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“Why Jerry Left” or, “Don’t Blame Deron”
Posted by: Joey Parker on February 11th, 2011
The author's views are entirely his or her own and may not reflect the views of the Utah Jazz.
I take Jerry Sloan at his word. He doesn’t have the energy to do this anymore. I also take Deron Williams at his word. He didn’t ask the Jazz to get rid of Jerry. After watching the press conference, listening to former players (including John Stockton and Charles Barkley), and then trying to put the pieces together, I have come up with this simple 3-part explanation of why I think Jerry left:
1. Players and coaches argue, have rifts, yell at each from time to time, and don’t always like each other. John Stockton mentioned it in this ESPN interview: http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=6110449. Charles Barkley mentioned it on Inside the NBA last night as well. Jerry mentioned it in interviews after the press conference. He had had disagreements with many players over the years.
2. Jerry Sloan and Deron Williams had an argument at halftime of the Jazz-Bulls game. Both people basically admit that, but both also said that it wasn’t anything particularly out of the ordinary.
3. Jerry does not have the energy to deal with coaching anymore. Coaching has always included, and will always include, arguments with players. This is likely one of the most stressful parts of the job.
So what do those facts mean? Yes, there was an argument with Deron, but that does not mean Deron did anything “wrong” or that he “forced Jerry to resign”. Nothing had drastically changed with how things worked as the coach of the Utah Jazz. Things happens, people argue, etc. It’s just that at this stage of his life, Jerry doesn’t want to to have to deal with that stuff. It’s the old “I’m too old for this s**t!” situation.
That being said, I also do not think one more argument with Deron is what drove Jerry to quit. This has been a very rough season. There are many new players. The players aren’t running the offense very well. The players aren’t playing defense very well. We are in the middle of a period where we can’t win games we need to win. All of that stuff, plus the normal parts of being a coach, including the arguments, are things that Jerry is too tired to deal with.
I’m happy for Jerry Sloan. He gets to retire with plenty of time left to drive around his tractors and to spend his millions of dollars. Pretty decent retirement, if you like tractors.
I’m also excited for the Utah Jazz. It’s really sad to see Jerry Sloan and Phil Johnson leave, but it is exciting to see how the Jazz will perform under a new coaching staff. I was 8 years old when Frank Layden stepped down, so I really don’t remember the Jazz with any other coach then Jerry Sloan. Tonight’s game vs. Phoenix will be a surreal experience.
Replies: 7
Views: 1338
7 Responses
Good Post. I also think todays pro athletes are apoiled, money hungry, less coachable, and that would be frustrating..
Anyone know hwo the new assistants are?
Layden and Hornacek are assistants I believe.
I for one will be cheering for D-Will tonight as loud as I can possibly muster. He doesn’t deserve the crap he’s getting. No one is to blame except mother nature and father time.
Go Jazz!
I agree, I agree.
NOW IS NOT THE TIME TO POINT FINGERS AND RUN PEOPLE OUT OF TOWN, NOW IS WHEN WE COME TOGETHER AS FANS AND SUPPORT OUR TEAM AND OUR AMAZING PLAYERS.
LIFE OFF, GAME ON!!!!!!!!!
We will show a greater support for Jerry Sloan by not falsly tainting his legacy to fulfill our need of finding a villain, than dragging players or management through the mud. Jerry was loyal above all else. What Would Jerry Do? Remain loyal. What should we do? Remain loyal.
Great Post. Seriously, educated Jazz fans hopefully realize by now that this is not a D Will issue. He needs to know we’re not buying in to all the media crap. Lots of positive support tonight for D and the Jazz.
love this post. too many people are too quick to blame deron. jerry is too tough to quite when him and deron get in a fight and im pretty sure what deron would say in a fight would be very small compared to what karl would say. karl would just try to crush you in a fight so if jerry was going to quite because of a player it would have been when karl was yelling and blowing up not deron.
Great post. I’m sick of hearing people try to place the “blame” on Deron or anybody else. Jerry made the choice. Why he made it, or what went into it, we may never know, but he made a choice. It’s up to the Jazz and the Jazz fans to figure out what to do with it. It was unexpected, it wasn’t the way we had pictured in our heads, but it happened. We move on and figure out how to best support our team while they figure out how to win with a new coach.