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What in the name of Jeff Hornacek is going on in Utah?
The once proud franchise has been horrific defensively this season, and the result is a 1-3 start, including an embarrassing loss at home to Houston, a team Utah has historically owned at home.
The culmination of such gross basketball came tonight, when the Jazz let a 67-52 lead slip away in the fourth quarter and surrendered 44 POINTS to Dallas in the period en route to an 11-point defeat.
44 points. In one period. 27 of which came from Dirk Nowitzki, which set a franchise record.
Offensively, Utah is fine. Entering tonight’s game, they were shooting 47 percent from the field for 104 points per game.
But defensively, where coach Jerry Sloan is said to a mastermind, the team was surrendering 108 points per game on 47 percent shooting entering tonight’s game.
Those numbers were set to take a drastic turn downward tonight before Utah forgot it takes four quarters to win a basketball game, not three.
Can it be assumed that this team has tuned Sloan out? It’s safe to say that Sloan has stayed past his welcome, because the defense and energy has been lacking for quite some time now for Utah.
And that’s a reflection of a desire to play and compete for your team and coach. It has nothing to do with talent.
In a game that is becoming more wide open and spread on both ends of the floor, it’s possible Sloan’s halfcourt, flex and physical style is outdated.
One can only wonder what would happen if he completely loosened the reins on Deron Williams, Ronnie Brewer and Andrei Kirilenko, as well as shove away his distaste for the 3-point shot.
Sloan’s penchant for physical, defensive-minded team ball was successful for plenty of years, resulting in two NBA Finals trips and countless appearances deep into the postseason.
But it’s likely the game has passed him by. As an old-school hoops enthusiast, that pains me to say.
But it also pains me to see a Jerry Sloan team playing this lethargically on the floor.
