Blame the Assistant

[RonnieBrewer (急凍人布魯爾)]

Jazz Notes:
Tuesday, March 13, 2007

Blame the Assistant

Jerry Sloan may have all the technicals -- probably more than anyone in NBA
history, actually -- but Phil Johnson blames himself. Well, sort of.

I wrote in today's Tribune that Sloan is trying to cut down on his T's over
the season's final month, for fear of triggering the league's automatic
one-game suspension when he receives his 16th of the year. Johnson told me
he thinks it won't be a problem, mostly because he believes he's the one who
gets Sloan in trouble.

"I think sometimes I kind of escalate things. When I'm [complaining], it gets
him going a little bit, so I'm trying to watch it," Johnson told me. "What I
try to do now, when he's in [intense] situations, is try not to get on [the
officials] too much myself, not question calls as much."

That strategy has already started to have an effect, Sloan said. He swears
-- well, not literally, because I'd have T'd him up -- that he sat down and
shut up a couple of times in each of the past two games, mindful of his
diminishing margin for error. Of course, the Jazz won both games easily,
so it was a little easier to pipe down.

Johnson, by the way, enjoys the irony of his role as Miss Manners,
considering his own track record. The longtime assistant coach has earned two
technicals this season, unusual since he sometimes goes two or three seasons
at a time without one. "Yeah, I'm getting a little out of line," he said with
a smile. "Of course, when I was a head coach [with the Kings], I used to lead
the league in technicals."

That was before the current rules, and fine structure, went into effect.
"If they were this expensive back then," Johnson said, "I never would have
gotten so many."

In case you didn't see the list in the paper, check out the worst offenders.
It's an interesting group. With his loudmouth reputation, it's no surprise
that Charles Barkley is up there -- No. 1 among non-coaches -- and Gary
Payton, another chatterbox, had a memorable career. And Rasheed Wallace,
should he stay healthy and angry, will someday catch everyone, I suppose. But
I wouldn't have guessed that Karl Malone fell just short of the player's
title.

(Incidentally, there are apparently no reliable numbers before 1970, when
Sixers super-statman Harvey Pollack began tracking them closely. So Sloan and
Don Nelson, who played in the 1960s, probably have many more. And who knows
-- maybe Wilt Chamberlain or Oscar Robertson would have another record to
show for their careers.)

Career Technical Fouls
(since 1970)
Jerry Sloan -- 413
Dick Motta -- 398
Don Nelson -- 390
Kevin Loughery -- 381
Charles Barkley -- 342
Karl Malone -- 337
Cotton Fitzsimmons -- 287
Bill Fitch -- 279
Gary Payton -- 268
Rasheed Wallace -- 263

The bad part of this record is that Sloan is clearly embarrassed by it. He
hated talking about it when I asked him at a Jazz practice over the weekend.
Off the floor, despite what John Amaechi would have you believe, Sloan is one
of the most gracious and humble people I've ever met. But there's a real
Dr. Jekyll quality about him, because on the floor, he turns into a
competitive maniac, absolutely rabid about winning. He's totally rational and
unpretentious away from the arena, but when he's mad at the officials, all
logic escapes him; there's nothing they can say to convince him they're being
fair. That focus and intensity is part of what makes him a success, I'm
certain, but it obviously drives referees crazy.

-- Phil Miller in Miami
5:35 PM

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