DiLeo: 'This was best decision for me'
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DiLeo: 'This was best decision for me'
Former Sixers coach Tony DiLeo addressed the media today in his first public comments since withdrawing his name from consideration for the job Monday. DiLeo, who took over for the fired Maurice Cheeks in December, will return to his front office role as assistant general manager and vice president.
“It was a tough decision,” DiLeo said. “When you are a head coach in the NBA, it’s so demanding, 24 hours a day you’re either preparing, watching film, practicing, coaching or thinking about the team and what you can do better. If I decided to be a candidate, I would have to look at it for next 3, 4 years, this is what I wanted to do. That was a situation, that right now in my professional and personal life, I did not want to make that decision. Family has a lot to do with it. When you’re a head coach, you’re looking at the short term day to day. In management, you’re looking more how to build a team, for the long term, to winning a championship. Now to I will cherish returning to that role.”
DiLeo said he would consider a return to coaching in the future, but this "was the best decision for me at this time.”
DiLeo said the team's blowout loss to Orlando in Game 6 of the playoffs that ended the Sixers' season did not impact his decision to not pursue the job.
“That one game really had no effect,” he said. “The overall body of work was there.”
After that game, center Theo Ratliff criticized DiLeo, who said "I had no problem with Theo." Forward Andre Igoudala also did not give a glowing vote of confidence to DiLeo or advocate for his return.
“I liked the players, respect the players, had a good relationship with the players," DiLeo said. "That did not weigh into my decision."
DiLeo said that he did not want to pursue the job, simply because the opportunities to be a head coach in the NBA are so rare.
“It is a great opportunity and I enjoyed it," he said. "I had to do it for the right reasons. To look at because there are only 30 jobs and look as an opportunity, that would not be the right reasons for me. The right (thing) for me is to go back up to management and try to help this team win.”
DiLeo said he thought he would have “input in that process” to select a new coach, although it would be team president Ed Stefanski’s decision.
He said the experience as a coach will help him as he returns to management and said he had “a lot of ideas to help the team.”
“It was a great experience, being able to coach these players,” he said. “For me, being in management, I have a better idea of being eye to eye with the players in game situations. That will be better for me to evaluate the team, better for me to evaluate each player. Something from a management position sitting upstairs you just don’t get.”
DiLeo said he expected the Sixers to remain an up-tempo team and continue to play at a fast pace.
“We were one of the best fastbreak teams in the league, one of the most exciting teams in the league,” he said.
“Even though the coach was not that exciting,” he added, deadpan.
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I agree with Jerimiah Trotter -- Del Harris is the guy. He's won with the Rockets and Lakers so he knows what it takes at the highest level of the NBA. Since he's in his 70s, have him bring in his own assistants, one of whom he can hand the reins over to when he decides he's had enough. Don't know if he's interested in returning to head coaching, but he's head and shoulders above the other guys mentioned, although they're not terrible. Also agree with timmie. This isn't a tweak job. It's rebuilding in which you need a center, point guard and, please God, some shooters.— bmac821
I agree with timmie and changeisneeded. Stefanski had a perfect chance to start fresh a year ago by wiping the slate clean. Everyone would have bought into a clean-house, build-from-the-ground-up approach. And everyone would have been patient for that to unfold. Instead, he went for the quick fix with the Brand contract (can you spell R-u-l-a-n-d), and it is coming apart. Too bad.— John621- What they need to do is pretty simple. Dump Samuel Dalembert and get a reliable shooting guard. If they let Andre Miller walk, make sure to acquire a PG at least on a temp basis, because Lou Williams isn't the answer at that position. Shop Iguodala because Thad Young is the future at that position.— psv
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- TheJOKER..that was hilarious!!! I guess you don't care about the Sixers huh? LOL too funny— rodney517
- This team is a mess, from the top to the bottom.— Guy Incognito
- I still have faith in Fast Eddy to fix this thing, but it is wearing thin. He needs to show us that the off season will be spent productively towards putting this team AT LEAST into the second round of the playoffs next year. How he does it is his busuiness....but he NEEDS to do it.— TBear
- Since we aren't getting Mo back I think new blood that knows the NBA system from a player/coach standpoint & the NCAA would be good. Guys like this have experience with the college type, 21 & under player and have 1st hand NBA experience. Some of these older coaches have trouble relating to the newer younger players in the league which is th begining of the communication problems. A lot of these guys simply need a chance to be a head coach. Just don't turn the whole thing over to one like NY did with Isaiah Thomas.— nceagle
- Brand doesn't fit into our style of play? This is silly. Why do we care about maintaining an around-.500 style of play. I really think the mob mentality and history of Sixers bigmen play into this more than anything else. Elton Brand is what we were missing. (Unfortunately, we were still missing it as of a week ago.) He is not a mistake or the problem with this team. So, please, just stop it. He doesn't fit....hahahah...— WestPhillyKong
- PhillySubsMac, Thanks for the insightful comments. You sure nailed it. Just look at the starters of last year’s All Star team and get 5 of those guys. How simple can it be? You should be GM. You have it all figured out. And you have an uncanny ability to detect a lie from reading a newspaper. You're special.— MikeP
- It's odd to me that people are so down on the Sixers. Putting that last game aside -- and I know that's hard to do -- they went 32-27 under DiLeo and that includes losing 5 of 6 [or was it 6 of 7?] down the stretch when they lost Thad. Now, you can say that injuries are part of the game, but losing Thad on top of Brand on top of J. Smith just left them way too thin, especially on the front line and especially offensively. You can't expect any coach to win while having to play 4-on-5 on the offensive end, which is what DiLeo had when Evan and/or Ratliff was on the floor. It also exposed Dalembert's limitations, which come to the fore when there is too much pressure on him to be a focal point and he starts trying to do things he isn't capable of. As far as Brand is concerned, only the most cynical fan could not see that the Sixers would have done considerably better against a team like Orlando with a strong presence on the wing and under the boards to complement the slashing and running of Iguodala, Thad and Lou. And upgrade over Sam in the middle? Maybe. A young PG, preferably one that can shoot, to run the floor? Yep. And one dead-eye 3 pt shooter...Donyell, ten years younger? Sure. But this team is not that far away, and anyone who really watched them over the course of the season knows that.— jmk1512
- The Sixers players are just fine. Look for them in the top 4 in the East next season. Maybe number 3 if Garnett is through. They did indeed underachieve this year and th ereason for that was unusually poor shooting. Granted they don't set the world on fire from 3 land but Iggy and Lou W both had career low percentages from 3. They'll bounce back and the Sixers with the MOST ATHLETIC team in the NBA will do jhust fine. And I don't know if you noticed, but Brand is an excellent post defender...Fianl word- please hire a good coach!— incog69
- Wake us up when the Sixers have a top 5 NBA player. Then they will be worth spending a minute of time on.— JonKap
- The cornerstone of this team should be Thaddeus Young, not Iguodala. Iguodala ought to be a 2-guard who can slide up to 3 from time to time. Shot must improve, though. Young is a 3 who can slide in from time to time at 4. He's got the best upside, as I see it. Dalembert needs to move on and let Speights move in to the middle. In the draft, get a point guard who can defend better than Miller, so Williams can continue to come off the bench for instant offense. If he keeps improving, he could be a Vinnie Johnson instant offense type. And don't give up on Brand yet; I suspect it'll be easier for him to adjust to a more uptempo game with a coach who knows how to coach it (which the 76ers didn't have this season). This team isn't a real serious contender and as presently constituted isn't going to be.— either orr
Bob Cooney has been at the Daily News for more than 20 years, working in the sports department for the past 15. This is his third season on the Sixers beat. He has covered just about everything, but mostly college basketball, where he was the La Salle beat writer for six seasons. E-mail Bob at cooneyb@phillynews.com and follow him on Twitter.
