It's the same old song for the Jazz: the Jazz's offense has been around practically as long as the NBA itself. But with Jerry Sloan at the helm and some blossoming young stars, the team is winning anyway.(NBA)(National Basketball Association)

Publication: The Sporting News

Publication Date: 22-NOV-04

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Seems that, for the Jazz to be successful this season, the team should be employing a radical new offensive scheme drawn up in some top-secret NASA enclave below the Wasatch Mountains. After all, only four players remain from the final edition of the John Stockton-Karl Malone Jazz, last seen in 2003. Run the same offense for 14 years, centered on the same players, and churn out a 741-375 record--by the time it is over, you'd better have something new ready.

But the Jazz is winning, in the same old way, despite adding 11 new players over the past two years. No surprise. Coach Jerry Sloan's approach goes back to his playing days under Dick Motta in the 1960s and '70s, and Motta borrowed heavily from Red Auerbach's Celtics. It could be argued, then, that Sloan's offense is nearly as old as the NBA itself. Yet opponents are powerless to stop it.

"They've been doing this forever," says one Western Conference scout. "You hear players say, 'We're too predictable.' Well, the Jazz have been predictable for 20 years now, and they're winning. You know exactly what they're going to do, but they do it anyway."

Utah runs a motion offense, using the guards to cut across the lane and set cross picks and back picks that allow big men to get position. Sloan adjusted last season (going from a 1-4 setup to a two-guard front), when the Jazz was...

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