(OT) Twitterverse going nuts about Jerry Sloan right now

[illmatic99]

Apparently, according to Brian Smith,

Really though, the news is the speculation about what took Jerry Sloan 35 minutes to come out and talk to the media. From Brian T. Smith and Ross Siler, Sloan is the fastest coach in the league when it comes to meeting with the beat writers. However, he was meeting with GM Kevin O'Connor . Here's what we know from @tribjazz's tweets:

* He met with Kevin O'Connor
* Appeared shaken
* Media will be informed about discussion on Thursday
* Interview request with KOC declined
* Thursday practice cancelled

Jim Burton also noted that Andrei left through the coaches offices and not the locker room.

Of course the Jazz twitterverse exploded with speculation. Is Sloan retiring? Was he fired? Is there a trade going down?

http://www.slcdunk.com/

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/blogsjazznotes/51226806-62/connor-sloan-season-discussion.html.csp


Wonder if he'll finally step down.

 

[EL PRESIDENTE]

from @tribjazz "Worth noting that Jazz's Kirilenko emerged from coaches' and not players' locker room. Gave no indication anything went down, though."

 

[EL PRESIDENTE]

oh, it was in your quote. d'oh.

 

[EL PRESIDENTE]

interesting shit. that team is pretty fucked. lost boozer, Jefferson isn't a good replacement. their record isn't too bad but clearly need some new lifeblood.

 

[illmatic99]

They've lost 6 of their last 10 games, and are actually pretty mediocre at home this year. I think Sloan is just tired of it.

The crazy thing is he's been coaching the Jazz for almost all my life.

 

[EL PRESIDENTE]

I remember Frank Layden!

 

[maxiep]

Losing Sloan would be the worst possible thing for the Jazz; they'd lose their identity.

 

[KingSpeed]

The Jazz NEED a new identity. His system has never won a title and he's had two decades to try. It's really really time to move on.

 

[illmatic99]

If they're trading Kirilenko, I wonder if they're considering Rip Hamilton. He'd be perfect for that system, and he's been getting shafted by that crazy ass coach in Detroit.

 

[maxiep]

The Jazz NEED a new identity. His system has never won a title and he's had two decades to try. It's really really time to move on.

Yeah, those endless playoff appearances really get tiring.

 

[EL PRESIDENTE]

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/blogsjazznotes/51226806-62/connor-sloan-season-discussion.html.csp

Discussion between Sloan, O'Connor explained as heat-of-the-moment occurrence
Published on Feb 10, 2011 12:48AM 0 Comments
A lengthy postgame discussion Wednesday night involving Jazz coach Jerry Sloan and general manager Kevin O'Connor, among others, was described by people with knowledge about the event as being a heat of the moment occurrence, and something that can happen during the course of a long NBA season.
Sloan spent more than 30 minutes behind closed doors before finally appearing to speak with the media. He was clearly disturbed during the initial portion of his postgame interview, and quickly answered two questions about his meeting with O'Connor before saying that he would only discuss game-related queries and then trailing off in mid-sentence.
During and following the conversation involving Sloan and O'Connor, a practice scheduled for Thursday morning was abruptly canceled, forward Andrei Kirilenko emerged from the coaches' room and not the locker room, and multiple players acknowledged that there was a weird vibe after the game. Meanwhile, Sloan vaguely hinted that an update would be provided in the future about his discussion involving O'Connor, while a request for an interview with O'Connor was quickly denied. However, no indication was given that anything drastic is about to happen with the Jazz, Sloan or O'Connor.
The 68-year-old Sloan is currently in his 23rd season as Utah's head coach. He has signed an extension to remain with the Jazz through the 2011-12 campaign, but is not expected to officially make a decision about returning to the team until after the 2010-11 season is complete.
O'Connor is in his 12th season with Utah and is the second-longest tenured GM in the NBA.
— Brian T. Smith
Twitter: tribjazz

 

[jlprk]

I was going to link to retiresloan.com, so I checked it, and it no longer exists. It used to be full of interesting anti-Sloan articles.

http://www.retiresloan.com/

I should warn, though, that Salt Lake City is a very small market barely surviving from the ABA, and with an ordinary win record, might just lose all its ticket sales.

 

[Luther]

That would be crazy to see Sloan retire. I really hope he doesn't but at the same time the Jazz would be absolutely lost without him...and that would be nice. Good post on a slow day.

 

[Boob-No-More]

Sloan was probably just pissed that all the guys O'Connor let walk/gave away came home to beat him tonight. Kevin O'Connor should get executive of the year for the excellent work he did rebuilding the Chicago Bulls.

BNM

 

[Sug]

In Russia, player benches you.

 

[KingSpeed]

Yeah, those endless playoff appearances really get tiring.

They do if you're getting humiliated and/or swept out of them every year. The point of the playoffs is to win a championship. If 20 years of one system doesn't give you one championship, it's long overdue to try another system.

 

[hasoos]

Didn't Sloan just sign a 1 year extension? I could have swore I read that the other day on the NBATV streamer.

 

[hasoos]

The Jazz NEED a new identity. His system has never won a title and he's had two decades to try. It's really really time to move on.

The system is a capable system. The Jazz, like the Blazers, have a hard time bringing in the proper talent to back it up.

 

[crowTrobot]

They've lost 6 of their last 10 games

10 of 14

 

[PapaG]

Yeah, those endless playoff appearances really get tiring.

The Blazers once had endless playoff appearances, yet the year that matters most to fans is 1977.

Sloan was been fortunate enough to coach 2 Hall of Fame players, in their primes, and whiffed on winning a title with them. His teams with Olympians Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer also underachieved. It could be argued that Sloan undercoached those teams, at least in terms of the centerpiece players.

 

[BoBoBREWSKI]

Andre, Joel, Camby, and Batum for D.Williams and Millsap!

 

[illmatic99]

In the last 22 years, the Jazz won less than 41 games twice. And in those years, they won 40 and 26.

That kind of consistency and winning should not be dismissed.

 

[PapaG]

In the last 22 years, the Jazz won less than 41 games twice. And in those years, they won 40 and 26.

That kind of consistency and winning should not be dismissed.

I'm not dismissing it. I'm saying it didn't lead to a title, and Sloan has had All-Stars and Olympians for much of his coaching career. Now that his talent level is down (only 1 All-Star/Olympian), his team is struggling.

 

[Chuck Taylor]

Considering we don't have a coach signed for next year, I would love to see Sloan on the open market.

But he did just sign an extension, so I'm guessing he's not getting fired merely days later.

 

[The_Lillard_King]

Sloan was probably just pissed that all the guys O'Connor let walk/gave away came home to beat him tonight. Kevin O'Connor should get executive of the year for the excellent work he did rebuilding the Chicago Bulls.

BNM

Good point.

Utah is as thin as the Blazers, but not because of injuries. Williams hinted at being distraught over the Jazz not retaining players and then Sloan has to play a team that starts Boozer and brings Korver and Brewer off the bench.

Korver and Brewer and Matthews could have really helped the Jazz this season and Utah was in a position to keep all three if they were willing to spend for them.

I'm guessing whatever conversation originally happened could have easily turned into a Sloan bitch session to management. I would have liked to see that pissed off look he gets. If I'm not wearing ref shirt, I think the man would physically intimidate me.

 

[LittleAlex]

I was going to post a response to the OP but then I remembered you really can't argue with the insane.


Salt Lake City may be the only market in the NBA less desirable then Portland for NBA players, yet that team has had at least as much success as Portland over their history.
And they have done it with teams that had no business even making the playoffs much less being a threat.

If you think that isn't impressive then you have to be either blind, mentally handicapped or insane.

 

[PapaG]

I was going to post a response to the OP but then I remembered you really can't argue with the insane.


Salt Lake City may be the only market in the NBA less desirable then Portland for NBA players, yet that team has had at least as much success as Portland over their history.
And they have done it with teams that had no business even making the playoffs much less being a threat.
If you think that isn't impressive then you have to be either blind, mentally handicapped or insane.

They had 2 of the Top 20 players in NBA history for over a decade, and 2 Olympians for half of this decade.

How can you say they had no business being in the playoffs?

 

[maxiep]

Sloan was probably just pissed that all the guys O'Connor let walk/gave away came home to beat him tonight. Kevin O'Connor should get executive of the year for the excellent work he did rebuilding the Chicago Bulls.

BNM

This. Sloan has to be furious with Wes' success with us and how the Chicago Jazz are fitting in.

 

[Nate4Prez]

This. Sloan has to be furious with Wes' success with us and how the Chicago Jazz are fitting in.

I laughed.

 

[hasoos]

They had 2 of the Top 20 players in NBA history for over a decade, and 2 Olympians for half of this decade.

How can you say they had no business being in the playoffs?

Because between those half decades were the other half decades, where they didn't have those guys.