Thunder coach a big fan of Sloan's

This will be old news after the game, but Oklahoma City coach P.J. Carlesimo had a pretty funny quote about Jerry Sloan going for his 1,000th win as the Jazz head coach.

The Thunder coach really thinks it will be a great achievement — but one he hopes happens Sunday against the New York Knicks instead of at tonight’s game.

“In terms of him getting a thousand, I don’t know who they have next,” Carlesimo said after shootaround this afternoon at EnergySolutions Arena. “I would like to watch that game on TV and hope he gets a thousand. I’ll send him a telegram and congratulate him.”

Carlesimo heaped praises on Sloan for awhile today. He respects Utah’s 21st-year coach so much he even spent time evaluating how Sloan runs fall camp when he was an NBC announcer following his dismissal from Golden State in 2000.

“I came to training camp here to watch and to learn from what he does. He’s a guy I like a lot. He’s a guy I respect enormously,” Carlesimo said. “His teams year in and year out are — if not the best — one of the two best executing teams in the league. They play as hard or harder than any other team.”

Carlesimo, who’s been involved in a few of the 219 coaching changes that has happened around the league since Sloan got his job on Dec. 9, 1988, continued with the glowing praise:

“I don’t think he’s a good coach, I think he’s a great coach. I think there’s a lesson to the owners and general managers of the league — when you have somebody good stay with it instead of just playing musical chairs all the time. … It’s great for the profession.”