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Jazz fans sound off on team's woes

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Published: Thursday, Feb. 17, 2005 11:48 a.m. MST
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Is there a chance for a turnaround this season or should the Jazz just play out the year and hope to win the draft lottery? There is a chance for a big turnaround but it is a small one. I would be lying if I said that I haven't been hoping for Charlotte, New Orleans, Atlanta and Golden State to pickup some big wins to increase our chances of getting the No. 1 pick. Don't get me wrong, I hope for a Jazz win every game but losing has been easier as I always think of the possibility of picking up Chris Paul from Wake Forest or Andrew Bogut from Utah. So I believe that Jazz fans are aware that Jerry Sloan and the Jazz organization are not going to accept anything but 100% effort from their players, but I think the Jazz fans are starting to think that every win/loss is a "win/win" situation.

Thanks for your time,

Justin Cooley,

Tooele


No quick fix on horizon

Unfortunately, there is no quick fix for the Jazz and their problems. Losing Kirilenko certainly made things worse, but the Jazz started their slide right before he went down with his injury.

With in essence, the same team from last year, adding players who most everyone thought were quality players, and resigning the others, there's really no excuse for what's going on with them.

As much as I appreciate Jerry Sloan and the way he has made/kept the Jazz into playoff contenders the vast majority of the time, I have to wonder if most of this mess doesn't fall on him?

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I find it odd that so many of the players, according to Sloan, seem like they don't want to be there or play hard. If that's the case, that really seems to me to be more of a coaching issue. I realize I know very little of what really went on between Carlos Arroyo and Sloan, but how does a player go from a cornerstone of the Jazz to a trade for a 1st round pick? (Elden Campbell? What a joke that was.)

I can't help but think that Sloan, even if he was 100% free from blame in this, pulled the trigger way too fast on Arroyo. That's a mistake he shouldn't have made being in the league as long as he has, and if he was at fault to some degree in this, (I'm sure he was, people are rarely 100% blame free) that makes it even worse.

The season this year, is over. It has been for weeks now. As a Jazz fan, my only hope is, the Jazz finish strong so they can build on a good finish for next season, they come together and agree that Utah is the place they want to play, and Sloan realizes that he played some role in all of this, and is able to improve upon that.

That, and go out and sign another quality free agent this summer.

Tony Falco

Pensacola, Fla.


Jazz are apathetic, selfish

I think that the Jazz's main problems come from apathy and selfishness. It is not hard to see that many of the players do not have much, if any, confidence in Sloan's system. Many of the players are used to doing things their own way, and are struggling to fit into such a selfless, team-oriented system. These problems are merely accentuated more due to the frustration of losing so much.

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