I hate the Jazz just as much as the next guy, BUT...

He is a GREAT coach. He has been one of the smartest coaches...he has been very loyal with his players for a long time. He got very close to winning a championship. We hate the Utah Jazz. But Jerry Sloan is an excellent coach. This doesn't mean he is clean and nice. He is very tricky with cheap shots. But he teaches it well.

 

Not only that, he has a great relationship with other NBA players.

See Artest, Ron.

 

Great coach. Great team. Great program. Unlovable on all points -- to the MAXXXXX!!!

 

Oops.

My bad.

 

Much as Stockton and Malone are sure HOFers, and the Jazz's success is undeniably mostly attributable to those two, Sloan is one of the top 5 coaches in the NBA.

Rookies on the Jazz rarely look like rookies, because Sloan beats the fundamentals into them early on, and benches them if they shouldn't be playing. His system, relying on precision passing, tends to be turnover-prone, but it also ranks the Jazz right at the top in FG% every single year, getting everyone easy layups. His emphasis on positional defense without overcommitment (Sloan tells his players never to jump while trying to block a shot) prevents the opposing teams from getting into the lane and usually puts them in a good position to get rebounds. And while he only runs about half-a-dozen basic plays, his many variations and the fact that his players run them so well keeps defenses helpless.

Let's face it... most of the coaches in the NBA do only a passing good job. But Sloan is one of those few coaches, like Jeff Van Gundy, Rick Carlisle, and Larry Brown, that will actually get your team a couple of wins. He does have one quasi-downside, though. He's not a players' coach. At all. In fact, he's the only really skilled coach left who isn't a players' coach. It's his way, or the highway if you're on the Jazz... which is why players either love him or hate him. These is no in-between.

There's a reason Harpring is averaging like 19 points and 7 boards now, and Kirilenko looks like 6th man of the year.

 

Sloan is why I hate the Jazz. He whines after every ****ing play, much more than Malone or Stockton do.

 

There's a difference between 'hate' and 'respect'. I respect Jerry Sloan, but hates his guts.

Nonetheless, I'd be quite fine with him coaching the Rockets, because he's just the type of coach we need.

 

Right on.

**** Jerry Sloan.

 

Ripped the words right out of my mouth. I completely agree.

 

yes. we hate jerry sloan too

 

My respect for the Chinese just grew 10-fold.