Wow, Chris Jent. He out-Bullard'd Matt at his own game in 94, signed a 10-day contract and proved he could defend and shoot better as a backup forward. Got limited playing time in the Finals, won a ring, and then disappeared off the face of the Earth. I hope he does well. This is like finding out that Zan Tabak was named GM of the Knicks, just a weird blast from the past.
It just shows how stupid to mess with team chemistry on the part of GM. They were doing just fine before they traded Cat for Christie (not that Christie is a bad player).
Sweet, I got Chris Jent to sign my playoffs hat when me and my brother stood outside of the Summit back in 94, watching all the Rox players drive into the parking garage! The weird thing is that instead of rolling up in a nice ride and just waiving like all the other players, he was actually walking up to the arena. I know he wasn't a star, but man....I figured he could at least afford some transportation!
You have to fire a coach when your so called superstar player publicly disrescpets the coach the way Steve Francis did during his last game against the Kings. If anybody missed it, The Kings had a 9 point lead with about 8 minutes to go and the camera panned over to Steve Francis sitting in the stands next to a lady and admiring her brand of clothes in her shopping bag. I bet Johnny Davis feels relieved to get away from that team.
This is what they should have done in the first place instead of trading Cat. They were losing because of defense and Davis had no clue how to put a defensive scheme together. Instead of firing him, they trade their best perimeter defender for a choking, broken down, whipped piece of crap in Christie. Just Dumb.
Does anyone remember in which game Jent was elbowed in the nose in the 94 finals? I think it was when he came in for like 20 seconds right before halftime. For some reason, I have this image of him etched into my memory of trotting into the lockerroom holding a towel to his face. I don't think he ever came back from this injury. Can anyone clarify? (PS - Anyone else have the 94 World Championship shirt with the cariacatures of all the players on it? I still remember Chris Jent and Earl Cureton in the back row of the drawing! Classic! Wish I still fit into that shirt.)
Chris Jent appeared in 3 regular season games for the '93-'94 Rockets and 11 playoff games. In the regular season, he averaged 19.1 points/48 min. Not bad. His career did not end in Houston though. He showed up with the '96-'97 Knicks for 3 more games. http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/j/jentch01.html
No!! He's definitely not! He didn't disappear off the face of the earth - he went and played in Australia for a couple of seasons (explains the first question) with the North Melbourne Magic (a nonexistant club now). Played pretty well - very exciting player who bombed a LOT of threes and dunked a heckuva lot. From memory he was one of the top scorers in the league (of course he was always behind Andrew Gaze) He always came across as a self-assured sonofagun - be interesting to see how that translates into his coaching...
I agree that Weisbrod is an idiot and all, but what's this Mobley lovefest? He hasn't played well this year. And the Kings have been losing quite a bit with him. While the Magic may not have gained anything by trading him, it certainly didn't destroy their season. The impact of the Mobley is absolutely NOTHING compared to the impact of trading a top-5 player for not even an all-star. I think all Houston fans should thank Weisbrod for running T-Mac out of town last year. Can you imagine what our team would be like if Weisbrod never became the GM of the Magic? I personally can't imagine going back to watching dribblemania ever again.
Orlando's interim coach is Chris Jent? How the hell did Chris "I'm the luckiest man in the NBA" Jent, with no experience, get to be named the interim coach of the Magic over other assistants, such as Paul Westhead, with at least some head-coaching experience? Another Weaselbrod bonehead move? Sounds like it to me. http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=ap-magic-davisfired&prov=ap&type=lgns Magic fire coach Johnny Davis, name Jent interim coach By TIM BOOTH, Associated Press Writer SEATTLE (AP) -- Tony Battie and the Orlando Magic hope Chris Jent can save their fading playoff hopes. Jent, a Magic assistant, was named interim coach Thursday after the team fired coach Johnny Davis in the midst of a six-game losing streak. ``'Coach Jent' sounds a little funny,'' Battie said. ``But we're going to buy into him for the last 18 games.'' The moves, which included the dismissal of assistant Ron Ekker, came just hours after the Magic's 110-102 road loss to the Los Angeles Clippers. The Magic are 31-33 and tied with Philadelphia for the final Eastern Conference playoff spot. ``Certainly it's not the way we would like things to play out,'' said general manager John Weisbrod, who signed Davis to a two-year deal in 2003. ``I still feel like we have our fate in our own hands, but I don't know how much longer we would have had that if we didn't get some kind of a jolt.'' Davis, a low-key coach, seemed to lose control of his players. In Sunday's 98-82 home loss to New Jersey, the Magic received several technical fouls and scuffled with the Nets. Reserve guard DeShawn Stevenson booted the ball into the stands at the buzzer and forward Stacey Augmon squirted lotion on reporters in the locker room. Enter Jent, who spent two seasons in the NBA, was a member of the 1994 champion Houston Rockets and became a Magic assistant this season. Though he has no head coaching experience at the pro level, Jent was promoted over assistant Paul Westhead, who coached the Los Angeles Lakers to the 1980 title and later coached the Denver Nuggets. I was very surprised, but also very pleased,'' Jent said Thursday night after the Magic practiced in Seattle. ``To coach at the highest level is phenomenal.'' Weisbrod said Westhead's style was too similar to how Davis coached. ``Certainly we looked at all our options,'' Weisbrod said. ``I thought that Chris was a stronger departure, stylistically, from what Johnny was.'' Davis told the Orlando Sentinel he was ``surprised and disappointed'' by being fired with just 18 games left in the season and the club still trying to make the playoffs. ``It caught me completely off guard,'' Davis said. He wasn't alone. Miami Heat coach Stan Van Gundy said he was ``absolutely shocked'' by the firing. ``At this late date, I'm just very, very surprised. A team right there in the playoff hunt, tied for the eighth spot on March 17, I don't know what to say about it,'' Van Gundy said. ``Not much in the NBA surprises me, but this does, coming on March 17 with a team tied for a playoff spot.'' Jent spent his first practice making just minor changes, working on some spacing issues with the Magic's offense and some defensive rotations. Still, despite the short workout, Grant Hill said it was a beneficial session. ``We had a very productive practice,'' Hill said. ``It wasn't a long or hard practice, but ... it was a thinking man's practice.'' Weisbrod said any search for a permanent replacement will wait until the end of the season, but added that the 35-year-old Jent is the ``crown jewel of our staff.'' Davis was hired Nov. 17, 2003, replacing Doc Rivers when the team was 1-10 and on its way to losing 19 straight. Later in the season under Davis, the team lost 13 straight, including an NBA-record seven straight by at least 15 points, and finished 21-61. In the offseason, the team traded All-Star forward Tracy McGrady to Houston and got guard Steve Francis. Orlando started the season strong and was 25-20 on Feb. 1, but has gone just 6-13 since. During the season, Orlando traded Cuttino Mobley and Michael Bradley to Sacramento for guard Doug Christie. The move hasn't worked out for the Magic as Christie was placed on the injured list March 5 with bone spurs in his left ankle. He's averaged just 5.7 points per game since coming over from Sacramento. ``It's something we've been experiencing all year, change,'' Francis said. ``Whether it's player personnel, starting lineup and now we're at a pivotal position with a coaching change. Hopefully this can spark new life into some of the players including myself. Davis' overall record with the Magic was 51-84. He also coached Philadelphia in 1996-97, going 22-60. Orlando is the seventh team to make a coaching change this season, following Memphis, New York, Denver, the Los Angeles Lakers, Minnesota and Portland.
Ah....that explains it. I knew there was a reason I though he was an Aussie...its because he played in the Aussie League.
