4 straight playoff appearances, a winnign record (no time to look it up, but I think it's around 200-150), and you fire the guy? That's just BS. Oh well..............business is business. Whomever they hire, will lead them to the first round of the playoffs next season, and lose in the first round too.
So the next time someone says Francis hasn't made the playoffs I will assume you will use this same excuse.
this is plain sick, stupid, i hardly know what word to use... just found out that New Orleans is considering Tim Floyd as the next head coach. yep, that's right, Tim Floyd, the former coach of the lowly Chicago Bulls, one of the worst coaches in NBA history. how could the firing of Paul Silas, the winningest coach in franchise history, be moving in the "right" direction? something's definitely wrong with the picture here. here's the article from ESPN: NEW ORLEANS -- Former Chicago Bulls coach Tim Floyd will be interviewed by the New Orleans Hornets, a team source confirmed Tuesday. The Hornets fired Paul Silas, the winningest coach in franchise history, on Sunday, one day after they were eliminated from the playoffs in the first round by the Philadelphia 76ers. Floyd is expected to meet with the Hornets next week and is not necessarily a leading candidate, said the source who asked not to be identified. Team officials have said they expect to meet with several candidates, although they have not identified any others. When Floyd resigned as Bulls coach in December 2001, his record in a little more than three seasons was 49-190, one of the worst ever for an NBA coach. Floyd could not be reached for comment on Tuesday. Before taking over at Chicago, Floyd was 81-47 in four seasons as head coach at Iowa State, with three of those teams going to the NCAA Tournament. His 1996-97 team reached the regional final, losing 74-73 in overtime to UCLA. Floyd coached at the University of New Orleans for six seasons, compiling a 127-58 mark, including NCAA berths in 1991 and 1993. Floyd is 243-130 as a college head coach with five NCAA tournament appearances. One possible candidate is Mike Fratello, who coached Atlanta and Cleveland and is a friend of Hornets minority owner Ray Wooldridge. Former New York Knicks coach Jeff Van Gundy could be another candidate but the Knicks have yet to allow him to meet with other teams before his contract with them expires on Aug 1. Hornets owner George Shinn and Wooldridge still have yet to specify why they fired Silas, who was popular among players and fans and had taken the team to the playoffs four times in five seasons, twice getting to the second round. Team spokesman Harold Kaufman said Tuesday that the owners just wanted to "go in a different direction.'' "They feel Bob Bass is the architect of one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference and they feel they owe it to the fans to help get the team to next level,'' Kaufman said. "They think the talent is there.''
As I said somewhere, forget records, team performances etc, this is not a "get better" move but rather a "cost-cutting" move. The Hornets owner George Shinn is a cheap guy and has always been reluctant to pay guys what they're worth. Paul Silas is a top NBA head coach, and he's a free agent this summer. Since Shinn was not interested in paying Silas what he is worth, the best way for Shinn to save face and avoid looking like the Eastern Conference's answer to Donald Sterling was to "fire" Silas. Why? Well, what makes you look worse - being too cheap, or "firing" your coach because you have high standards and want to "take it to the next level"? Silas was NOT fired. He is a free agent. How can you fire a guy who is not under contract? See, they are going to hire an unproven coach in the form of Tim Floyd (You can take take Jeff Van Gundy out of the equation. He costs way too much money for Shinn's liking I bet). They are going to hire a coach who costs way less than Silas. So don't listen to what the Hornets owner said. This is a financial, cost cutting move by the Hornets, an attempt to save face more than anything. I feel sorry for Hornets fans to have such a cheap owner.
