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Show DAILY UTAH CHRONICLE 10 Wednesday, February 16, 2011 1— THE GREAT DEBATE —1 How will Jerry Sloan be remembered? Fans remember winners, not losers Sloan best at maximizing talent erry Sloan is a Hall of Fame coach and an absolute legend in Utah. He is as much a part of Jazz basketball lore as Larry H. Miller, John Stockton and Karl Malone—the mention of one immediately brings memories of the others. Sloan was the master of the pick and roll and resident grandfather. But most of all, Sloan was a loser. Don't get me wrong, he was a very good loser, one of the best ever, but a loser nonetheless. Those afraid of the truth will point to his 1,200 plus regular-season wins and lament over the loss of a fallen hero. Maybe it's because I am a Bulls fan, but I'm a little less optimistic about the way Sloan will be remembered historically. It's not his fault, but there isn't much else for people who didn't grow up watching Sloan coach to remember him by. Even though he made a few strong runs at it, he never did get a Coach of the Year award. He never coached in an All-Star game. When you think of Sloan and Co., you think of a bunch of second-besters. Malone could never top Michael Jordan. Jordan was the spokesman for Nike, McDonalds, Hanes and America. Malone had a Rogaine commercial. Greg Ostertag wasn't half the freak Dennis Rodman was, and even Stockton was second fiddle to Scottie Pippen. Then there is Sloan. The hard-nosed, gritty, no-nonsense, spit-in-the-eye Sloan was pitted against the free-loving, hippyhugging Zen master that is Phil Jackson. And the hard-nosed guy lost—twice in a row. That's really the long and short of my feelings toward Sloan. Sure, he was a great coach in his time, but "his time" is a very debatable item, because another pillar of the Sloan legacy that I'll always remember is holding on much longer than the point of relevance. He finally got the boot for j message to NBA fans out there: If you think Jerry Sloan is not one of the reatest coaches in NBA history, you're downright foolish. Believe it or not, I'm not a Jazz-loving local who is just tooting the horn of a local sports hero. I grew up in Wyoming and was taught at an early age to despise the Jazz. Karl Malone was an overrated hick. John Stockton's numbers were padded by generous statisticians, and Sloan was a bitter old man. But as my father's propaganda wore off, I realized just how great Sloan was and now have a great appreciation for his body of work. Of course, there are numbers that back up his 2009 Hall of Fame induction—he's third all-time with 1,221 wins, finished • .500 or above in 21 of his 22 full seasons at Utah, reached consecutive NBA Finals in 1996-1997 and 1997-1998, had the fourthlongest coaching tenure in any major sport, blah, blah, blah. People gripe that he never won a title. Yes, that means Sloan should not be considered the greatest, but that doesn't mean he should be held out of a Top 5 or Top ro discussion. Saying Sloan is not one of the greatest coaches ever is like saying Dan Marino is not one of the best quarterbacks or Ted Williams was not one of the greatest hitters in history. Winning championships is a factor in, not a requisite for, greatness. Sloan's numbers are ridiculous, but his greatest impact was making a Utah franchise relevant. Let's face it, Salt Lake City is not a great town for NBA stars like Los Angeles or Boston. If you like the outdoors and don't mind hitting the same few bars every weekend, then great. But what would LeBron James do for fun in Salt Lake City? Think Amar'e Stoudemire would have started a rap label in Utah? The Jazz have historically struggled and will continue to struggle to attract big-name Ag JAKE HIBBARD Asst. Sports Editor being past his prime, but because he was who he was, the decision took about six years longer than it should have. Thinking back on all of Sloan's greatest coaching moves in the last decade, I'm at a loss for much other than yelling, looking confused and swearing a lot. Well, that's not true. His job with the 2003-2004 team after Stockton retired and Malone bolted for Los Angeles was beautiful—he took a team that collectively was by far the least talented in the league and made it into a .500 team. These types of instances are the way Sloan should be remembered: a man who could help inferior talents collectively reach to otherwise unthinkable heights. At the same time, he also seems to have hindered the growth of his teams in more recent years, specifically with Deron Williams and his set way of dealing with rookies. Rookies are rookies all year long was Sloan's mantra, meaning that the more a rookie showed he could contribute to a team right away, the more Sloan would go out of his way to belittle said rookie and find ways to mess with his flow. So take all of your fond memories of grandpappy Sloan taking you up on his knee to let you watch the NBA Finals right in your own backyard. You can have them, because I remember who won. VS j.hibbard@ chronicle.utah.edu JAKE BULLINGER StaffWriter players. Salt Lake City is simply not a big market draw. It lacks the glitz, nightlife and warm weather many NBA locales offer. None of this mattered to Sloan. He molded a winner in the most unlikely of places, and he didn't just have one or two good seasons—he had 21 of them. Most people look back to Sloan's NBA Finals teams when assessing his greatness. No, he didn't win either of those titles, but he still maximized his available talent more than any other coach. Yes, he had Stockton and Malone. Sloan was lucky to have that great duo, but was unluckily placed in one of the best eras of the NBA. Sloan's teams from 1996-1998 would have crushed the Spurs and Shaq-less Lakers that dominated the 2000s. So the Jazz were good, they just had much better competition. The Bulls, Rockets and Pistons in the 199os were far better than any team on the court today. What could Sloan do about that? Take away the Bulls that were arguably the game's greatest team with arguably the greatest player, and Sloan would have won back-toback championships. So how will Sloan be remembered? I can't say how he will, but I know how he should. He should be remembered as a coach who was so productive that a team held on to him for 23 years, as a coach who directed some of the best teams in recent history, and as a coach who was one of the greatest ever. j.bullinger@chronicle.utah.edu Vote on who won this week » www.dailyutahchronicle.com BASKETBALL TURNOVERS Team tats continued from Page 6 want to win games." Although Levrets is proud of his team's ability to get off the deck when it is in difficult situations, he knows that Wyoming presents another big challenge for the Utes. "Wyoming is an excellent team," Levrets said. "We had difficulty scoring against them at home. We have continued to address our offensive development, and we will need to be able to score to have a chance to win." The Cowgirls won the first game between the teams in Salt Lake City. The Utes got off to an awful start in the contest and allowed Wyoming to take a 21-5 lead in the opening minutes. The Utes used a 19-5 run late in the first half to narrow the gap to two. They kept it close from there for most of the game until the Cowgirls pulled away for a 55-48 win. Janita Badon led the Utes with 14 points in the game, and Iwalani Rodrigues and Diana Rolniak each scored in double digits. Wyoming has had a successful conference campaign so far and is still in the hunt for the regular-season championship. Two of the Cowgirls' conference losses came at the hands of second-place TCU, and the other loss was to first-place BYU. Dating back to their nonconference schedule, the Cowgirls have won 13 of their last 16 contests. The Cowgirls are led by a two-headed monster—guard Utah Wyoming Points Field g 3-point ct: F - • Ct: .• Resounds Assists Turn• -rs per St s per g. Bricks per ' Score by p Team 1st Utah 700 Wyoming 792 continued from Page 6 59.2 .39 iods 2nd 761 792 66 .654 37.3 4 .366 .685 38.8 17.0 7.2 4.3 5.9 4.6 0 Total 1479 1589 18 5 Aubrey Vandiver and forward Hillary Carlson. Vandiver leads the team by averaging 18.4 points, 9.1 rebounds and 2.9 assists, and Carlson is right behind with 17.1 points. Vandiver and Carlson are the MWC's most dynamic scoring duo, as they are No. r and No. 3 in the conference in scoring, respectively. Tip-off for tonight's game is 7 p.m. bubba@ chronicle.utah.edu For the latest info on arts events going on around the U and Salt Lake City, follow our facebook page. ■ tli Artistic Advisor: Bene Arnold Search Daily Utah ChronicleArts section ( Follow us on Twitter! tWat-ex.co-miTheChro-ny tenure. The Cowboys hung close in a 68-57 loss at New Mexico and defeated TCU 77-67 in Langley's two games as head coach. "Wyoming's got a little bit of a new team...they're playing more pressure defense, more full court, playing more guys, a little more wide open offensively," Boylen said. "They're still maybe the most athletic team in the league along with San Diego State. They have multiple ball handlers in transition and are an improved shooting team." Desmar Jackson leads the Pokes with 15.1 points per game, with Amath M'Baye and Djibril Thiam also scoring in the double digits on the season. If Utah is to end its five-game skid, the offense needs to be addressed. The Utes are playing their best defense of the season, but subpar offensive performances have caused four of Utah's past five losses. "(We) continually have to work on our turnover issue," Boylen said. "We're getting turnovers from a lot of different areas." Boylen sets 13 turnovers as an over/under for his team. If the Utes stay below that benchmark, they have a good shot at winning games, he said. Utah is averaging 14.3 turnovers per game in conference play. "It's turnovers and transition defense," said center David Foster. "Saturday (vs. BYU) was a great example. If we do those two things, we win at the Marriott Center. But until we control those two things, we will continue to struggle." One offensive change that occurred at BYU might become a mainstay. Boylen repeatedly corralled fast breaks for the Utes in Provo and embraced more on half-court execution. "We still are the Runnin' Utes, but we we're going to play a little better pace," Boylen said. "We'll be a little more selective, I'm hoping a little more intelligent, in our pace." Utah, a team that once thought it would finish among the upper ranks of the conference, has seen a shift in motivation. The recent struggles have all but eliminated any chance for Utah to move far up the standings. The team is now just trying to build momentum for March and the conference tournament. "These last five games are huge for us to get better so we can have that momentum come midMarch," Foster said. Getting that momentum started will require a win at home tonight, but Huntsman Center wins have eluded the Utes. Utah has gone just 1-4 at home against conference foes. "We've been in games at home," Boylen said. "The thing that we've struggled with at home is we've played uphill. We get down eight, down ro, and have to battle uphill...and that's not something you can do against good quality teams." The game will be broadcast on CBS College Sports. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:15 p.m. j.bullinger@ chronicle.utah.edu you may need a crystal ball to see the future... Featuring an excerpt from Val Caniparoli's Lamberena restaged by MaggieTesch, and Ballets by Peter Christie, Stevan Novakovitch, Shaun Ricks, Edward Truitt, Regina Zarhin FEBRUARY 17.19 7:30 P.M. • FEBRUARY 19 2:00 P.M. Department of Ballet COLLB, OF FINE ARTS I THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH but for current, breaking news, look into www.dailyutahchronicle.com MARRIOTT CENTER FOR DANCE U 0 .0 Photo by Luke Utley |