Jerry Sloan-less Jazz lose first game sans legendary coach

Jerry Sloan-less Jazz lose first game sans legendary coach

Jerry Sloan was no longer in the side lines to call the shots for the Utah Jazz after nearly 23 years, and the team fell to the visiting Phoenix Suns 95-83 on Friday in its first game without their long-time coach.

With the win, the Suns moved one game above .500 for the first time since early December. It was Utah's fourth straight defeat against Phoenix.

The Jazz were up 12 points at halftime as Deron Williams posted nine assists in setting up his teammates. A 14-5 run by the Suns in the third period made it 66-63 in favor of Phoenix.

Suns' point guard Steve Nash then picked apart Utah's defense in the second half as the Suns outscored the home team 51-27 the rest of the way.

Jerry Sloan was the longest tenured head coach in all four major sports in the U.S. before an emotional farewell on Thursday. He had a record of 1,221-803, good for third-winningest in league history, although he never won an NBA coach of the year award.

He played for the expansion team Chicago Bulls and was nicknamed "The Original Bull." After his playing days he worked as scout, assistant coach and eventually head coach of the Jazz.

There was speculation that Deron Williams, the star point guard of the Jazz, forced Sloan to quit. The relationship between the two was said to be rocky and it came to a new low during halftime of Utah's previous game. Apparently, the two had a heated argument and were close to trading blows.

But Williams has denied there was such an altercation and said he was not the reason for the departure of his coach Jerry Sloan.

Posted by Andre Monohan on Saturday February 12 2011, 5:58 AM EST. Ref: AP. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0