<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">"I want Jerry to coach this team." That's what Utah Jazz owner Larry Miller told the press last week, just two days after his team blew a 20-point lead to the Orlando Magic. I wonder how Larry is feeling this morning. On Tuesday night, Utah lost a 38-point decision to Miami. What's scary about this loss is not only that it was Utah's biggest of the year, but that it could have been much worse. After the first quarter, the Jazz trailed Miami 41-14. They were on pace to lose by 108 points. Dwyane Wade led the Heat with 19 points at that juncture; Deron Williams led the Jazz with six. Although Utah's team defense this year has been typically solid (ninth best in the NBA at 94 points allowed per game), its offense has been atrocious. The Jazz scored just 90.3 points per game, which is the second-worst total in the NBA: only the Trail Blazers score fewer. Miller thinks it's because "We've got a bunch of guys that are scared to shoot when the game's on the line." And he's part right. In fact, the Jazz has a bunch of guys who seem afraid to shoot at any point during the game -- only two teams (Orlando and Memphis) attempt fewer shots per game. The bottom line is that something is fundamentally wrong with Utah's offense. But the problem is not a lack of talent. With Andrei Kirilenko, Carlos Boozer, Mehmet Okur, Matt Harpring, and Deron Williams, the Jazz has the makings of a solid offense. If I'm the owner, and I've determined that talent is not the problem, I have to look at my coach. Jerry Sloan has been coaching the Jazz since the 1989-90 season, and he's had tremendous success. Until two seasons ago, he had made the playoffs every year since taking over the team. And until last year, he hadn't had a losing season as coach of the Jazz. But in 2005-06, the Jazz are 30-33, mired in their second consecutive losing season, two games back of the Lakers for the eighth playoff spot in the West, and showing no signs of getting better. If anything, Tuesday's blowout loss to Miami is a sign that things are worse than they've ever been. A lot of things have changed since 1989. Communism has fallen. Two wars have been waged in Iraq. We've gone through three United States Presidents. The millennium has come and gone. And the "Internet" has grown from an obscure text-based research tool to an international social and economic phenomenon. And Jerry Sloan is still coaching the Jazz. He has the longest active tenure of any coach in the four major American sports leagues. "As far as I'm concerned," Miller told the press, "nothing has changed. One thing I always know about Jerry, he is absolutely trustworthy and always doing the best he can." But clearly, a lot has changed. Gone are the days when running the pick and roll led to 30-point games for Karl Malone and 14-assist nights from John Stockton. These days, Sloan seems to be having trouble getting his team to play with fire; he's lucky to get 17 points out of Mehmet Okur and 6 assists from Deron Williams. I do think Jerry Sloan is a great coach, and he's had a remarkable run of success. But in 2006, with one of the league's youngest rosters, Sloan's best isn't getting the job done anymore. If the Jazz fail to pull it together and make the playoffs this season, it's time for Larry Miller to hunt for a new coach for a new generation. </div> Source
Sloan is closing in on 1000 career regular season wins as coach, who could the Jazz replace him with that would actually improve the team?
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Stockton:</div><div class="quote_post">Sloan is closing in on 1000 career regular season wins as coach, who could the Jazz replace him with that would actually improve the team?</div>It'd be foolish to think that a coaching change, and not a player personnel change, would make the Jazz a better team. Let's face it, Kirilenko is the only good thing to come out of the draft for you guys and your biggest offseason move has been Carlos Boozer. How can anyone expect the team to do better with what Jerry's had to work with.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting :</div><div class="quote_post">It'd be foolish to think that a coaching change, and not a player personnel change, would make the Jazz a better team. Let's face it, Kirilenko is the only good thing to come out of the draft for you guys and your biggest offseason move has been Carlos Boozer. How can anyone expect the team to do better with what Jerry's had to work with.</div> Exactly. A change of coach just isn't the answer for the Jazz. The Jazz could start to improve their results by improving on their recent drafts. Recent Jazz drafts.
