie year). Marion is still the talk of many potential trade rumors, yet what Miami may get in return for him has diminished quite a bit from even this past off season.
With the firing of Reggie Theus yesterday, the NBA has had twenty percent of their head coaches fired already, and it may not end. Underachieving teams in Indiana, Los Angeles(Clippers), and Memphis may be next to pull the trigger in this record breaking season.
Golden State fans have not had much to cheer about this season, and the free agent signing of Corey Maggette hasn’t exactly worked out as planned. Golden State is 3-13 with Maggette and 4-4 without him. Maggette, who signed a contract that will run through the 2012-13 season, still has value around the league, but would be a salary cap nightmare for any team interested in taking him off of the Warriors hands.
Jerry Sloan - Jazz
The World Famous LayupDrill Rumor Mill
12/5/08
The position of NBA head coach is perhaps the most thankless job in the game. When everything goes right, the credit goes to your players. When things go bad, you get all the blame. For years, Utah Jazz head coach Jerry Sloan has produced winners. He signed a one year contract extension last year, and the Salt Lake Tribune reports today the Jazz and Sloan are talking about extending their relationship.
One coach that may not be getting an extension anytime soon is the Kings’ Reggie Theus. Theus, who has come under scrutiny this season, as his team has been labeled “soft”, may not have much longer to show some improvement.
In Knicks news, [click to continue…]
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