Utah Jazz - The Salt Lake Tribune

NBA: Jerry Sloan no longer interested in Milwaukee coaching job

Thu, 16 May 2013 18:43:29 MDT

NBA: Jerry Sloan no longer interested in Milwaukee coaching job

the Salt Lake Tribune

Published May 16, 2013 06:43PM MDT

Former Jazz coach Jerry Sloan has pulled out of consideration for the vacant job with the Milwaukee Bucks, NBA.com reported Thursday night. Sloan talked to officials from the Bucks last week at his farm in McLeansboro, Ill., and the team was said to be “seriously” interested in him. According to NBA.com, however, agent Keith Glass said Sloan has decided to withdraw from consideration. Glass is “advising Sloan on potential head coaching jobs.” “The bottom line is, Jerry doesn’t really feel it’s t...

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Monson: Kevin O’Connor says good player will be available for Jazz to draft

Thu, 16 May 2013 15:17:38 MDT

Monson: Kevin O’Connor says good player will be available for Jazz to draft

by Gordon Monson Tribune Columnist

Published May 16, 2013 03:17PM MDT

With the NBA combine underway this week in Chicago, the Utah Jazz are busy studying their options, working through every possibility, tossing them in the air like a dough slapper at Pizano’s. They have two picks in the coming draft, one in the lottery, a likely No. 14 selection, and another at No. 21. There is both skepticism and sunshine as to whether the Jazz can add to their half-vacant roster a player or two who will actually help them improve what is already a young core. There’s been talk...

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NBA: Bucks consider making offer to ex-Jazz coach Sloan

Tue, 14 May 2013 09:22:29 MDT

NBA: Bucks consider making offer to ex-Jazz coach Sloan

by Steve Luhm The Salt Lake Tribune

Published May 14, 2013 09:22AM MDT

Former Utah Jazz coach Jerry Sloan told The Tribune last week he had talked to “a couple” of teams about returning to the NBA. It turns out one of them was the Milwaukee Bucks. USA Today reported Monday that Sloan has talked to Milwaukee about its vacant head coaching job. The newspaper, citing two anonymous league sources, called Sloan “a serious candidate.” Sloan, 71, coached the Jazz for 23 seasons and into two NBA Finals before abruptly resigning on Feb. 10, 2011. His name has been connect...

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Kragthorpe: Memphis Grizzlies the model for Jazz’s makeover

Mon, 13 May 2013 17:18:48 MDT

Kragthorpe: Memphis Grizzlies the model for Jazz’s makeover

by Kurt Kragthorpe Tribune Columnist

Published May 13, 2013 05:18PM MDT

Here in Jazzland, amid the search for signs of hope that the hometown franchise can return to a competitive playoff level after three disappointing seasons, the makeup of the NBA’s conference semifinalists offers some encouragement. Memphis, Indiana, San Antonio and Oklahoma City represent four of the league’s six other smallest markets, and they’re all winning games in the second round of the playoffs. Another common thread: Earl Watson formerly played for three of those teams. That’s not nece...

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Monson: Jeff Hornacek on fast track for head-coaching job

Sat, 11 May 2013 23:13:22 MDT

Monson: Jeff Hornacek on fast track for head-coaching job

by Gordon Monson Tribune Columnist

Published May 11, 2013 11:13PM MDT

Jeff Hornacek will be a head coach in the NBA, probably — but not certainly — somewhere other than Utah. It’s a matter of time, and that time is growing short. The Jazz know this. They know it enough to worry about it, to suffer heartburn over it, but not enough to immediately or automatically alter their current course. “He’ll have some choices, either this year or in the coming years about where he wants to be in his career as a potential head coach,” said general manager Dennis Lindsey. “He’...

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Jazz take a look at point guards Kabongo, Wolters in pre-draft workout

Sat, 11 May 2013 23:13:22 MDT

Jazz take a look at point guards Kabongo, Wolters in pre-draft workout

by Steve Luhm The Salt Lake Tribune

Published May 11, 2013 11:13PM MDT

The Utah Jazz started the process of restructuring their point guard position Saturday, when Texas’ Myck Kabongo and South Dakota State’s Nate Wolters were among six players participating in a pre-draft workout at the team’s practice facility. None of Utah’s veteran point guards from last season — Mo Williams, Jamaal Tinsley or Earl Watson — is under contract for next year. In addition, none of the Jazz’s four acknowledged building blocks for the future — Gordon Hayward, Derrick Favors, Enes Kan...

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Utah Jazz: Team will hold pre-draft workout Saturday

Fri, 10 May 2013 14:52:02 MDT

Utah Jazz: Team will hold pre-draft workout Saturday

The Salt Lake Tribune

Published May 10, 2013 02:52PM MDT

Six players will be inside Zions Bank Basketball Center when the Utah Jazz hold their pre-draft workouts Saturday at the team’s practice facility. The workouts, which are not open to the public, feature James Ennis, a 6-foot-6 guard from Long Beach State; Jamelle Hagins, 6-foot-9 forward, Delaware; Colton Iverson, 7-foot center, Colorado State; Myck Kabongo, 6-foot-1 guard, Texas; Mike Snaer, 6-foot-5 guard, Florida State; and Nate Wolters, 6-foot-4 guard, South Dakota State.

Copyright 2013 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Jazz’s Jeff Hornacek a candidate in Philadelphia, Charlotte

Fri, 03 May 2013 17:39:02 MDT

Jazz’s Jeff Hornacek a candidate in Philadelphia, Charlotte

by Steve Luhm The Salt Lake Tribune

Published May 3, 2013 05:39PM MDT

Utah Jazz assistant Jeff Hornacek has emerged as a candidate for vacant head coaching jobs in Philadelphia and Charlotte. Hornacek could also become a factor in Phoenix’s search for a coach, which will get serious once the Suns name a new general manager. Yahoo! Sports first reported the 76ers received permission from the Jazz to discuss their job with Hornacek, who spent two seasons in Philadelphia during his 14-year playing career. Other known candidates to replace Doug Collins as coach of the...

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Kragthorpe: Jazz’s Stockton-Malone void remains, 10 years later

Wed, 01 May 2013 14:48:18 MDT

Kragthorpe: Jazz’s Stockton-Malone void remains, 10 years later

by Kurt Kragthrope Tribune Columnist

Published May 1, 2013 02:48PM MDT

The morning after their fathers walked off the court together for the last time as Jazz teammates, David Stockton went to school as a sixth-grader and Karl Malone Jr. reported to his second-grade class. Now that David is about to become a fifth-year senior guard for Gonzaga University and K.J. is preparing to enroll as an LSU lineman, their childhoods measure the 10 years that have passed since John Stockton and Karl Malone last played for the Jazz at Sacramento on April 30, 2003. So do other e...

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Utah Jazz: Team leaders say O’Connor not stepping down

Wed, 01 May 2013 10:51:14 MDT

Utah Jazz: Team leaders say O’Connor not stepping down

by Bill Oram The Salt Lake Tribune

Published May 1, 2013 10:51AM MDT

Reports that longtime Utah Jazz executive Kevin O’Connor is planning to step away from day-to-day operations of the team are inaccurate, franchise leaders said Wednesday morning. In a tweet sent at about 9 a.m., Jazz CEO Greg Miller said, “Sources very close to the Utah Jazz (me) verify that Kevin O’Connor is not stepping down as [Executive Vice President] of Basketball Operations.” A television news report Tuesday night said O’Connor would vacate that role and hand his duties over to general ma...

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Utah Jazz exec Kevin O’Connor denies report of stepping down

Wed, 01 May 2013 00:02:57 MDT

Utah Jazz exec Kevin O’Connor denies report of stepping down

by Bill Oram The Salt Lake Tribune

Published May 1, 2013 12:02AM MDT

Kevin O’Connor, the Utah Jazz’s fiery former general manager who stepped into a diminished role last summer, denied a television news report late Tuesday night that he is stepping away from the organization’s familial management team. Asked if he was stepping down after 14 years as an executive with the organization, the 65-year-old O’Connor said, “Not true, and I have no comment.” A report by Salt Lake City CBS affiliate KUTV Ch. 2 said O’Connor, the team’s executive vice president of basketbal...

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Monson: Jazz need Gordon Hayward to take the lead

Sat, 20 Apr 2013 17:19:13 MDT

Monson: Jazz need Gordon Hayward to take the lead

by Gordon Monson Tribune Columnist

Published Apr 20, 2013 05:19PM MDT

Gordon Hayward’s demeanor after the game that ended the Jazz’s season last week at Memphis descended to the same subterranean level it had fallen to after every loss, particularly the 28 beatdowns on the road: a dark place somewhere between disappointment and devastation. There may have been disgust mixed in, too. “It was a long, long flight home,” he said later. Nobody on the Jazz loathed defeat the way Hayward did this season. He considered a loss a failure, and that failure often looked as t...

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Utah Jazz: Several free agents hope to return (with video)

Sat, 20 Apr 2013 10:04:55 MDT

Utah Jazz: Several free agents hope to return (with video)

by Bill Oram The Salt Lake Tribune

Published Apr 20, 2013 10:04AM MDT

Just like the first out-of-towner to exercise his free agency in Utah, Jazz shooting guard Randy Foye on Thursday declared, “This is the place.” In different, less historically familiar words, so did DeMarre Carroll, Jamaal Tinsley and Mo Williams. They make up a group of Jazz free agents whose summer intentions aren’t as highly anticipated as those of Al Jefferson or Paul Millsap, but played a key role in a winning season that ended Wednesday when the Jazz finished two games out of the playoffs...

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Utah Jazz: Players leave team for summer, some for good (with video)

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 09:10:15 MDT

Utah Jazz: Players leave team for summer, some for good (with video)

by Bill Oram The Salt Lake Tribune

Published Apr 19, 2013 09:10AM MDT

The Utah Jazz gathered for a final time, literally picking up the remaining pieces of a broken season, tossing them into boxes to be shipped home. Thursday marked the last official step of an early ending season. Hours after eliminating themselves from playoff contention with a loss in Memphis, the Jazz were back at EnergySolutions Arena, cleaning out their lockers, meeting with coaches and management for exit interview and then, well, exiting. It closed a season that left the Jazz out of the p...

Monson: Final goodbyes necessary for Utah Jazz (with video)

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 23:09:50 MDT

Monson: Final goodbyes necessary for Utah Jazz (with video)

by Gordon Monson Tribune Columnist

Published Apr 18, 2013 11:09PM MDT

Saying goodbye is nowhere near as tough as winning is important. That notion was thick as a brick Thursday as Jazz players cleaned out their lockers at EnergySolutions Arena and packed up for an offseason that will see many of them off to other basketball destinations. Half the team never again will wear a Jazz uniform. From a human standpoint, that was kind of sad. From a competitive standpoint, it was necessary. In the NBA, being competitive trumps being human. From the other direction, takin...

Kragthorpe: Jazz will miss Al Jefferson more than Paul Millsap

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 23:09:50 MDT

Kragthorpe: Jazz will miss Al Jefferson more than Paul Millsap

by Kurt Kragthorpe Tribune Columnist

Published Apr 18, 2013 11:09PM MDT

In the tradition of Jazz legend Karl Malone, center Al Jefferson accidentally referred to “the city of Utah” during an interview Thursday. If this is the end for Jefferson with the Jazz, his legacy hardly will resemble the Mailman’s, considering Jefferson’s three-year tenure in Salt Lake City includes exactly zero playoff victories. Yet Jefferson, whose face on the southeast facade of EnergySolutions Arena temporarily hovers above Malone’s statue, deserves to be remembered well around here. He ...

Jazz notes: Has DeMarre Carroll found a home? (with video)

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 17:31:03 MDT

Jazz notes: Has DeMarre Carroll found a home? (with video)

by Steve Luhm The Salt Lake Tribune

Published Apr 18, 2013 05:31PM MDT

If DeMarre Carroll gets his way, he’ll return to Utah next season. Heading into the offseason, Carroll is one of nine Jazz players without a contract. But he made it clear Thursday he’d like to come back. “I’m a Utah Jazz until they don’t want me,” Carroll said. “If I got the same offer and the same contract and all that, I’d be back. I love it here. I think I’ve built something here.” Carroll often refers to himself as the Junkyard Dog and did so again as the Jazz players met with reporters fol...

Kragthorpe: Jazz’s season ends, real work begins

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 11:26:08 MDT

Kragthorpe: Jazz’s season ends, real work begins

by Kurt Kragthorpe Tribune Columnist

Published Apr 18, 2013 11:26AM MDT

Everybody probably should thank the Jazz for saving them the trouble of agonizing about the Los Angeles Lakers’ late game Wednesday, investing in playoff tickets or worrying about their team being swept again in the first round. If the Jazz’s exercise in Memphis was this year’s closest thing to a playoff game, a snapshot of how they might play in the postseason, nobody would want to witness what may have unfolded against Oklahoma City. Never in franchise history had the Jazz faced an in-or-out ...

Utah Jazz: Season ends with loss to Grizzlies

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 07:51:17 MDT

Utah Jazz: Season ends with loss to Grizzlies

by Bill Oram The Salt Lake Tribune

Published Apr 18, 2013 07:51AM MDT

Memphis, Tenn. • Al Jefferson sat in a folding chair for which he was too large, his knees angled upward, and shook his head slowly. His lips stuck out in a frustrated pout. Mo Williams rolled gently back and forth on a rubber medicine ball. As minutes passed, the truth set in. Their bid to qualify for the playoffs on the last night of the season fell far short. This, they realized, was it. Just as it began, the 39th season in Utah Jazz history ended with uncertainty. Questions that six months a...