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Utah Jazz: Williams, Sloan dish out praise to backup Price

In this me, me, me league it's great to have someone leading the Jazz that understands the importance of the ebb and flow of the game.

How many players would have passed up the chance to play a few extra minutes in a playoff game? Not many I bet.

Deron's willingness to sit on the bench while Price played is an uncommon virtue in this league. Granted, he probably enjoyed the rest but he also realized that Price was playing great.

Phil Jackson LIKES to get under the skin of opposing fans and apparently it is working there in Salt Lake. Just keep in mind that Phil has won 9 NBA championships whenever he has had a superstar or a pair of superstars. First there was Michael Jordon, the greatest player in the universe (who sometimes needed to push off to get the winning basket.) In the early years of Micheal's career there was no title. When Micheal retired (the first time) there was no title. And when Michael retired the second time there was no title. Then he came to LA and had Kobe AND Shaq. There were three more titles. But then when he just had Kobe, there were consecutive exits in the first round or the lottery pick. Now he has Kobe AND Gasol and they look poised to go all the way (but I think the Jazz will have something to say about that.) So let's face it, "the greatest coach of all time" is just mediocre without superstars (sometimes more than one) on his roster. Let him try building a team in the smallest market in the country and see how he does.

That was a long winded way of saying Jackson is overrated and Sloan is underrated, but I agree with your opinion. Congrats to Larry Miller, Kevin O'Connor, and Jerry Sloan for sticking to the plan during the down years. It's pretty amazing that we only had a few down years to rebuild an entire roster.

Ok why is Phil Jackson worried about the signs and actions in the crowd in a primarily mormon community. He's coaching an NBA team in a playoff game. You'd think he'd have a lot more to worry about than fans being rowdy and holding up signs such as "We Love our Booz- Even on Sundays". His star player is "hurt" and he wants to worry about the crow. I agree Phil can only win if he has a superstar on his team. Let him go coach Minnesota or Memphis and see what happens. He won't win a thing.

phil's a joke of a coach- it's all about the whining and mind games, he couldn't win anything without the players he's had. He just sits on the sidelines all smug during the game and then makes itsound as if it's all his doing when they win.

No wonder all the faker fans are whining and making excuses now despite averaging 8 more FTA/game (and that's even including the Jazz's big differential on Sunday). The fans do it because they see their coach do it.

And to make it all that much better, he's already let everyone know that this series will end in 6 games. (Maybe he and David Stern have been talking lately).

This Mormon missed the game. I had church. Not one sign there. Very quiet/peaceful. No raucous Mormons or other loud fan behavior. I guess you just went to the wrong building Phil. If you were hoping for Mormons to welcome you, then shouldn't you look for us at church?

What do you expect you'll find at a playoff basketball game? And on Sunday, when the churchgoers aren't in attendance, shouldn't you expect the most raucous crowd in attendance at the ESA?

Nice antics/illogical rant, I mean coaching/mind-games. Lol!!!!!!!!!!

Phil plays more mind games than a 16 year old girl. most of the 16 year old girls I've met are a little less pretentious than Phil Jackson though.

Sorry to all of the 16 year old girls out there, you really didn't deserve that.

I don't think that Phil Jackson is much concerned with signs reading "We Love our Booz- Even on Sundays". I think he was surprised that some fans taunted Derek Fisher by holding a hand over one eye, in mockery of his cancer-stricken daughter, and that other fans that held up signs recalling the rape allegations (which were, of course, later dropped) against Kobe Bryant.

Phil may play mind games, and he may be overrated, but he has infinitely more class and dignity than the callous fools in Utah who root for a dirty-playing team and whine that a former Jazz player left the team and took a job with far less pay in order to care for his sick daughter.

Phil Jackson commented about Jazz fan signs at the arena on Sunday, calling them amoral (he probably means immoral) and raucous (he probably means raunchy). He wonders how such a thing could happen in Salt Lake City. Well, Mr. Jackson, only 50% of Salt Lakers are Mormon, and most of those don't attend church regularly and most likely do not abide by many of the church's standards. And on Sunday many devout Mormons refuse to attend or to participate in athletic events, believing that doing so would not be keeping the Sabbath holy. So really you shouldn't be surprised. Besides, many active LDS still have senses of humor, and just because a sign might have a double entendre, it doesn't mean that writing or holding it would be considered a sin. Many Mormons are much more offended by the use of the Lord's name in vain than they are by the use of raunchy language. Most fans realize that all signs are meant for fun and jest. When somebody holds a banner, "Kill the Lakers," he doesn't really mean that.

Boozer said: "We just kept trying to take it inside and go in the paint, whether it be on layups, fast breaks, post-ups ... That's the reason why we shot more free throws," the Jazz forward said. "If you put the onus on the refs, they're going to call calls if there's a foul there."

Jazz players, please keep this in mind, even if you go to the hole six times in a row and come up empty with no fouls called each time. The refs can't ignore fouls the entire game, even in Los Angeles. Expect the calls to be very one-sided to start with, but if you let the lack of fouls called on the Lakers affect your style of play, the Lakers will win. You must continue to bang inside, and the refs will start to even things out. Get those Lakers in foul trouble. And, Booze, unless you're hot, don't shoot jumpers. Drive in a draw fouls or drive and dish out. Deron and Memo are shooting well.

It's true that Phil Jackson is a total joke as a coach. I mean, who couldn't win a championship with not one, but TWO superstars on the roster? Just look at all the championships Sloan racked up with Stockton and Malone. Teams with two superstars don't even need a coach.

LAKERS IN SIX.

Price is fantastic! I think it's great he's out of Utah Valley State (wherever that is). He should be very proud of how he's representing Utah.

I have read these posts and I'm not a Jazz or Lakers fan but give credit where credit is due. Phil Jackson is one of the best coaches of all time. Jazz fans seem to cry about every single thing. They never admit defeat and when they do, they add an excuse.

Phil won squat after Shaq left? Phil didn't coach the year after Shaq left. The Lakers didn't make the playoffs that year. The following year he came back and the Lakers have been progressing since. Don't forget that Shaq was not the only one who left. Fisher, Fox, Horry, Payton, Malone, Phil Jackson and several other key players left. Lakers were left with Smush Parker, Kwame Brown and other sorry players.

I don't even care about the Lakers but I think it is so pathetic how Jazz fans are such cry babies!

Lakers were left with Smush Parker, Kwame Brown and other sorry players.


and Kobe Bryant perhaps?

Stockton and Malone were definitely superstars, but neither was a Kobe Bryant or Michael Jordan.

Having said that, Phil Jackson is still an amazing coach, no doubt about it. But he's a pathetic person.

"Stockton and Malone were definitely superstars, but neither was a Kobe Bryant or Michael Jordan."

I wonder if Phil Jackson had anything to do with transforming mere superstars into championship-caliber players. Is this what you mean when you say that Phil is "a pathetic person"?

As a Lakers fan, I've lost significant respect for Jazz fans. Using racial slurs against the Warriors and chanting "Cancer" and mocking D-Fish's ailing daughter are actions that cross the line of decency. I look at your franchise in much less favorable light after this season's playoffs.