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Utah Jazz

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Gtg204y (talk | contribs) at 15:53, 27 September 2007 (rv speculation, other material covered in "2007 playoffs" subsection). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Template:NBA team The Utah Jazz is a professional basketball team based in Salt Lake City, Utah. They play in the National Basketball Association (NBA).

The team was originally the New Orleans Jazz, but due to owner Sam Battistone's unhappiness in New Orleans (and perhaps his wife's Utah roots), moved to Utah in 1979. The Jazz were one of the most successful teams in the late 1980s and 1990s, making it to two NBA Finals in 1997 and 1998 under coach Jerry Sloan, who is still the head coach. The Finalist teams were anchored by the combination of point guard John Stockton and power forward Karl Malone and made the playoffs 20 consecutive seasons (behind only the record Portland Trail Blazers' 21-year playoff streak). Malone and Stockton are generally seen as two of the best players in history at their positions and among the best two-player combinations of all time.

Home arenas

In New Orleans

In Salt Lake City

Franchise history

Early years

File:NewOrlransJazzLogo.gif
Logo, 1974–1979. The mentioning of the city is not shown on the Jazz jerseys of that era.

In 1974 the Jazz franchise began in New Orleans. Though Pete Maravich was viewed as one of the NBA's most entertaining and talented players, the Jazz were continually a losing team. After five losing seasons in New Orleans, they moved to Salt Lake City, Utah in 1979. Attendance actually went down after this move.[1][2] Whatever the reason was for the move, it was not a lack of fan support.[3]

Move to Utah

Although the team nickname was not fitting for Salt Lake City at the time, with Utah not being known for its jazz culture like New Orleans was, the franchise decided to keep it. One fan quipped that "This is interesting, Utah has the Jazz and New Orleans has the Saints," referring to the city's NFL team [citation needed]. "Saints," as in Latter Day Saints, founded the state of Utah. Unlike franchise relocations today, there was little local effort to keep the Jazz in New Orleans, nor was there a public campaign to bring a team to Utah. When asked why the team did not change its nickname, one-time Jazz head coach Frank Layden (who later served a stint as team president) quipped that nobody thought the team was going to last long enough to bother with a name change.[citation needed] Before the 1979-80 season, Utah obtained high scoring guard/forward Adrian Dantley from the Los Angeles Lakers. He would go on to be the NBA scoring champion in both the 1980-1981 and 1983-1984 seasons. Maravich was waived during the season. With the #2 draft pick in the 1980 NBA Draft, they obtained Darrell Griffith from the University of Louisville.

During the 1980-81 season, Frank Layden became the head coach, and in 1982 , the Jazz selected big man Mark Eaton in the fourth round of the draft. These four additions to the team would serve to set the seeds for the future success for the team. Despite these additions, however, the team continued to languish toward the bottom of the standings. The Jazz improved slightly in 1982-83, despite the fact that Dantley missed 60 games with a wrist injury, but still fell far short of the playoffs. During the 1983 NBA Draft, the Jazz selected Thurl Bailey out of North Carolina State University in the first round.

During the 1983-84 season, the Jazz went 45–37 for their first winning season ever, winning the Midwest Division and advancing to the playoffs; this began their streak of 20 consecutive appearances. In the playoffs they advanced to the second round, where they lost to the Phoenix Suns. Frank Layden won the NBA Coach of the Year Award that season for bringing an unheralded team to unprecedented success, while Dantley was the NBA scoring champion with 30.6 per game and was also named the NBA Comeback Player of the Year.

Success

File:UtahJazzOld.png
Logo, 1979–1996

In 1984 , the Jazz drafted point guard John Stockton from Gonzaga University and the next year added the second half of one of the NBA's greatest pairings in power forward Karl Malone from Louisiana Tech. In both the 1984-85 and 1985-86 seasons, the Jazz barely scraped into the playoffs. In 1986, the Jazz traded Adrian Dantley to Detroit. During the next few seasons, the Jazz began to establish themselves as a respectable team in their own. Mark Eaton was perhaps one of the best defensive players of the era, while Stockton and Malone soon became superstars. Stockton and Malone developed into an almost unstoppable combo, running pick-and-roll plays with great success. "Stockton to Malone" became a common phrase, as Stockton regularly found ways to pass the ball to Malone in good scoring position. Despite the regular season successes, however, the Jazz were never able to advance past the second round of the NBA Playoffs during the 1980s. During the 1988-89 season, Frank Layden stepped down as head coach to become president of the Utah Jazz. Assistant coach Jerry Sloan took over head coaching duties. Sloan guided the Jazz to their first 50-win season ever with a 51–31 record, also winning the Midwest Division. Once again, however, the Jazz flopped in the postseason, losing to the Golden State Warriors in the first round.

1990s

Throughout the early 1990s, the Jazz's playoff woes continued, with the Jazz losing in the first round in 1990 to the Phoenix Suns and in the second round in 1991 to the Portland Trail Blazers. In 1990-91, the Jazz acquired Jeff Malone, and after the 1991-92 season they waived veteran Darrell Griffith. In 1991 the Jazz also moved out of the old Salt Palace and into the new Delta Center. In 1992 , the Jazz finally made it to the conference finals, losing to the Portland Trail Blazers in six games. In 1993, the Jazz had a disappointing run in the playoffs again, losing to the Seattle SuperSonics in the first round. During the 1993-94 season, the Jazz traded Jeff Malone to the Philadelphia 76ers for shooting guard Jeff Hornacek, who provided high three-point and free throw shot percentage. The Jazz made the playoffs with a 53–29 record, shutting down NBA scoring leader David Robinson and San Antonio 3–1, then fought off a determined, upstart Denver Nuggets team 4–3 in the Conference semi-finals, and advanced to the Conference finals, where they lost to the eventual NBA champion Houston Rockets 4–1.

In the 1994-95 season, the Jazz had amazing depth and talent at their disposal and were expected to make a serious run for the championship. The Jazz finished with a 60–22 record during the regular season. Despite this, however, the Jazz lost to the Houston Rockets in the first round of the playoffs in five games. Big man Greg Ostertag was added to the team for the 1995-96 season, and the Jazz reached the conference finals for the third time in history, almost overcoming a 3–1 deficit and narrowly losing to the Seattle SuperSonics 4–3.

In the next two seasons, the Jazz were finally able to capitalize on their regular season success. In 1996-97, the Jazz had a legendary team[citation needed], with such players as Stockton, Malone, Hornacek, Russell, Ostertag, Antoine Carr, Howard Eisley, and Shandon Anderson. The Jazz had their best record in franchise history at 64–18. They finally reached the NBA Finals for the first time ever after beating the Los Angeles Clippers 3–0, Los Angeles Lakers 4–1, and Houston Rockets 4-2 to meet Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls in the NBA Finals. A three-pointer at the buzzer by John Stockton in Game 6 of the 1997 Western Conference Championship sent the Jazz to the finals. This shot remains one of the highlight shots of the Jazz franchise. In the 1997 NBA Finals, the Jazz lost to the Bulls 4–2, after losing the last two in the final seconds of the games (90–88 and 90–86). Malone won the MVP8–85. However, the Bulls overcame a slow start to win Game 2 93–88, easily took Game 3 96–54 and won a closer Game 4 86–82 to lead 3–1 in the series. The Jazz fought back to win Game 5 83–81 at the United Center and the series returned to Salt Lake City, where the Jazz had always been dominant. The Jazz held a lead in most of Game 6, but the Bulls rallied, and in the last seconds of the game, Michael Jordan made a jump shot to win the game, 87–86. This shot is one of the most famous shots in history, as Jordan retired for the second time that off-season, and highlights the Jazz's struggles in the postseason, despite their overall, consistent success. Some Jazz fans feel Jordan pushed off Bryon Russell prior to the shot, but no foul was called.[citation needed] The game was also controversial because of two incidents early in the game. In the second quarter Howard Eisley made a three pointer, but the officials incorrectly ruled that the shot was taken after the shot clock expired. Later in the game, Ron Harper made a two-pointer after the shot clock expired, but this time the officials allowed it. Many Jazz fans also feel that these "phantom five" points also cost them the game, since the final margin was only one point.

In the 1999 season, shortened to 50 games due to a lockout, the Jazz finished the season 37–13, tied with the Spurs for the best record in the league. They defeated the Sacramento Kings in five games in the first round of the playoffs. However, they lost in the second round of the playoffs to the Portland Trail Blazers. Despite yet another disappointment, Malone was awarded his second MVP.

Early 2000s

During the 1999-00 season, the Jazz won the Midwest Division but once again struggled in the postseason, losing to the Portland Trail Blazers, again during the second round. During the offseason, Hornacek retired and Howard Eisley was traded in a four-team deal that brought in Donyell Marshall. They selected promising high school basketball star DeShawn Stevenson in the first round of the NBA Draft. In the 2000-01 season, they went 53–29, but their playoff woes once again struck when they blew a 2–0 series lead in the first round of the playoffs to the Dallas Mavericks.

In the 2001-02 season, Andrei Kirilenko made his rookie debut, but overall the Jazz began to show their age and dwindling talent. The Jazz finished just 44–38 and lost to the Sacramento Kings 3–1 in the first round of the playoffs. In 2002-03, Marshall and Russell moved on to other teams. Matt Harpring, however, was brought over from the Philadelphia 76ers, contributing to the offense and experiencing his best season. The Jazz approached 50 wins going into the playoffs, ultimately going 47–35 and again losing to the Kings 4–1. After the season, the end of an era came when Stockton retired and Malone moved to the Lakers in the hunt for a championship ring with several other future Hall-of-Famers. (The Lakers fell to Detroit in the Finals the following season, after which Malone retired.)

Rebuilding

In the 2003-04 season, the Jazz were expected to be one of the weakest teams in the NBA[citation needed], but instead they exceeded most analysts' expectations. The team featured several unheralded players who emerged into key contributors, including Kirilenko, Raja Bell, Matt Harpring, and Carlos Arroyo. In particular, Kirilenko demonstrated versatility on both offense and defense and earned a spot in the All-Star Game. Kirilenko helped the team late into the season's playoff hunt, in which the Jazz missed out by just one game to the Denver Nuggets, ending their streak of 20 consecutive seasons in the playoffs. Jerry Sloan finished second in the voting for the NBA Coach of the Year Award, losing to Hubie Brown of the Memphis Grizzlies.

In the 2004 offseason, the Jazz obtained free agents Carlos Boozer (from the Cleveland Cavaliers) and Mehmet Okur (from the Detroit Pistons) and Greg Ostertag left as a free agent to the Sacramento Kings. The franchise was again expected to contend in the West. The season began well for the Jazz, but a series of injuries, first to Arroyo and Raul Lopez, and later to Boozer and Kirilenko, caused the team to fall to the bottom of the division. There were rumors of internal discontent between the younger players and Sloan, leading to the trading away of Arroyo mid-season to the Detroit Pistons in exchange for Elden Campbell (who was immediately waived). They ended the 2004-05 season with a record of 26–56, their worst since the 1981–1982 season.

In the summer of 2005, the Jazz continued to shape their roster by dispatching some of their underperforming young players and trading three draft picks in order to acquire the #3 pick overall, point guard Deron Williams of the University of Illinois. Bell left the team for the Phoenix Suns and the Jazz re-obtained Greg Ostertag from the Kings and dealt oft-injured point guard Raul Lopez to the Memphis Grizzlies and shooting guard Kirk Snyder to the New Orleans Hornets as part of the largest trade in NBA history.

Before the beginning of the season, Boozer was injured and missed the first 49 games. Kirilenko and several other young players saw sporadic but sometimes devastating injuries. Gordan Giricek missed most of the last half of the season. Okur and Kirilenko showed consistently good play, while Williams, despite a mid-season slump, did not disappoint. However, rumors of discontent between Jerry Sloan and the young players persisted, while team owner Larry Miller continually expressed his discontent with the team's effort. Sloan, however, was content with his lineup, making no changes before the trade deadline. They stayed in the playoff race until the third-to-last game, when they lost to the Dallas Mavericks. The Jazz ended the season 41–41 and just 3 games out of the playoffs. The 15 game improvement from last season, however, was the second greatest improvement in the league from the previous season (behind the then-New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets). Ostertag retired at the end of the season, having spent 10 of his 11 seasons with the team.

In the 2006 NBA Draft, the Jazz selected promising University of Arkansas shooting guard Ronnie Brewer with the #14 pick, and in the second round selected point guard Dee Brown (Williams's former teammate at Illinois) and power forward Paul Millsap with the #46 and #47 picks. Not long after the draft, they dealt Devin Brown, Keith McLeod, and Andre Owens to the Golden State Warriors in exchange for guard Derek Fisher, giving them a veteran shooting guard and a potential backup to Williams. The Jazz were heralded by several major sports websites for drafting well.[4][5][6]

2006-07 season

The Jazz had a surprisingly good start to the 2006-07 season, getting off to a league and franchise best 12–1 record, despite an injury to Kirilenko that caused him to miss 5 games. Williams showed remarkable improvement and finished second in the league in assists per game (behind Steve Nash), with 9.3, the most ever by any Jazz player except John Stockton. Carlos Boozer was selected to his first All-Star Game as a reserve, but missed the game due to injury; Mehmet Okur was selected as one of the four injury replacements and has developed a reputation as a remarkable clutch shooter. The team developed a very deep roster; in the 10 games that Boozer and Okur (the two leading scorers) missed, the team went 8–2. Paul Millsap became one the biggest surprise rookies of the year. The Jazz clinched their first playoff berth in 4 seasons on March 25, and on March 28 clinched the division title. The Jazz fared poorly in the last few weeks of the regular season and finished with 51–31 record, good for sixth overall in the league (behind the Dallas Mavericks, Phoenix Suns, San Antonio Spurs, Detroit Pistons, and Houston Rockets). It was their best record in 6 seasons.

Utah unveiled a new baby blue alternate jersey against the Phoenix Suns on November 18, 2006 that features the lettering "Jazz" from their team logo on the front and "Utah" in uppercase block letters on both sides of the uniform's shorts.

The Jazz will get their own D-League team at the beginning of the 2007-08 season, the Utah Flash, based in Orem.

2007 playoffs

Their opponent in the first round of the NBA playoffs was the Houston Rockets, who had finished one game ahead of the Jazz in the competition for home court advantage in the series. The Jazz lost the first two games in the series but were able to force a seventh game. The first six games of the series were all won by the home team; Utah broke this trend in the seventh game by beating the Rockets in Houston 103–99.

The Jazz next faced the eighth-seeded Golden State Warriors in the 2nd round. The Warriors, who had qualified for the playoffs on the last day of the regular season, had defeated the top-seeded (with an NBA-best 67-15 regular-season record) Dallas Mavericks in the previous series. The Jazz eliminated the Warriors in five games to advance to the Western Conference finals for the first time since 1998.

They then met the San Antonio Spurs, who had eliminated the Phoenix Suns. The Spurs won the series (eliminating the Jazz from the playoffs) in five games.

Rivals

Over its 28 years in Utah, the Jazz have had many rivals. During the 1990s, Utah and the Houston Rockets became heated conference rivals, often meeting in the NBA Playoffs. And though early in the 90s the Rockets had Utah's number during postseason play, in 1997 the Jazz finally defeated the Rockets in the Western Conference Finals, advancing to the team's first ever NBA Finals. The victory came after John Stockton hit a game winning three as time expired. In 1998, the Jazz and Rockets again would meet, this time in the first round. Utah entered that series tied with the best record in the NBA, held the #1 seed and promptly lost game one to the Rockets. After rallying back and winning game two, the Jazz would then go on to lose game three in Houston. Facing elimination — and the possibility of becoming only the second #1 seed in NBA history to lose to an 8th seed — the Jazz beat Houston and sent the series back to Utah for a definitive game five. The Jazz would easily defeat the Rockets in that game, advancing to the second round.

Though there is some semblance of a rivalry between the two teams today, it had died down over the years. After 1998, the Jazz and Rockets would not meet again in the NBA Playoffs until 2007, where it was revived by a near epic 7 game series. The Jazz fell down 0-2 to the Rockets and stormed back to win 4 of the final 5 playoff games, including the decisive game 7 in Houston. The playoff series victory was the Jazz's third consecutive over the Rockets, who haven't won a playoff series in 10 years. The rivalry also lost some of its luster when the NBA decided to revamp its divisional standings. In the old Western Conference, Utah and Houston were divisional foes, however the Jazz have since relocated to the Northwest Division, while Houston is now in the Southwest Division. During the 1990s the Jazz also became heated rivals with the Lakers and Bulls, often battling them in important regular season and playoff games. Most recently the Jazz have sparked up a rivalry with the nearby Denver Nuggets.

Season-by-season records

Note: W = wins, L = losses, % = win–loss %

Season W L % Playoffs Results
New Orleans Jazz
1974-75 23 59 .280
1975-76 38 44 .463
1976-77 35 47 .427
1977-78 39 43 .476
1978-79 26 56 .317
Utah Jazz
1979-80 24 58 .293
1980-81 28 54 .341
1981-82 25 57 .305
1982-83 30 52 .366
1983-84 45 37 .549 Won First Round
Lost Conference Semifinals		 Utah 3, Denver 2
Phoenix 4, Utah 2
1984-85 41 41 .500 Won First Round
Lost Conference Semifinals		 Utah 3, Houston 2
Denver 4, Utah 1
1985-86 42 40 .512 Lost First Round Dallas 3, Utah 1
1986-87 44 38 .537 Lost First Round Golden State 3, Utah 2
1987-88 47 35 .573 Won First Round
Lost Conference Semifinals		 Utah 3, Portland 1
L.A. Lakers 4, Utah 3
1988-89 51 31 .622 Lost First Round Golden State 3, Utah 0
1989-90 55 27 .671 Lost First Round Phoenix 3, Utah 2
1990-91 54 28 .659 Won First Round
Lost Conference Semifinals		 Utah 3, Phoenix 1
Portland 4, Utah 1
1991-92 55 27 .671 Won First Round
Won Conference Semifinals
Lost Conference Finals		 Utah 3, L.A. Clippers 2
Utah 4, Seattle 1
Portland 4, Utah 2
1992-93 47 35 .573 Lost First Round Seattle 3, Utah 2
1993-94 53 29 .646 Won First Round
Won Conference Semifinals
Lost Conference Finals		 Utah 3, San Antonio 1
Utah 4, Denver 3
Houston 4, Utah 1
1994-95 60 22 .732 Lost First Round Houston 3, Utah 2
1995-96 55 27 .671 Won First Round
Won Conference Semifinals
Lost Conference Finals		 Utah 3, Portland 2
Utah 4, San Antonio 2
Seattle 4, Utah 3
1996-97 64 18 .780 Won First Round
Won Conference Semifinals
Won Conference Finals
Lost NBA Finals		 Utah 3, L.A. Clippers 0
Utah 4, L.A. Lakers 1
Utah 4, Houston 2
Chicago 4, Utah 2
1997-98 62 20 .756 Won First Round
Won Conference Semifinals
Won Conference Finals
Lost NBA Finals		 Utah 3, Houston 2
Utah 4, San Antonio 1
Utah 4, L.A. Lakers 0
Chicago 4, Utah 2
1998-99 37 13 .740 Won First Round
Lost Conference Semifinals		 Utah 3, Sacramento 2
Portland 4, Utah 2
1999-2000 55 27 .671 Won First Round
Lost Conference Semifinals		 Utah 3, Seattle 2
Portland 4, Utah 1
2000-01 53 29 .646 Lost First Round Dallas 3, Utah 2
2001-02 44 38 .537 Lost First Round Sacramento 3, Utah 1
2002-03 47 35 .573 Lost First Round Sacramento 4, Utah 1
2003-04 42 40 .512
2004-05 26 56 .317
2005-06 41 41 .500
2006-07 51 31 .617 Won First Round
Won Conference Semifinals
Lost Conference Finals		 Utah 4, Houston 3
Utah 4, Golden State 1
San Antonio 4, Utah 1
Totals 1439 1235 .538
Playoffs 103 107 .490

Current roster

Players of note

Basketball Hall-Of-Famers

Persons associated with the Jazz in the Hall of Fame

File:Utah Jazz alternate logo (2005-present).PNG

This file may be deleted after Wednesday, 12 September 2007.

Retired numbers

Other notable players

Broadcasters

Franchise leaders

  • Career
    • Games: John Stockton (1,504)
    • Minutes Played: Karl Malone (53,479)
    • Field Goals Made: Karl Malone (13,335)
    • Field Goal Attempts: Karl Malone (25,810)
    • 3-Point Field Goals Made: John Stockton (845)
    • 3-Point Field Goal Attempts: John Stockton (2,203)
    • Free Throws Made: Karl Malone (9,619)
    • Free Throw Attempts: Karl Malone (12,963)
    • Offensive Rebounds: Karl Malone (3,501)
    • Defensive Rebounds: Karl Malone (11,100)
    • Total Rebounds: Karl Malone (14,601)
    • Assists**: John Stockton (15,806)
    • Steals**: John Stockton (3,265)
    • Blocked Shots: Mark Eaton (3,064)
    • Turnovers: Karl Malone (4,421)
    • Personal Fouls: Karl Malone (4,462)
    • Points: Karl Malone (36,374)
  • Per Game
    • Minutes Played: Truck Robinson (43.35)
    • Field Goals Made: Adrian Dantley (10.65)
    • Field Goal Attempts: Pete Maravich (22.75)
    • 3-Point Field Goals Made: Jeff Hornacek (0.92)
    • 3-Point Field Goal Attempts: Bryon Russell (2.32)
    • Free Throws Made: Adrian Dantley (8.27)
    • Free Throw Attempts: Adrian Dantley (10.11)
    • Offensive Rebounds: Truck Robinson (3.50)
    • Defensive Rebounds: Truck Robinson (11.42)
    • Total Rebounds: Truck Robinson (14.92)
    • Assists: John Stockton (10.51)
    • Steals: John Stockton (2.17)
    • Blocked Shots: Mark Eaton (3.50)
    • Turnovers: Pete Maravich (4.25)
    • Personal Fouls: Danny Schayes (3.85)
    • Points: Adrian Dantley (29.58)
** - Leads NBA

Coaches

Years Coach Record
1974-75 Scotty Robertson 1–14
1974-75 Elgin Baylor 0–1
1974–77 Bill Van Breda Kolff 74–100
1977–79 Elgin Baylor 86–134
1979–81 Tom Nissalke 60–124
1981–88 Frank Layden 277–294
1988–present Jerry Sloan 941–568
1974–2007   1439–1235

*Games completed through April 18, 2007

References

  1. ^ "New Orleans Jazz – Year Five". HornetsReport.com. Retrieved 2007-04-22.
  2. ^ Blackwell, Dave. "Utah Jazz Encyclopedia". Utah.gov. Retrieved 2007-04-22.
  3. ^ "Jazz Basketball Investors, Inc". FundingUniverse.com. Retrieved 2007-04-22.
  4. ^ Smith, Aran (2006-06-30). "2006 NBA Draft Grades". NBADraft.net. Retrieved 2007-04-22.
  5. ^ Stein, Marc (2006-09-21). "Offseason review: Rating the West from Mavs to Griz". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2007-04-22.
  6. ^ Ventre, Michael. "NBA Offseason Report – Utah Jazz". MSNBC.com. Retrieved 2007-04-22.
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