The Cavaliers coach is amazed that Sloan has never been named the NBA Coach of the Year despite his run of success with the Jazz.
View full sizeCoach Jerry Sloan has won more than 1,200 games during his 23 seasons with the Utah Jazz.CLEVELAND, Ohio — There's one thing about legendary Utah coach Jerry Sloan that Cavaliers coach Byron Scott can't believe.
"I was dumbfounded that he hasn't won Coach of the Year," Scott said of Sloan, who has won 1,210 games with the Jazz. After Utah's 101-90 win over the Cavs on Monday night, Sloan tied Pat Riley for third on the all-time-winningest coach list, behind Don Nelson and former Cavaliers coach Lenny Wilkens. "It's just amazing me the job he's done there for so many years and he's never won Coach of the Year. I'm still kind of baffled by that.
"But I don't think he cares, either."
Scott was informed that the Cavs have had nine head coaches during Sloan's 23-year tenure in Utah.
"Hopefully we don't have 10," Scott said, laughing.
Scott was asked if he could imagine coaching in one place that long.
"Yeah, I can imagine it," he said. "I don't think it will ever happen."
Scott said he played against Sloan's system for 14 years as a player and has coached against it the past 10 years.
"He's not trying to trick anybody," Scott said. "He just says: 'This is what we're going to run. Stop it.' Any mistake you make defensively, they will burn you.
"The beauty of watching his teams play is they all play like him. They all take on his personality. If you remember him back in his day as a player -- I was a little kid watching Chicago with Norm Van Lier and Jerry Sloan in the backcourt -- and I thought it was one of the toughest, dirtiest backcourts I've ever seen in my life. His players play that way. They're physical. They're tough."
Welcome back: Forward Jamario Moon found his way back into the rotation in Saturday's 109-102 victory over the New York Knicks after being inactive for four of the five games before that.
View full sizeCavaliers forward Jamario Moon."It felt good to get back out there and do what I can do to help the team win," Moon said. "It felt great to be back out there, and I'm looking forward to staying out there with the guys."
Scott was pleased with how Moon handled the situation.
"I think a lot of guys couldn't handle it as well as he handled it," the coach said. "For a guy who hadn't played in a while, I thought he played extremely well for us on both ends of the floor. I always tell the guys, 'Make my job hard.' Now I've got to think about what I'm going to do as far as the rotation is concerned because the guy came out and played pretty well.
"I think his focus has been better. I could see some frustration. To be honest, I was happy to see it. I didn't want him to take [the demotion] and say, 'Oh, well, it is what it is.' I wanted him to be a little upset. I don't want anybody to be comfortable. That's the reason I made the changes I've made. When I think a guy is comfortable I'll make changes again."
ESPN hires Brown: Former Cavs coach Mike Brown has been hired by ESPN to work on its 3D game crew. Brown, who still lives in Westlake, will call 15 games and make 30 studio appearances.
To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: mschmitt@plaind.com, 216-999-4668