Jazzhoops   Players Start to Look Like Their Coach by Stef Siepel "You've got to go over there and play and see if you're tough enough." The quote says it all and it would probably make more sense skipping the introduction rather than continuing it. But just to verify everyone's suspicions; yes, that is a quote from Jazz coach Jerry Sloan who is always preaching toughness and defense. Every time, all the players have to prove they are tough enough, according to Sloan's philosophy. And he didn't read that philosophy in a book, nor did he learn it from another coach. He formed that philosophy himself, as a player. The jersey numbers 23 and 10, worn by Michael Jordan and Bob Love, are both hanging in the United Center in Chicago. Those are two of the three jersey numbers the Bulls have retired. The other one is number 4, which was worn by Jerry Sloan. A lot of people only know him from his days as a coach, but commentators often remind the fans of his days as a player. Did you, for example, know that he led his college team, the Evansville Purple Aces, to two NCAA Division 2 championships? And did you know that he, at the moment, is fourth on the Bulls all-time scoring list, with only Jordan, Pippen, and Love in front of him? That's quite an accomplishment. But he wasn't known for his offence; defense really set him apart. He appeared in two All-Star games, but even more impressive were his six All-Defensive Team selections. That gives an indication on how good he was defensively, but you need to hear stories from people who have seen him play to really get to know this guy as a player. One guy who saw him play, and was lucky to be on Sloan's side, was Norm van Liar. "Fiery would be an understatement to describe Jerry as a player," Van Liar said. "He was maybe the most intense man on the planet, that's all. But I watch him coach and he seems pretty laid back." Laid back? That depends on what your definition of laid back is. Even as a coach, Jerry Sloan is intense, and furious if you don't do what he asks you to do. He planned a full four quarter simulation of a game once. Sloan was ready, his players weren't. "When you get tired after two or three quarters, I don't know how to simulate a game or keep us ready," Sloan said. "Maybe we could ride around town in a convertible. That'd be nice." One of the main tasks of Utah's assistant coaches, according to P.J. Carlesimo (who is now an assistant coach of the San Antonio Spurs), is to prevent Jerry from getting hot too early in the game. In other words, to prevent Sloan from getting technicals. One of his assistant coaches, Phil Johnson, was an assistant coach on the Chicago Bulls staff when Sloan was still playing. "Those were great Bulls teams and Jerry was the heart and soul of those teams," Johnson said. "But there were a few times when I had to grab hold of him when he was a player." Now he also seems to be the heart and soul of his Jazz team. You could say that he is an alarm clock as well, since he tries to keep all the Jazz players awake. "I remember him from when I was growing up," said Jazz guard Jeff Hornacek, a Chicago-area native. "He was scrappy, always mixing it up. That's the way he coaches too. He doesn't want anyone coasting." Antoine Carr, a former member of the Jazz, agrees with that. "He can be nice and soft but he can also be an extremely hard-driving man. He knows when to push the right buttons," Carr said. "He's a players' coach. He knows how we feel because he was a player himself. In fact, I understand he was a great player." He also is a great coach. A lot of people say the Utah Jazz are a reflection of Jerry Sloan, a hard working team, and a team with players who only think about the team, and not about themselves. And that's what Sloan is preaching: team play, good defense and toughness. He is telling his team to play tough, which is often mistaken for playing dirty. Some people say the Jazz are a dirty team, just like their coach once was. That, according to Phil Jackson, isn't the only thing the team learned from him. "He played hard all the time," said Phil Jackson, who played with the New York Knicks from 1967-78. "You didn't want to run into him because he'd fall down and get the offensive foul. He was a physical player, so you wanted to retaliate and you'd get called for another offensive foul and you'd be angry." Don't get Jackson wrong. He loved Sloan. "I've been watching Jerry Sloan since the 1964-65 season when he was at Evansville," Jackson said. "He was a good player and he's done that with his club. Everything Jerry Sloan does is based on hard play, good defense and solid, fundamental basketball." After a year in which Sloan's magic seemed to have worn out (his players weren't always ready to play, and they weren't always playing as tough as Sloan wanted them to play), the Jazz are, once again playing Sloan basketball. Which, to quote Phil Jackson again, consists of hard play, good defense, and solid, fundamental basketball. The statistics are an evidence of the good defense. Just look at the box score of the game against the Pacers, a game in which the Jazz held Reggie Miller scoreless. Not long after that, the Jazz held Bryant to 17 points in the Delta Center. "Everyone always likes to talk about the offensive part, but defense really helps you against a team that's explosive," Malone said. "Down the stretch, we did it on both ends of the floor." Another reason that those all-stars didn't score as much as they normally do, according to Matt Harpring, is that the Jazz force them to make an extra pass. "We were making them make extra passes, and they're not used to doing that," Matt Harpring said. That's clearly the work of Jerry Sloan. Sloan himself also had a few tricks up his sleeve. Matt Harpring told the audience what the trick was, after a win against the Timberwolves. "The way we switched it up [defensively], they didn't know until late in the shot clock if we were man or zone. Then we got them to take some quick shots, and we were off to the races. They've got a big lineup so they can punish us inside. But we got them in a running game and they couldn't keep up." Rod Strickland, a player of the Timberwolves, praised the intensity with which the Jazz played. "They just made all the hustle plays," said Minnesota's Rod Strickland, who had 12 points and four assists off the bench. "Offensive rebounds, loose balls and easy baskets in transition." Another interesting stat is that the Jazz only allow the opponent to score 90 points per game, which ranks them tenth in points allowed. In order to do that, you have to play good defense. And in the last couple of games, the Jazz have done that. They are diving for loose balls, and they are crashing the boards. According to another stat, the Jazz are a very good rebounding team. They average 43 rebounds per game, while allowing their opponents only 37 rebounds. Tough defense, that's what Sloan wants. And he wants it every game, even against the Memphis Grizzlies. "I made them aware of the fact. Where did we end up in the playoffs? We had the eighth seed instead of the seventh seed," Sloan said. "Fans think this game isn't as important as the Laker game, but this is a team in our division. . . . This team is capable of beating us." For Sloan, every game is important, and he wants to win them all. Sloan is telling his players to play hard every night, to fight for every ball. No matter who the opponent is, he wants to see good defense. He also wants them to play team basketball. In other words, he wants his team to play like he once did. With his six selections to the All-Defensive team, Sloan showed what that can accomplish. Sloan not only was the face of his old Bulls team, he also is the face of this Jazz team. A team that plays team basketball, works hard, and is as tough as he is. "And I think tonight we came out, we played hard. They were a physical team, but we fought right back. We didn't lay over. We took it to them, especially in the fourth quarter." Another Sloan quote? Guess again. Sloan's influence has already reached the new guys, including Matt Harpring, who said this after the win against the Pacers.