Jerry Sloan and the Utah Jazz haven't missed a beat for the past 21 years and don't plan on changing anything any time soon.
Patience is something that is exhibited in very little quantities these days when it comes to professional sports teams. But there always seems to be an exception to the rule and in the NBA, the one team excluded from it all is the Utah Jazz.
Consider the Jazz have had the same coach, Jerry Sloan, for 21 years and in all this time while he has never won a title. Sloan has only had one losing season in Utah. Sloan has always had the support of long time owner Larry Miller, who just recently passed away from complications due to Type Two Diabetes. It has always been done Sloan's way in Utah with a system he has built and believes in unequivocally. If you want to play for the Jazz, you play the way Sloan wants you to play.
A couple of seasons ago there was some friction between Andrei Kirilenko and Sloan. After smoothing things over, Kirilenko has said he is now happy in the Jazz system. When asked recently about Kirilenko coming off the bench and liking his role and the Russian star's feeling about the coach, Sloan's response was simple.
"Andrei and I are fine, I don't need my players to like me, I need them to play for me," said Sloan very candidly.
With the aforementioned words and accompanying attitude there is no way a player could run the "back door" play on the coach. You know what I'm talking about and how it goes in this day and age. A star player, who has been coddled from the time he was an AAU star, is unhappy with the coach so he, or his agent, go around the coach to the general manager or owner and voice his displeasure. The coach then hears about it from above and is bound to resolve the situation. If not the complaints continue and somehow gather validity in the locker room, particularly if the team is losing and voila, the coach is suddenly joining the unemployment line.
But that's not the way it works in Salt Lake City. Over the years, general managers have been in lock step with Miller and Sloan. It is not unusual to see players come to Utah as relative unknowns and develop under Sloan's system and tutelage to the point where they become part of a great team. If that player leaves, there is no guarantee that he will succeed elsewhere because the next system or role that he is asked to employ may not be what it was under Sloan.
"I think a lot of coaches and fans can look at this franchise and learn from it," said veteran play-by-play man Ron Boone, also a former Jazz player.
"Larry Miller gave Jerry a chance to stay with this team, why, because of Jerry's consistency. He has a system that has been very successful for 21 years," remarked Boone as a testament to the patience of the owner eschewing an attempt at the quick fix.
An examination of the current roster sees Utah with eight of its 14 players brought into the NBA as second round picks. Upon closer scrutiny, many of the key pieces like Carlos Boozer, Paul Milsap, Memhet Okur, and C.J. Miles were chosen in the second round by other teams and thrown on the scrap heap only to be scooped up by the Jazz as perfect pieces for Sloan's system.
So what is this vaunted system that seems to put the Jazz in the mix every season? It is based on two of the most basic concepts that at one time were the foundation of all teams but is becoming increasingly difficult to build upon in these times. Initially, players must accept a defined role and secondly, you had better play hard in Utah. The offense Sloan runs is disciplined and for all intents and purposes, the Jazz play a post season style for the entire season. Precision cuts and reads based on counters to the defensive reactions of the opponents in their half court sets are the norm for the Jazz. At times, Utah executes the fourth option in the offense as easily and seamlessly as the first. They know the offence so well the defense can't take everything away.
This season in particular, with all the injuries to key players has seen the Jazz cling to the system to stay in the race in the tough Western Conference. With Boozer out, Milsap stepped in to fill the hole in the point guard - power forward screen and roll dominated offense without missing a beat. Sloan has been running the same sets in his offense for years. It's like bad weather for some opposing teams. Even though they know it's coming, they can only prepare for it because they can't stop it. With a healthy club, Utah is now 11-0 since the all-star break and have climbed up the standings thanks to a 12-game win streak, its longest such streak in 10 years.
Now the system is not without talent. When Utah wants you, they have a role in mind for you. Sloan needed a top flight point guard to run the team and Utah made moves on draft day to trade up and select Deron Williams third overall. Ronnie Brewer was drafted with the number 14 pick and Kirilenko late in the first round at 24.
Sloan, his style, his system and the identity the franchise has forged are in the minority when it comes to the present day NBA. But why change something that has worked for years? True, there has been no title but it's not because the franchise has been changing directions. With the NBA playoffs just over a month away, look out for the Utah Jazz as some may not consider them a title team but don't expect the Jazz to hit too many sour notes. With a system in place, they are always a tough out.
