Good! I'm glad we'll have Sloan for at least one more year. This team is just *thisclose* to being in the finals again, and I'd love to see Sloan and my Utah Jazz get another crack at it.

I'm also glad to get the first word in on this one--before all the Sloan-haters come out. I'm sure we'll see plenty of those morons on here soon enough.

I know all of the Sloan haters cannot will be moaning and whining, but I for one am glad to have him back.

Set your watch...Jerry Sloan's keeping us in suspense has ended, as it always does, with another year in Utah. Now, hopefully Boozer will decide to come back next year too...after taking the 2008 playoffs off to think about it.

Another trip to the playoffs, followed by an early exit from said playoffs, surely awaits us.

If the last 20 years has shown anything, it has shown that jerry is, at best, an average coach. In 18 out of 20 seasons the jazz underacheieved. What is it going to take to gut the coaching staff and finally get a real coach here.

The players and fans deserve a change, we have suffered long enough with jerry. In the end, it really doesn't matter what the team's results are, because if they win, jerry gets all the credit, when they lose LHM and the fans put ALL the blame on the players anyway.

The jazz have very loud and devoted fans, but not very bright.

Let me just preempt the "fire Sloan" crowd with a statement. We should be so lucky to have a coach of this caliber willing to work here in Utah for so long.

With all the turmoil in gas prices, the stock market, the middle east, the FLDS children, and the democratic primaries, it's nice to have some stability in our lives!

Jerry & Larry, thanks for your contributions to our community. Hard work, discipline, honesty, and accountability are lessons I can teach my kids through sports and by watching the Jazz - on and off the court. I hope you stay together for many more years.

Go Jazz

Does anyone think that next year's results will be any different?

If Sloan can't get a championship ring with the Stockton and Malone combo(hall of famers), how will he ever get there with a disgruntled Russian, an under-rated point guard and a power forward that can't deliver at crunch time (let alone play defense)????

Jazz fans are in for yet another great season of "mentoring" the young players and leaving "veterans" in to go 1 for 15....

Hey Sloan - how about giving me a shot? After watching you for 20 years I'm sure I couldn't do any worse!

Seriously, I'll take 1/4 your pay and do 10 times the job! I'd bench Boozer when he goes cold, I'd play Kirelinko until his legs break, I'd give D-Will carte blanche with the offense, I'd beg Milsap to stay with the team forever and I'd trade Jason (can't hit anything) Hart for ANYONE like Dee Brown.

And Larry H. - if you're listening - I'll bet you your next ESA payment that until you get a superstar like KOBE, the Jazz won't get any calls and will lose in the 1st or 2nd round next year to the Lakers (again).

p/o

Thanks for coming back, coach. Utah is lucky to have you, and we'll take you as long as we can have you.

One word of advice: Dump Andrei. Use ESPN's Trade Machine and find us a good swingman or two. :)

I cannot believe anyone would say Sloan is average
based on the winds he has achieved with average talent. I just wish the team had more of a killer
instinct....I think Williams has it. Face it, we
have the best point guard on the planet.

I think you make a very good point about jerry. I have never understood how the owner and fans always put all the blame for failure on the players and never on the coach. Jerry loves taking credit, but when things go bad, its that the players didn't execute. Jerry get paid every 2 weeks, right?

to paraphrase the man himself, if he did everything the fans wanted him to do, he'd be sitting with them instead of on the bench. one sub-500 year out if 20 is better than any coach in the league can say.

I find the comments on this board intersting. The question you have to ask yourself, is do you want a team that is consistently competitive? Or one that is a flash in the pan? I'll take the consistent one every day, or we will all end up like Laker fans. Fair-weather that is. Jerry provides competitive basketball year in and year out. And you want to change that for one fleeting moment? There are no guarantees that a different coach will be a winner, but there is a guarantee that Jerry's Kids will be at least competitive. Without Coach Sloan, we might get more than our share of losing seasons. Of course no real talent would ever want to play in this small market under that scenario. The team would probably even relocate. I say we are lucky to have him, even if your argument of no championships is correct.

It's really sad that Jerry will NEVER get the Coach of the Year award because he never has a bad team that he can make better. They're always good. Yes! I know the Jazz only won 26 games a the year before Deron Williams showed up but then, when they were supposed to remain bad they won 41 games. Not enough for COTY award but enough so that the next year, when they went to the Western Conference Finals, it didn't look like such a leap, and still no COTY award. I'm glad Jerry will be back and hope he stays for many more years.

lost in DC - You and I CAN agree on some issues - maybe not politics.

To the Jerry Haters:
It isn't Jerry's fault that we don't have a ring! Its a combination of a lot of things. Michael Jordan the biggest, Shaq, the traveling Rockets, the Spurs, players not wanting to play in Utah... Sloan has done an amazing job here with what he's had. Most franchises have not even come close to the success that the Jazz have reached with him here and to say he can't coach or that he isn't good enough is pathetic. You people think you have all the answers and are complete idiots! Be grateful for the success that we've been able to enjoy as Jazz fans and have some respect for those that have made it possible.

Tired- You need more sleep. Try a C-PAP machine! Jerry Sloan is one of the finest coaches in the NBA. Don't pout and look for somebody to blame just because you didn't get your way. The reason the Jazz have never taken home the title is that they have not had sufficient talent and desire to get it done. They came close during the Stackton/Malone years but Michael wanted it more. The same thing happened to you this year. Kobe wanted it more. Don't try to pin it on Sloan.

Same Coach - Same Results: Try being a knowledgable fan before you profess to have any coaching ability. Stockton/Malone didn't get it done because they were competing against JORDAN. He was the best of that era just like Kobe is the best now. Just which "superstar" do you propose that Larry Miller bring in that is like Kobe? There isn't anyone else right now like Kobe. Be patient, I think the Williams kid has a chance to be that type of player. Until then take a deep breath and count yourself lucky that Jerry Sloan has chosen to continue coaching in your little backwater town.

In response to same coach-same results: wish I could see your face after coaching a few games. You have such great wisdom. Why not take over for the officials too--that would about take care of everything!

Congratulations Jerry! Do what you do best and get the ring you deserve.

No doubt with Jerry's salary that he's "bought the farm", so Jerry, it's time to stay on the farm. Jazz need new blood. Brother Miller probably teaches in his sunday school class that it's not always about winning!!

This will be Sloan's last season. Boozer is gone after next season when he opts out of his contract. D-Will may jet as well. Sloan is too old to go through a rebuilding process. Sadly, he will never win a Coach of the Year award, because that trophy never goes to coaches who are consistent. As a Jazz fan, I hope that I'm wrong.

Doesn't look to me like it's going to make much of a difference. LA only lost 3 games in marching through the West to the Finals this year. Their dominance of the West looks secure to me for a few years yet to come. Love him or hate him, Kobe is Jordan all over again, and the Jazz are always going to be one step behind that kind of player. The coach isn't going to change that simple reality.

Oh, no! Say it isn't so! I can hear the grumbling about too much offense and too many three point shots already! Bring back Horny to coach the team!

Anything can happen....the Lakers simply do not have
the point guard of the Jazz. If Boozer plays better defense and Okur stops whining and starts playing we
have a chance. I also think Kirilenko checked out
two years ago. He got the cash and is off...I never
will buy any fancy duds from his wife...

I'm glad he is comming back, and I think the Jazz are lucky to have him.

I think this Jazz team has one more year, one more year with AK, Boozer, Williams, and Okur to go for it all. I am exited to see what they do with the oportunity and I expect to see them playing the Lakers in the western conference finals next year.

If nothing major happens this summer (and I don't think anything will) the following will happen before the '09-'10 season:

-Okur will have the option to become a free agent, if he plays all season like he played the last half of last season he will be a top 10 center.

-Boozer will have the option to become a free agent, teams have already expressed interest in Boozer. I think he is leaving.

-AK will be on the books for 16.5 Mil.

-Williams will be on the books for ~16 Mil

-Sloans contract will expire, and I think he will retire.

So I say give this team and Coach Sloan one more year because at the end of next season, regardless of the outcome, things are going to change.

Go Jazz!!!!

jazz are takin it next year so all you jazz fans quit doubting!! go jazz!!!

It's a player's league and whoever is coach probably really doesn't matter all that much. Although, I think Sloan is great and would love nothing more than to see the Jazz win it all. The refs love the stars so I hope D-Will can get up to that status in their eyes, and maybe someday Sloan and the Jazz will get their rings.

I am blessed to see the example that Coach Sloan has lived up to.

It is one of the most tremendous examples in all of professional sports to see Coach Sloan and Owner Larry Miller be able to work this partnership out for so long on such good terms.

Oooh that we could learn from their example.

Thanks Again!

Jerry Sloan demands discipline in his system.

I challenge all of you Sloan haters to name ONE player who, when giving his best effort to play with the intensity that Sloan requires, did NOT become a better player under Sloan's tutelage.

...anyone...?

On the flip-slide, look at all of the second-round picks who have listened to Sloan, worked their tails off, and gone into other organizations as starters (Mo Williams is the most recent example).

Note: The player you name had to have listened to the coach to give him what he asked for (Ostertag and Giricek are good examples of players who DIDN'T do what the coach asked, most of the time).

Good question. I would add though what player that had a problem here , ever went anywhere else and played better ? I cannot think of one.

Jerry Sloan needs to retire, I am sorry I am not
the biggest basketball fan but I can see he is a
problem.

We will never win a championship with him as a leader every time we get close he can't pull it together

Sloan's consistent style and discipline make the Jazz an easy choice to be proud of. They show a quality that is a reflection of his principle and work ethic.

Great news.I'm glad he's coming back.Hopefully the entire coaching staff is back.

Those of you calling for Jerry's head, please answer me one question first...who are you realistically going to put in his place who would be better? Flip Saunders? Del Harris? Doug Collins? Terry Porter? Please... Jerry is not perfect, and makes mistakes. You don't have to be a Jerry Hater to acknowledge that. But looking at the TOTAL PICTURE, he's a darn good coach who has done many great things with the Jazz. Please keep in mind...this is a small market team in a market that many players/coaches do not want to go to. It's tough to do much better. Even the Suns are learning just how little Grade A coaching talent is out there right now. They'll probably hire Terry Porter, but trust me, they're not exactly excited about that option. It IS possible to acknowledge how good overall Jerry has been for the Jazz, even while acknowledging that he has made and does make mistakes sometimes. But he also does many small things that get us wins that most unintelligent basketball fans never appreciate. But opposing coaches do. Welcome back Coach!

WOW. This is the type of revelation Dick Harman usually comes up with. Who would have thought Jerry would be back with the Jazz?

Saying he needs to retire without giving any reasons why, while admitting you don't know what you're talking about, is probably not the most effective way to persuade others to your position.

Frankly, I'm tired of sloan lovers telling everyone how stupid and unitelligent they are if they would like a coaching change.

Jerry's time is past, he has proven beyond any reasonable time frame that he cannot take a team beyond expectations. How can a coach keep his job after so many disappointments. I can acknowledge that he has won a lot of regular season home games (mostly due to the homecourt and homecrowd which has NOTHING to do with Sloan) but has really failed on the road and in the playoffs. I just can't get excited for the 21st time knowing jerry just doesn't have what it takes to take us to a title.

WHO gets 21 years without a title???? not to mention no title with 2 hall of famers. Gut the coaching staff now. I tell you right now, most of the players on the team do not like Sloan, its so obvious that Deron hates him and who could blame him.

Man you either love the guy or you hate the guy. Flip Saunders had a better regular season record and playoff record and he got axed. Same thing with the Suns coach at least as far as the regular season goes. Pat Riley gone, Don Nelson gone, Avery Johnson gone, Larry Brown...why is it that in UTAH LAND WE ARE ok with AVERAGE...(YES 50-50 IN THE PLAYOFFS MAKES YOU AVERAGE!!!!!) Everyone wants to play nice.....PLAYING NICE DOES NOT WIN CHAMPIONSHIPS. LOOK AT JOE D. HE'S READY TO TRY SOMETHING TO GET HIS TEAM ANOTHER SHOT AT A RING. HE MAY FAIL BUT AT LEAST HE'S NOT AFRAID.....THE JAZZ COULD USE SOME OF THAT....BIG TIME!!!! I'M NOT SURE I SEE THE HEART OF A CHAMPION IN THIS GROUP. MEMO AND D-WILL ARE CLUTCH.....A.K. IS UNDER USED AND SUPRISINGLY CLUTCH...2 LATE 3'S AGAINST LA GAME 6 AND THE 3 BOMB IN GAVE 7 LAST YEAR AT HOUSTON LEST ANYONE FORGET!! BOOZE.....LET'S MAKE A DEAL!! JAZZ PLEASE DON'T STAND PAT....YOU DID THAT LAST YEAR....OH WAIT I'M WRONG YOU LET FISH WALK TO THE LAKERS.......WAY TO GO.....WAY TO GO......

Umm...let's see, so we should give up on a guy who's made our team legit for 20 years (all except one) for a magic coach who is all of a sudden going to win us a championship? Where is this basketball genius? Last time I checked Red is dead and Phil is in LA. The problem is not the coaching, the problem is we are being beaten by better teams. We need players who are going to step up in crunch time (like D-Will) not fall back (like Boozer, Okur, etc.) Call me crazy, but I would rather be in the playoffs and have a chance every year than to try and find this mystical "championship" coach.

Fisher left because of his daughter. I wish everyone would remember that. Granted I hate him for going to LA, but he left because of family. The real problem was they got Jason Hart and Ronnie Price as their big time aquisitions. I like Ronnie, but D Brown did about the same stuff. The problem is not coaching, it's that the Jazz are in Utah and for some reason it's not a place people want to live. I think maybe we should invest in more clubs, up the alcohol percentage and pretend the Great Salt Lake is an ocean.

I for one am very glad Sloan is coming back, He is amongst the very best there is or ever was. Looking forward to the Jazz next year. A championship is easily possible next year.

Sloan haters are FOOLS!!!!

oh you who can't remember the mailman couldn't put in the ocean in the playoffs. ya'll complain about sloan, he's the man...it takes a special team to get there if utah had KG, ALLEN and PIERCE the jazz would have been there to. just quit whinning, most of you probably haven't even played organized sports and couldn't if you tried. if sloan hadn't been in utah ya'll would have had 5 or 6 coaches by now......keep up the good work sloan and best of luck to the jazz in the draft.

All sloan lovers are fools.

And show no intelligence by buying all the bilge they get from the media, mangement, and ownership.

You just have watch sloan coach a game and you know he is NOT all that.

There is no player that got better by playng for sloan.

Was horny better? NO!
Chris Morris? NO!
Bell? NO!

Do I really need to go on?
Are any of these better for playing for sloan?:

Sasha pavlovic?
Kris Humphries?
Kurt snyder?
Jose Ortiz?
Greg Ostertag?
Andre kerilenko?
Deshaun stevenson?

NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!

Don't buy the myth that sloan makes players better.

Anyone can look at a player and tell them to work on their Free throw or three point shooting or defense any fan can do it. That's not great coaching.

Players the jazz drafted seem to never get better.
Players that came from other teams never got better.
Players that left did just well elsewhere.

Anyone can predict what the jazz will do next year:

Jazz get winning record
Jazz lose in the playoffs

Seen it all before for over twenty years.

Has sloan really give you any reason to believe next will be any different?

I say we trade Sloan, Coach Layden (Scott, not Frank - we need Frank) and Andre Kirilinko to Miami for Coach Riley, Haslem, 2nd pick in the draft, and a little of that Miami "Heat". It sure is cold out there today. What do you think of this deal?

This is awful. I can't wait until Sloan quits and we can get a new coach because the formula is the same every year for Sloan. "Try hard and give effort and you'll win. I don't need to make adjustments, we can out-execute the other team." It didn't work against LA this year, or against the Spurs last year, or against any team that's eliminated the Jazz over the last 20 years. One more season of regular season greatness and playoff failure is our destiny next year.

why are there so many sloan lovers? The man is decent but cant get the jazz over that hump to win a title. He couldn't even do it with two hall of famers. I could use a change.

How can anyone say Jerry Sloan is this great coach.
I have worked at my job for over 20 years. I am
not the same I was 20 years ago. The Utah Jazz
need a face lift at the top. The key to the face
lift is to tell Jerry Sloan, thanks for everyhing
but its time for a change. Please Larry Miller,
its time for Jerry to hang it up. I am tired of
losing in the first round.Look what Detroit did?
I wish we could do the same.

Sloan is Utah's greatest illusion. he is the curse and blessing of the Utah Jazz.
But let's face it. Why avoid change? change is the law of nature. Nothing remains the same forever and Sloan is not the exception. Those who say changing the coach is no guarantee to the team's success,but likewise if we don't embrace change,we'll never know that another coach could achieve better results than Sloan.
Sloan is very predictable: win regular season games and fizzle out in the playoffs.That's why you can expect out of Sloan and his system.It has nothing to with being in small market. San Antonio is even smaller market than SLC, but Popovich made the difference but imposing the Spurs will on the rest of the NBA.
Sloan could do the same, but he doesn't have championship marks over his forehead, so he'll never win one. 20years in coaching business and zero title? come on! some things in life can never change! We know a cat will never turn into a dog!...
and some coaches can never win a championship, even when Jordan is on their roster.

Explain to me how in 18 of the last 20 seasons the Jazz have underachieved? That's a stupid (and senseless) comment. Look back at the record and you'll see how many 50 and 60 win seasons they've had; how is that underachieving. Only 1 team can win the championship and when guys by the name of Michael, Kobe, and Tim are playing (all in the West) you're not going to win it!
You're an IDIOT!