Fighting Illini Alumni Update: Did Deron Williams Drive Out Jerry Sloan?
by BrosWubba on Feb 11, 2011 12:01 PM CST
in Illinois Fighting Illini Basketball
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PrintThe Jazz announced today that former Chicago Bulls great Jerry Sloan, the longest tenured pro coach in America, will step down as head coach of the Jazz today. This comes as no surprise after Sloan and GM Kevin O’Connor had a heavily publicized spat after losing to the Chicago Bulls earlier this week. The relevant question to Illini fans: Did Deron have anything to do with his "resignation" and how does this affect Deron Williams’ pending free agency?
The Jazz have been struggling of late and Deron and Sloan have disagreed several times this year. It was all compounded when the Jazz were embarrassed by Derrick Rose and the Bulls in the United Center - one of Deron's favorite venues when he played at Illinois. He even gone so far as to ignore Sloan and call his own plays in the final minutes. So the question is if ownership sided with Deron in the hopes of locking him up long term when his contract expires in two years. Seems pretty likely. Much respect to Jerry Sloan. Illini (and Bulls fans) will remember he is/was a great coach from our days watching MIchael Jordan beating up on Karl Malone in the NBA finals. But from a management perspective, Deron is a 26 year old NBA all-star entering his prime. Jerry Sloan is 69 years old. Even with good relations, it'll be hard to "lock up" Jerry Sloan long term. I just wish his exit had been dealt with in a classier manner.
Are these allegations against DWill just another in the string of recent bad press against the Illini? I don't think so. The two's clashes were never that publicized until this recent incident in Chicago and not unlike the Bruce-Demetri drama (which I've always though was overblown). The truth of the matter is, this is just a super-star-centric league now and owners will do whatever they can to keep their superstars. At the expense of coaches and role players. Sorry guys. What does this mean for Deron in his pending free agency? You can look at it both ways. One way, ownership is showing him they will accommodate him. Hmmm... last time we heard a player get his way with ownership, this happened. On the other hand, if they don't put the other pieces in place to help him win, consider him out. Only time will tell.
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I don't pay attention to the NBA very well.
But I do pay attention to Deron Williams as he is, perhaps, my favorite NBA player for . . . uhhh, quite obvious reasons.
If it’s perceived that Deron was the main cause of Jerry’s departure, even if not true, wouldn’t that be reason enough for Deron to say “Fuck it” and jump ship? I would think so (while guessing D-Will is just a tad less egotistical than LeBron).
Still, this situation makes me sick. Stephen Bardo legitimately sounded pissed when he was asked about this yesterday during the broadcast. Legitimately so. It’s just . . . very odd.
St. Louis Game Time . . . I need another beer.
The Throwdown Lowdown Report, only on The Bluenote Zone.
And I can also write things in 140 characters or fewer.
Bardo made it clear he thought Deron was to blame
Didn’t name him though, so I guess he could have gone a lot further than he did. Still.
by Joe Kutsunis on Feb 11, 2011 4:09 PM CST up reply actions
Oh, it was quite obvious who he was blaming when he talked about it, without naming Deron specifically.
Bardo may not be a homer, but he’s not one to call one of his own out in public either.
That said, as Bardo mentioned, Sloan is a fellow downstate Illinoisan (Bardo is from Carbondale originally, which is funny because I always thought he was a Chicago native), so I know why he would have Jerry’s back.
St. Louis Game Time . . . I need another beer.
The Throwdown Lowdown Report, only on The Bluenote Zone.
And I can also write things in 140 characters or fewer.
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