1000

Posted by Johnathan Kendrick on November 07, 2008

‘Man of the Hour’ (Melissa Majchrzak – NBAE/Getty Images)

It was an interesting game. Everyone knew the games big storyline: Jerry Sloan was going for his 1000th victory as head coach of the Jazz. A feat made remarkable not only by the fact that no other coach in the Associations brilliant history had tallied 1000 wins with one organization, but also the fact that no other coach was even close. Legendary Boston Celtic coach Red Auerbach is next in line at 795.

The Jazz began the game by briefly putting the achievement in doubt by playing themselves and Coach Sloan into a 0-8 deficit thru the first 3 minutes of the game. Then in an instant the the Jazz took control in a dominant fashion. If you blinked you might have missed it. The Jazz spent the next seven and a half minutes on a 24-2 run. The Jazz held the Thunder to 21% shooting from the field as they built a 29 point lead, doubling the Thunder output Halftime. The Jazz assisted on 17 of their 21 successful first half field goals. An appropriate half for the coach known for stressing defense and offensive efficiency.

The second half was a different story (consequently so is this blog because I had to rewrite it– never call a came over before the third quarter starts). The Thunder came out aggressively. They hustled and never gave up, continually shaving points the off lead, at one point early in the fourth quarter the Thunder cut the lead to 8. Ironically they played very ‘Sloanesque’.

In the end the Jazz did what they had done 999 previous times under the guidance of Coach Sloan – they won the game. The game ended with the capacity crowd chanting “Jerry Sloan” over and over. A throng of media awaited Sloan outside the Jazz locker room. Sloan emerged from the locker room and walked 50 feet away from the media to talk with Mark Eaton. After a few minutes of catching up with the big guy, Mark Eaton looked over at the anxious/ravenous looks of the media mob and urged Sloan to take his place in the middle. Knowing he couldn’t stall any longer, Sloan headed to the field of cameras and tape recorders mumbling “let’s get this over with.”

The first questions and sentiments directed at the coach were obviously about victory #1000. Sloan of course deflected praise and credit.

“I never thought I would last a week.”
“I appreciate all the support the fans have given us.”
“I have tremendous beliefs that this is a players game… nobody is going to pay to come watch me.”
“I’m lucky to still be here.”
“The most important thing to me is that we won our fifth game.”

Jerry gave credit and praise to the players the coaches he has coached with, the organization, and of course the owner Larry H., Miller. As quick as he could he turned the attention to the game that had just been played and that was that. The milestone had come and gone, the hype had passed, the moment was over, the focus was back on the team and the next game. Classic Jerry Sloan style. If we have seen it once we have seen it a 1000 times.

For what it’s worth – Congratulations Coach.

7 Comments

avi on November 08, 2008 said:

jazz rule…..the most serious team in the world…..and jerry sloan is the best coach in the world…its time to take the champioship!!!!!!!!!!fight!!!!!

Linda McFarland on November 08, 2008 said:

Strange how blogs a mere 6-7 months ago wss to get a new coach. You don’t do 1000 if you don’t know what you are doing. Sloan is good old honest ,fair ,but hard, old fashioned coach and I love him dearly. He teaches players that they get back in kind for what they put in. Maybe the country wouldn’t be in such a mess if top people had done that all along.

JayD on November 09, 2008 said:

Linda I have to agree with you about everybody was singing a deferant tune right after the play offs last year . I have not always liked his coaching choices , but I beleive that he is another key element in winning the title . It is so cool to have a coach like him for as long as we have . I am glad that we have a very faithful orginazation . They stick by the ones that put their shoulders to the wheel .
I think that it will be a long time before anybody brakes his record . With all the focus on winning , no one wants to take the ruff years that come with the winning . They all want to jump ship before a coach has a chance to put it all together . Thus making it hard to stay with the same team for as long as Coach Sloan has .
Congratulations , Coach Sloan . May we have as many years with you as you feel you want to stay . May this be your year for Coach of the year , that I beleive you deserve . And may you get that coveted Championship that you have worked hard to get .
Oh , yea did anybody noticed the shoots of Coach Sloan in his early years ? I had forgtten that he once looked that young . But he is now a picture of muturing as a coach and a person . I just cannot beleive it has been that long ago since he first came here and replaced Coach Layden .
Ijust thought that I would trow that out there .
Go Coach Sloan and our Utah Jazz !!!!!!!

Amir on November 09, 2008 said:

I WANT TO CONGRAC JERRY SLOAN ON HIS SUCCESS HE IS UNBELIAVABLE COUCH BEST COUCH THAT I EVER SAW.HE HAS NERVES LIKE NO ONE AND HE IS MAN OF DICIPLINE I LIKE UTAH JAZZ MOST BECAUSE OF HIM JAZZ WILL DO GOOD THIS YEAR THEY NEED WILLIAMS BACK AND I WISH THEY HAVE ONE MORE STAR ON THEIR SQUAD LAKERS IS BEST TEAM IN NBA NOW WITH TALENT AND DEPT THEY GOT LAKERS ALWAYS HAD BEST PLAYERS AND MOST OF MONEY I GUESS AND NBA LEAGUE PUSHING LAKERS FORWARD ALWAYS GOOD LUCK JAZZ I WISH DERRON WILLIAMS SOON COME BACK JAZZ NEED TRADE AND GET 1 MORE START TO HELPED THEM COMPITE THEY NEED SMALL FORWARD 6′10 LIKE ODOM THEY GOT BACK UP CENTER HE IS ROOKIE HE WONT GET PLAYING TIME ,.

Amir on November 09, 2008 said:

JERRY IS BEST OF THE BEST I WATCH SOME VIDEOS FROM 1997 AND 1998 NBA FINALS WITH BULLS SOMETIMES REFS DO THEY PART AND THEY MAKE SURE YOU DONT WIN THEY CANCEL HOWARD EISLEY 3 POINT SHOOT THAT WAS GAME 6 IN 1998 NBA FINALS AND JORDANS PUSH ON BRIAN RUSSELL THOSE TWO THINGS WOULD FORCE GAME 7

Amir on November 09, 2008 said:

I THINK NO TEAM IN NBA PLAYES HARD AS UTAH JAZZ BUT THEY NEVER HAD LUCK IN FINALS WITH BULLS AND SO ON THEY DO EVERYTHING RIGHT AND ALWAYS THERE IS SOMETHING THAT GOES WRONG THEY ARE YOUNG TEAM THIS YEAR I WISH THEY HAVE 1 OR 2 PLAYERS PLAYOFFS EXPERIENCE TO HELP THEM IN PLAYOFFS

Annie Whittaker on November 10, 2008 said:

I for one have never been on the fire Coach Sloan bandwagon. Last year I wrote a post about it. It seems to be normal but annoying fan behavior to call for the firing of the coach no matter what the cause of losses might be. It always seems that it’s worse here in Utah, because…well I’ll save it for my next post!

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