that’s just because I act like a homer here . . . what I really think is much more balanced and neutral. thanks again, man.

true, doc did win a chip — but how many other times has he been fired (midseason) from coaching? at least once . . .

Thanks, I think the clint thing is apt. As a player he was that rough, spaghetti western / dirty harry type. I did not develop this idea well enough in the blog post. He had to do the jobs no one else wanted (like in the movie Dirty Harry — having to deal with the guy jumping off the building, etc) — Sloan had to take the best non-bigman to defend. He fought through screens, drew charges, and so on. He was a hard worker who did not have finesse. Slowly over the years as he transistioned to a coach he had to deal with newer ideas and increasingly younger players. Making that connection became more difficult.

After his wife died and he was post-NBA finals he was in his ‘in the line of fire’ years . . . concluding with marrying a woman much younger than himself and continuing on in a job that most people thought had passed him by.

Now he’s def in the ‘Gran Torino’ years. Mentoring some really young players and making them into men. (Even if it means being mean to them, and making them work hard — like not giving Deron the starting PG spot as a rookie, and so forth)

I agree. I also think that a big part of coaching success happens to be with your coaching staff as well. Sloan’s top assistant all these years has been Phil Johnson (who has a COY award from when he coached the kings). Guys like Gordon Chiesa, Kenny Natt, Scott Layden, Ty Corbin and crew have been quite solid, over the years. Also the use of specialty coaches has helped as well (like using hornacek to rebuild deshawn stevenson’s shot from when he was a rookie to now helped, or the black budget project of using thurl bailey and mark eaton to help bigs).

One of the least mentioned things in NBA circles is the Dick Motta coaching family. (and his forward oriented offense) Everyone talks about the triangle (Tex Winters), and how great it is. If it was so great, why don’t other teams use the triple post? (Probably only works if two of the posts are two of the best players at any given time — MJ/Pip, Shaq/Kobe, Kobe/Gasol/Odom)

Motta’s style has done quite a bit, from made Melo such a force on offense in Denver, to making guys like Sloan, Natt and Iavaroni head coaches in their own right.

I think Sloan is a good coach. I don’t think that he is the perfect coach. Not many fans would mind him coaching their fav. team — but I think a lot of NBA players (once they get over the respect thing) would have a hard time playing for him.

Utah’s scouting department has to spend a lot of time not just looking at talent, but also personality. They place a very high importance on the interviews in pre-draft work outs. It’s even more important than the work out. (Over the years they’ve actually drafted guys that did well in the interview, and did not even have time to work out)

Sloan’s style also can rub some management the wrong way. Because of the stability he has enjoyed he was allowed to run his own ship. Put him on a team where the owners have a revolving door with coaches; or on a team with a lot of non-Jerry Sloan type players and don’t expect similar results.

Can you imagine him coaching Iverson, Z-Bo, Mayo and crew? Wow . . . guys who love shooting, and don’t play much defense? (let alone the whole practice thing for AI) That would not work out well, at all.

That said — when I look at the coaches currently available, I find it very hard to imagine the Jazz doing better if they traded coaches with some other team.

Thanks for all the kind words. I appreciated the oppurtunity to write something — so thanks Austin/Dimemag. Furthermore, it probably gives me a reason to start actually blogging again . . . I should get off my ass.

he still gets upset and yells because this is his job. he has to protect his players out there, and if he sees something he doesn’t like doing something about is better than sitting in a baby’s high chair reading poetry (pjax) or getting bombed during post game press confs (nelson).

he’s consistent, and he doesn’t make excuses. why should he change how he coaches just because he’s been doing it for a long time? he’s not waiting out the clock for retirement and mailing it in . . . dude is coaching ONLY because that’s what he wants to do still. and if he’s going to do anything — he’s going to do it with passion/desire.

he’s not in it for a $10 m per contract and possible book deals like phil jax . . . he’s in it for coaching. for teaching the game to young players, and teaching them how to care for the game. don’t work so hard to get to the L, and then half-ass it when you make it.

work hard to get in the L, and work even harder to stay in it — give something to it. things a lot of these kids don’t know. I have a number of issues with how sloan coaches / behaves . . . but one of them surely isn’t his passion for the game.

that’s something you can’t teach.