[chron]A LOOK AT HOUSTON'S TOP SPORTS EXECS

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/4950762.html
July 8, 2007, 2:08AM
A LOOK AT HOUSTON'S TOP SPORTS EXECS
Who were the best, worst GMs?
Hunsicker had great run with Astros; Richardson remembered for trading Morgan

By JEROME SOLOMON
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle


Though the lasting memory of him for most Houston fans is of his naked backside because he is alleged to have mooned a wedding party in Buffalo (though only a handful of people actually witnessed it if it did happen), Ladd Herzeg is far from the worst general manager in this city's sports history.

Yes, he was in charge during the dreary 1980s, when a 5-11 season wasn't all that bad for the Oilers. And he was in on the hiring of Ed Biles, Hugh Campbell and Jerry Glanville. And he once slapped a newspaper columnist. (Is that a positive or negative?)

But give the man credit for luring Warren Moon from Canada. In Herzeg's first trade, he sent the Oilers' No. 2 overall pick in 1983 first to No. 3, then to No. 9, and picked up four extra draft picks. The Rams took Eric Dickerson with the Oilers' original choice. Houston still got Bruce Matthews at No. 9.

So if the notorious Herzeg isn't the worst, who is?

Tough question. There has been a lot of losing in this town. Not all the general managing in this town has been bad.

The Rockets won a couple of titles, remember? Steve Patterson's run as a general manager lasted only four years, but he helped build what would be back-to-back NBA championship teams.

He gave cash to the Spurs for Vernon Maxwell. He got rid of Derrick Chievous. He traded an aging John Lucas for Kenny Smith. He drafted Sam Cassell and traded for Mario Elie. Then he was fired just before the 1993-94 championship season.

"Steve Patterson is the forgotten man of those championship teams," said longtime radio voice Barry Warner. "He has to be near the top of any 'best of' list."

But Warner, as was the case with many observers, considers former Astros GM Gerry Hunsicker the best the town has seen.

String of successes
Hunsicker ran the Astros for nine seasons, putting together teams that went to the playoffs five times and finished first or second in all but one year. Sorry, Tim Purpura, Hunsicker gets credit for the 2005 World Series team as well, though he retired after the '04 season.

"And he gets extra credit because he did it working for an owner who is a guy that what he knows about baseball could fit in a rosin bag with plenty of room left for rosin," Warner cracked.

Astros owner Drayton McLane was threatening to take his team elsewhere when he hired Hunsicker as the GM. Life has been pretty good for him since.

Texans owner Bob McNair's first major hire didn't quite work out. But does Charley Casserly get any special credit for the difficulty involved with working for an expansion franchise? Hardly.

Drafting David Carr, the first of many questionable picks by the Texans, and trading for Phillip Buchanon had nothing to do with the Texans being the new kids on the block. Those were just mistakes.

As poorly as Casserly performed — he left after the Texans finished a league-worst 2-14 in 2005 — John Breen's tenure as GM of the Oilers was worse. He was considered a good personnel man through the 1960s. He moved up to GM in 1971, after the Oilers traded for Kenny Burrough and drafted Dan Pastorini.

The Oilers had to win their last three games to finish with a 4-9-1 record, but they didn't do that the next two years, going 1-13 in '72 and '73. Breen retired between the two single-victory seasons, but not before drafting defensive end Greg Sampson with the No. 6 overall pick in 1972. Green Bay took three-time Pro Bowl defensive back Willie Buchanon with the next pick, and Pittsburgh got Franco Harris a few picks later.

Where were you on Nov. 29, 1971?

If you were Spec Richardson, you were making the dumbest trade in Astros history.

In a multi-player deal, he sent a young second baseman to Cincinnati.

Nearly four years later, Joe Morgan won his first of two Most Valuable Player awards and led the Reds to a World Series title. That same year, the Astros matched the franchise's worst record at 65-97. Cesar Geronimo, the starting center fielder and four-time Gold Glove winner for the Big Red Machine, was in that deal as well.

Several other bad deals
Richardson also pulled the trigger on a trade of Mike Cuellar, who won 23, 24 and 20 games the next three seasons and went to three straight World Series with the Orioles. Richardson traded 24-year-old Rusty Staub after he was an All-Star two years in a row. He went three more times in succession.

During Richardson's tenure (1967-75), the Astros were above .500 only twice, and barely at that, going 84-79 in 1972 and 82-80 in '73.

Don't think GMs make a huge difference? Richardson and Hunsicker were on the job the same number of years. Under one, the Astros always contended, under the other, they never did.

By the way, who's running the last-place Comets?

• • •

Chronicle staff writer Jerome Solomon ranks the city's best and worst GMs:

The city's best
Gerry Hunsicker, the Astros (1996-2004)

Built a winner and turned Houston into a baseball city.

Steve Patterson, the Rockets (1989-93)

Put together the pieces that eventually won two NBA championships.

Bill Dineen, the Aeros (1972-78)

Made hockey fun in the South by bringing the Howe Family and WHA championships in 1974 and '75.

Carroll Dawson, the Comets (1997-2006)

He is credited with spearheading efforts that brought Sheryl Swoopes and Cynthia Cooper to town.

Van Chancellor, the Comets (1997-2006)

Took what Dawson started and worked to build a four-time WNBA champion.

Oliver Luck, the Dynamo (2006-current)

Building a steady franchise with solid fan base and is a perfect 1-for-1 on championships.

Dave Tippett, the Aeros (1996-99)

Built a team that captured the International Hockey League championship in 1999.

The city's worst
Spec Richardson, the Astros (1967-75)

Traded Joe Morgan. 'Nuff said.

Charley Casserly, the Texans (2002-06)

The Texans were once the laughingstock of the NFL, and much of the blame is on him.

John Breen, the Oilers (1971-72)

Was there when the Oilers posted their first 1-13 season.

Ladd Herzeg, the Oilers (1981-88)

His off-the-field behavior helps get him here, but he had built a winning squad by the time he left.

Al Rosen, the Astros (1980-85)

Unfortunately he replaced Tal Smith and he did little except watch attendance drop by over a million fans during his tenure

jerome.solomon@chron.com

 

http://hoopedia.nba.com/index.php/Carroll_Dawson
Carroll Dawson enters his 27th season with the Rockets and his 11th as the General Manager of the franchise. Prior to moving into the front office, Dawson worked as an assistant coach under four Rockets head coaches, aiding Del Harris from 1980-83, Bill Fitch from 1983-88, Don Chaney from 1988-92 and Rudy Tomjanovich from 1992-96.

Affectionately known as “CD,” Dawson oversees all player personnel activity for the Rockets. His duties include managing the entire scouting department, which includes analysis of athletes at both the amateur and professional levels. Dawson also deals with free agency issues, trade inquiries and the assessment of team needs.

Dawson is recognized as one of the top executives in the NBA. Since moving to the Rockets front office job in 1996, he has shown the ability to both bolster a playoff contender with veterans and acquire emerging talent as part of a youth movement. In his first few years, he made trades for Charles Barkley and Scottie Pippen to give a team led by Hakeem Olajuwon even more experience. Dawson then helped the Rockets acquire several young talents in the following years, including Cuttino Mobley, Steve Francis and four-time All-Star Yao Ming.

In the summer of 2005, Dawson worked with Owner Leslie Alexander to sign Yao to a maximum-value contract extension. In the summer of 2004, Dawson changed the face of the franchise by obtaining one of the NBA’s top players in Tracy McGrady. The two-time scoring champion was acquired from Orlando in a seven-player deal that included Francis and Mobley. Dawson has given Houston a nucleus of Yao and McGrady, two players 27 years old or younger with a combined 10 NBA All-Star Game selections. Since obtaining McGrady, Dawson has provided additional support with the acquisitions of hard-working veterans Rafer Alston, Shane Battier, Juwan Howard, Dikembe Mutombo, Bob Sura and Bonzi Wells. He has also worked to maintain a balance of youth by adding Chuck Hayes, Luther Head, John Lucas and Vassilis Spanoulis.

Dawson holds the distinction of being the only person on the coaching staffs of all four Rockets teams that advanced to the NBA Finals, as Houston played for a championship in 1981, 1986, 1994 and 1995. Dawson is known throughout the NBA for his work with frontcourt players and has also been credited with teaching Olajuwon his famous jump hook. Dawson has coached many NBA All-Stars during his years in Houston, including Elvin Hayes, Moses Malone, Ralph Sampson and Tomjanovich.

Dawson’s knowledge of the game has not been limited to the NBA. Prior to the inaugural 1997 WNBA season, Dawson was commissioned by Alexander to help assemble the first Houston Comets team. He guided the efforts to bring Sheryl Swoopes and Cynthia Cooper to Houston, and then drafted Wanda Guyton and Janeth Arcain in the WNBA Elite Draft. Dawson was also instrumental in the selection of Tina Thompson with the first pick of the Inaugural WNBA Draft. Finally, he worked with Alexander to hire three-time WNBA Coach of the Year Van Chancellor. Currently, Dawson is Chancellor’s top advisor as the Comets Executive Vice President of Basketball.

A native Texan, Dawson hails from Alba, a town with a population of 200 that sits about 75 miles east of Dallas. As a 6-foot-5 high school center, he led Alba High School to a 44-3 record as a senior. He then went on to win Junior College All-America honors at Paris Junior College (Texas) under Head Coach Boyd Converse. After two seasons at Paris, Dawson moved on to Baylor University, where he led Bill Henderson’s Baylor Bears in scoring and rebounding in each of his two seasons. In 1960, he averaged 16.4 points as a senior to earn All-Southwest Conference honors.

In 1963, he returned to Baylor as an assistant to Head Coach Bill Menefee. He later succeeded Menefee as head coach in 1973, remaining in that position for more than three seasons. After spending two years as a scout for the Dallas Cowboys at the call of executive Gil Brandt, Dawson started a career as a salesman for Converse Shoe Company.

Dawson has been honored with induction into the Paris Junior College Hall of Fame in 1991, the Baylor University Hall of Fame in 1998, the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame in 2001, and the Texas Sports Hall of Fame in 2003. He was also named Mr. Sportsman 2005 by Interfaith Charities in Houston.

One of the top golfers in the NBA, Dawson resides in Houston with his wife, Sharon. Sharon has a daughter, Elizabeth, and a son, Michael.