This ambivalence shown by Van Gundy is getting on my nerves-- negotiating ploy or not. If you want $5 Million plus at least show up in a suit not a frumpy golf shirt from Target. Do they have those in the Tri-State Area? I think we blew it; we could have had an excellent choice such as Paul Silas-- a dignified, stern taskmaster who won't take the BS that young players tend to put out. Defense and rebounding were his forte as a player so we know he's going to insist upon it from his players
Slilas is a great coach, but probably not for us. I want a good coach and a GREAT STAFF. That's what we need...
At this point, he's definitely not for us! I'm curious, though, why do you think he wouldn't be a good fit?
Look at what he had to deal with in Char/NO and look at what he did. I'm not sure too many coaches could have even gotten that team into the playoffs with the injuries,death,and distractions they had to deal with. I think if he thought he had a real chance at the Rockets job he would have waited, but I'm not sure the Rockets gave him the confort of thinking he could be the coach here. I noticed after visiting the Rockets and praising them, he took the Cleveland job.
AGREE!!! Silas was my #2 after Brown. Rockets should have ATTACKED this issue instead of being overconfident the best job was in Houston. Unfortunately, It looks like the best job offers the most CASH!!!
I agree Giddyup, Les Alexander's pre occupation with star power bothers me. I don't know whose the better coach but Les wanted to make an impact as if the coach is going to sell tickets. The only two coaches who sell tickets maybe are Riley and Dr. Phil. Les overplayed his hand on this one.
Why do yall want Silas. There wouldnt be much change from Rudy. Hes also a players coach. We dont need another players coach.
The Hornets blew it with Silas!!!! You fire Silas to interview Tim Floyd?????? Mon dieu! That has got to be the dumbest move this year besides the move to fire Carlisle.
Giddyup, what do you mean by "blew it"? Do you mean they mishandled Silas and lost a potential hire or do you mean they were mistaken for not really wanting Silas in the first place? Because I think it is pretty obvious they considered him a very secondary option. Maybe he'd have been a better choice (certainly better than Dunleavy in my mind), but I don't think they did anything to try (and fail) to keep him in the running.
JV, I think it has been clear all along that Les wanted Brown or Van Gundy. I don't think they ever took Silas seriously.
lol Well I never really wanted Paul Silas...but he's gone. Too bad. We blew it with Brown too. Too bad. Oh well. I don't like how JVG is PLAYING WITH US either.
- Silas is a stern task master? Is that why Barron Davis, Elden Campbell and others all showed up to camp out of shape? - With all that talent, and coaching in the East Silas only got out of round 1 a total of 1 time - Any one that will work for Paxson is a yes man
JuanValdez: this is what I meant. I think they took Brown for granted. We, apparently, are not in the catbird seat in spite of Yao, Francis and a new arena. I don't get this stuff about anyone being a player's coach; that is the beginning of the end-- when this became a player's league. Magic and Bird saved the NBA in the 80s but few too many emulate their team oriented selfless approach. Magic was blown away in his brief tenure as a coach and it probably wore down Bird after only 3 years or so. The league is awash in the me-first attitude. smack: Silas can't control what goes on in the off-season. If those guys showed up out of shape, he sure got them in shape. Look at the way they play. 3 years ago the Charlotte franchise was playing to a few thousand fans on a good home draw. He's been in the playoffs ever since. Two years ago (?) they came within a game 7 of getting into the EC Finals.
I agree, Silas was my 1st preference, but I think money was actually the main reason we didn't pursue him harder.
So you mean after the World championships, Davis got out of shape that quick? How much did campbell play before he got traded for being out of shape. All that talent includes a talented yet enigmatic small forward, a 4th yr pg, a 3rd yr center and roles players. What did Rudy T have to work with? Obviously, you didn't watch him guide his team out of the 4st rd last yr sedpite missin his leading scorer for 40 games plus the playoffs. I guess you didn't watch them play philly without Davis for 1 game,Mashburn for another and mashburn still played the rest of the series with a broken finger. Did I mention they won 47 games despite missin Davis for 30+games. Francis didn't miss that many last yr and we wound up with one of the worse records last yr. Say what you want, but I don't think Silas was ever higher than 3rd or 4th out of 4 coaches and thats why he took the Cavs job. Not only with Lebrons arrival, but watch how he incorporates Big Z to go along with Davis,James and Boozer. This yr, they'll win 30 games if Big Z stays healthy. Next yr, they'll be close to 40wins. Mark my words.
