Im thinking this guy should be interviewed for the job if he's interested. He was a head coach in Denver at one time and he was also Bostan Nachbars former head coach in Italy. From what I remember, when Issel let him go, the players in Denver were really upset.. they seem to really like the guy. Currently he's an assistant with the Suns. heres some recent information about him Suns Name Mike D'Antoni to Coaching Staff Posted: June 25, 2002 The Phoenix Suns named Mike D’Antoni as an assistant coach on Head Coach Frank Johnson’s staff today. “Mike brings our staff tremendous experience from the perspective of a head coach and a player,” Suns President and General Manager Bryan Colangelo said. “His knowledge of the international game should be of great help as NBA offenses and defenses continue to evolve under the new rules.” D’Antoni has a professional basketball background that includes the NBA, ABA and the Italian League. He served as head coach for the Denver Nuggets for the 1998-99 season and was the club’s director of player personnel in 1997-98. This past season he returned to the Italian League and once again coached Benetton Treviso, leading the club to the Italian League championship after a 28-8 season. His team included former Sun Charlie Bell, ex-NBA player Tyus Edney and 2002 NBA Draft prospects Nickoloz Tskitishvili and Bostjan Nachbar. An Italian League legend, he also coached Benetton from 1994-97 when his team won the Cup of Europe and Cup of Italy in 1995 and won the league title in 1996-97 after a 22-4 regular season. Prior to that he guided Philips Milan for four seasons from 1990-94 and led the club to the 1993 Korac Cup. During his Italian tenure D’Antoni led his teams to the playoffs each season and was twice voted the league’s Coach of the Year. D’Antoni – a dual citizen of the United States and Italy – was an All-NBA Rookie Second Team choice in 1974 while a member of the Kansas City-Omaha Kings. He played two-plus seasons for the Kings before joining the ABA’s Spirits of St. Louis and NBA’s San Antonio Spurs. D’Antoni then moved to Italy where he played 13 seasons for Milan and became the club’s all-time leading scorer. He was voted the league’s top point guard of all time in 1990 and he paced his team to five Italian League titles, two Cups of Europe, two Cups of Italy, one Korac Cup and one Intercontinental Cup. He was also selected to play on the Italian national team for the World Cup in 1989 and was a part of the Milan team that competed in the inaugural McDonald’s Open in 1987.
