Reader comments
Utah Jazz post a costly victory over Bucks

55 comments   |   Read story

Trigger1 | 1:58 a.m. Nov. 20, 2008
Maybe it is Jerry's type of motivation but I saw his post game and halftime comments and it seems that C.J. Miles can do nothing right in Sloan's eyes . He has a darn good offensive outing but is criticized for being selfish or for not playing defense. I guess these comments can be considered motivational to Miles but it also seems like they may be damaging to him. Am I way off on this evaluation or has anyone else noticed the same thing ?
TEJA | 5:18 a.m. Nov. 20, 2008
Wow, Boozer got hurt too? Good thing we are facing the Parker/Ginobili less Spurs. Still got a shot of ending the horrendous streak over there.

Time to put it in the next gear Paul Millsap. CJ Miles, keep playing like you are, earn that 4 million dollars.
odogtriever | 6:12 a.m. Nov. 20, 2008
well, lets just get all the injuries out of the way early.

If Okur can shake the dust off, and Williams can return healthy, we will be fine with out Boozer. We play better without Boozer than without any one or more of the big four.
Comments continue below
Jazzaholic | 6:22 a.m. Nov. 20, 2008
I assume that other 12 points attributed to Ronnie Price came from Ronnie Brewer.

There is a bright side to injury and adversity. You get to see Ronnie Price and C J step up to make some real contributions. The rest of the bench, like Kosta, get an opportunity to perform and get some experience.

Just keep plugging along and weather the storm. The Jazz are not the only team with injuries!

Jazzaholic
Two Towers? | 7:01 a.m. Nov. 20, 2008
So if Boozer doesn't return and Okur's back hurts, do we see Fesenko and Koufos together for awhile? Koufos would play 4 with Fesenko at 5. I'd like to see that.
CJ | 7:10 a.m. Nov. 20, 2008
CJ scored some points but some of his shots were contested. He needs to pass or cut harder so that he is not contested like that. I'm sure Slon saw that. But he is getting better and I'm happy for him. His D need to improve. I want tosee bit of Kufos and Almond.
Rod Cox | 7:12 a.m. Nov. 20, 2008
Sappy had 5 block And Linky had 4. That is why we won. I love Koofus he is gonna be a great defensive Center. The best we've had since Mark Eaton. CJ looks good twice, WOW!
Re: Trigger | 7:16 a.m. Nov. 20, 2008
I always wonder if the people who make comments like this have or are willing to listen to what almost the entire basketball community has said about Sloan, including his current jazz players.

The experts on the subject have spoken, everyone else just needs to start listening!!!
BN | 7:35 a.m. Nov. 20, 2008
Jerry is old school, so he will say what he feels. If he feels that CJ pulls the blanket a tad too much or misses defensive assignments this is what you will hear. Sloan has got his strengths, but motivation isn't one of them. He tries to motivate by pointing out the weaknesses. He is no psychologist, but in the long run it will benefit Miles. In the short run though, it might lead to frustration. We have to live with both good and bad.

Unfortunately, quite frequently exuberant offensive prowess means lack of effort on the defensive end. I guess, it's specialization at work: offensive folks spend more time on creativity (designing offensive plays), while defensive guys on analytics (how to control his defensive position or go for a steal/block).
So much fun! | 7:35 a.m. Nov. 20, 2008
I think this has been a blast seeing the different rotations Sloan has been trying and the success our bench has achieved. What a deep team we have! It was great seeing Kirilenko running the point last night. I thought he did a fantastic job. Also, I hope Boozer recovers swiftly, but I am not nervous for him to be out. I feel calmer when Millsap is in anyway. He doesn't take as many fruitless fade-aways as Boozer does, and he works his buns off every possession.

Good luck at the Alamo! Lets steal one while pesky little Ginobili is out.
re:trigger1 | 7:35 a.m. Nov. 20, 2008
cj got criticzed wow! Whats he going to do cry. these guys are grown men playing pro basketball. not high school kids.

you can score 25 points every night, but if the other team scores 30 points you lose. you also have to play defense.

in this sport you need to play on both sides of the court.
Miles | 7:40 a.m. Nov. 20, 2008
I have nothing to say.
TSL | 7:42 a.m. Nov. 20, 2008
Sloan may criticizing CJ Miles, but Miles continues to start and his minutes have been increasing. Therefore, it is obvious that Sloan thinks Miles is indeed capable of doing some things right, and is just trying to make him a better player with the criticism.
Steve | 7:52 a.m. Nov. 20, 2008
Put in Fesster! He can give Dunk'n fits!
Marlene | 7:53 a.m. Nov. 20, 2008
I love HOT ROD! When we can't make the game its just like being there!
Marlene | 8:01 a.m. Nov. 20, 2008
Pre game warmups with HOT ROD are always good! Why don't we get more Jazz on the radio? It doesn't come in as good at night.
Tommyk | 8:05 a.m. Nov. 20, 2008
Miles played awesome!! I was yelling at sloan to put in Miles in the 4th quarter instead of Korver, Korver is playing like trash lately, same with Matt. No way the jazz can beat the spurs without Boozer, we are going to get killed again by spurs reguardless if they have parker or Manua
to two towers | 8:09 a.m. Nov. 20, 2008
Do you really think you'd like what you saw if Koufos & Fesenko were on the floor at the same time against an NBA-calibre team. There's a reason Fesenko isn't getting minutes.
Fedor | 8:11 a.m. Nov. 20, 2008
I wonder if Boozer was on the phone in the 4th quarter asking the Dr. to get his personal MRI machine warmed up by the time he got home?
Miles | 8:20 a.m. Nov. 20, 2008
CJ has back-to-back 20 point games. Sloan will never be happy period. How does he expect CJ to be a great defender when he has been on the end of the bench for two years? Name one Jazz player who plays great on-the-ball defense? If you think CJ hurt the team last night, you are crazy. Boozer won't be out long, he is in a contract year. Dwill will be longer since he already has a contract. Price was awesome in the second half.
PurplePeopleEater | 8:25 a.m. Nov. 20, 2008
"The Jazz also got a season-high 25 points from C.J. Miles, a career high-matching 16 points from Ronnie Price and 12 from Ronnie Price."

Hey, I thought cloning of humans was illegal! But, we'll take it, what with having only one PG healthy.

Wonder if Jerry learned anything from the 2nd quarter. He put three slow defenders on the court at the same time during that Bucks run. Oddly, all three are known to be scorers, but none did during that stretch.

This game shows both how deep the Jazz are and how much a constant, energetic defense makes a difference at both ends of the court. Wonder if they picked up on that enough to help them in this next road swing?

Can Miles continue to have confidence in his shot enough to get double figures in San Antonio? He's always been talented, but it's been between his ears that needed straightening out. He seems to have done that in the past few games. Time will tell. We'll need him to continue to perform with all these injuries.

Looks like Millsap will have the opportunity to shine again, hopefully. He'll certainly get the minutes with Booz out.
Just Heard | 8:30 a.m. Nov. 20, 2008
I just heard on the Radio that Boozer will most likely be out for 8 to 12 weeks. Not sure if that was official but doesn't look good.
Wake up sports editor | 8:39 a.m. Nov. 20, 2008
I can't even guess what this should be: "a career high-matching 16 points from Ronnie Price and 12 from Ronnie Price."
Fesenko | 8:44 a.m. Nov. 20, 2008
Fesenko has showed us time and time again that he is not ready for the NBA. When he gets the ball, all he wants to do is shoot it, and more often than not, he either loses it or takes an ill-advised shot and misses. I'm with "to two towers". There's a reason why Fesenko doesn't get any minutes.

What do yo watch? | 8:48 a.m. Nov. 20, 2008
Of all the injuries and other reasons players are out, mark my words, Boozer will be missed more than any excedpt D-Will. Night after night he posts a double double; he makes shots and free throws.And he is a great rebounder. Yes, his defense is suspect, but he is always a presence. Millsap is usually good, and they are a great combination because it allows Andre to roam about and disrupt things. We have shown how important our depth is and Jerry is to be commended for bringing Andre off the bench. He literally changes the game most nights,
Stop carping about our coaches and certain team members. These guys bust their chops every night and do a pretty good job, especially at home.
That being said, I predict that Koufas will send Fes baco to Russia in a year or two.
Hoosiers | 8:49 a.m. Nov. 20, 2008
Just like in the movie Hoosiers. Jerry "breaks them down so he can build them up stronger." Then when the Jazz win the NBA finals he can say, "I love you guys." And then everyone will know that tough love works.
Fred | 8:53 a.m. Nov. 20, 2008
Maybe it is time to give Jerry Sloan a little credit for his motivation style, He makes no excuses, accepts no excuses. How many teams would be 8-4 with tne number of injuries that the Jazz have had to deal with? Especially being short your top two point guards. Great job Jazz players for stepping up, great job Coach Sloan for teaching the players how to deal with adversity. Jerry Sloan, FINALLY NBA Coach of the Year.
Defense | 8:54 a.m. Nov. 20, 2008
CJ can improve his defense. However, one reason he was shooting so much is because Price stunk up the 1st half and could not run the team and kept shooting badly and ended up going 1 for 7 or something like that. It seems like Sloan is critical of CJ and finds no fault with Price.

I have not been a CJ Fan and he has a long ways to go to be a complete player. Maybe Price adjusts when Sloan tells him to? Maybe CJ is slow to adjust?

If they put Almond in DLeague and force him to play point guard it will cure him of many of his problems.
What? | 8:55 a.m. Nov. 20, 2008
Do the guy that said CJ scored some points. What game were you watching? He scored 25 points. You imply that he scored 8 or nine points. You must be Sloan Jr. Sure, he forced a few shots and missed some, but he scored 25.

And to the other guy who wants to see Fesenko play with Koufos -- dude, Fesenko doesn't deserve any playing time. Koufos has played well so far, but Fesenko just doesn't have it going for him.
To: Just Heard | 9:02 a.m. Nov. 20, 2008
Boozer's media people put that one out!
JazzFan in AZ | 9:05 a.m. Nov. 20, 2008
TO all the Miles haters out there: hate to say I told you so. Miles should be getting every minute Korver gets. Korver is the most overrated player on the Jazz I can remember.
Bill | 9:06 a.m. Nov. 20, 2008
8 to 12 weeks?! Boozer only strained a muscle, he didn't break a bone. Why would he be out THAT long? Let's hope only a week at the most.
Ross | 9:07 a.m. Nov. 20, 2008
It seems that one of the costs of winning the Olympic gold in basketball, is over extending a number of NBA players who spend time injured during the following season, but we got the gold.
BoOoO | 9:11 a.m. Nov. 20, 2008
Miles with nothing to say!?! lol. We played a good game last night, but we should have won by more. It really worries me that the Jazz can have a 16 point lead and lose it to trail by 10. We've done that multiple times this season. Hopefully we can start holding on to our leads and stop "relaxing" when we have the big lead. Not trying to sound pessimistic(even though that's exactly what I sound like)but they are easily capable of doing it.
On another note, Milsap and AK were fantastic! They are amazing on both ends of the floor. Their defense is what got us back in the game. Miles had another consistent game. Yeah, he didn't play very good defense, but it wasn't particularly bad either. He came through on the offensive end again. About Sloans critisism, that's just his style. Always expecting more out of his players. He has done it with everyone on the team. Like someone said above, they are grown men, I'm sure they didn't get their feelings hurt.
Sports Psychology | 9:50 a.m. Nov. 20, 2008
I watched a show about Sports Pshychology on Fox Sports last year. They took several players and put them at the free throw line and then each player shot 10 free throws with a "positive encouraging coach" and then with a "cussing (literally) critical coach".

Statistics showed that the players that were cursed at and criticized consistently made an average of 1to2 more free throw/10--a 10-20%% better.

What was also interesting was the multiple player comments were similar in nature "I wanted to prove to the critical coach that I could make the freethrows". "The yelling and cursing made me focus more and there was PRESSURE to be sharp". "I could not be lacadaisical because I did not want to be yelled at for missing".

Now obviously that is not exact science but it is what it is.

Sloans coaching style works. He wants CJ to get better but in CJ's mind hes a scorer. Sloan knows that offense comes and goes but if you defend you can still play when your shot is not falling. Sloan knows CJ is a good enough athlete to play good D. Teaching moments.

I ask--do the Jazz need offense or defense?

Case closed!!!!
miles | 9:51 a.m. Nov. 20, 2008
miles on d looked pretty bad last night, we don't want that, because if he can take direction from sloan he will become a good bball player, and a good teammate too, because not all bball players are good teammates, but all teammates, are good bball players. when you have the natural ability, like smiles, you have alot that most people don't get a sniff of; i thought he played selfishly last night, not that he played bad, he helped the jazz win, but, he wasn't helping on d and doing his best to help his teammates, which is where cj has been his best-and because of his lack of experience, it is the best thing for him, i dont think a couple of good gamses changes that. I like miles, i'm routing for him, even though he got 25 last night, i didn't like seeing him not helping his teammates to get open and on d. as a fan, 25 points on top of those things would've made me very happy.
Clueless Sloan Haters | 9:53 a.m. Nov. 20, 2008
You Sloan haters are clueless. Most of these players grow up as prima donnas, with everyone telling them they are "all world", and giving them everything they wanted (Go back and look at the news articles surrounding Lebron when he was in H.S.). It started when they were young and continued through high school and in many cases even college. They have massive egos and think they can do no wrong. Sometimes the only way to break the rock is with a sledge hammer.

Now look at Sloans background, he is a farmer. I don't know one person who farms or works the earth that can stand one ounce of waste, whether it's a scrap of food or a couple minutes of their time (that includes talent and effort). sloan is doing nothing but trying to get through to these guys and help them reach the potential he sees in them. Most of his players would walk through fire for him.

And if there were a scrap, or something happened, Sloan would have everyone of their backs, (including Collins and Ostertag when he was here). I for one think that we are lucky to have Sloan.
Sloan Haters | 9:55 a.m. Nov. 20, 2008
Can you "honestly" name one coach in the league that you would rather have at the end of that bench than Jerry Sloan?
Moto X | 10:02 a.m. Nov. 20, 2008
The last two seasons I have been pretty critical of AK (and rightly so) for all his problems--too long to list.

I have to say this season though he has been the glue that has held this team together with all the lineup changes. His passing has generally been fabulous. In the absence of Deron he is getting alot of offense running through him and has delivered.

He has been one of the most consistent players. Other bench players have some big games and then disappear/fade but AK has been filling the stat sheet and more importantly he has made some big plays at some game-changing moments. Steals, assists, blocks, and even rebounds.

He has been simply awesome. Our record would be .500 or less right now if we had the AK that played last season. I think he gets alot of the credit for helping some of our new players (Brevin/Koufus) fit in as well as they have and also helping CJ and others improve their games with his tremendous passing.

With AK playing like this we are a pretty deep team.

I hope Booz is not injured bad. We can't afford to lose more consistent scorers.

Go Jazz.
Skeeter | 10:18 a.m. Nov. 20, 2008
The team look good last night. I hope Deron is back soon and that Boozer is not out long. Sloan for Coach of the Year.
Re: Moto X | 10:22 a.m. Nov. 20, 2008
You are pretty quick to judge these players. Maybe people should judging and bad mouthing you on everything you do and say.

Of course, the fans always know more then the coach or players.
Why AK47 | 10:37 a.m. Nov. 20, 2008
Had a great game.

Yes, he had blocks. Yes, he had steals. They happened at critical points in the game. They helped bring us back.

But,I think he kept us in this game, because he was able to get to the free throw line.

I believe he only missed one.

He is getting a lot of points from the free.

He's been the most consistent from the free this year.

Sixth man of the year award.
Why miles smiles? | 10:39 a.m. Nov. 20, 2008
Because he plays help d and works to get his teammates open. this is all the jazz really need from him, and it should be easier than having the pressure of trying to score, and i think, we don't want to create, or have him thinking, that he needs to be a player who needs more responsibility than to cover the basics. not now, perhaps that time will come for our cj, but not now.
he needs to keep doing the little things that got him going, and only evaluate himself on those things; because those are the things the jazz need from him, on top of that, 25 isn't going to hurt, but it isn't going to be putting wind up sloans skirt either.
Boozers Knee | 10:40 a.m. Nov. 20, 2008
Has anyone heard how long he will be out?
to moto x | 11:12 a.m. Nov. 20, 2008
It bothers me that there are so many jazz fans that are so quick to dog Kirilenko and also give him props for getting stats. Sure the stats tell some of the story, but not the whole story - by far. Even in previous years when AK's stats were down, we had other players that were scoring and filling those stats. AK didn't and doesn't need to fill a stat sheet when our team is healthy. We have multiple people who can provide the necessary amount of 'stats' to win a game.

What AK brings to the game is not captured much of the time in a stat. He changes shots, makes offenses change what they do, stops little quick guards from driving the lane and creating (Which is something that has KILLED us in the past) because they have AK to deal with.

So stop being so stat loving and try to understand what a player is really out there doing to help the team win. You don't have to have 20 and 10 to be good.
ujazzfanzz | 11:31 a.m. Nov. 20, 2008
I ask this question. If Coach Sloan is so hard on his player why dont they jump at the chance to leave? I can think of only one player that has left the second (and I mean the second) that he could Raja Bell, he was not in Coaches doghouse either. He left thinking he would stand a better chance of winning a ring in Phoenix. How many players that have been in Coach's doghouse that have left have done anything in their career after leaving? Look how good Shandon Anderson look while he was here, what did he do after he left? PEOPLE we have a great coach here in Utah, lets be thankful for that. His system and him personaly makes players better than they would be anywhere else. He has proved it time and time again.
magnus | 11:41 a.m. Nov. 20, 2008
I would like to add my voice to those who are glad to have AK in a Jazz uniform, he really is a great player and this move to being the 6th man, or whatever it may be, has him playing his best basketball in years.

I would also like to comment on those saying we won't miss Boozer as much as the others.

I think you are dead wrong. The Jazz will miss Boozer badly. They will miss his rebounding and most of all they will miss his ability to score with his back to the basket. I don't think any of the people saying we don't need Boozer understand how much pressure having a guy like Boozer puts on the defence.

Hopefully the 8-10 weeks rumors are just that and he can get back on the court soon.
to Jazz fan in AZ | 11:55 a.m. Nov. 20, 2008
Amen to that!
sloan | 1:44 p.m. Nov. 20, 2008
sloan has all those wins with no titles. That just tells me he has been around forever.
Miles | 2:48 p.m. Nov. 20, 2008
Ummmmmm It appears that everyone has an opinion about miles except me. For everyone who hates my posts and complains about my love for Miles can...... Miles Scores 1/4 of the points and he still can't play? Everyone gets beat in the NBA. Teams average around 100 points a game. That means about 40 times a game, someone got scored on. What did CJ get beat 4 times last night? Whooptee-do!! He carried the team offensively.

Add your comment

Comments are monitored. Any comments found to be abusive, offensive, off-topic, misrepresentative, more than 200 words or containing URLs will not be posted.

Words Remaining

E-mail address: For internal use only. We may want to contact you to publish your comment (not your e-mail address) in the newspaper or for a separate story idea.

Image

Utah's Ronnie Price, center, holds up the No. 1 sign after the Jazz beat the Milwaukee Bucks 105-94 Wednesday at EnergySolutions Arena.

previousnext

Latest comments

Utah is still BYU's BCS game. A little mind game: Which one of these is...

Seriously, Dick. You believe there is a bowl selection committee like the...

out of 80ish comments tho only like 6 people have no common sense. really...

This is really sad hope there can be a happy ending to this story. Also it is...

And how do they find these photos of Okur's defensive prowess? They had the...

Where to place the blame after this one? 6 pts in the 4th? Their bigs are too...

"Dan's reposting........" It was not only TOO long....but it is also just...

I hoped the Jazz bounced back against the Magic, loosing to a good team like...

Richest man on earth - Warren Buffet plays SERIOUS BRIDGE. Many chess...

Letters: Ad hominem attacks

Too funny...an anti-intellectual using big ol' words to sound smart. Just...

Advertisements