Ty Corbin's Fate decided

As quickly as The Hardwood Nation had gotten word that Utah Jazz head coach Tyrone Corbin was going to be fired, the Jazz responded indicating that no decision had been made.  Corbin and Jazz officials have a meeting planned for Monday and an announcement on the future of Corbin with the franchise will be made soon after.

Update:  The Utah Jazz have fired Tyrone Corbin.

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Jazz to fire Corbin?

Through a source, The Hardwood Nation has learned that the Utah Jazz are ready to fire head coach Tyrone Corbin and begin searching for a new head coach.  A decision could come as early as the weekend.

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Jazz F Jefferson defends coach

The Utah Jazz have begun the NBA season 4-19 and fans are growing uneasy.  Beginning last season many called for head coach Tyrone Corbin to be fired and recently Richard Jefferson spoke out in defense of his coach.

“I think that’s stupid, just flat-out dumb,” he said. “By no means am I disrespecting our fans. Everybody’s entitled to an opinion. When you pay your money, whether you’re a fan of our team or the other team, you’re spending your hard-earned dollar to support the NBA and I respect that.”

“Now as far as lashing out and putting pressure on a coach, that’s unfair. … Everybody’s an armchair quarterback.....Everybody has their own fantasy football team. Everybody has their own idea of what should go down.....But, I can tell you from being in this league and having multiple Hall of Fame coaches that Ty is doing a very good job. He’s in a very difficult situation with a lot of young guys and a lot of injuries, and he’s doing a very, very good job, and I say that with the utmost confidence.”

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NBA Q&A: Tyrone Corbin

Courtesy of Jody Genessy

Q: WHAT WERE SOME POSITIVES YOU TOOK FROM THE PRESEASON?

A: “The way the guys (were) paying attention to what we’re trying to change, especially on the defensive end. The communication has to get better. The rotations have to be quicker. Our hands have to be more active. The guys have to be more individually better and (work) more as a cohesive team, so that we can make stops (and get) three, four, five stops in a row. As our offense tries to catch up to where our defense is, we have to be able to contain and stop guys from scoring on us.”

Q: WHAT WERE SOME NEGATIVES TO THE PRESEASON?

A: “Execution — execution on the offensive end. (We need) a sense of urgency getting the ball down the floor to get us more time in our offensive sets. The accountability on everybody’s part to do the right thing every play, make the right pass, make a hard cut, set the good screen, move the ball and move your body, so that we can become better as a team where we may not be as good right now individually.”

Q: HOW IS THE INJURY SITUATION HEADING INTO THE SEASON?

A: “The way it is right now it’s looking like we’ll start with 11 healthy bodies. Trey (Burke, finger surgery) will be out for weeks to come. Jeremy (Evans, rotator cuff) will be out for a few more weeks. (Marvin Williams, Achilles, and Brandon Rush, knee, are also out indefinitely.)

“Those four guys more than likely won’t be available for us Wednesday, so we’ve got 11 bodies and we have to make sure that we’ve got everybody ready to go and up to speed.

“You have to make adjustments and you want to have as many weapons as you can. … It’s going to be some juggling here, but we’ll organize and look at things and see what gives us the best chance.”

Q: HOW DIFFICULT IS IT TO CUT PLAYERS?

A: “Cutting the guys, it’s a difficult thing. It’s always tough to do. You’re derailing some guys’ dream right now. Hopefully, we don’t kill anybody’s dream and they continue to work on what they need to work on to get better and get an opportunity.

“As I said before, we really appreciate all the guys coming in. They worked their butts off to deserve to stay here up until this point and time of the exhibition season. Where we are with injuries to these guys, the guys that we kept around fit better for where we are now.

“There’s no right way to do it (cut players). The message is the message. You’re making a change and you’re letting a guy go. It’s a difficult part of the business.”

Q: HOW IMPRESSIVE IS THE PROGRESS OF ROOKIE CENTER RUDY GOBERT?

A: “To his (credit), he’s done a good job of listening to everything, It’s been a lot of stuff thrown at him in a short amount of time, He’s now starting to figure out how to understand what we’ve thrown at him and now how to implement it on the floor in the games and in practice. The more reps he can get in, the better off he will be at it. He’s making great strides for us, so we’re happy to see him continue to progress. …

“He’s always demonstrated that he’s a tremendous worker. He’s continued to do that. He’s putting the time in. He had a little setback when he got hurt. (But) he studied; he watched when he was not on the floor, and now it’s starting to show. He’s starting to not have to think as much about every little thing. He’s getting to his spots where now he can play. It’s good to see him make those strides right now.”

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Jazz to retain Corbin

The NBA lost 3 coaches yesterday but Utah Jazz coach Ty Corbin will not be a casualty this off season despite fans and some in the media questioning his pedigree.  Yesterday Jazz GM Dennis Lindsey gave Corbin the stamp of approval.

“His status is that Ty’s our coach and he has the Miller family’s full support,”  Lindsey said. “You guys know how we do it around here, and it’s a blame-the-coach culture in sports. We subscribe to a little different philosophy. That’s not going to pacify all of the masses of our fans, but Ty is, one, the person to lead us and, two, he’s really growing as a coach.”

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NBA Q&A: Tyrone Corbin

Courtesy of Jodie Valade

Q: You played for the Cavaliers forever ago, in 1988-89. What are some of your fondest memories of playing here?

A: Richfield Coliseum. And being cold. They had a practice facility and at that time, it was one of the only teams that had a practice facility. So I really enjoyed that. I lived in Akron, so I didn't really come to Cleveland. It was easy to go the back roads.

Q: You followed a legend by taking the Jazz coaching job after Jerry Sloan. What's the best thing about following Sloan?

A: The best thing is I had an opportunity to know who he was, and I had a chance to work with him. I learned a ton. I played for him for three years then had a chance to work with him for seven years.

Q: And the worst thing about having to follow Sloan?

A: Worst thing about it is there's always going to be comparisons, so you have to deal with those comparisons.

Q: Jerry Sloan had a reputation for being a very demanding and precise coach. Did you think that, and are you the same way?

A: I didn't think he was unreasonably demanding. This is a tough job. You know, he had to be on the guys to try to get them to do what you think gives you the best chance to win. So, I don't think his demands were unreasonable.

Q: You have a son (Tyrell) who is a freshman playing basketball for UC-Davis. How has the whole recruting process changed from the days you went to school at DePaul?

A: One of the things is the new ways of communicating with the Tweeting and the texting and the email, there are ways around the normal way of contacting. The parents are really out of the loop unless the kids put you in it, because there are other ways to get ot the kids. So a lot of times, by the time you get wind of it, they've been communicating for a while.

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