good coach. should've won COY at some point.

byebye Sloan

Nuts.

WHA? Does he have cancer or something?

Why isn't this on the front page of ESPN?

Didn't he just sign an extension, like just a few days ago?

The only options I can think of are health or some behind the doors gross misconduct. Hopefully, something else.

One of his assistants resigned as well.

Link?

My sources (ESPN.com) are reporting a potential conflict with team GM Kevin O'Connor.

It seems that after being the head coach for 23 years, you'd be allowed to have some conflict with the GM.

I sure would hate to be the GM that ran him out of town. You'd must be a real @$$ to work for.

Now I definitely predict Utah and Portland to drop out of the playoffs and Memphis and someone else to sneak in... perhaps the Clips or Rockets or even Golden State.

Too bad, Sloan is a class act.

On the bright side, that makes Pop the longest tenured coach in the league!

Looks like Utah was afraid Deron would bolt after next season if Sloan wasn't gone. So they are choosing to appease the superstar by letting the coach go. They don't want a long dramatic breakup to play out next season and they recognize that this season is a lost cause. Superstar point guards are harder to obtain than classy, above average older coaches.

I can believe all that, but why have him sign an extension this past Monday?

And in a way, I'm glad it is that, and not health reasons.


And I do really want the Jazz to fall into the 9th or 10th seed.

Classy and class act? You guys should read about Sloan in practices and apparently on the sideline. He's a very good coach but far from classy.

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So they are choosing to appease the superstar by letting the coach go.

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Friggin' disgusting, if true.

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Superstar point guards are harder to obtain than classy, above average older coaches.

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If by "above average" you mean a guy who had 1 bad season and 2 mediocre seasons out of 23 seasons. Took two teams to the finals, and all the while coached in the worst destination and one of the smallest markets in the NBA.

Deron Williams is not worth Jerry Sloan, IMO. "Superstar" point guards can be acquired through free agency (although at this point I can rattle off 5 guys off the top of my head who are better, so I don't know how much of a "superstar" he is). Coaches who can constantly produce winners despite working in the armpit of the league are very, very rare.

[This message has been edited by MassAggie97 (edited 2/10/2011 3:33p).]

The increasingly contentious relationship between Sloan and Williams boiled over when they clashed at halftime of a loss to the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday night. Sloan, 68, had agreed to a one-year contract extension in the past week but his growing frustration became public after a long meeting with Jazz general manager Kevin O’Connor following the team’s loss to the Bulls in Salt Lake City.

“He decided right there in halftime that he was done,” a league source told Yahoo! Sports. “He felt like ownership was listening more to Williams than they were to him anymore. He was done.”

One source said Sloan had become tired of Williams “blaming everything on everyone else.” Still, Williams, who can become a free agent in the summer of 2012, has remained the Jazz’s best and most consistent player after the departure of several key teammates.


Also, now there are reports that D-Will wants to be traded, as he doesn't want to be the fall guy for Sloan's resignation.

I don't really give a flip if Sloan was the biggest prikk in the entire league. He's in the business of winning, and he got results at a clip few other coaches could ever even imagine.

Agree 97...and it's not like he ever had Kobe or MJ. He's always done it with the less flashy guys. I would think the folks in Indiana would appreciate his services if he's interested. (Didn't he go to school at Evansville anyway??)

It all started when Williams got *****y when they let Ronnie Brewer go. Then half his team followed Brewer to Chicago. Williams quit on the team at that point. Still puts up crazy numbers due to this talent, but he checked out a long time ago and he really does hate his teammates for not being as good as he is.

See that YouTube video where he dodgeballed Gordon Hayward after missing an assignment.

If Garnett can stomach behing in Minnesota for 10+ years with no help, Williams can do a couple. He turned into a complete dick this year.

This is the thing a lot of us hate about pro sports.... the star player who makes the multi-million dollar contract gets his way instead of a freaking Hall of Fame coach who gave his heart and soul to that franchise..... disgusting like somebody above said is the only way I would describe this.

From the ESPN article...

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While he has headed the Jazz, there have been 245 coaching changes around the league -- 13 alone by the Los Angeles Clippers, and five current NBA teams (Charlotte, Memphis, Toronto, Orlando and Minnesota) did not even exist when Sloan took the helm in Utah.

He ranks third all-time in NBA wins behind Don Nelson (1,335) and Lenny Wilkens (1,332).

Sloan also is one of only three coaches in NBA history with 15-plus consecutive seasons with a winning record (Pat Riley and Phil Jackson, both with 19, are the others).

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Press conference live in SI.com right now...it's official.

make no mistake about it, if you think Jerry Sloan is only slightly above average, you are a freaking idiot. he was a good coach.

Williams is a great player though. sad to see it happen.

that being said....it's pretty clear Sloan wasn't going to win one in Utah. he would've had MJ not come along and shat on his parade.

One of the last few old school coaches that didn't give a damn about what these ***** prima donnas think of his coaching style. F them. Good for you, Mr. Sloan.

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it's pretty clear Sloan wasn't going to win one in Utah

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Only because he was such a good coach he would've never been bad enough to get a decent draft pick.

If you handed Sloan the Lakers, Celtics or Heat roster he'd take them all the way eventually. We're talking about a guy that made Greg Ostertag look like a starter for several years in a row.

Barkley put it best: our sport isn't as good as it was yesterday.

[This message has been edited by MassAggie97 (edited 2/10/2011 7:18p).]

So, who is Deron going to appoint as the new Utah head coach?

corbin.

Sloan resigns. Mormons hit the hard stuff. Pepsi sales jump 45% in Utah!

I don't blame Williams. Prima Donna NBA stars are the norm. I blame Utah management for not understanding that Williams only cares about Williams.

They deserve the fact they will soon have neither Sloan or Williams and no good coach or player will want to go there. Look at the Sacramento Kings, that is your future Utah. On the bright side, they can try to draft Jimmer Fredette this offseason and still sell some tickets.

There's got to be something more to this - at least the player vs. coach angle. Sounds like Deron Williams may have brought up some valid criticisms of Sloan and won the team over to his side. I heard reports he was making his own calls in the last game, not what Sloan was sending in.

Once that happens, you either admit that you have lost the team or become a tyrant (and lose the team anyway). Maybe he has done some realistic self-evaluation and determined that part of William's problems with the scheme have merit, and it's time for someone else to try something new.

Utah Jazz never can pass on drafting a white guy. Proven fact.

Their dream team is Andrew Bogut, Kyle Korver, Jimmer Fredette, JJ Redick, and Brian Cardinal.

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Sounds like Deron Williams may have brought up some valid criticisms of Sloan and won the team over to his side. I heard reports he was making his own calls in the last game, not what Sloan was sending in.

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I think this happens a lot in the NBA, and I'm sure it drives coaches nuts. As far as Deron Williams "forcing" Sloan out, I'm believing this less and less. It sounds to me like Sloan just got tired of waging war with his PG on a daily basis, and decided it was time to hang it up.
I heard a very revealing interview with John Stockton, who said that his relationship with Sloan got combative from time to time, and that's the nature of a coach/PG relationship in the NBA. Stockton's take was that Sloan had just finally had enough of waging that war. MY guess is that the infamous "uncalled play" against Chicago was the final straw.

Doesn't really improve my perception of Williams much but for the fact that he may not have been actively trying to get rid of Sloan, as many have suggested.

Obviously I was never anywhere near good enough to play college or pro basketball, but I can't fathom being in a situation where I consider my own opinion of how to run a team as priority over my coach's opinion, IN PARTICULAR when the coach is unquestionably one of the greatest in the history of the game.

[This message has been edited by MassAggie97 (edited 2/11/2011 1:22p).]

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Utah Jazz never can pass on drafting a white guy. Proven fact.

Their dream team is Andrew Bogut, Kyle Korver, Jimmer Fredette, JJ Redick, and Brian Cardinal.

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If it was up to the fans, Shawn Bradley would play there. Player/coach, possibly.

[This message has been edited by Guitarsoup (edited 2/11/2011 1:28p).]

Did someone say shawn bradley? I'll give him some credit, at least he always went for the block. And this one doesn't even have the T-mac dunk.
Top 10 Dunks on Shawn Bradley

That was just awesome. Great music choice as well.