Monday report - - 20th anniversary edition
Let me thank the NBA again for scheduling Jerry Sloan's 20th anniversary game on the road in Minnesota.
Between the 45-minute delay to de-ice one plane in Salt Lake City, the 45-minute delay waiting for a plane to arrive in Denver, the 90-minute ground hold in Denver and the 30-minute holding pattern because of snow in Minneapolis, this trip has gotten off to a fantastic start.
I still have no idea why this game is being played on the road. It would have been something special to play on Sloan's anniversary at EnergySolutions Arena, the kind of game that could have been an NBA TV broadcast.
Instead, there's going to be - - what? - - 8,000 people at Target Center to watch the 4-15 Timberwolves usher in the Kevin McHale era. They didn't even announce a crowd of 11,000 at the last Minnesota home game/loss Saturday against the Clippers.
We had a good time talking with Sloan as well as Frank Layden (who referred to us as "The Gentlemen of the Fourth Estate") at Monday morning's practice. Obviously, the anniversary was the topic of the day and both had some interesting things to say.
Almost as soon as the Jazz took the court, word came that Minnesota had fired Randy Wittman. "I hate to hear that," Sloan said. "It's just a constant, everyday thing. I know how volatile this business is. I just think how lucky I've been to be here for as long as I have."
Reflecting on the anniversary, Sloan said he had no idea Layden would turn over the team to him 20 years ago. He was "somewhat aware" that Layden wasn't going to continue coaching after the 1988-89 season, but had little clue he would step down when he did.
That morning, Layden turned over the team to Sloan at the morning shootaround. Sloan went around to every player and shook his hand, for reasons that he explained Monday (and that say a lot about the kind of coach he is).
"I wished them luck," Sloan said, "because I know how unlucky this business can be."
He went on to talk about the difficulty of having to cut players in the preseason each season. Sloan said he always makes sure to break the news personally and to be there to explain the reasons if a player asks.
"I always tell them I think there's always a chance that they can succeed somewhere else if they'll work at it," Sloan said. " I happened to be one of those guys that nobody thought I could play after I left Baltimore and I ended up playing for a long time and I always think other people can do the same thing."
I asked Sloan whether he took pride in the title of the longest-tenured coach in major professional sports.
"This is a crazy, volatile business and I'd say it's more a reflection on Larry Miller than anything else, where he has said, 'I'm going to run the team the way I want to run it, I don't care what everybody else does.
"I'm sure he's heard a lot of times that I should be fired and he should fire me and all that stuff. He's the one that's made the decision, not me.
"I mean, anybody could have been in this position. I just think I just happened to be lucky, the guy that came along and the right place and they hired me as a head coach. I never think of myself as better than anybody else or anything like that. I just think I've been fortunate.
"There's a lot of great coaches. I don't consider myself that. I have a very good staff that works for me everyday. They're terrific coaches that way. But personally, I don't look at it as I'm a great coach or anything. I've always been blessed with good players."
As much as Sloan has the old-school image, he answered a question of how much he has changed over the years by talking about trying not to fine players. "I'd rather try to deal with them on a personal basis as best I can," Sloan said.
Sloan added that he appreciated Miller's philosophy on players being expendable, as opposed to coaches.
"I'm not a one-man show," Sloan said. "I never wanted to be. I never wanted to be a one-man show when I played. I think it's a team game and you have to put those kind of things together in order to have a chance to win and that's all I've ever been about."
Layden talked to a group of reporters for close to 16 minutes and said he long admired the continuity the Dodgers had with Tommy Lasorda and the Cowboys had with Tom Landry. The Jazz have done the same thing with Sloan over the last 20 years.
"The way the contracts are structured nowadays, you can't fire the players, so you fire the coach and you hope for the best," Layden said. "Usually, the results don't change very much - - occasionally, they do - - but not very often is the coach really at fault."
Layden said: "In my mind, Jerry is the best coach, maybe in any sport, not just the basketball. I think he sometimes, because of the market we're in, he doesn't get the credit. He'd already be in the Hall of Fame if he was coaching New York or Chicago or Los Angeles."
Asked about why he resigned 17 games into the 1988-89 season, Layden said he wished he'd stepped aside that previous summer. Layden said he'd lost his passion after coaching 10 years in high school, 10 years in college and several in the NBA.
"When the season started, I said, 'You know, Jerry can take these guys to the next level,'" Layden said, "and if there ever was a decision that I made that was the right one, it was that. The players were responding to him, I could see that, I could feel it."
Layden also said the authority given the Jazz coaching staff was important: "I think the players realize that Jerry's the man and I don't think anybody's saying, 'Well, if we keep playing this way, we're going to have a new coach or something.'"
Another thing Layden said he appreciated was how little things change year-to-year with the Jazz. Every player on the court has his jersey tucked in and socks are pulled up, Layden said. "They know exactly what they're doing," Layden said.
"We believe in fundamentals," Layden added. "We teach fundamentals. We do a lot of teaching. If you look at practice, you'll see the assistant coaches play an active role - - that's not true with a lot of teams, in any sport - - the head coach a lot of times is dominant."
* * *
I thought this comment from Layden pretty much sums up the Jazz organization: "A lot of times people say, 'Well, how do the Jazz do it?' and I say, 'They're conservative, they're very loyal and they have a plan and they stick to it and they don't vary from it.' They don't panic, which a lot of teams do."
* * *
Of course, Layden had a couple of laugh lines talking to us. One was about Urban Meyer. "I wrote him in for president of the United States," Layden said after Meyer's latest undefeated season.
Layden said the best coaches he'd ever seen were John Wooden, Morgan Wooten (who coached at DeMatha High outside Washington), Dean Smith and Sloan.
* * *
I'm hearing that there's an announcement soon to come about a charity partnership between Carlos Boozer, Deron Williams, Andrei Kirilenko, Brevin Knight and Kyle Korver. They're going to be donating to a bunch of causes, including The Road Home, for the holiday season and are doing so independently of any Jazz efforts. Kind of cool.
--Ross Siler
Between the 45-minute delay to de-ice one plane in Salt Lake City, the 45-minute delay waiting for a plane to arrive in Denver, the 90-minute ground hold in Denver and the 30-minute holding pattern because of snow in Minneapolis, this trip has gotten off to a fantastic start.
I still have no idea why this game is being played on the road. It would have been something special to play on Sloan's anniversary at EnergySolutions Arena, the kind of game that could have been an NBA TV broadcast.
Instead, there's going to be - - what? - - 8,000 people at Target Center to watch the 4-15 Timberwolves usher in the Kevin McHale era. They didn't even announce a crowd of 11,000 at the last Minnesota home game/loss Saturday against the Clippers.
We had a good time talking with Sloan as well as Frank Layden (who referred to us as "The Gentlemen of the Fourth Estate") at Monday morning's practice. Obviously, the anniversary was the topic of the day and both had some interesting things to say.
Almost as soon as the Jazz took the court, word came that Minnesota had fired Randy Wittman. "I hate to hear that," Sloan said. "It's just a constant, everyday thing. I know how volatile this business is. I just think how lucky I've been to be here for as long as I have."
Reflecting on the anniversary, Sloan said he had no idea Layden would turn over the team to him 20 years ago. He was "somewhat aware" that Layden wasn't going to continue coaching after the 1988-89 season, but had little clue he would step down when he did.
That morning, Layden turned over the team to Sloan at the morning shootaround. Sloan went around to every player and shook his hand, for reasons that he explained Monday (and that say a lot about the kind of coach he is).
"I wished them luck," Sloan said, "because I know how unlucky this business can be."
He went on to talk about the difficulty of having to cut players in the preseason each season. Sloan said he always makes sure to break the news personally and to be there to explain the reasons if a player asks.
"I always tell them I think there's always a chance that they can succeed somewhere else if they'll work at it," Sloan said. " I happened to be one of those guys that nobody thought I could play after I left Baltimore and I ended up playing for a long time and I always think other people can do the same thing."
I asked Sloan whether he took pride in the title of the longest-tenured coach in major professional sports.
"This is a crazy, volatile business and I'd say it's more a reflection on Larry Miller than anything else, where he has said, 'I'm going to run the team the way I want to run it, I don't care what everybody else does.
"I'm sure he's heard a lot of times that I should be fired and he should fire me and all that stuff. He's the one that's made the decision, not me.
"I mean, anybody could have been in this position. I just think I just happened to be lucky, the guy that came along and the right place and they hired me as a head coach. I never think of myself as better than anybody else or anything like that. I just think I've been fortunate.
"There's a lot of great coaches. I don't consider myself that. I have a very good staff that works for me everyday. They're terrific coaches that way. But personally, I don't look at it as I'm a great coach or anything. I've always been blessed with good players."
As much as Sloan has the old-school image, he answered a question of how much he has changed over the years by talking about trying not to fine players. "I'd rather try to deal with them on a personal basis as best I can," Sloan said.
Sloan added that he appreciated Miller's philosophy on players being expendable, as opposed to coaches.
"I'm not a one-man show," Sloan said. "I never wanted to be. I never wanted to be a one-man show when I played. I think it's a team game and you have to put those kind of things together in order to have a chance to win and that's all I've ever been about."
Layden talked to a group of reporters for close to 16 minutes and said he long admired the continuity the Dodgers had with Tommy Lasorda and the Cowboys had with Tom Landry. The Jazz have done the same thing with Sloan over the last 20 years.
"The way the contracts are structured nowadays, you can't fire the players, so you fire the coach and you hope for the best," Layden said. "Usually, the results don't change very much - - occasionally, they do - - but not very often is the coach really at fault."
Layden said: "In my mind, Jerry is the best coach, maybe in any sport, not just the basketball. I think he sometimes, because of the market we're in, he doesn't get the credit. He'd already be in the Hall of Fame if he was coaching New York or Chicago or Los Angeles."
Asked about why he resigned 17 games into the 1988-89 season, Layden said he wished he'd stepped aside that previous summer. Layden said he'd lost his passion after coaching 10 years in high school, 10 years in college and several in the NBA.
"When the season started, I said, 'You know, Jerry can take these guys to the next level,'" Layden said, "and if there ever was a decision that I made that was the right one, it was that. The players were responding to him, I could see that, I could feel it."
Layden also said the authority given the Jazz coaching staff was important: "I think the players realize that Jerry's the man and I don't think anybody's saying, 'Well, if we keep playing this way, we're going to have a new coach or something.'"
Another thing Layden said he appreciated was how little things change year-to-year with the Jazz. Every player on the court has his jersey tucked in and socks are pulled up, Layden said. "They know exactly what they're doing," Layden said.
"We believe in fundamentals," Layden added. "We teach fundamentals. We do a lot of teaching. If you look at practice, you'll see the assistant coaches play an active role - - that's not true with a lot of teams, in any sport - - the head coach a lot of times is dominant."
* * *
I thought this comment from Layden pretty much sums up the Jazz organization: "A lot of times people say, 'Well, how do the Jazz do it?' and I say, 'They're conservative, they're very loyal and they have a plan and they stick to it and they don't vary from it.' They don't panic, which a lot of teams do."
* * *
Of course, Layden had a couple of laugh lines talking to us. One was about Urban Meyer. "I wrote him in for president of the United States," Layden said after Meyer's latest undefeated season.
Layden said the best coaches he'd ever seen were John Wooden, Morgan Wooten (who coached at DeMatha High outside Washington), Dean Smith and Sloan.
* * *
I'm hearing that there's an announcement soon to come about a charity partnership between Carlos Boozer, Deron Williams, Andrei Kirilenko, Brevin Knight and Kyle Korver. They're going to be donating to a bunch of causes, including The Road Home, for the holiday season and are doing so independently of any Jazz efforts. Kind of cool.
--Ross Siler
10:19 PM
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