Changes? The Jazz made 'em, all right. They lose to Golden State in the playoffs and look what happens in the offseason: They paint the practice gym walls, Coach Jerry Sloan buys a condo and Karl Malone takes up acting.
Otherwise, they're about the same team."It's easy to panic and rip things apart, but we've never operated that way," says Scott Layden, the Jazz's director of player personnel.
So the Jazz open another NBA season Friday night against Denver in the Salt Palace, defending a Midwest Division title and banking on a better playoff showing. Of course, other people have the same idea. "This league is much better," Sloan says.
The Jazz can improve only if guard Bobby Hansen recovers from a difficult season or rookie Blue Edwards lives up to his preseason promise. The Jazz spent the summer searching for a flexible forward to help them match up with the small lineups of Golden State and other teams in today's NBA. The next thing they knew, they found him in training camp - Edwards, the guy they'd drafted as a guard.
"We're lucky," says Layden. "It's funny how certain things take care of themselves. If he can really play, then we've got depth."
Six months after pro sports' first Oakland postseason sweep of '89, the Jazz are back. With a little less advance publicity, they'll be genuine NBA championship contenders again, and who knows?
"If you ever have a chance to win it now," says the Lakers' Magic Johnson, "you better take advantage."
Is this the Jazz's year? Or will they forever look back at '88-89 as their best chance, wasted? The real answers will come only in May or June. For now, a look at the '89-90 Jazz:
Coaching
After suddenly taking over for Frank Layden in December, Sloan was 40-25 and completed the Jazz's first 50-win season. That was quickly buried under the first-round playoff rubble, and Sloan was in for a summer of second-guessing. Warriors Coach Don Nelson said the Jazz were too predictable. So did Indiana's Dick Versace, for goodness sake. And ex-general manager David Checketts claimed owner Larry Miller wanted to fire Sloan and his staff before changing his mind, which Miller denied.
In any case, Sloan was not fazed by the talk. "That doesn't bother me," he said, smiling wryly and remembering his first head-coaching stop. "I was in Chicago."
Besides hiring former Providence College Coach Gordon Chiesa as his No. 2 assistant after Scott Layden moved into the front office, Sloan did make one dramatic change. After four seasons of living in a medium-priced hotel when the team was home, he's moved into a condo this fall. "I don't miss that at all," he says of the days when life was one long road trip.
Guards
In his sixth season, John Stockton is the NBA's best pure point guard, having led the league in steals and assists last season. The trouble with Stockton's game is that anyone replacing him for 10 minutes a game suffers terribly by comparison. After using Jim Les for all 82 games last season, Sloan says, "We'll probably stay with him." Rookie Eric Johnson, Vinnie's brother, also made the team.
Trying to help themselves at the other guard position, the Jazz drafted Edwards. With the rookie playing mostly forward, they have to hope Hansen comes back strong and Darrell Griffith delivers in a contract year. After struggling at the end of last season, both had good camps.
Centers
The Jazz invested $8.5 million to make sure Mark Eaton is their center for five more seasons - not because he scores 6.2 points a game, but because Jazz opponents shot .434 from the field last season, the worst in the NBA in 15 years. No doubt, Eaton deserves most of the blame for that.
Ideally, the Jazz will eventually have a nice package with Eaton and Eric Leckner. By the end of his rookie season, Leckner was showing big-time skills, but he still struggles to stay in shape, resulting in too much reaching and too many fouls. For now, Sloan will mostly use Mike Brown to back up Eaton. "I'd say (Leckner's) conditioning is very poor," noted Sloan.
Forwards
If the Jazz figure Griffith will step forward this season, what about Malone? Every year's a contract year for the Mailman, who held a news conference in September to announce that he'd really play this season for his scheduled $1.45 million. And back to you, Larry. All that happened between takes for a locally-produced western movie co-starring Malone.
Now the NBA's No. 1 power forward and the only unanimous choice - that's another story - on the All-NBA team, Malone will somehow keep improving in his fifth season. Brown is his regular backup, with Thurl Bailey swinging over and Leckner and Jose Ortiz also available. Ortiz's immediate future with the Jazz is not promising; for the moment, all he can look forward to is extra conditioning work with Leckner.
Edwards, meanwhile, follows the celebrated legacy of Brown, Marc Iavaroni, Ortiz and Kelly Tripucka in the role of starting at small forward in advance of Bailey's nightly entrances. Bailey is asking not to be promoted for the Sixth Man Award, upset about the apparent backlash among voters who eliminate him because he plays "starter's minutes." Anyway, he could have a big year, even if he's outgrowing some teams' small forwards. Hansen can also play forward in situations.
So the 171-day season, featuring nine November home games, starts Friday. The playoffs are not until late April, but the Jazz will have checkpoints along the way. And the Dec. 26 Golden State game is already sold out.