Why are the Spurs on pace to win 72 games, yet the Jazz are floundering again?

[franklin]

Not to mention Stockton-Malone played in the era that delivered the Dream Team. Dream. There were so damned many excellent players that it's hard to blame it all on Sloan or Jordan. And S&M weren't the only top 50 of all time to fail to win a ring.

Along comes Shaq and Kobe right after the Jazz were done battling Jordan. It's a tough league, but back to our regularly scheduled Sloan hate...

 

[vj_74]

Not sure you can say that Houston was clearly better in both cases. In 1995, Jazz had better record and were higher seed but lost in first round to Houston. Had David Benoit made his 3 point shot, things might have turned out quite differently. Jazz lost in Conference Finals in 94 and in 92 to Portland (who I believe lost to Bulls).

Jazz and Sloan have had chances, probably best was '95, but failed to capitalize. It wasn't just Jordan. So to say that Jordan the reason for never winning it appears to me to be clearly false.

It is not quite false. The two times the Jazz came closest to winning a ring were in 97 and 98, and it was Jordan who stopped them. You cant cite losing in the first round or conference sem-finals in previous years as legit chances. Because those losses only show that there were teams who were actually better than us. Would you say we had a legit chance in 2006-2007 just because we went to WCF? Or even last season?
Whereas in 97//98 Jordan by himself made all the difference.

 

[vj_74]

1988: Frank Layden had Stock-Malone challenging the showtime Magic Johnson-Jabbar Lakers, losing 4-3 in the semifinals. Sloan takes over in 89 and the Jazz take a humiliating first round loss to the Warriors, 0-3. Sloan set them back 10 years. Sloan continues to be a very very good regular season coach who shows not a clue as to how to set his team up to win a ring. Facts if facts.

Sloan didnt set back anything. Jazz progressed every year he was the coach. Upsets happen to all teams. Even the Mavs lost to the Warriors in the first round in 2007 whch set up our playoffs run. The only fact here is Sloan brought the best out of his players most of the time. We overachieved in order to even get to the finals. Of course I dont expect a hater like you to understand that.
Quick, list all the players who were averaging 15ppg for the Jazz besides Malone , in 1998.
(Clue: Dont bother)

 

[franklin]

We overachieved in order to even get to the finals. Of course I dont expect a hater like you to understand that.
Quick, list all the players who were averaging 15ppg for the Jazz besides Malone , in 1998.
(Clue: Dont bother)

You can make the same argument for the Rockets and Hakeem Olajuwon in 1993 (if not his entire career). Olajuwon had nearly nothing to work with, and the first round loss showed this well. He didn't even have an assists guy to help out. Maxwell led the Rockets that season with 5.1. It took adding an additional scoring power in Drexler to take the Rockets from a first round exit to back-to-back championship seasons. The Jazz never really had a 2nd first option. Every championship team has either two first options or is extremely well rounded (Detroit 2004). Find an exception to this in the last 25 years.
(Clue: Don't bother)

 

[Chad Feldheimer]

Don't forget the 60 win 94-95 season when they had Stock,Malone & Horny all in their early 30s and lost in the first round to HOU who was the 6 seed. Watching Drexler & Kenny Smith along with Hakeem light them up.

 

[pbash]

Why did the San Antonio Spurs improve so much, yet the Jazz are again not likely to win the NBA championship? The Spurs, who finished the regular season last year with a 50-32 record and were swept in the second round by the Phoenix Suns, have improved so much that they are on pace to win 72 games, tying the 1995-1996 Chicago Bulls for best regular-season record in NBA history.

The Jazz, on the other hand, have only the fourth-best record in the Western Conference. Teams that finish that low in their conference almost never win the NBA championship. I don't recall any recent examples except for the 1994-1995 Houston Rockets who had the six-best record in the Western Conference, but they were the defending champions so for a defending champion the regular season doesn't matter much as long as they win enough to make the playoffs.

Therefore, why does it appear to me that the Jazz are again not going to win the NBA championship, while the Spurs are now likely on their way to win their fifth NBA championship since 1999? Why have the Spurs been so much more successful than the Jazz? Is it because Popovich is a far superior coach than Sloan, or are other reasons more important?

I am a Jazz fan, but it is getting tiresome to see another season go by without an NBA championship for the Jazz while watching the Lakers or Spurs win another NBA championship.

There is only one guy that has been here all these years. SLOAN!!!! Great coach but will never win, he doesnt have the balls to do the crazy things. Example: Hayward get playing time and is succesful, yet Sloan doesnt start him again HUH

 

[vslice02]

Don't forget the 60 win 94-95 season when they had Stock,Malone & Horny all in their early 30s and lost in the first round to HOU who was the 6 seed. Watching Drexler & Kenny Smith along with Hakeem light them up.

And what a pathetic Rockets team that was. You would've thought they were a championship team the way they looked against the Jazz.

 

[zman1527]

Sloan didnt set back anything. Jazz progressed every year he was the coach. Upsets happen to all teams. Even the Mavs lost to the Warriors in the first round in 2007 whch set up our playoffs run. The only fact here is Sloan brought the best out of his players most of the time. We overachieved in order to even get to the finals. Of course I dont expect a hater like you to understand that.
Quick, list all the players who were averaging 15ppg for the Jazz besides Malone , in 1998.
(Clue: Dont bother)

Yes, Sloan did set them back. How is challenging the eventual Champion in 7 games in 1988 to losing in the first round, badly, not a step backward? It is and you know it.

 

[NUMBERICA]

You can make the same argument for the Rockets and Hakeem Olajuwon in 1993 (if not his entire career). Olajuwon had nearly nothing to work with, and the first round loss showed this well. He didn't even have an assists guy to help out. Maxwell led the Rockets that season with 5.1. It took adding an additional scoring power in Drexler to take the Rockets from a first round exit to back-to-back championship seasons. The Jazz never really had a 2nd first option. Every championship team has either two first options or is extremely well rounded (Detroit 2004). Find an exception to this in the last 25 years.
(Clue: Don't bother)

I'm not sure if you or anyone else knows this or not, but Clyde Drexler didn't play on the '94 Rockets Championship team. And Malone had a ****-ton more help, for the record.

I'm not sure if my point is that Hakeem was just that much better than the Utah Jazz by himself or that Sloan wasn't good enough to win the chip. Hakeem was really, really ****ing great, though.

 

[vslice02]

Yes, Sloan did set them back. How is challenging the eventual Champion in 7 games in 1988 to losing in the first round, badly, not a step backward? It is and you know it.

Did you know Frank Layden stepped down as head coach in mid-season. How many coaches in the past 25 years have taken over a team in midseason and have advanced to the Western Conference Semifinals?
In Sloan's first 3 FULL seasons as head coach, the Jazz went from first-round, to 2nd-round, to the conference finals. Then the Jazz took a "step back" following that season - largely due to Mark Eaton's back giving out, before rebounding w/another trip to the conference finals.

 

[Saint Cy of JFC]

They only have one of the greatest PF in NBA history

 

[franklin]

I'm not sure if you or anyone else knows this or not, but Clyde Drexler didn't play on the '94 Rockets Championship team. And Malone had a ****-ton more help, for the record.

I'm not sure if my point is that Hakeem was just that much better than the Utah Jazz by himself or that Sloan wasn't good enough to win the chip. Hakeem was really, really ****ing great, though.

Yes, and I have a feeling you caught the point.