"If you put the middle of the season customized numbers your heart and soul on the court every night, whatever kind of game it is will be very simple." That's what Sloan, the iron nosed Sloan, had been talking to Karl Malone and Stockton for ten years. In the late autumn of 1988, after 17 games of the season, jazz coach Frank reden decided to step down and move into the back of the team, with assistant coach Jerry Sloan taking over as head coach. From then on, until the summer of 1998, the Utah Jazz, led by Sloan, have been in the playoffs for a decade in a row. In the summer of 1997, the Jazz team made it to the finals with a deadly three-point goal from Stockton in Game 6 of the Western Conference finals. But on the stage of the finals, facing the unstoppable Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls, Jerry Sloan had to look up and sigh. Sloan, San Antonio Spurs custom varsity lettering who led the Utah twins back to the finals custom baseball letter number in the summertime of 1998, was determined to compete with Michael Jordan. This year, the Jazz won 62-10 in the regular season, tied with the bulls for the first place in the league, but they swept the bulls in the standard season. Karl Malone scored 65 points in both games, helping the Jazz take home advantage in the finals. Everyone is saying that the Jazz look better than last year. They eliminated the Rockets led by Olajuwon, Drexler and Charles Barker 3-2 in the first round, took the Spurs with "twin towers" David Robinson and Tim Duncan 4-1 in the second round, and swept the Lakers led by O'Neill, Kobe Bryant, Eddie Jones and van exell 4-0 in the western finals.