Adelman's teams and Sloan's Jazz have met in previous playoffs 6 times, and Adelman won 5 times and lost 1 time (1st year Kings). So, Adelman pretty much ate Sloan's lunch in the past. The record is not so relevant but it still gives me more confidence on the Rockets.
<a href="http://s177.photobucket.com/albums/w225/qqdragonqq/?action=view¤t=adelmen.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w225/qqdragonqq/adelmen.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
Considering last year was the first year the Jazz has made the playoffs without Malone and Stockton, in over 25 years. I would guess it was all during that era.
Rick understands the utah jazz pehnomenon and their fans. Here in sacramento we weren't so in awe of the jazz and their fans like the clutch city fans are.We always had a confidence facing the jazz because rick knows how to get under sloan's skin. The one time that they did win was a fluke 3 pointer by stockton and we were on our way closing them out and they won game 5 in utah. Cluthc city fans need more confidence,Beating the jazz is more mental than physical.
nice graphic, but c'mon.. spell Adelman right in the URL... OR in the image... OR at least make them spelled the same way in both?? haha
I think the series you mention was a 1 vs. 8 matchup. Sacramento took it to 5 games and almost pulled the upset. Utah had won 60+ that year. I think Shandon Anderson hit some big shots in that series for Utah to save them.
the reason adelman's teams have consistently had success against utah is because of his offensive system........you are not going to stop a sloan-coached team from getting their share of easy baskets out of their offense, so you have to be able to put points on the board yourself to match them....and specifically you must get consistent point production out of your role players.....you do this and the jazz are very vulnerable.....this is why they don't have the same success on the road, because the other teams' role players are able to put up numbers there in their home arenas.....this is also how the fakers mauled the jazz in utah last month....by moving the ball around and slicing up sloan's defensive sets with a balanced attack.... just like adelman has already said in yesterday's post-practice interviews, it's not so much the defense we need to worry about.....but putting points on the board against them.....we do that and we get to round 2...
You think ESPN's picks are annoying? Check out SI's site. A couple of their "experts" have the Jazz winning in 5. I'm a rational enough fan to understand the Jazz could very well win this series in 6, but 5 games?
I like this because last year all but one person picked the rockets to win in six. The other picked the rockets to win in seven, so since we've seen how bad the "experts" are, I like our chances.
The time when the Jazz are most vulnerable is in transition. Like other teams with an excellent half court defense, they are still suceptible to being sliced and diced up on the break. Did you guys see Parker and friends torch them this way??? Hopefully Adelman will tell our guys to run, run, and run some more on any rebound or block. Without Yao, we can actually outrun them get easy buckets. Any thoughts?
Sloan is a great coach but I never thought he made in game adjustments nor did have his teams executed that well in clutch situations. I think Adelman is a much better coach and that counts for a lot more than some people realize. Rockets in 6.