A ship is only as good as its captain! In the sidelines the captain is Jerry Sloan, but at the helm is the point guard, who directs, feeds and decides the rhythm of the game. Mcload, Lopez and Eisley will never do. Mcload is never going to follow up coach Sloan's strategy. He is too young to do so, and all he thinks about is scoring, and he is not mature enough (he was hired at the beginning of the season as a backup). Lopez is too fragile to handle the big point guards of other NBA teams. Eisley's age is a negative against him, and he can play only 20 minutes. The proven point guard, who showed real expertise handling the team and bringing the Utah Jazz to within one game of the playoffs last year . . . is now playing with the Detroit Pistons! Watch him and he will prove I am right. Solution? Get a good point guard who'll demand and earn the respect from the other players and from his coach!

Rafael O. Morell, DDS

Carolina, Puerto Rico

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Jazz out of the groove

The Jazz's woes began, I believe, with two changes in the lineup that triggered their fall like a row of dominoes: the return of Carlos Arroyo from his injury and the promotion of Raja Bell to the starting lineup.

Not only wasn't Arroyo ready for the minutes, but his slower-paced style was a great contrast to the up-tempo play of Keith McLeod, which had been a factor in the team's early success. It took the Jazz out of the groove they were in, and their offense began to stagnate.

You might've thought that promoting Bell, who started the season on fire, would've been a positive. But it turned out that it meant demoting Gordon Giricek, and this had a decidedly negative effect on his game. Also, Bell cooled off and hasn't really found that groove since.

Then AK got hurt and things went from bad to worse. The weakness of the interior defenders was thereafter exposed. It caused a huge loss of confidence in the team, and this led to a virtual collapse that has not abated since. Jerry Sloan's decision to start Rado did not help, and the dissension that developed between Arroyo and Sloan made things even worse. As a result, the team chemistry evaporated.

Lots of people are saying that the Jazz lack toughness, and this may be true, if you apply the saying "when things get tough, the tough get going." Instead of standing up and fighting, the Jazz have seemed to back into a corner.

Tom Calarco

Schenectady, N.Y.

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Don't throw in the towel