Written by: John Nguyen - Bio info: John Nguyen is a regular basketball junkie who pays top dollar for NBA League Pass who currently resides in California. John’s goal is to bring some real fan noise and unnecessary PR (...) More
For any Utah Jazz fan or any friend of Jerry Sloan, you’re going to be butt hurt or deeply offended reading this; but this is the truth. You’ll accept it eventually. If you can wipe away the tears now, at this point, muster up some courage and can continue, go for it. You’ll get kudos from me.
Jerry Sloan is not an upper tier coach along the ranks of Red Auerbach, Phil Jackson, Gregg Popovich, Pat Riley, Chuck Daly, and Rudy Tomjanovich. Even K.C. Jones, Larry Brown and Doc Rivers have a slight edge over him. The thing that binds all of these coaches together, except for Sloan, is that they actually won a title in their resume. That does not mean I’m demeaning Sloan’s accomplishments as a coach; no fuckin’ way. Point blank, the man just hasn’t won a title.
Utah fans will probably respond, “What? You’re fuckin’ dumb as hell. Jerry Sloan is great. He dominates the regular season and has been to the Finals 2 times in a row. He also develops players.”
Didn’t I just write, “That does not mean I’m demeaning Sloan’s accomplishments as a coach; no fuckin’ way.” Good. I got that out of the way.
He was cursed to coach in a Michael Jordan-Scottie Pippen era just like any other coach or player during the 1990s.
Perhaps, but this excuse just does not hold any merit any more. I’ll tell you why.
Just like the Chicago Bulls of that decade, Jerry Sloan had two top 50 players of all time in Karl Malone and John Stockton. The supporting cast was great in Jeff Horny, Bryon Russell, the dunk bait Ostertag, Anderson, Carr, and Eisley. Jerry Sloan had the talent so I shouldn’t be hearing any fan crying about not having talent. The truth is he had them.
Well no one can beat MJ and Pip.
True, but that doesn’t mean it was impossible. When MJ came back in 95, the Orlando Magic with Shaq and Penny did eliminate them out of the playoffs. Jordan was 100% in basketball shape. He was still in true Air Jordan mode. He lit the Knicks for 55 points. He dominated the Charlotte Hornets in the opening round. Here are some Youtube clips to prove that MJ was 100% despite coming back from baseball.
Face it, he remains a formidable opponent and the rest of the Bulls didn’t have any significant injuries. Orlando managed to beat these guys. They beat MJ and Pip! The only things I can say for getting beat is that no team can plug in a last minute fix to win the title; MJ included. They were also out of sync to establish MJ as the number one option on the team as seen with Mike giving Kukoc and Pete Myers hard times.
In any decade, there will be dominant players whether it’s Russell, Wilt, West, Magic, Bird, Jordan, Duncan, Shaq, Kobe, or Lebron. It simply doesn’t matter what era. Let’s go back in time to the 1980s where Magic and Bird were feared.
So Jerry Sloan just didn’t have enough talent to overcome the Bulls. Still sticking with that, right?
Food for thought:
The Houston Rockets with Hakeem Olajuwon and Ralph Sampson eliminated Pat Riley, Magic Johnson, James Worthy, Kareem, and Michael Cooper from the playoffs to go to the 1986 Finals.
From 1982-1984, The Larry Bird-led Celtics with Dennis Johnson, Kevin McHale, and the Chief Robert Parrish had a 3 year hiatus from the Finals.
You want more food?
Tons of people didn’t think Phil Jackson, MJ, and Scottie can ever beat Isiah Thomas’ Pistons.
Rudy T and Hakeem Olajuwon led the Rockets to a title in 1994 without a good sidekick.
Larry Brown’s Detroit Pistons beat Shaq-Kobe Lakers without a superstar. And that’s with a useless Karl Malone hunting down little Latina girls and an aging Payton.
Gregg Popovich, Tim Duncan, and the Spurs eliminated Phil Jax, Shaq-Kobe from the playoffs.
What’s your excuse Utah fans? What else do you have to defend Jerry Sloan? You ran out of excuses a long time ago. No more excuses. Those examples cited prove that any coach with a good set of players can win in any era regardless of the competition. Great dominant players lose, too. The most severe cases against Jerry Sloan are Larry Brown and Rudy T. One man won without a superstar! Sloan had two! He still couldn’t fuckin’ win. The other won with just one superstar during 1993-1994.
So what’s Sloan’s excuse?
I’m tired of hearing people defend Sloan as if he’s one of the best coaches of all time. Fact is, HE’S NOT. Again, I’m not demeaning what he’s done for Utah or the game itself. He’s the longest successful tenured coach in any sport, but he hasn’t won any title. Sloan himself is brutally honest, too. He once said in a touching interview that he fucked over Deron Williams during his rookie year. That in itself shows that Sloan is a great person; a true man who mans up to his faults. I can picture Sloan kicking some Utah Jazz fan in the nuts and then having those same nuts travel through the fan’s system, coming out through the neck, and then regurgitating back out from the mouth in a bloody pool of mess all over the floor for crowning him as some uber God coach.
He even made AK-47 cry! A Russian crying? Oh shit.
Did Jerry Sloan teach him to flop like that? I hope not. Sloan was probably disgusted, too. Terrible cliche armpit jokes ignored, if Sloan taught him to do that, it’s another blemish.
Hold up. Maybe not. Developing the King of the Flop Andrei Kirilenko is a distinguishing achievement, right?
Flops aside, Sloan is insatiable; not easily satisfied. I also commend Sloan on being able to develop players such as Deron Williams (with Stockon’s help), Ronnie Brewer, Paul Millsap, and such.
Oh I’d like to see if Phil Jackson can coach a team without Michael Jordan, Shaq, or Kobe Bryant. Let’s see how he does.
Whenever a fan says this, he probably thinks that he’s some insightful wise person. Actually, he just sounded more like a stupid douchebag incapable of feeding himself with a spoon. He probably needs a helmet, too.
Phil Jackson did coach a team without those guys. It was Scottie Pippen’s 1993-1994 team (Pippen finished second in MVP voting) and most of the 1994-1995 season until MJ returned. Furthermore, there are claims that Phil Jackson will only take teams ready made. HUH? That’s just being smart. He has to be able to control those egos to make it work in order to win. That’s another huge part of coaching and Phil Jackson has made that work.
P.Jax can’t develop players like Sloan.
Really? Keep on talking like a dumbass, dumbass. Phil Jackson personally developed Scottie Pippen and turned MJ to a true all around team player. He helped Kobe become that way, too.
Again, no more excuses from Utah Jazz fans. The well has run dry.
Conclusion: Jerry Sloan is grouped in with the likes of Lenny Wilkens; not quite upper tier, but they don’t suck ass either. That’s not bad. Many coaches kill for that because after all, they’re hall of famers. So Sloan is not elite. So? Many Utah fans probably know this truth, but have not manned up to it. Jerry Sloan would slap you. He’s 66 years old. In 4 more years, he’s 70 entering retirement. His time is running out on winning a chip. If he can win one within this span, I’ll eat crow and place him up there with the elites. All he needs is one.
Until then, I don’t think Sloan can win with Deron Williams and Paul Millsap either. John Stockton is better than Deron can ever be defensively and Paul Millsap is no Karl Malone. Millsap is not physically imposing like the Mailman and doesn’t have a consistent mid-range jumper. They have to land a 2010 star somewhere, but who wants to go to Utah? Again, just like Boozer did, the money has to be presented by having Karl Malone’s truck throwing money at the player’s doorsteps.
Also, Chris Paul >>>>>>>>>>> Deron. Chicago’s Derrick Rose will be better than Deron, too.
I have ended this “debate” for everyone. You’re welcome.
Extra hindsight: It was a great thing that Jerry Sloan was fired from the Chicago Bulls after less than 3 seasons as coach. If Jerry Sloan had his longevity and success in the Windy City instead of Utah, the Bulls probably would not have gotten a top 3 pick in 1984 to land MJ and they would have never received a chance to discover Phil Jackson and the 6 titles.
Thanks to Kris247 for contributing the picture to the article.
19 Comments: Utah Jazz Coach Jerry Sloan is not an upper tier elite (...)
Posted by Greg on 04.28.2009
As a die hard Jazz fan I reluctantly agree with this assessment. I believe Sloan has certain traits he excels at, probably more than any other coach in the league, but certain traits that great coaches need like the ability to motivate he lacks horribly and you see that with our home/road disparity. But I find it interesting that Utah gets national criticism so often. Don’t get me wrong I like the fact that people believe that Utah should have won a title by now, but overall as the smallest market in the league with a limited payroll and ability to attract big names I think we’ve done a great job making a name for ourselves. And all this while teams like the Knicks who have a program that celebrates miserable failure seems to go unnoticed. .
Posted by russelOverJordan on 04.12.2009
everyone knows that was the most blatant push off ever.. no foul called. stolen title .
Posted by Skriffin on 03.31.2009
also to all you idiots crying about the quality of writing, who cars its an internet blog, no the new york times. .
Posted by Skriffin on 03.31.2009
you are right about phil and sloan. Phil has proven to be the best while sload has proven to be a choker. Also kiwi is right about doc, hes a chump. I live in utah and love ragging on sloan. what ive been looking for is there playoff records. Who many times have phil and jerry met in a playoff series? and how many times has jerry knocked phill out? ill bet it has never happined. .
Posted by Kiwi on 01.18.2009
I agree.Hes overrated.He coached malone and Stockton for how many years and never won? thats two of the greatest players of all time apparently PLUS usually at least one other all star Calibre player.They weren’t even an elite team msot years.Thats on the coach.George karl has always been hugely overrated in my opinion also .
Posted by Lakers24/7 on 01.5.2009
I am personally a Lakers fan and believe Phil Jackson is one of the all time great coaches. However, you taking Sloan out of that talk because he has not won a championship is bull---. Doc Rivers is not a better coach, he got 3 hall of famers thrown in front of him and had the smarts enough to put them in the starting lineup. That equaled a championship, and does not make him a good coach. Look at the idiots the Celtics have turned into, cocky, arrogant jerks who willnot be able to back up their talk when it comes time. No way will Doc ever be better than Sloan. You jumped on the bandwaggon. Your ridiculous. .
Posted by
on 01.2.2009
your articles are cries for attention. The other editors probably laughed at you when you brought this argument up... lmao .
Posted by JohnisaterriblewriterandIcandobetterinmysleep on 01.2.2009
I think he thrives on pissing people off. Most jerks do. .
Posted by
on 01.1.2009
This is most pointless/stupid articles I’ve ever read...don’t quit ur day job because writing isn’t for u...how can u say he isn’t an elite coach and he’s in the hall and fame and has won 1000 games? How about when in 2004 when he almost got the jazz to the playoffs with virtually all role player? Dead a-------stop writng all these bullshyt articles since you made it obvious u don’t know anything about basketball .
Posted by bruh on 01.1.2009
actually john when you look at it your the only hater here, your point of prolly writing this article is because you hate the jazz and you found a way to spark this up with out coming straight forward and saying im a hater and i hate the jazz .
Posted by J.Nguyen on 01.1.2009
More hate for me than the actual piece. All hate aside, I stand behind what I wrote. The fact that Mr. Sloan hasn’t been an elite coach all these decades was staring at you in the face.
Face it, Utah Jazz fans. You will NEVER win a title. What makes you think you can win with Deron Williams and Paul Millsap when John Stockton and Karl Malone were 5x better than them? Boozer is now out and you’ll probably never see him in a Utah Jazz uniform again. Be ready to pony up the big bucks to Millsap.
To all the haters, ff you wanted Shakespeare-type greatness, I’m already providing it, but if you truly want Shakespeare then go read Shakespeare. My pieces are not intended for little kids. My articles should be used as a tool for direction. Use my power wisely. I give you the wisdom. You can use it to impress some girl or win arguments at a party. My insight is highly useful in your life.
Again, do not make up excuses for Sloan and the players he had to face against. MJ, MAGIC, BIRD, Shaq, Kobe...it truly doesn’t matter. I’ve already said this in my piece. In any decade, there WILL be dominant players. ALWAYS.
Sloan had 2 dominant players himself. He can win against any team. He couldn’t do it. Those 2 men held his best chances.
Instead of MJ and Pippen of yesteryear, today it’s Kobe-Gasol, Dwayne Wade, Chris Paul, Lebron James, and KG, P-Squared, Allen, and Rondo.....and maybe even Chicago’s Derrick Rose..didn’t the Bulls swept the series against Utah this season? Yeah, Utah Jazz is not that good. The Bulls suck and you let them sweep you like that? How embarrassing. I don’t see Utah ever winning...do you? Sloan is a great coach, a hall of famer, and a hell of a person, but he’s no elite coach who can win a title.
Brandon Roy’s Portland Trail Blazers are scary good, too. Another potential dominant player in Jerry Sloan’s way....puh-lease. No more excuses. .
Posted by
on 01.1.2009
well put from the commenter below me .
Posted by aimac_76 on 01.1.2009
You really are the worst writer ever. And what’s up with swearing all the time? Not many people take you seriously and swearing every few words makes it worst. Go home and stop trying to offer your "insight" on basketball. .
Posted by
on 12.31.2008
but they decrease if magic doesn’t get hiv. it’s so hard to say "what if" with stuff like this because there’s no way of proving one thing or another. the guy can clearly coach a bit better than you’re giving him credit for, though. .
Posted by Sami on 12.31.2008
If MJ doesn’t exist, Sloan’s chances at a ring improve drastically .
Posted by Michael Damian on 12.30.2008
Eh, I’d place Sloan well above Wilkens, partially because Wilkens’ record for winning percentage isn’t stellar, he just coached for a helluva long time. I think with the right personnel at the right climate, Sloan would’ve gotten a ring. Sometimes you can have that great group of players but they’re still missing ’it’ or it’s just not the right players peaking all together simultaneously that teams need to knock off other elite teams. That’s what Cinderella teams have, the right players peaking together at the right time. On your other points, I agree and I don’t think too many Jazz fans would argue, they appreciate Sloan for his work, but they’d dump him to get a championship team in Utah. Things happen for a reason, with Sloan, no MJ in Chicago. With Sloan, Utah has enjoyed a dynasty of hard to play against teams that never quite made it to the top. Think of them as like the Buffalo Bills, so close over and over again. But never a champ. Right now for upper tier elite coaches, Popovich, Phil Jackson, Doc Rivers. Rock on with your articles. .
Posted by thornye on 12.30.2008
so true that was a s---article he coaches in the nba he good noone cares if he one of the best do something interesting next time cant believe i finished readin that .
Posted by jenna_k09 on 12.30.2008
thank you for displaying your maturity reminiscent of a pre-teen girl. .
Posted by bruh on 12.30.2008
well actually you prolly wont get any of that hate bc this is just a stoopid, nobody cares, boring article, we all know hes a good coach who cares if he is or not at the level on some of the other coaches .
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