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Chron: Alexander sets sights high: No lightweights need apply

Discussion in 'Houston Rockets: Game Action & Roster Moves' started by ron413, May 24, 2003.

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ron413 Member

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May 23, 2003, 10:59PM

Alexander sets sights high: No lightweights need apply
By JONATHAN FEIGEN
Copyright 2003 Houston Chronicle

Rockets owner Leslie Alexander expected the names of coaches to come flooding in. With the job coaching his team open, he said coaches everywhere would come calling.

But Alexander said he would be extremely discriminating when choosing a successor for Rudy Tomjanovich.

Alexander has not yet defined just what he was looking for. But he described the 10th Rockets head coach, and the first he has hired since buying the team in 1993, as a coaching veteran and proven winner. There will not, he said, be on-the-job training.

"Everybody would want to coach this team," Alexander said. "I think we have a great young team with Yao Ming and Steve Francis. I've heard that people around the league know how much I want to win. I think we can attract a very high-caliber coach known as a winner."

He will, however, start behind in the race for the top coaches considered available.

Former Knicks coach Jeff Van Gundy was reportedly ready to accept the position coaching the Cavaliers. Though Van Gundy has often spoken about the Rockets potential, he said throughout the week that he has had no contact with the Rockets.

"I wish I had as many friends in the NBA as everybody thinks I have," Van Gundy said. "And I wish some of this stuff was based on something that's actually happened."

Van Gundy denied reports that he is headed to Cleveland.

"There's no agreement. There's nothing," Fratello, an analyst for TNT, said during the first half of Friday's game between the Spurs and Mavericks in Dallas. "They (the Cavaliers) are still in the process of finding a coach."

Sources said Alexander has long admired 76ers coach Larry Brown who has said since the Sixers season ended that he would have to evaluate whether he is still the right coach in Philadelphia. A Hall of Fame coach, Brown's six-year tenure with the 76ers is the longest with one team in his career.

Former Rockets guard Mike Dunleavy, who has had success coaching the Bucks, Lakers and Trail Blazers, could also quickly become a candidate. But Dunleavy is considered the top candidate to fill the position in Atlanta.

Paul Silas, who was fired in New Orleans after the season, turned down a chance at the position with the Clippers and like Van Gundy is a candidate in Cleveland.

Former Rockets guard John Lucas, a former coach with the 76ers, Spurs, Nuggets and Cavaliers who is close with several Rockets players, said he would be interested in the position.

"Rudy has done a great job, but his health is a real issue for him," Lucas said. "He's done a lot of the grunt work turning this team around. Whoever gets this job ... will get a chance to complete what Rudy almost got finished."

Former Hawks and Cavaliers coach Mike Fratello also is expected to express interest, though he's considered the front-runner for the New Orleans job.

Rockets assistant coaches Larry Smith, who served as acting head coach for 17 games during Tomjanovich's medical leave of absence, and Jim Boylen will also likely ask to be considered. Former Rockets players Kenny Smith and Avery Johnson are also interested. But like Smith and Boylen, they do not have the head coaching experience that Alexander said he would seek.

"The best coaches are always in demand," Alexander said. "We'll move quickly to catch up.

"We want somebody who's a winner, somebody to make this team a championship team. I don't want to get preconceived ideas. I can hit the ground running (in the search.) I want a guy that can take this job and hit the ground running, too. This is too good a job for a guy who has to learn how to coach with this team.

"My priority, after my family and my dog, is the Rockets."

Rockets general manager Carroll Dawson said the search process had not yet begun. Dawson will head the Rockets' search and no management changes, other than Tomjanovich's move to a consultant position, are planned.

"Well, nothing has been done on that because this hit us so fast," Dawson said. "We didn't decide that this would be done until a little bit before 3. Our owner didn't even have time to get here. So nothing in that area has been done at all. We'll start that process, I guess, when we leave here. I started off this morning working on Comets stuff, and who knew? It turned out to be an extraordinary day. But I'm sure that process will start pretty soon.

"I'm sure that I'll be making some calls, but this has been very, very sudden. I'm not kidding you. There has not been a big planning that we're going through right now. But you have to go over your options, and I'm sure that we'll get a plan very quickly."

Because Tomjanovich had become such a fixture and is so popular with his players, Dawson said it would be difficult for his successor.

"Rudy has an approach I wouldn't say is unique, but it is endearing," Dawson said. "It's going to take an interesting personality. We have to get the right man for this job."

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/sports/1923495

May 23, 2003, 10:01PM

Possible replacements

The big names
•Jeff Van Gundy: Former Knicks coach is close to taking over in Cleveland but is enamored with the idea of coaching Yao Ming and Steve Francis.
•Larry Brown: Has not left a job in six years, a personal record. Les Alexander loves Brown, a Hall of Famer, and Brown is already Rudy Tomjanovich's successor as Olympics coach.

Don't forget
•Mike Dunleavy: Former Lakers, Bucks and Blazers coach. The former Rockets player lives in Fort Worth and would love to be back on a bench. Is the favorite in Atlanta.
•Paul Silas: Just fired in New Orleans and is a hot commodity. Charles Barkley's nightly choice for every job. Could be a candidate in Cleveland, Washington or Charlotte.

#1 ron413, May 24, 2003

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The bozo sports guy on channel 2 news kept repeating that the rockets top 4 choices are:

1. JVG
2. Larry Brown
3. Mike Dunleavy ( i think this was the third name he gave )
4. Doc Rivers

not sure how much that guy really knows, considering he wasn't even reporting from houston.

#2 spel32, May 24, 2003
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Wow, so many people already lined up!

* Larry Brown (he knew he would never win a ring in the east and conviniently left all options open after 76ers exit in the playoff)
* Van Gundy (otherwise why would he deny accepting position in Cleveland and LeBron James openly on TNT?)
* Mike Dunleavy
* Paul Silas
* John Lucas
* Mike Fratello
* LS (forget that!)
* Kenny Smith ( I liked him a lot as an analyst, but not sure about whether he can actually do what he says)
* Avery Johnson

Larry Brown or JVG. Just do it Les!

#3 lancet, May 24, 2003
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Paul Silas is my choice along with Jimmy Cleamons. Silas never made excuses despite losing his star players for long chunks including the playoffs. Kindness on the sidelines can be linked to weakness but ask derrick coleman and elden campbell. Took over a bad situation after Cowens quit and turned the team into a real threat. Avery johnson kinda intrigues me also.

#4 leebigez, May 24, 2003
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Originally posted by ron413

"My priority, after my family and my dog, is the Rockets."

Click to expand...

sorry. thought that was funny how his dog comes before a multimillion dollar investment.

#5 steddinotayto, May 24, 2003
Mr. Mooch Contributing Member

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Danny Ainge.

#6 Mr. Mooch, May 24, 2003
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Rockets assistant coaches Larry Smith, who served as acting head coach for 17 games during Tomjanovich's medical leave of absence, and Jim Boylen will also likely ask to be considered. Former Rockets players Kenny Smith and Avery Johnson are also interested.
Click to expand...

Yeah, sure. One more season of Mr. Mean and I will start cheering for any team the Rockets play AGAINST. His reign as head coach was the absolute ROCK BOTTOM of this past season and he made watching the Rox a living hell for all fans. Kenny didn't show much love for Yao this season despite being an ex-Rocket so that should eliminate him from the list. He should start off at the high school level to build his coaching creds.

#7 MadMonk, May 24, 2003

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My priorities are actually my dogs then my family then my desire for a multi-million dollar investment.

You've never seen my dogs. If I don't run them and feed them regularly they eat their way through fence and then cats and smaller dogs disappear... I prevented from going into details about the disappearance of kids in the neighborhood by a court order but it wasn't pretty. Seriously though, they did eat an 8" diameter tree. Chewed right through it... kinda decided i'd never let them get bored again. Still trying to find a national park to accept them as really frisky beavers...

#8 OUTITAN, May 24, 2003
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Originally posted by Mr. Mooch
Danny Ainge.
Click to expand...

with Mario Elie as his assistant.

#9 JBIIRockets, May 24, 2003
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I just thought it was funny, yet admirable, that he included his dog. Now I'm wondering what's all this talk about how Les is the devil's advocate just because he wanted the best for his team...

#10 steddinotayto, May 24, 2003
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Originally posted by JBIIRockets
with Mario Elie as his assistant.
Click to expand...

Elie would sucker punch Ainge during every timeout

#11 steddinotayto, May 24, 2003
arkoe (ง'̀-'́)ง

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Don't forget assistants Air Bull and Kenny Smith.

#12 arkoe, May 24, 2003
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Avery Johnson might make a nice assistant coach

#13 carlos, May 24, 2003

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It totally depends on how much $$$ LA wants to spend. Larry Brown and JVG won't come cheap.

Raven

#14 Raven, May 24, 2003
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Originally posted by JBIIRockets
with Mario Elie as his assistant.
Click to expand...

LOL

#15 Drewdog, May 24, 2003
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Can somebody tell me about Mike Dunleavy.
What's he like?how are his X's and O's?How does he act with his players?Who has he coached and has he won anything?
I'm intrigued by this guy as I heared ppl wanting him.

ALA

#16 a la rockets, May 24, 2003
smoothie Jabari Jungle

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im not sure i want larry brown. he is the best coach available, but he whines about wanting to leave every offseason.

not to mension how iverson keeps saying he wants a new coach or a trade (only during the hate period of the love/hate relationship they have). i dont need to hear steve saying that.

also 6yrs with out leaving is his personal best? he may quit on us in a couple of years. JVG or Dunleavy! please!

#17 smoothie, May 24, 2003
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Dunleavy is another Zen type guy, has a degree in psychology. He is the poor b*stard that had to try to manage the egos of the Jail Blazers for the last few years, was replaced for the 02-03 campaign with the same results. He was the one who made all that talent work but couldn't quite get them over the hump. Might have had something to do with Sheed getting a record number of techs two years in a row and punches being thrown in the locker room. They were called the Jail Blazers for a reason. TB management hired the most talented guys they could with no regard for team chemistry.

He's not a total disciplinarian but he's stricter than Rudy was. Given that he's been putting up with Sheed, Pippen and Stoudamire i'm pretty sure he can handle steve and cat. He tries to get in his players heads and show them the right way. He's a good fundamentals type guy who can teach. He had too many stars on the blazers and they didn't seem to like eachother at all. We have all the stars we need and just need somebody to coach them.

I think he'd make a good choice over JVG who is all about pressuring his guys but doesn't seem to teach them anything. His style would probably go well with our group of players. The only guy i'd take over him would be Brown and I don't think Brown will be available.

#18 OUTITAN, May 24, 2003

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A few stats for you Ala
actually it looks like he was let go for the 2001 season so his stats with the blazers for the regular season would be:

2000-01 50 32 .610
1999-00 59 23 .720
1998-99 35 15 .700
1997-98 46 36 .561

Coach of the year:
1998-99 Mike Dunleavy, Portland

he was one of the ones who coached the lakers for a couple years after Riley left and before Phil showed up. 90-91 and 91-92 seasons.
coached the bucks from the 92 season till moving to the Blazers.

he's done well wherever he's gone and teams have gotten better (exception being the two years with the lakers when the team was in such termoil no one was going to win there)

#19 OUTITAN, May 24, 2003
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Other coaches that will try for the job might be DEL HARRIS, (What is that choked coach) CARLLISIMO,(I know spelling is bad) & DONNIE NELSON Maverick assistant coache.

#20 No Chance, May 24, 2003

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