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Jazz likely unwilling to pay pricey 'TagNobody, not even the man himself, knows for sure where Greg Ostertag will be playing basketball next season, and that makes everything you're about to read speculation, as far as you know, but, chances are, it won't be with the Jazz. With 'Tag, what seems to be a sure thing sometimes isn't. And there's no good explanation for what went haywire. He's never been able to clearly justify himself in that regard, in any regard. If you had five bucks for every time over the past nine seasons you thought Ostertag had turned the corner as a player, and, then, he suddenly slammed it into reverse, headed full speed into aggressive regression, you might have been able to pay him his $8.65 million salary this year, and had plenty to spare. Read the Full Story Discuss Send Feedback Buy Tickets If Sloan goes, Phil Johnson will coach JazzJerry Sloan's plan is to return for a 17th season as head coach of the Jazz. Should his intentions change, however, Jazz owner Larry H. Miller has a successor in mind. He's said it before, and nothing — he said Thursday, as Jazz players cleaned out their lockers after a 42-40 season — has given him cause to think otherwise. "It's Phil," Miller said. "We've told Phil that." 'Phil' is Phil Johnson, ex-NBA Coach of the Year and Sloan's longtime right-hand man. "Phil deserves it," Miller said. "I think if something happened like (Sloan not returning), Phil would want to take a shot at it for a while. He's certainly earned it." Sloan's wife, Bobbye, is battling pancreatic cancer, a reality that potentially could prompt the Jazz coach to change his mind about returning. If that were to happen, though, no new-coach search would even need to be conducted, Miller suggested. "We would do that unhesitatingly," he said. "I mean, you guys wouldn't even need to show up for the press conference. You could just say Larry Miller said to announce that Phil Johnson would be the new head coach. "He's been so doggone-loyal," Miller added. "He's been here (16) years, and he's filled in for Jerry. . . . That's a real positive for us, because that way we don't have to make contingency plans." Read the Full Story Discuss Send Feedback Buy Tickets Nuggets stake playoff claimOn a glittering, star-studded night that included the likes of Michael Jordan, the Denver Nuggets earned its first playoff berth in nearly a decade, defeating the Sacramento Kings 97-89 before a deafening sellout crowd. The Nuggets will make their first postseason appearance since the 1994-95 season on Saturday or Sunday. The opponent, Minnesota or San Antonio, won't be determined until Wednesday night, but the future wasn't the immediate concern for a franchise less than a year removed from having the worst record in the league. "I don't even care (about the opponent); I just want to enjoy tonight," general manager Kiki Vandeweghe said. "I just know that when the playoffs start, you have to come to play, but that's what this team has done all season." The victory completed a dramatic turnaround for Denver. Winners of just 17 games a season ago, the Nuggets are now 43-38 with a meaningless regular-season finale to play Wednesday in San Antonio. The 26-game improvement is the greatest in NBA history for a team that won fewer than 20 games the previous season. Minnesota's defeat of Utah along with the Nuggets victory meant that both the Jazz and the Blazers had their long, playoff streaks broken at 20 and 21 respectively. Denver qualified for the postseason for the first time since 1995. Denver Nuggets, Utah Jazz, Portland Trail Blazers Read the Full Story Discuss Send Feedback Buy Tickets Jazz Apr 2004 Archive
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