Jerry Sloan

PARIS (The Monday International Show) - Jerry Sloan always did things his way, the right way, and his way of walking off into the Utah sunset was no exception.

The longest tenured coach in all of pro sports had had enough. It is too simplistic to put all the blame on Jazz star guard Deron Williams who vehemently denied having asked the team to get rid of the legendary coach.

"Sloan has done a lot more for this franchise than me," he rightly stated and he doesn't want or deserve the label of coach-killer!

Sure Deron wanted to play faster and call more plays himself. Sure he felt this would lead to more victories and now it is the equally competitive Deron who is going to be under pressure to prove he is correct.

But Williams didn't push Sloan out because nobody pushes Jerry around. As a player he practically invented sacrificing the body to take a charge and he got the most out of his limited physical talent as the "Original Bull".

I remember watching Jerry and Norm Van Lier on black and white television putting belly-up pressure on opponents and thinking that it must be hell trying to score on those guys. Years later, Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen used this tactic to win six titles.

I listened to Jerry a lot during the two Finals (1997 and 1998) he lost to Jordan's Bulls and his down to earth, humble, country style was a breath of fresh air as was his way of answering questions honestly and with no holds barred.

His teams played that way too, using tried and true double high-post systems with lots of back picks and sharing the ball for a good open look.

He was a throwback coach who didn't use the pick and roll or iso game as much as other coaches even though John Stockton and Karl Malone turned the pick and roll into an art form under his management.

Watching young whippersnappers force a lot of one on one play wasn't his cup of tea and in the end this eternal conflict between old school and new wave finally wore him down to the point that he said "whoah, horsey" at the ripe age of 68 after head coaching Utah for 23 years!

A lot of disappointing home losses this season exacerbated the simmering dissensions that all coaches deal with in their careers (Larry Brown this season or Kobe pushing Phil Jackson out in 2004 are examples) and Sloan, humbly and truthfully, said through sincere tears that he didn't have the necessary energy to continue and that younger, faithful assistant Ty Corbin deserved a chance to try and do better.

What a classy exit! As I fly off to tinseltown for the All-Star Weekend, the ultimate modern marketing and partying madhouse, I will keep an image of Mr Jerry Sloan, the ultimate competitor and his old school values in the back of my mind.