Kirk Snyder, I believe? https://www.deseret.com/2005/3/31/19884488/jazz-get-t-mac-attacked Chalk up the Jazz's latest loss to a rookie mistake, and the fallout from it. The Houston Rockets beat Utah 99-85 on Monday night at the Delta Center, a victory fueled by their reaction to the over-exuberant emotion exhibited by first-year Jazz guard Kirk Snyder following a stirring third-quarter play he made. "He got us riled up," said Rockets star Tracy McGrady, who did the rest with a game-high 44 points on 15-of-21 shooting from the field, including 3-for-6 from 3-point range, and 11-of-16 from the free-throw line. Houston rode a 20-4 run at the end of the second quarter to a 56-42 halftime advantage, and pushed their third-quarter lead to as many as 16 before the Jazz began to chip away. The Rockets led 68-62 with less than four minutes to go in the third when Snyder missed a 3-point attempt, and former Jazz forward Scott Padgett wound up with the rebound. Padgett couldn't get the ball out of the corner nearest the Rockets' bench, though, and Snyder wound up with it after the turnover. Snyder dribbled out, then burst to the basket for a nifty layup that made it 68-64. The University of Nevada product's momentum carried him straight to the sideline in front of the Rockets' bench, and it was there that Snyder — in the eyes of many, especially Jazz coach Jerry Sloan — perhaps went a bit too far. He gestured with emotion, saying nothing but evidently sticking out his tongue in a taunt — as he stood directly over Rockets assistant coach Steve Clifford, who was seated on the Houston bench. "It was just a reaction, I was looking at somebody in the second row, and I didn't know where I was on the floor," Snyder said. "I looked down, and the coach was like right there, so I was in a bad territory. "I wasn't supposed to be there." That's certainly the message Snyder got from Sloan, who yanked him from the game and gave him a brief tonguelashing of his own. "He was playing very, very well," Sloan said of Snyder, who finished with 12 points in 30 starting-role minutes. "He makes a terrific move, then he goes and stands in front of their bench. "That's a no-no in this league," the Jazz coach added. "We're lucky that something crazy didn't happen, because those are the kinds of things that can turn into something serious." What did happen is that Houston's Bob Sura objected, then Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy went wild. Van Gundy was tagged with a technical foul — "No need," he said when asked later to comment on Snyder's actions — and Mehmet Okur made the resulting free throw. Snyder, before being pulled by Sloan, also made the free-throw that followed from being fouled on his layup, making it a 2-point game at 68-66. The 22-48 Jazz never got any closer, though, as the riled Rockets got their lead back to eight at the end of the third and to as many as 17 a couple of times in the fourth quarter. "Sometimes, you get going like that and you just lose it sometimes," McGrady said. "He's young (21), and that's what happens. He made a great play . . . and he got overexcited and did something out of character. "I just thought that was a little too disrespectful, a little uncalled for, for him to jump into somebody's face on our bench," added McGrady, who got an on-court explanation from Snyder that he didn't seem to buy. "It sparked us a little bit, and then we buckled down and closed the game." The real fire, though, was lit under an unhappy Sloan, who did eventually put Snyder back in the game. "Hopefully he learned something from it," said Sloan, adding he feared a brawl like the one that happened earlier this season between Detroit and Indiana could have erupted as a result of the play. "Those are things that can be embarrassing to you, and all of basketball, if it were to happen to get out of hand . . . " Sloan hardly seemed to care that the game's momentum changed after he pulled Snyder. "You can blame me for the loss," he said. "The most important thing for me was to not try to embarrass the other team. "Their coaches were upset. Their players were upset. And it could very easily have turned into something crazy." Snyder, for his part, was not exactly apologetic. But he did seem to understand Sloan's stance. "You can't put yourself in a position like that," he said. "It's something that wasn't supposed to happen. . . . It's just one of those things where you're caught up in the moment. I guess you have to avoid getting caught up in the emotion."
My dislike of Sloan was a by-product of him coaching VERY hate-able players. Sorry to hear about the medical conditions he was in. He didn't deserve that. RIP and condolences to his family.
He coached a team of dirty floppers forever and that gets him praise? The fact that they put him in the Hall of Fame 10 years before Rudy T is a travesty.
He didn't get his due as a coach. I seldom if ever heard his name mention in COY consideration. The petty side of me remembers he was the coach of two of the game's dirtiest flopping-est players, and it couldn't have been a coincidence, but I do respect him, and no one should have to go out with dementia. I'll tell my wife if I get that way to just get out the pillow and Cuckoo's-Nest me.
**** the Utah Jazz and all things related to them. However... Mad respect to a worthy opponent of a coach. A worthy adversary deserving of respect. I do not wish that horrible disease upon anyone and their family at all. However, **** the Jazz.
That game 6 of the Finals where they took away a legit Jazz '3' was pure corruption. As much as any Rockets fan would hate the Jazz, they were cheated on a Finals game decided by a point. RIP Jerry Sloan
Karl Malone was a dirty piece of **** long before he met Jerry Sloan. Sloan was a damn good coach may be rest in peace.
My mother-in-law died with dementia, it ain't pretty! My condolences to the Sloan family for what they went thru. RIP great adversary! You didn't deserve that!
The flops was more or less a display of effort. In baseball, a player is expected to run the baseline even after grounding out which is similar to "laying it all out there."
RIP read several articles on Sloan, learned that Sloan, coming out of college, was NBA's #4 overall pick after a hard fought game between the Bulls and Cincinnati Royals, on the way to the locker room, a vicious fight broke out between the Royal's Norm Van Lier and the opposing player who guarded him, Sloan during off season, Bulls mgmt was contemplating to trade for Van Lier; but wanted to clear it w Sloan first. Sloan's response, "anyone who was willing to charge me, after a game, on the way to the locker room, i want to play w him"
