Jerry Sloan mini-bullets

• Ross Siler, former Jazz beat writer, says on Twitter that Jerry Sloan would often tell writers that he didn't have great recall of this or that moment of this or that game. However, the coach who was once one of the NBA's great fighters remembered some things very well. Siler: "His line was, "I don't have total recall like you people." Then we're in Milwaukee for a shootaround and Sloan starts recounting all the fights he was part of between the Bucks and Bulls over the years. He's remembering names, punches thrown, time in the game and we couldn't help but note that he had absolute, total recall of the great brawls in NBA history. Sloan was was in a brawl during a preseason game in which he ended up outside the high school gym. In a PRESEASON game."
• If it was a battle between a point guard and a coach about style of play ... who was right? A video and statistical analysis of whether or not it would be smart to free Deron Williams from the flex offense more often.
• Interestingly, how you feel about Williams and Sloan seems to hinge a hell of a lot on where you live.
• Thinking big picture about the Jazz, a new issue quickly arises. Chad Ford (Insider) writes: "A source close to the team confirmed to ESPN.com that Williams has been unhappy in Utah for a while. He has butted heads with Sloan and has disagreed with management on trades. And while the Jazz have exceeded the luxury tax threshold for several seasons, Williams believed the team wasn't willing to spend the money to do whatever it would take to win. So the question arises: With Williams having a player option for the 2012-13 season, meaning that under the current league rules he could leave in 2012, are the Jazz in danger of losing him, too?"
• To that point, a year ago on The Salt Lake Tribune's Jazz blog, Siler reported on Williams' disgust at the Jazz's trading Ronnie Brewer: "'You look at all the teams that are getting better around the West and we essentially get worse, if you ask me.' Williams didn’t hide his frustration in talking to reporters and broadcasts, starting out by saying, 'I really ain’t got nothing much good to say about the trade,' and declaring it was 'pretty safe to say' his feelings were shared among the team. Asked whether the Brewer trade affected his thinking about his long-term future in Utah, Williams uttered words that could reverberate in the team’s front office: 'That’s why I signed a three-year deal.'" (Via Jonathan Abrams)

Source: http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/24756/jerry-sloan-mini-bullets

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