The Case Against Jerry Sloan

I have been a Utah Jazz fan as long as I can remember. One of my earliest memories is watching a Jazz game with my dad shortly after he bought me a fisher price hoop. The year was 1988 and oddly enough it was Jerry Sloan's first season as coach of the Jazz. I remember watching as Stockton and Malone went to work with the pick-and-roll and imitating Malone's dunks with my new toy. There was nothing better than sitting in the basement watching the Jazz play, hearing my dad scream at Mark Eaton and pretending I was Karl Malone. It's now 21 years later and the game has changed. The dominating big men are gone. Guards dominate the game. Players are paid a lot more and instead of my dad yelling at Eaton I am yelling at Boozer. And I know I can never dunk like Malone. But one thing hasn't changed in Jazzland. Jerry Sloan is still the coach. He has been one of the most successful coaches in the business, helping the Jazz to the playoffs nineteen times and to two NBA finals. There is no doubt that he played a big part in the success of this franchise. In fact it was recently announced that he would be inducted to the Basketball Hall of Fame later this year. If you had asked me a month ago who the best coach in the NBA was, I would have answer Jerry Sloan. He did after all deal with a tremendous amount of injuries this year and still managed to coach the Jazz in the playoffs. I have tremendous respect for him both as a coach and as a person. But, there is something wrong with this Jazz team and as much as Sloan has done for this team the responsibility falls squarely on him for their recent struggles.

In several interviews Sloan has made the case that he cannot motivate his players; it is up to the players to motivate themselves. While one has to agree that the drive to win comes from within, Sloan has to understand that he sets the tone. Players need to be pushed a little and he needs to be the one pushing them. He needs to install that winning attitude. It would be nice to see them do it themselves, but that doesn't always happen. Not everyone is like John Stockton, Karl Malone, Paul Millsap or Deron Williams.

Sloan also seems content to lose in the post season. He essentially threw in the towel when the Jazz were matched up against the Lakers. He said their chances of winning were bleak. While that may be true, the last guy the Jazz need saying it is their head coach. He is supposed to believe in his team and believe that they can beat anyone. Sloan has questioned the drive of his players, but where is his drive?

These issues are just the tip of the iceberg. The real problem with Sloan is his complete unwillingness to play young players. This is something he's struggled with his whole career. When the Jazz drafted Deron Williams he could barely get time on the floor because Sloan felt that veteran players could do a better job. So, Williams struggled. Eventually Sloan realized that in order for Williams to improve he would have to be given more time and was eventually given the starting job. But as the years go on, Sloan seems more unwilling to let young players in the game. Those young players lose confidence in themselves and a downward cycle begins. As they lose more and more time on the floor they lose even more confidence and they stop playing as well which in turn allows Sloan to play them even less. This isn't a recipe for success. Sloan bullies the young players into mediocrity. He has no faith in them and so they thus have no faith in themselves. He believes they'll fail and so he sets them up to do so. He can then claim it's the players fault and not his.

This is perhaps the biggest problem with Sloan. He seems unable to look at himself in the mirror and take blame. It's always that the players that should be tougher. They should be self motivated. They should earn their playing time. But if they aren't given opportunities to begin with, if their coach doesn't believe in them, then that is impossible to do.

While giving Ronnie Price a chance as the backup point guard isn't going to resolve all the problems this team has it exemplifies that Sloan is losing his touch. Price gives the Jazz energy, athleticism and shooting. Knight doesn't. Other young players are suffering as well. Kosta Koufos and Fesenko bring energy and the possibility of better defense or offense but Jaron Collins gets time instead because he's older. He is losing his touch with what the team needs and in turn losing the locker room.