Last Monday Sloan missed the Jazz home game against the Dallas Mavericks, to be with his wife Bobbye. Tuesday Sloan rejoined the team only to be hit with question after question about his wife’s health. On Thursday morning Jerry Sloan and his wife Bobbye held a press conference to announce that Bobbye Sloan had a tumor in her pancreas. The purpose of the press conference was to let everybody know what was going on and put the constant questioning to a stop. At this point I think I speak for all of us saying everyone here at www.Jazzhoops.net wish both Bobbye and Jerry nothing but the best.

At the Press Conference we also learned that Jerry will be missing a few games through out the year. The Jazz should do fine with assistant coach Phil Johnson manning the sideline for the Jazz. In fact it will show in depth why the Jazz have the best one-two punch in the business.

Jerry Sloan is with out question one of the most successful coaches in the history of the game. While some coaches might have handfuls of rings more then Jerry, Sloan is proving something certain highly decorated (and highly selective when it comes to teams they lead) coaches haven’t – He is winning with a team effort with a squad that boasts no stars.

Sloan brings a “fresh” approach to the NBA. Although as fresh as it may be it’s far from new. Sloan is a throw back coach who doesn’t care how talented a player is if he doesn’t work well in a team or give the team all he has. Where other coaches spend time wondering how to make their team exciting, Sloan only cares about winning. You can bet if it were up to Sloan that the Zone defense and 3 point line would be gone. Total one hundred percent effort is all that Sloan will accept. Sloan implements system and expects each player to know and do his part and not stray from the plan. Jerry Sloan is the best coach in the NBA in two areas. He understands the game and how to get the most out of a team, and there is certainly no one better at getting the most out of his players. The intensity, the desire, the success of Jerry Sloan is such that if you gave him a piece of coal he would hand you back a diamond.

Phil Johnson has been with Jerry Sloan for a decade and a half. Phil compliments Sloan in his understanding of the game and fills in ably when Jerry is unavailable for whatever reason. Johnson is 8-4 when coaching the Jazz and has guided the team to numerous come from behind victories when the referees have decided to end Sloan’s night a little early.

If there is one point of the game that Sloan lacks, it’s on the fly adapting and in game chemistry combine with match ups against the opposing team. Jerry Sloan has long made up for this by letting the players know exactly what he expects of them and sets his rotations like clock work. The majority of Jazz fans can tell you Stockton came out at the 6:00 mark in the first quarter and sat for 12 minutes. This year Stevenson and Arroyo almost always come out at the end of the first and third quarters. It’s simple and laid out and everyone knows what is expected. This allows Sloan to use his strength of getting everything possible out of his players to his advantage.

Chemistry and match ups is another area “Feel” Johnson compliments Sloan and fills in ably for Jerry when he is out. Where Sloan is the best in the ranks at getting everything from the players, any step that might be lost in this area with Sloan off the sidelines is made up by Johnson’s feel for the game and the chemistry of the players.

Jerry Sloan and Phil Johnson are the best coaching pair in the game today. The Jazz lost the NBA dynamic duo when Stockton retired last season and Malone fled to the Lakers. But Jazz fans have the unique opportunity this year to see a dynamic coaching duo that is the best in the league and has been for over a decade.

Jerry Sloan does deserve to be coach of the year this season. If for no other reason we have seen the way he rallies people around him and understands what it takes for them to succeed. We have seen that in his teams, his assistant coaches and his family. Referring to her husband a tearful Bobbye Sloan said in the press conference that she “will do what ever she can to stay here as long as she can with this wonderful man.” To that end we all hope Jerry, Bobbye, Phil Johnson and all the coaches that make the team that leads the Jazz, are all with us as long as they can be.
 

In a interview Thursday January 13th, Jazz fans learned that Bobbye Sloan the wife of coach Jerry Sloan will be fighting another battle against cancer. 
     
Bobbye, a breast-cancer survivor has been diagnosed with a malignant tumor in her pancreas. It is her wish that coach Sloan continue coaching the Jazz team that she has enjoyed so much this year.