Jazz Exceeding Expectations

[RonnieBrewer (急凍人布魯爾)]

Jazz Exceeding Expectations
By  Bill Ingram
for HOOPSWORLD.com
Mar 14, 2007, 20:38 

The Utah Jazz came into the 2006-07 season as a team on the bubble. Most
pundits thought they would be tough, but few imagined they would be able to
capture and hold onto the fourth seed in the Western Conference as they have
for most of the year. Head coach Jerry Sloan says health has been a big part
of their success.

"I thought if we could stay healthy we'd be competitive, but I didn't have
any idea what our record would be or anything like that," says Sloan. "Last
year Carlos Boozer missed 56 games and our team won 41 games without him.
Kirilenko was out, Matt Harpring was playing seven minutes at a time. I had
to take him out and he couldn't play in back-to-backs, so I thought if we
could stay healthy we'd be a lot more competitive. In the mean time,
obviously Deron Williams is a better player, Paul Millsap has given us great
play off the bench. We certainly didn't expect that from a young player. He's
given us credibility with our bench and we didn't have that a year ago."

Another important part of the success the Jazz have enjoyed this season has
been the improved play of point guard Deron (pronounced "Darrin") Williams.
Deron went from being a part-time starter averaging 10.8 points and 4.5
assists last season to getting a very Stockton-like 17.1 points and 9.2
assists per game this year.

"Deron's a very intelligent player, a very intelligent person, who
understands the game of basketball," says Sloan. "Obviously he's played
around the league a couple of times and he's gotten better. Whatever he wants
to do to get better, I'm sure he'll continue to do that. It's basically up to
him to gradually get better and better every day."

There have been few constants in the NBA, but one of the names that continues
to be associated with his original team is that of Jerry Sloan. Few head
coaches have been able to maintain the kind of continuity that Sloan has
enjoyed with the Jazz, something he attributes to a patient organization . .
.and a little bit of luck.

"I've been very lucky," says Sloan. "I've had good players and owners and I
think everybody in our organization has been patient. When things got tough
- when Karl and John left - I think we knew we had an uphill battle to be
somewhat credible. Kevin O'Connor and our organization brought in Okur and
Boozer - people got a little impatient I think because Boozer got hurt - but
you have to fight through that. We stood the test a little bit there and
fought through it and ended up with a good player in Deron Williams. I think
I've just been lucky. It's not anything we've done, it's just a matter of
having good players, guys that are willing to play every night and sacrifice
a little bit of their own personal game to make your team have a chance and
we've had that for the most part."

It also helps to have an excellent coaching staff . . .

"I have an excellent staff and that's been the biggest thing for me. You
don't make it in this business by yourself. A lot of people may think they
do, but you have to have good players. Like that old saying goes: They don't
line the Kentucky Derby up with jackasses, they have to have thoroughbreds.
We've been fortunate to have a couple of those."

As the playoffs approach the Jazz are expected to suffer from a lack of
experience. Sure, they have Derek Fisher, who has been through the playoff
wars, but he alone can't compensate for the youth and inexperience of this
Jazz team. It's very likely that the Jazz will fall flat this playoff season,
only to come back stronger for having done so.

"That's where we are," explains Sloan. "We're a young group of guys that
played in Miami last night for a long period of time. Miami's a very
experienced team that knows how to take advantage of a situation and how to
take advantage of everything they do and Pat does a great job coaching them.
Our guys panicked a little bit, as they tend to do when things go wrong.
We'd make two or three plays and then panicked and from that point on each
guy felt that they had to do it alone. We can't play that way, and in order to
be able to play in the playoffs those are the things that you have to learn.
It's imperative that they do get to the playoffs so they have a chance to
know and understand that. If they don't, then I think we'd just be treading
water with guys that ten years from now would be doing the same thing."

Finally, the Jazz are one of the organizations that truly emphasize the
importance of the character players have off the court as much as their
talent on the court. Fans in Utah have little tolerance for off-court
stupidity, and their head coach has always approached the game with a very
high level of expectations for his players, as well.

"That's huge," says Sloan. "We're not perfect, but that's one of the things
that our organization tries to teach guys and get them to understand that
they're here to work for us. We're not going to try to take advantage of
them. I'm not going to play guys 48 minutes or anything like that, and we
really expect them to come and try to play hard and play with some semblance
of order as far as the team's concerned. Anything other than that and we
start to get a little bit out of synch. I think players have to be held
accountable for things, like when they don't play hard. We have a lot of
people who come to games and expect to see the team play hard. Every coach
wants that. I'm not the only coach that wants that, but sometimes you get
guys that think they're bigger than the game. This game will go on long after
they're gone and long after I'm gone. It's a wonderful game to be a part of
and we hope that our players appreciate that, too, as they develop and play
and go forward."

The Utah Jazz may not be picked to win the title this year, but they are
certainly a team that will be looking to contend in the very near future.
A proud tradition and an outstanding group of talented players should make
them one of the up and coming teams next season and for years to come.


                             http://www.hoopsworld.com/article_21233.shtml 

--
※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.cc) 
◆ From: 59.41.45.239
→ RonnieBrewer:Deron (pronounced "Darrin")
→ RonnieBrewer:要正名嗎?
→ RonnieBrewer:答鈴威廉姆斯
推 sam369:打你威廉斯  達令威廉斯 就冷威廉斯
推 hardaway:正名！
推 gratitude:濤鴿：正名要十萬元批幣，你還要做嗎？
推 gratitude:招汁：Deron現在變這型，Najera要負責啦！
推 gratitude:紅姨：威廉絲正名甘午斗笠？ 來 麗宏 你攻跨嘛！
推 gratitude:麗宏：挖乾嘎威廉絲正名是一個長期以來結構性的問題！
推 Stockton::教皇：你安怎不去電台講給張爸知道＠＠？？
推 gratitude:獅丸：威廉斯你有資格正名嗎？你對得起全民嗎？
推 gratitude:少糠：來~~~~選一個今日最好笑！
推 gratitude:香籠：關於這個問  問  問題，我比較傾  傾  傾向於~~~~
推 gratitude:村騎：這很明顯是統治階級的一貫手法。
推 cyp001:   果凍: 依哇30年老記者的經驗...(摸眼鏡)
推 xjazz:    席尾：^ _^
推 sam369: