Skip to content
Link copied to clipboard

Phil Jasner: Sixers should be making a coaching list, checking it twice

WHO'S NEXT? The 76ers are going to have to answer that question, either in the next week or so or after the season. The question doesn't seem to be whether Eddie Jordan is gone, just how soon?

Dean Demopoulos (left), Bill Laimbeer and former Sixers' guard Eric Snow would be intriguing coaching options. (AP File Photos)
Dean Demopoulos (left), Bill Laimbeer and former Sixers' guard Eric Snow would be intriguing coaching options. (AP File Photos)Read more

WHO'S NEXT? The 76ers are going to have to answer that question, either in the next week or so or after the season. The question doesn't seem to be whether Eddie Jordan is gone, just how soon?

My problem is that the list of successors supposedly starts with Jeff Van Gundy, Jay Wright or Avery Johnson. No disrespect to those guys, but that could be a tragic mistake. Van Gundy probably would like a chance to win; Johnson apparently wants to be handpicked without going through a process. The Sixers had to interview Wright last year, even knowing he had no interest; both sides had to show they were doing their due diligence.

Strangely, the one guy who truly wanted the job was Doug Collins, and he couldn't get an interview. In a way, I was happy about that, because as brilliant a coach as Collins can be, he is also the best pro analyst in the business. I would hate to see him walk away from that to take one more shot at coaching.

So, again: Who's next? The one really fresh candidate last year was runner-up Dwayne Casey, the Dallas assistant. In recent weeks, I have begun wondering what might have happened had the Sixers chosen Kurt Rambis, the Los Angeles Lakers assistant and perhaps coach-in-waiting. Rambis would have come armed with the triangle offense, but without access to Michael Jordan or Kobe Bryant. Exactly how is that working out in Minnesota, where Rambis ultimately landed?

The Sixers' correct path this time might be to mine the rising (and relatively unknown) assistants around the league. As a colleague mentioned to me, the search should be for fresh ideas, for leadership, for a presence. Referencing the NFL, how many people knew who Andy Reid was when the Eagles brought him in? Who was Bill Belichick when he first joined the New England Patriots? In the NBA, did the Chicago Bulls really know who Phil Jackson was when they hired him as an assistant? Did the Lakers really have a clue when they brought Pat Riley out of the TV booth? Did the Orlando Magic know what they were getting with TV analyst Doc Rivers? It's been a long, long time since Billy Cunningham's era, but when the Sixers hired him he had never coached a day in his life.

Maybe you find a gem. Maybe you don't. But how can you know if you don't look?

So start looking. Mike Budenholzer is Gregg Popovich's top assistant in San Antonio and was a finalist for the Phoenix job a couple of years ago. If you don't know him, ask. Go talk to him, see what he's about. Mario Elie, who had a very brief NBA playing start with the Sixers, is a Sacramento assistant and viewed as a solid, sometimes outspoken candidate for some team. Can it hurt to meet with him? I know a lot of people view NBA TV analyst Eric Snow as arrogant and as a guy who has never lost a debate, but he was also a terrific intermediary between the incredibly strong personalities of Larry Brown and Allen Iverson, and was the only player who had any level of control of Iverson. At least hear him out.

Try talking to Tyrone Corbin, the Utah Jazz assistant, or to Minnesota assistant Bill Laimbeer, who had great success in the WNBA, or to Jack Sikma, the Houston assistant who perfected the drop-step jumper. People in Portland rave about Monty Williams and onetime Temple assistant Dean Demopoulos. See what Mark Jackson, the TV analyst, has to say.

If the rule, as old Temple football coach Wayne Hardin used to say, is to improvise and adjust, find out which of these guys - and others - can do just that. To hand the current Sixers a Princeton system that requires passers, cutters, shooters, screen-setters and an understanding of back-door plays seemed an awful mistake. The current group, save for Jrue Holiday and an injured Elton Brand, ran their way to being five games over .500 late last season and took a startled Orlando Magic to six games in the first round of the playoffs. This team is a shadow of that one.

I would like to see the Sixers use some sort of consultant to at least provide a list of prospects. Ah, where's the late, great Chuck Daly when we really need him?

And, as a final caveat to all of this, think of the degree of difficulty the Sixers would have in trying to sell Eddie Jordan to the fans next season; I would hate to think of the number of season ticketholders who might just walk away. But, and this might be no more than fantasy, what would those same fans think if chairman Ed Snider somehow brought back Larry Brown? When I asked him last week about the reports that someone had sent feelers about him to the Los Angeles Clippers, he said he wouldn't comment, then asked how "things like that got out?''

I think Brown will stay with Charlotte and owner-to-be Michael Jordan. I wish I knew who the next coach of the Sixers is going to be, and whether he will have any more of a chance than the six who already have come after Brown.

But assuming Brown, Jackson, Riley and Popovich are not available, I hope it's a bright, fresh face, a guy prepared to grab the opportunity by the seams. Maybe it's the seventh one that's the charm. *

Send e-mail to jasnerp@phillynews.com