This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2006, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Phil Johnson
The 65-year-old assistant coach captained Utah State and coached Weber State but isn't actually from Utah. The Grace, Idaho, native and his wife Ann have two sons, Mitchel and Nathan, and two grandchildren.
How do you spend your offseason?
Most of the time, my wife and I are at our home on Bear Lake. I work on my yard, go out on my boat, ride my Harley. We love to spend time on the lake itself. And I read a lot during the summer - I like nonfiction, history mostly, particularly World War II.
You do a lot of charity work?
My wife Ann does, and I help, but mostly during the offseason. We used to do work with wildlife rehab, so we had a bobcat living in our house for three years, until it was ready to be released. We had a bobcat and a schnauzer, but they were pals. We've had a porcupine, a squirrel, lots of animals. For the past 12 years, we've gotten involved with the Navajo Santa program, raising supplies and Christmas gifts that Ann and the group take down to the reservation.
Had you always planned to be a coach?
When I got out of college, I thought my career would be coaching high-school basketball. I was a graduate assistant at Utah State, helping coach the freshman team, and the coach left and turned the team over to me. We were pretty good, too. Then I just had some tremendous luck and ended up working at a different level.
Two nothing-
ever-changes games - another homecourt win over the Clippers and another road thumping in San Antonio - drew a successful first two months to a close.
TUESDAY
JAZZ 102
CLIPPERS 92
THURSDAY
SPURS 106
JAZZ 83
SATURDAY
JAZZ 96
BLAZERS 86
22-9
Home: 13-2
Road: 9-7
Last 10: 6-4
Last 5: 3-2
Season record if they continue
at this pace: 58-24
Season record if they play .500: 47-35
Season record if they play .333: 39-43
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WHO'S HOT
Mehmet Okur
* MEHMET OKUR: Foul trouble in
San Antonio ended his streak of eight straight games with 18 points or more.
WEDNESDAY
76ers at Jazz
7 p.m., KJZZ, NBATV
* Can Sixers stay close without Iverson? Utah has won five of last six meetings, but every game had single-digit margin
FRIDAY
Jazz at Rockets
6:30 p.m. MST, FSN Utah
* They have won in Houston five of last six seasons, but Jazz have nobody big enough to bother much-improved Yao
SATURDAY
Jazz at Nuggets
7 p.m. MST, KJZZ
* Sure, Carmelo and Smith will sit out, but now Utah's division rival has a player who averaged 39.3 points in last four vs. Utah