Erick Blasco Posted February 11, 2011 Report Share Posted February 11, 2011 Woj hits another one out of the park. Williams’ frustration has been with management and the coach. Lately, he’s watched more talent leave than talent arrive. He has tremendous character, a will to win that stands shoulder-to-shoulder with Sloan. He’s one of the two or three best point guards in the world, and he had an idea of expanding the playbook, making the rotations less predictable and never could make that resonate with Sloan. As a younger man, Sloan would wage battle with Malone, too. They were famous for going back and forth, but those were championship contenders and there was always a belief they could win a title together. That’s gone now. The Jazz are just one more mid-market team good enough to make the playoffs but unlikely to advance. Williams is so much like Sloan: tough, proud, professional and caring deeply about winning. Around Team USA, Williams had always been a favorite of officials and coachers for his maturity. When peers LeBron James(notes), Carmelo Anthony(notes) and Chris Paul(notes) were younger, behaved immaturely and acted like followers, one source says: “Deron was always the grownup. He has always been his own man.” This doesn’t make him completely innocent this season, but it makes him like most star players. Sloan chased a championship for a long time, reached the NBA Finals twice, but he’s no longer close and the Jazz are moving further away. Yes, Sloan was tired of fighting with Williams, wanted it to stop and did what he had to do: He walked away. Yet, Sloan wouldn’t leave midseason with a contender in his locker room. Never. This was just another one-and-done playoff team playing out the regular season in the Western Conference, and the timing was right for an old farmer to climb back onto his tractor. Jerry Sloan goes home now, but there’s no blood on Deron Williams’ hands. The world had changed around Sloan, and that was no fault of one player. In that moment on Wednesday night in the locker room, it hit Sloan: There’s nothing left to chase with these Jazz, nothing left worth fighting for in the NBA. http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=Av8wbLLdfCOR_JpCGMpmolm8vLYF?slug=aw-sloanwilliams021111 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChosenOne Posted February 11, 2011 Report Share Posted February 11, 2011 Very well written, and I would have to agree i dont see Williams being the reason why Salon decided to call it quits at this point. I believe it had to do more with knowing the fact this Jazz team really was not going to get anywhere out side of making the playoffs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newman Posted February 12, 2011 Report Share Posted February 12, 2011 I just heard the Karl Malone interview on nba.com and one thing he made very clear was that Jerry Sloan does not quit. Why would he quit now instead of the time when Malone moved to LA and Stockton retired? Did he believe a team led by AK47 and Carlos Arroyo at that time would lead him to a championship? I personally think that Sloan's departure was because the players, including Deron Williams, zoned out on him. They were tired of his voice and because there were so many of them and that the Jazz can't release all of them, Sloan had to go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Truth Posted February 12, 2011 Report Share Posted February 12, 2011 Very well written, and I would have to agree i dont see Williams being the reason why Salon decided to call it quits at this point. I believe it had to do more with knowing the fact this Jazz team really was not going to get anywhere out side of making the playoffslol you did it again. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Truth Posted February 12, 2011 Report Share Posted February 12, 2011 there's never just one reason for anything. Sloan decided to step down for a number of reasons. didn't want to sacrifice his integritytired of dealing with heated playerswouldn't change his plays for anyoneknew Utah was going nowhere this yearhe had a great run, but it was time for change. it's a shame he couldn't finish out the season, but I think he was really just done. the game changes and so do the players. we're starting to see a lot of younger, less experienced head coaches replacing their predecessors. Williams displaces Bower, Smart succeeds Nelson, Vogel replaces O'Brien, and now Corbin in for Sloan. I'm sure we'll see younger coaches replacing Phil Jackson and John Kuester in the future as well. my point is that maybe these younger coaches are able to relate to players and adapt to change better than the older ones. they're still hungry and motivated for success, so they'll go the extra mile to appease their players and try to get to know them. I think this year, Sloan was just going through the motions and you know, whatever. anyway, it was a great career for Jerry. I wish he could have won a ring or at least a COY award, but that kind of longevity makes up for everything. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AboveLegit Posted February 12, 2011 Report Share Posted February 12, 2011 http://nbaplaybook.com/2011/02/11/to-run-or-not-to-run-jerry-sloan-vs-deron-williams/ Gives a great perspective on the Williams vs. Sloan feud. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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