A sad day and some favourite things

Very, very slow day in Raptors land – and we can use a couple of those very now and then – but still all kinds of stuff out there.

Like …

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The NBA is a worse place today.

I don’t know the inner workings of the Utah Jazz and what Deron Williams or any player did or didn’t do that led Jerry Sloan to walk away from his job yesterday but whatever happened left a diminished league in its wake.

Yes, that the NBA is a “players league” is hardly a big secret and you know that I think coaches generally get too much credit and too much blame but, still, a rock like Sloan should never be forced out by any player group of players.

But from what little I knew of Sloan – and it wasn’t much except a couple of conversations a year and Sloan stories shared with mutual friends – I’m not at all surprised he just said “screw it, I’m leaving.”

If there was one thing about him that shone through over all these years, it was that he was his own man and did what he wanted.

Maybe leaving your job on your terms is a good thing, you don’t get fired, you get to pick the time, and you get to go on your terms.

Maybe the winner in all of this is Sloan. He did what he wanted when he wanted.

I do think all NBA coaches should wear John Deere hats some night as a tribute because just about every time I saw Jerry leaving an arena after a shootaround, that’s what he had on his head.

He is a decent, good man. I’d see him twice a year, at most, and he’d always stop to talk and say hello and just shoot the breeze. The guy sat in the media room with us shmoes every game and had dinner next to Phil Johnson and I can honestly say I’ve never, ever seen another NBA head coach do that.

The league’s a lesser place today because he’s not in it.

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So, wonder how Amir will hurt himself tonight?

Will his back lock up? Roll an ankle. Tweak a knee?

You know something’s likely to happen, it seems to quite often, but you also know one other thing:

The kid is going to keep playing.

There is no doubt that this has been a terrible season for the HOTH (Heroes Of The Hardcourt for those just joining) but maybe the best and most surprising thing has been Johnson’s effort and I think my admiration for him gets greater every day.

This kid just plays hard, all the time, and he plays hurt and seems like a very good teammate. Doesn’t demand the ball or shots and goes out and does his level best every night.

Now, he’s not perfect and there’s still lots more that he can do but for those of you looking for some positive signs, watch him.

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An old Jerry Sloan story many of you have read or heard but this is for those who haven’t.

We’re in Salt Lake City in Haffa’s rookie year and Araujo’s a bit of story out there, having gone to BYU and the late Larry Miller had once said the Jazz would have taken him if the Raptors hadn’t.

(Yeah, right)

TV woman: Coach, it’ll be nice to see Araujo tonight, won’t it?

Sloan: Who?

Me: Hahahahahahaha. (Not really but it was hard to suppress the giggles).

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Got to thinking the other day (idle time’s a dangerous thing and I’ve had some this week) after suggesting that Ray Allen shooting a three is the prettiest thing in basketball about what else is best in other sports and games and this is what I came up with.

A triple to right.

Especially a triple where the guy just barely beats the throw at third. There’s something about seeing the ball on a rope on the relay chasing the hitter to third. I can watch triples all day.

A perfect 7-iron to inches.

Not one that lands 30 feet behind the pin and backs up but a nice, soft, fading 7-iron that hits, maybe bounces once and rolls up to be a tap-in. Jarring it’s a fluke, and fun to see, but watching the ball in flight is something nice. Not that I’ve ever done it, of course.

A perfect out pattern.

You know the one, about 20 yards, ball thrown on a line before the receiver makes his cut, thrown to the outside so no one can possibly get it except the guy it’s intended for.

A breakout pass.

Goal line to red line, tape to tape to a guy skating on an angle for a breakaway.

And, to me, the best thing you can see:

A backdoor slider.

The perfect pitch, freezes a hitter, starts outside, catches the black and all you can do is shake your head and tip your cap. Beautiful.

Pardon the digression.

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Another giant weighs in.

Read this by Jack on Jerry, please.

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With the deadline fast approaching, let’s get this one out of the mail:

Q: When looking at trading a player, do GM's ever consider the popularity of the player with fans? Am thinking about the Reggie trade speculation. Your story this week just made me love him even more.

K J, Toronto

A: No, GMs know that they have to sometimes make hard decisions on popular players – either by trading them or letting them leave as free agents – but they take a calm, measured approach to it and can’t take in the feelings of the fans.

The GM will know he’s going to be criticized and that some fans will be hurt but if there’s a deal to be made he thinks will improve his team, he’s going to make it, regardless of a player’s popularity.

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Hey, Portland’s here and Marcus isn’t going to play and that’s not unusual because it seems that no matter what team he plays for, when they get here, he misses the game.

It’s the story of the day in our regular check with what’s up with the other team as you can see right here.

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Speaking of mail, there’s not a lot over there and I think you should send me some notes, thank you very much.

Click here to do it.

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Okay, we’re here tonight for the IGBT, right? See you then.

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Comments

[Lake Simcoe]

Really look forward to a lockout next season to see how those players realize what they are. Actually for some teams, say Raps and Cavs, the lock out began just right after the "decision".

[Richie]

Tape to tape pass??? Obviously when Mr. Smith Goes to Washington he's watched a hockey game or 2. Obviously not the hometown pucks since they haven't connected on one of those passes since Salming hit Sittler. Probably Lidstrom to Datsyuk for the "Windsor West" squad

[LeeZ]

"Portland’s here and Marcus isn’t going to play and that’s not unusual because it seems that no matter what team he plays for, when they get here, he misses the game." HEY!!! I was the one who pointed that out to YOU a couple of years ago! I demand a slice of the royalties you get paid for this blog entry. Failing that, a slice of pizza. From Camarra's Pizza on Dufferin. Please and thank you.

[511]

Enjoyed the digression, especially the two from baseball. (Go Jays.)

Also, appreciate the links these last couple days. Jack McCallum’s column on Jerry Sloan is one I’m glad to have read ... and yesterday’s on Ray Allen was terrific and had me looking forward to last night’s Celtics-Lakers game even more than I already was. Cheers.

[Derek S]

Morning Doug,
Was shocked to hear the news about Jerry Sloan last night. Really admire him as a coach (and a scout). Do you think he'll coach again somewhere else in the NBA, or do you think he's done?
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Raised an interesting thought for me last night (purely hypothetical). Let's say you're BC - you've got Triano, you who like, not yet sure if he's your long term solution at coach, but you also think he hasn't gotten a fair shake yet due to players/injuries, etc. (Here's the hypothetical part). A HOF coach like Jerry Sloan becomes available, and in conversation, mentions that he'd be willing to come coach in your city. Do you drop a coach with "potential" for an older, more experienced coach? I imagine in this age of Twitter/Instant media that even making inquiries would make headlines, and possibly rock the boat at home, if things didn't pan out. Have situations like this happened that you can recall?

Blogger's note: I'm virtually sure you'll never see Sloan coach again but you never know. And I'm sure some GMs make discreet back-channel inquiries every now and then and little comes of it. None come specifically to mind although Stan Van Gundy had all but taken a Sacramento job, hadn't he? when he changed courses

[Lorie]

Hey Doug,
I love it when you digress! Please don't ever stop. Especially about beautiful moments in sports...'cause at my age I can waste a whole lot of (company!) time remembering pretty plays I've seen. However, in the interest of brevity, I'll stick to baseball. And it's baseball (which for reasons that may have something to do with relaxing in a ballpark on a sunny summer's afternoon while enjoying a cold one or two) has given me more beautiful moments than other sports. But, from your list, it's the Triple Play that wasn't called as one during that first World Series Game played in Canada in October '92. I was at the game and will never forget that play, nor the game itself. (Anne Murray singing the National Anthem. Does it get better???) As far as a backdoor slider that was hit: would you say the one that Gibson hit off Eck was the most memorable for you?

Blogger's note: That one and the one Alomar hit off Eck in the playoffs.

[Bob (Mississauga)]

Ray Allen taking a shot is a thing of beauty. I do have one basketball move that is just as pretty night after night - a Steve Nash pass. Allen works on repeating the same motion and there is beauty in that. Nash can pass the ball a hundred different way.

[Stavros]

I hear Deron Williams is on his way to Tahrir Square next.

[Peter]

Is it fair to say that along with Cal Ripken Jr's streak of consecutive games played in baseball, that Jerry Sloan's run as the longest serving head coach in pro sports is up there in the unbreakable sports records?

Blogger's note: More than fair

[Rob.V]

Fom the other day:

Thanks J. Not just our in house capologist, but our paragraphologist too.

It used to be that when I hit enter twice it would still drop my spaces and cram my paragraphs together, making it look like a muddled mess. I suppose things were fixed without me ever thinking to check if they had.

Well hopefully this works. This comment should have essentially three paragraphs.

Posted by: The J | February 09, 2011 at 04:08 PM

Hmm.... Doesn't look like it worked for me. I wonder what would happend if I hit enter

three times. Oh, since I've wasted now 3 comments on non-Raptor discussion how about: Fire everyone, Bargnani needs to rebound, need a new version of Oakley, Soft Europeans.
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Thanks J's!!! however I'm still having to hit the space bar a handful of times.
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Anyway, the thing that stood out for me with Sloans retirement is that he had repeated on a few occassions prior and again yesterday that the team was not "competing". Think about it, we (or I) do not coach, and yet we want to grab a couple of Raptors players by the throat after each loss for lack of competing... this must have been driving coach absolutlely "insane"... and tells me that Triano must have the patience of Jobe (whoever that guy was).
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I guess when you are blessed with guys like Stockton and Malone for close to 20 years everything else must pale in comparison.
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Coach obviously had enough however in some strange way I think it is fitting that he never won a coach of the year award. It would have been shameful to throw him a bone (over the past couple of seasons) as a lifetime achievement award.
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Sort of makes me think of Scorcese finally winning the oscar for the Departed. The Departed??? There's no way that movie should have won an Oscar... he's made much better films that that over the years (but I digress).
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And on that subject (Basketball related) did anyone catch Jack Nicholson BLATANTLY wearing his purple shirts underneath his suit jackets in that movie?. For those who haven't seen the movie, the setting of the story was of course in Boston. The movie lost me right there as he was clearly pledging his alegiance to the purple and gold... Lame!!
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Anyway, yes the NBA days of Stockton and Malone are indeed long gone. Sometimes I wonder if I'm just getting older or if todays cats just don't bring it the same way... sure feels that way.
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I took Byron Scotts comment about a month back about his generation of player simply playing harder with a grain of salt because.. um... well... his team doesn't play at all so thats not a fair comparison... but you still have to wonder about the generation gap and if the work ethic has changed over the years?
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Sloans retiring might lead one to believe so as well.

[Jamie]

I could not agree more with your list of prettiest things. There is a reason they call triples the most exciting play in baseball. And as for back door sliders, one of my indelible sports memories is of Halladay throwing one to Gary Sheffield and almost hitting him because Sheffield had given up and started walking back to the bench before the pitch crossed the plate. I would add one, Nash making a pass through traffic to a player making a back door cut to the basket.

[DavidW]

As always, nice words and perspective on Jerry Sloan. He was a favourite of mine too.

But, maybe this is not an EITHER OR but an AND. Maybe this is the best move for Jerry AND the Jazz. If this did come down to a showdown between Deron Williams no longer taking direction from Jerry Sloan, on principle you have to side with Jerry but your head has to tell you that Deron is likely to be in the league far longer than Jerry and he is not too bad a piece to build a team around.

Jerry gets to leave on his own terms (as he should!) AND the JAZZ get to rethink their approach to basketball and playoff success AND perhaps Deron Williams has to step up big time now and be a full time team leader.

The NBA, WHERE JERRY SLOAN and 26 SEASONS HAPPEN!

[Rob.V]

Also, I'm not sure why I'm thinking of this however here is some of my logic on the status of our current GM.
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If Colangelo makes a bold move over the next couple of weeks and brings us in a starter with a long contract... his extension must surely be a done deal because theres no way he executes that trade if he's "not" the guy.
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If there's no move made, it might raise some question marks as to what might happen with BC in the off season... or could entirely mean nothing and I'm reading way to far into this.

[Dave]

Doug,
Permission to commence Sloan to replace Triano rumours?

[Johnn19]

What makes anyone think Sloan would want to coach a young, inexperienced 14-39 and counting, team in Toronto after his winning history in Utah?

[The J]

Rob V. Did you try hitting enter 3 times. It's a lot, but it seemed to finally work for me.

Sad to see Sloan leave, and I really hope the Deron rumours are false. Perhaps he was just sick with arguing with players after all these years and Deron was the straw that broke the camel's back. I hope so, because Deron could just leave in a couple years for a big market no matter what Sloan does, so why push him out for a "star" player? Bending over backwards for you star players doesn't often work out (we know that all to well in TO) and it's hard to believe that's what they do in Utah. If San Antonio is the top of the class in how to run a small market team, Utah must be a close second.

[Eric in NS]

Hi, Doug,
Yes the triple to right is great, especially when you're at the ballpark and can see the ball, outfielders, infielders and runner(s) all moving at the same time -- say from a seat forty rows up from first base.
The only rival for me is the steal of home. I was lucky to be at Olympic Stadium many years ago when Marquis Grissom (who had already stolen at least one of the other bases) arrived at home plate just as 1) the ball arrived in the catcher's mitt; and 2) Tim Wallach (right handed hitter, blocking the catcher's view of 3rd) stepped back from the plate to give Grissom room to slide.
Ellsbury and the Red Sox did something similar a couple of years ago -- and got tons more attention -- of course!

[Kate C]

I agree with Bob (Mississauga) - a well-executed pass can be a thing of beauty, especially the "OMG - how did he even see that/catch that?" variety. Two guys working together who really know each others' games... love it.

[Steph]

Maybe it’s just time. Maybe time’s change. Maybe it’s best to walk away. We will never know “why now”, and we never should. The legacy is the man and not the story of the day. We can all speculate, and don’t kid yourself we will. A demon will be found, but it’s no longer your job to take the hit. It’s no longer you who has to divert attention away from actuality.
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Every great person walks away. Some have the choice as to when, some are persecuted on the way out. Regardless it’s always a sad day.
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Modern day sports, where coaches play second fiddle to star athletes is no different then teachers having to concede to certain standards that interfere with the overall good a professional is supposed to make.
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Jerry Sloan like Pat Burns and some day Bill Billichik all have to leave some day. The temperament they need to succeed is ultimately what drives them away from the game.
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The privileged few who have the gift of being super star athletes forgets that you need knowledge, intelligence and experience to make use of that athleticism to achieve greatness. But athletes now days defined greatness by what they think of themselves. Personal accomplishments mean more then victories, individual goals supersede team objectives. Or great athletes who come together in an overwhelming display of egoism to form super teams leaving in there wake cities and states devastated and betrayed. It’s just easier to join others of your ilk then to stand and represent yourself, or your team.
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Give me a system instead of one individual. Let me learn from a team as opposed to be mesmerized by one. Allow the kids of today to understand that sacrifice is the tool and that experience and knowledge will always have its place, however unheralded in the history books.
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Good bye Jerry Sloan, thanks for the many years of dedication and thanks for teaching those who listened and learned about how to win in life.

[Jack]

"This kid just plays hard, all the time, and he plays hurt and seems like a very good teammate. Doesn’t demand the ball or shots and goes out and does his level best every night."

Amir is the anti-Bargnani.

[Lawrence]

Amir Johnson. A modern day Alvin Williams. Hopefully with different results.

[james]

"Is it fair to say that along with Cal Ripken Jr's streak of consecutive games played in baseball, that Jerry Sloan's run as the longest serving head coach in pro sports is up there in the unbreakable sports records?", asks Peter.

Actually, Sloan didn't get half way to Connie Mack, although he did tie Walter Alston.

[TLI]

@Jack -- "Amir is the anti-Bargnani."
Just realized how far my estimation of Andrea has fallen when I found myself grinning and nodding to that comment. I'd rather be shaking my head over it, but...

Whatever -- Amir is a great reason to watch the games, no matter who else is on the floor.

[J]

@The J/Rob V:

Yay, you got it. =)

[Ian Murray]

@James - Connie Mack did have a long streak, but we can't compare the two. Connie was only the coach for so long because he also owned the team. If there was someone who could fire him I'm sure he wouldn't have lasted that long. A bunch of those A's teams, especially in the 2nd half of his tenure, were TERRIBLE!