From Deseret News archives:
Utah Jazz notebook: Sloan likes to see mid-range jumper
Forget the spectacular rim-rocking dunks and the exciting net-snapping long-range shots. He'd rather watch cornstalks grow on his Illinois farm.
Better yet, the 66-year-old Jazz coach would really prefer seeing those buckets that are taken about halfway between the hoop and the 3-point line.
Sloan made that clear at practice Monday when he turned a comment about the evolution of C.J. Miles' offensive game into a full-fledged sales pitch for the unheralded and overlooked mid-range shot.
"Young guys have got to have a mid-range game. Everybody wants a 3-point shot or a dunk. That's the nature of coming out of college into this league," Sloan said. "But you give me a guy that can make a 15-foot jump shot, that's when you become effective."
And he'll take effective over exciting any day, which is why he wasn't exactly hooting, hollering and high-fiving when Deron Williams passed off the backboard to Miles for a SportsCenteresque dunk Friday against the Kings. Or why he doesn't do fist bumps after Kyle Korver swishes 3s.
Sloan really wants NBA players, especially the newer generation, to channel the likes of Jeff Hornacek because 15-footers are often available in the flow of the offense.
"So many guys think it's a better deal to hit a home run than it is to hit a single," Sloan said. "That's why a guy like Jeff Hornacek was always so effective for us. Sure, he made 3-point shots — he and (John) Stockton, but they made 15-footers. That really increases your ability to play the game."
The downside, the coach admits, is that it also decreases your likelihood of making highlights or headlines.
"The excitement of basketball is to shoot the 3 or dunk the ball. There's not anything exciting about a 15-foot jump shot. People go home and say, '(Gosh), I'm bored to death,'" Sloan said. "How many times have you ever seen them show on television or people write in the newspaper anything about, 'A guy made a 15-foot jump shot?' It's always, 'They made a 3' or 'They got a dunk.'"
Not counting a certain mid-range shot he once saw Michael Jordan hit against the Jazz, of course.
DEFENSE? HELP!: A lot of preseason talk centered around the Jazz's need to improve their defense, and a statistical comparison suggests they have. Through 18 games, opponents are averaging 96.3 points on 45.9 percent shooting. Last year, Jazz foes shot 46.1 percent and scored 99.3 points an outing.
But all the injuries make it tough for Sloan to give a fair evaluation because the Jazz "haven't been together enough to know whether we are (better) or not."
