“Stormin’ Norman” Van Lier Passes Away

Jerry’s former Bulls backcourt mate, Norm Van Lier, passed away today.

“Norm Van Lier was one of the all-time greats ever to put on a Chicago Bulls uniform,” team Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf said in a statement. “Along with Jerry Sloan, he set a standard for Bulls defense and toughness which we will never forget and which we will always strive to replicate.”…

Part of the NBA’s All-Defensive first or second teams eight times, Van Lier and longtime teammate Sloan, now the coach of the Utah Jazz, formed one of the top defensive guard tandems in NBA history…

Van Lier the analyst remained a huge Bulls fan, albeit at times a critical one who would call out players he did not think were playing hard or smart.

“Jerry and Norm were basketball players, but you looked at them with their scars and bandages, and you wondered whether this was going to be a football or basketball game,” says Bucks forward Bob Dandridge. “They were playing a rugged, hard-nosed brand of basketball that wasn’t too common in the league at that time.”

Jerry and Norm’s paths (or perhaps I should say “fists”) crossed before they ever became teammates.

It was probably 1971 when Norm Van Lier was with the Cincinnati Royals. “We were playing an exhibition game against [Sloan's] Bulls, I think on the campus of Illinois State,” Van Lier recalled the other day. “Jerry and I got to pushing and shoving each other and then fighting. . . . Well, play continued at the other end and Jerry and I kept going at it. The rest of the guys looked up and said, ‘Where the hell are Norm and Jerry?’ We had rolled right out of the gym into the halls of the arena. . . . I think we knocked over a popcorn machine.”

In the offseason, the Bulls went to Sloan to say they had an opportunity to trade for Van Lier (whom Chicago had drafted then traded in 1969), but wondered if Sloan, an original member of the Bulls, would acquiesce to playing with a man he had fought so doggedly. Sloan, as he’s recounted many times, told management any man who would fight him all the way out of the gym and into the halls during a preseason game was a man he wanted to play with. And the two became back-court mates for the rest of their careers, perhaps the toughest and best defensive back court in NBA history.

They’re still exceptionally close, more than 35 years later. Van Lier, in a phone conversation from Chicago, where he works as an analyst for Bulls games, said: “…I used to get to [Chicago Stadium] early, put my jersey on and go underneath the [stands] to take a pregame nap…Jerry would come and find me, wake me up and start screaming at me, ‘Get your butt ready to play!’ He’d pound me in my chest. ‘Norm! You ready to play? You ready to rock?’ He’s that way now…He’s ready and he wants you to be ready.”

Here’s a video, which the uploader doesn’t want embedded.

RIP Norm Van Lier.

Game 58 – Five Steps Forward, One More Step Forward

Ronnie B was, to me, the hero of the game and I wanted to post a picture of him, but there weren’t any good ones to be found. AK and KK are a good second choice. More on that later…

So “@” + “Peskysota” = Test Game. It was a test that the Jazz almost failed. They didn’t start to pull away for real until 4:30 in the 4th. Like I said at the top of the post, it was all about Ronnie B (+/- of +13) in the 4th. He scored 16 points in the final quarter and was a perfect 4/4 from the floor and 8/8 from the line. Brew Brew had 2 steals and 2 blocks to boot…

…and Jerry deserves the credit. “In the first half, I was just trying to let the game come to me,” said Brewer. “I only took one shot. But the second half I started on the defensive end, got a couple steals, got to the basket, started cutting hard. That’s just what Coach told me to do. … It got me going.”

The Peskies were, well, pesky, and Kevin Love in particular made the Jazz look like chumps for most of the first half. Love had a DD by halftime and was the lone Wolf with a non-negative +/-: a nice round 0.

I wasn’t impressed with Boozer (one of only two Jazz players with a negative +/-, the other being CJ), as he had more TOs than assists and more fouls than boards, but I’ll leave that alone since he just came back from injury blah blah.

Having had the privilege of watching four of the last five games, I can say that AK + KK = success. AK (+19) continues to make everyone around him so much better, and KK (+33!!!!) has really stepped up his game lately. He’s not only hitting more of his shots, but playing good D and averaging about 6 RPG this month, which is twice his season average of 3 RPG. For whatever reason(s), AK and KK are just a good combination and play great together.

No game on right now and no games for two days, so NO JINX. AK’s stroke has been on since he’s been back. In the post-game when Hot Rod asked him about it, he thanked Horny and said that he’s “not shy to take [mid-range Js].”

Let’s take a look. This is how AK was doing through the first 42 games of the season:

His last 10 games:

And finally, the last 5 (he’s been back exactly 5 games):

Hot Rod also asked AK if he’s happy with the way he’s playing, and AK said that things are good [since the sit-down with Jerry prior to last season] and that he appreciates his role coming off the bench. Looks like AK’s healthy and in a good place emotionally and mentally, and it’s showing in his game.

Someone had to be out, just because:
Harp was suffering from a sore back stemming from the Flagrant-2 and sat this one out.

LOL Quote of the Day:
As part of the Jazz’s pregame meeting, Jarron Collins had to offer the scouting report on his twin brother, Jason. Although he hadn’t played for a stretch of 31 games, Jason has seen action in four of Minnesota’s last five games, playing five minutes Wednesday.

“I know his moves, or lack thereof,” Jarron said. [source]

“A Good Idea”:
A lot of suggestions have been thrown around in recent days about how LHM should be honored. I like this one published on sltrib’s Jazz blog:

[Wade Schillo in Sandy] suggests the Jazz honor Miller by lowering the official seating capacity of EnergySolutions Arena from 19,911 to 19,910…It is a low-key, unpretentious way of permanently honoring Miller, who always considered himself an owner/fan, not just an owner.

Two more test games coming up:
– vs. SAC on Saturday just a few hours after LHM’s funeral; and
– @ GS on Sunday. @ + second of a back-to-back + against a sucky team = Jazz recipe for disaster. Can you say “trap”?

Finally, the Basketball Jones’ Final Thought of the Day:
The only difference between friends and lovers is…4 minutes.

“You don’t want to screw with Jerry Sloan,” etc.

Monson and Graham were talking about how Harp is always the toughest man on the [Jazz's] floor. During their weekly interview with Mark Eaton, they asked Mark who he thinks is the second guy on the Jazz that would get in there and mix it up and has his teammates’ backs. Eaton thinks it’s Sap, that Sap is the guy he wants next to him (after Harp). Sap is definitely tough, but when it comes to standing up for your guys, something makes me think that it’s Ronnie B…

While we’re on the topic of Matty and toughness, the Jazz’s trio of PGs responded to some random questions and all three voted Matty as the “strongest teammate in the weight room.” Ronnie P and DWill also said that Almond is the funniest guy on the team (unexpected), while Brev Brev said it’s Ronnie P.

Meanwhile, DWill was on the Colin Cowherd Show (or whatever it’s called) and the 7-minute interview rapidly disintegrated towards the end into Cowherd raving, by himself, about how tough Jerry is (and don’t think I didn’t enjoy hearing every second of it, because I surely did). Cowherd thinks that if every NBA coach got into a fist fight or MMA fight, Jerry would win, and win easily–while Phil Jackson would not because he’s “old and crumply.”

Can’t disagree, although DWill did due to Jerry’s age. I still think Jerry + Harp could take out any other NBA duo.

After DWill hung up, Cowherd continued on, “Jerry Sloan is tough. Go look up Jerry Sloan’s resume…oh no, he’s like a fighter. You don’t want to screw with him…he’d take Bobby Knight over his knee and spank him, not even close. You don’t want to screw with Jerry Sloan.”

Game 57 – Fight

Hear those footsteps, Denver and San Antonio? They sound … jazzy.

The Jazz had a great deal of emotional motivation to play well tonight, and they did. I’m still reeling from LHM’s passing, so I can only imagine how actual members of the organization are dealing with it.

This was the first game of the season that the entire roster was available, and Jerry had his work cut out for him tonight in managing minutes in possibly the most all-over-the-place rotation in Jazz Sloan history. The Jazz shot an insane 71% in the first half, and everything was back:

–Boozer was back
–KK’s shot was back (he connected on his first 6 shots, 4 of which were 3s)
–Sap’s real knees were back (he played brace-free for the first time since he got injured)
–Horny was back in Utah (and had worked with KK earlier in the day on shooting)
–Knight’s shooting confidence was back (which was unfortunate since his shot was not)
–even Getty images were back on Yahoo sports (yay!)

Other notes:
–ATL has not won in the SLC since 1993. We are their Spurs.
–Ronnie B hit a buzzer beater from midcourt to end the first half. Awesome.
–DWill got a DD in three quarters and Sap racked one up off the bench.
–Boozer got 2 points (1-5 with the 1 being a goaltend call and 5 boards). The Cowhide Globe says, “What the hell did Boozer think this was…an ‘08 playoff game?” LOL.
–Atlanta “held” the Jazz without a field goal in the last 7 minutes of the game. The Jazz missed their last 13 shots and only scored off two FTs during those 7 minutes. They also started the quarter 0-5, which brings us to the three minutes that took place between the 0-5 and 0-13:

The Jazz were up 23 with 8 minutes left and Harp was going up for a layup when J-Smoove shoved him in the chest/shoulders. Matty went down and his head bounced off the ground before he jumped up and went after Smith. KK knew what Matty was going to do before Matty did and ran at him before he even got up. In the end, Sap and AK restrained him and Smith was called for a Flagrant-2 and tossed (although that awful woman they have doing game recaps on nba.com would have you believe it was “J.R. Smith” that was ejected). Now there’s talk (among Jazz fans) that Matty might be suspended for “escalating” things. Be that as it may, I loved seeing Harp’s fire and it was exciting while it lasted, ha.

Anyway, the Jazz scored 13 of their 15 (total) 4th quarter points during those three minutes, and Matty was responsible for 11 of them, hitting 4 shots and 3 FTs. Say what you want about him, but Matty is plenty useful in slow games and (I apologize in advance for using the word “toughness”) gives our team toughness that no one else provides. He don’t back down from no one.

Quote of the Night:
“I can’t get you ready. I don’t believe in motivating players. I think they have to motivate themselves. I think it’s the most overused word in sports: motivation. You either play or you don’t play.” — Jerry Sloan (source)

For once, Matty’s the one bring up football:
“That was one of those that hurt,” said Harpring, who landed flat on his back and whose head banged against the hardwood floor. “Every time I get knocked down like that a voice goes off in my head, ‘get up.’ It just goes back to what my dad said in football — never act like you are hurt.” (source)

Next up: “@” + “Peskyland” = test game.

Game 56 – In the House that Larry Built

The Jazz did it for Jerry on his 1,000th.
The Jazz did it for Hot Rod on his 3,000th.
This one was for Larry.

RIP LHM

Thoughts and prayers to the Miller family. This is a sad, heartbreaking day. The Jazz won’t be the same without Larry courtside.

I really thought Larry was going to make it through. Despite the constant setbacks, he kept fighting and I would have bet on him winning the battle.

When John and Karl retired and I cried, Larry did too. When I want to scream at the Jazz during losses, he did. When I wanted to slap Carlos upside the head in December, Larry’s reaction made me feel vindicated and so much better. And when the Jazz fill me with excitement and happiness, I always know he feels the same way too.

He has received innumerable accolades for all of his contributions to the state of Utah, but through the Jazz, he touched people that have never set foot in Utah as well.

Game 55 – KG is injured!!!! Oh and BTW, the Jazz win

Former football player Matt Harpring, who comes from a football family, celebrates as the final buzzer sounds. Standing to his left is Jerry Sloan, who is the longest tenured coach in North American pro sports.

(Incidentally, did Yahoo Sports’ contract with Getty Images expire over All-Star weekend or something? Yahoo has only had crappy AP pictures since the break.)

This was exactly the kind of slow-down, grind-it-out game (halftime score: 39-38) that Harp should get plenty of minutes in. And he did. This was precisely the kind of game when the Jazz needed to play their wily, unathletic vets. And they did. And we won. And I’m super elated.

This was a great, great team effort and the Jazz won because they were on national TV they were able to find defensive intensity. DWill running the offense. Memo’s clutch shots. AK providing spark, energy, lift, hustle. And Ronnie B, Harp, and KK’s effort on D, which helped Ray Ray and Paul “Miraculous Healer” Pierce go a combined 11-34. It was also quite obvious that Harp got into Pierce’s head.

Despite continued shooting putridicity (1-7), Jerry left KK in in the 4th because of his D, and that was great to see. Knight missed his only shot, meaning he is now 1-20 since 1/21. But it all worked out, even though it almost didn’t.

During the first half, the only thing that really caught my attention was that Jerry had gotten a haircut (maybe he got it during the break, but I didn’t get to watch the last game). We shot 19% in the 1st quarter and managed to improve that to 29% at the half. Collins was the second leading assister–with 1–and the Jazz couldn’t get the lead, much less build a lead, despite holding a 15-5 FTA advantage. But why am I harping on about the negatives? The Jazz came together and beat the champs, and it feels like the NBA is our oyster.

Of course, the national media doesn’t want you to know that. It only wants you to know that “OMG!!! KG of the CELTICS is injured!!!” Which is the sequel to “The LAKERS are tired and lost to some random team (Kobe, Kobe, Kobe).”

ESPN:
Yaboo Sports:
CNNSI:
Fox Sports:

Boozer:
The TNT guys mentioned several times during the night’s broadcast that Boozer was talking to Cheryl Miller about when he’s coming back. Ugh. Can he just stop talking, full stop? No one wants to hear about when he thinks he’s coming back.

“(Today), if it goes really good, we’ll move on from there…As long as my knee feels good,” Boozer added, “I’ll be back on the court.”

Thanks for the tiresome, non-newsworthy, non-informational update with a built-in out and tons of conditionals, Carlos.

Hey Utah media. I’m talking to you too. sltrib published the scintillating story, “Boozer set to practice today,” while desnews published the thriller, “Boozer out tonight but hopes to practice Friday.” Whoop-de-do. Just tell us when he actually is back and maintain radio silence until then, will ya?

Finally, True Blue Jazz has some breaking news:
Jazz lose their best post season player! The Utah Jazz suffered a huge set back in their post season hopes today when Houston Rockets Pseudo Star Tracy McGrady announced he will be having microfracture knee surgery and will not play the remainder of the season. (read more)

Game 54 – Reunited and It Feels So Good, Part Deux

When AK entered the game (17 days after he went under the knife) and the fans exploded in cheers and applause, I felt like standing up at my desk and doing the same–which is even sillier than it sounds because I only had the radio feed at my disposal.

Phil Johnson said after the game that he’d never seen AK as excited as he was in practice on the previous day to get back. With each minute that AK played, I got more and more feelgood. Jerry limited him to 18 minutes, but in that time he racked up 14 points (5-6), 1 board, 1 assist, 3 steals, and 1 block. After sandwiching a steal with two layups in the 4th, AK “almost fell down. And if I fall down, I don’t get back up…I was so tired at that point. Everybody was laughing at me. [Trainer] Gary Briggs said, ‘Do you need an oxygen mask?’”

I was glad to see (and by “see” I mean “make assumptions based on the box score”) Sap looking rejuvenated. Ronnie B and CJ combined for 43 points (15-24) and 9 boards. KK went 1-9, but collected a team-high 9 boards.

Memo was out with the flu (of course), and I am quite frankly astounded that no one came back from Mexico with severe game-missing sunburns.

Streaks broken in this game:
–DWill’s 5-game streak of 30+ points and 7-game streak of >50% shooting (he said a couple days ago that he’s still feeling pain in his ankle. A pox on Derrick Rose.)
–Knight’s 9-game streak of 0-for’s (0-18)
–AK’s 11 missed games streak

Streaks that are safe for the forseeable future:
–Jerry’s “longest tenured coach in North American sports” streak
–Harp’s “football mention by game analysts” streak
–Boozer’s 42 missed games streak

Amazing but true:
A hairy lioness and a 70s porn star successfully mated and had a baby. He’s all grown up now.

Random Quote by Hot Rod:
“Kyrylo Fesenko: 7 foot 1, 288 lbs. of blue twisted steel…in the Ukraine.”

Random Observation:
Jarron Collins is very well-spoken.

Dates and Stuff:
–Tuesday was the 30th anniversary of Jerry’s jersey being retired by the Bulls.
–Wednesday was AK’s 28th birthday.

Finally…
A few days ago I talked (blogged) about how Boozer and TMac were separated at birth (Item 2).

The similarities, nay, identicalities, keep piling up.

–Rockets spokesman Nelson Luis said McGrady met with a doctor in New York on Tuesday and had another out-of-state doctor’s appointment scheduled Wednesday. McGrady said he would have the surgery “immediately.” (Both put off having surgery, sought multiple medical opinions, and then decided to have surgery immediately after seeing an out-of-town doctor.)

–Houston coach Rick Adelman lashed out at McGrady after practice on Wednesday for not informing the team of his intentions. Adelman said he only learned that McGrady was out for the season when he read it in a newspaper in the morning. Some of the Rockets said they also found out through the media… (Both prefer to inform their teams/coaches/owners of things through the media rather than (perish the thought!) talking to them. Watch TMac, his doctor, and his agent go MIA as soon as the surgery is performed…outside of Houston.)