Eddie Jordan ready for the challenge
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Eddie Jordan ready for the challenge
Eddie Jordan was officially introduced as the Sixers' new head coach this morning.
"It's very exciting to accept this responsibility and this challenge," Jordn said in his opening remarks to a Wachovia Center news conference. "I'm a coach, I love to coach. It's the richest tradition in basketball -- Philadelphia basketball, whether playground to the Sixers. It's the challenge at the top of the ladder when you talk about pure basketball. I'm very excited and humbled and giving it 100 percent to restore the tradition and the brand of basketball that the fans, the organization will be proud of."
Jordan said he met with Andre Igoudala last night and had spoken with Elton Brand. Igoudala, Willie Green and Jason Smith attended the press conference.
Immediately, Jordan was peppered with questions about his system and whether it fits the personnel that the Sixers have.
"There's a formula for each team to win and we're going to find that formula," Jordan said.
Said Sixers president/general manager Ed Stefanski: "Eddie's system fits us perfectly with the talent we have in this organization."
Jordan talked a lot about "interchangeable parts." "It's team basketball, enhances players that are not great scorers and makes great scorers help teammates. It's just not about perimeter shooting. At the end of the possession or somewhere during the possession, you're looking for a quality shot."
Although Stefanski and Jordan have a previous relationship with the Nets, Stefanski said that their interaction prior to Tony DiLeo’s decision to not return was minimal. He said they saw each other at games, texted each other and had a few phone calls.
“This was not that Eddie Jordan was going to be the coach and nobody else,” Stefanski said. “I told Eddie and all qualified candidates that this was going to be a process.”
Stefanski added that he was “very comfortable” with the selection process, despite assertions from some quarters that he went too slowly and others that he went too quickly. “I can’t make everybody happy,” he said.
Stefanski said what “sealed the deal” was Jordan’s second interview, which included more than 4 hours of “chalk talk.”
“We came away wowed,” Stefanski said. “This is the guy for us. He fits our need as a leader from a communication standpoint. He fits our need as an X and O guy and the development of young players. We are thrilled to have Eddie Jordan as the coach of the 76ers.”
Asked about his philosophy, Jordan said, “Stay organized offensively for 24, 48, 82. Stay organized through the offense for 24 seconds, 48 minutes, 82 games. You manage a game through the offense. Defense is a big key. This team is built through defensive players already. The offense will only help them.”
In terms of a learning curve, Jordan said, “It is very easy to learn. It’s harder to coach. That’s why Ed is paying me the money he is paying me.
“It’s basketball … There are so many parts that it’s consistent. I’ve had teams and tremendous players that once they are in the offense and once they understand it they don’t want to go back to a typical standaround NBA offense. There are going to be some frustration in it because I like to see it really pop and be in sync. I will demand that. I may push them a little bit harder, a little faster. If you are a basketball player with basketball IQ, you will learn.”
After two years of the Sixers making the playoffs and losing in the first round, Jordan said the team was "ready to take the next step" and vowed that this team would "play harder, smarter and longer than our opponents."
Look for full coverage of Eddie Jordan's hiring in Tuesday's Daily News.
Comments (69)
Jordan - Yay all our problems are over :-(— pahammer- I hope this works out. But he had more talent in Washington and couldn't get out of first round a very weak eastern division. Prediction: This team regresses and does not make the playoffs.— 76er
- Sissyking, sixers fans care, so if you dont take a hike. Gmilst1, I think the owners dont care. Snyder hires someone to run the team and forgets about it until they are so bad he has to make a change. Then he doesnt care again until its another disaster. He better look hard at those empty seats and start doing some quality control. Anyway, why is Snyder there anyway, he is so old probably losing it.— maximus
- What are friends for ? ...Stefanski...di Le...Jordan ? Sure All losers... Mo is great was never given a CHANCE ! PERIOD!— aviong
- If a tree falls in the forest and hits Eddie Jordan, does it make a sound?— UncleEddie
Eddie Jordan? This is supposed to get us excited? Please lose 70 games and get the top pick next season. Then sell the team to an ownership that cares. I haven't been able to watch a full game for years now.— wokmaster- pgcd3, 5isaking, if you don't care, why did you open this article?— sixers_610
- I don't know how it will turn out with Jordan but who is excited by this hire? Will season tics move now? No. Why not hire a high profile coach who has deep playoff experience and keep him around for 5-10 years. Jordan will be gone in 2-3 years with a losing record, that is my guess.— foment3
- I am thoroughly unimpressed by the attitude of most of the posters. Gee, why not try to find the negative in EVERYTHING? Name a better coach that was interested and available. I don't recall the Wizards as being "way more talented" than the Sixers. Sure we need to get rid of some dead weight(Dalembart et al) but it is not all gloom and doom. I would suggest that all of the negative commenters visit their doctors and get on antidepressants immediately. The atitude is ridiculously pathological. Try thinking one positive thought at one time during a day of your obviously miserable existence. Lighten up. Lets see what happens for God's sake before we bury this guy.— JimSeitz
This guy is a LOSER! Plain and Simple.— citysims- Great - another Phila sports figure whi is "humbled". Even he knows he doesn't deserve this job...— Bobphxville
- Here's what all you pessimistic people need to do. Go find another team. Yeah Philly loves to hate, but this is ridiculous.. if it's not Anquan Boldin this, or Jake Peavy that, we're always looking for an instant winner. We have a solid core and the Eddie Jordan seems to have an offensive system that should help our strong defensive team. Support and faith, that's all the rightd you have as fans.— FlySixPhiEagles
- AP Reported: "He’s not exactly the kind of hire that would energize a lukewarm fanbase. “You can’t make people happy,” Stefanski said. “I don’t know if I could ask the logo, Jerry West, or Pat Riley to come, I think the city I was born and raised in is going to find something wrong with them.” Nice Ed. Nothing like insulting your customers.— The Clear
- Wow! What a positive group of fans. Jordan will bring a stronger offense to the team which will maximize the talents of Brand and Iguodala along with Young, Speights and Williams. Adding a healthy Brand to the current team puts them into 50 game plus territory.— ricky
- Its reported that Dalembert voluntarily missed the press conference, yet had a 10 minute conference call with Jordan from his resort suite in Tahiti....— titaneeksixer
- Typical reaction from the Negadelphia Phan base. I'm not sure how some of your baseless replies event make it on here. The guy had the perenial doormat Wizards in the playoffs 4 out of 5 years, even though his marquee players struggled with injuries. But then, nobody deserves a chance in Negadelpia do they guys.— amaysnfoods
- this is a pretty brave (or stupid) move by Stefanski. he had to have known that fans would not be happy with Eddie Jordan as the new head coach. hopefully he does well, but if not, it will be Stefanski's last gig as a GM.— FireAndyReid
- Hearing Stefanski speaking at the press conference made me want to hide under a desk in embarrassment.— ericg610
- to run the princeton offense you need guys that can hit an open jumper from a decent distance otherwise the other team will clog the lane. also, you need players with a high basketball iq...i don't know about you, but the sixers have a great number of fine athletes with talent, but shooting from a distance and court savvy (minus the soon to be departed point guard) are in very, VERY short supply. ed stefanski has just flushed the team down the drain for another 2-3 years. they won't be bad, but they won't be good enough to truly compete and they are capped out with outrageous contracts to good, not great, players that don't deserve them and the cap space they eat up. in other words, they are in the doldrums known ars mediocrity in the nba.
- Horrible coach, Horrible team!!! They deserve each other!!! Bring Pat Croce back!!!It was the last time anyone cared about the Sixers!!!— fly4philly
- Did I hear correctly when he said Willie Green would have a more prominent role in the Princeton offense? I wouldn’t give Willie Green a more prominent role in my YMCA rec league team … does Jordan think we fans are stupid or something?— 1981Philly
- This was merely an economic move.Eddie Jordan came cheap.— homer2811
- hey he looks like the grinch who stole sniders money— soliteryman
- should have brought back billy c— soliteryman
- Eddie Jordan fits. We now have a mediocre coach for a mediocre team. Both lack charasma, marketability, and respect. And there's not a serious baller or a knowledgable fan in town who thinks that there's anything serious about this team. Viewers, ticket-holders, and writers get behind teams that can win a championship or are building towards one. We can't, and we're not. And Stefanski's language and moves have been fairly easy to interpret. When your GM says things like "fans don't pay to watch defense" and "we want to be an up-tempo team, one that's exciting to watch"; when he hires a coach 'known' for his offense but who has a sub-.500 regular season and post-season record to run a team that plays horrible defense; when he spends all the team's money on and gives the keys to the team to (1) an aged power forward who hasn't seen an all-star game in three years and (2) an athletic but uncharsmatic and skills-challenged street-baller who has NEVER been in an all-star game......well, fans, then you know your ship is being steered by a (poor) business-man, not a (smart) basketball man. It'll be another year of occasionally watching, laughing, then scratching my head. One more year of not buying tickets. Good luck marketing this team and selling tickets and merchandise, Ed. Good luck!— Hobbes
- I agree bv....I just don't wanna see Sam in a Sixer uniform anymore. I never really liked him & that last game was the last draw. He tried to kiss Turkuglou!!!!! No room on my team for any of that. I'd trade him for Greg Grant & Brian Oliver if they were still around.— XmarksTheSpot
- E. Jordan could be the guy, or he could be another in a long line of coaches that couldn't maximze the "talent" on the roster. His biggest challenge will be getting the best 5 guys on the court in their natural positions. Can he do it with Thad, Iggy and EB? BTW, the NBA seems to be doing OK, not really "circling the drain" http://www.pressreleasepoint.com/tnt-scores-most-watched-nba-playoffs-turner039s-25year-history-televising-nba— borderline stiff
way to go sixers....lets get it started...time to start is now... i have faith in ed....lets see what this team does...second round definitely....eb and iggy and thad....those are our guys....lets roll— teenwolf- X - a breath a fresh air and perspective. the only silver lining with sammy on the roster in 2 seasons, 2010-11. his 13M expiring contract turns into a huge trading chip, especially with half the teams facing dire fiscal situations. other bright spots: another year for thad and speights, HOPEFULLY elton healthy, full summer of workouts for iggy (he was dormant last summer to avoid injury prior to his big deal), jason smith with his frame and 15 footer, and maybe a young guard with some range.— bv437
- To the rest of the sixer faithful, this is the first-step in correcting the problems from last season & hopefully we wont suffer any injuries. Pray Sam is not on the roster...and Willie what you doin at the press conference????? You better be gone too, never seen an NBA player play with his head down as much as Willie Green (a gaurd at that playing with his head down til he decides if he wants to score or pass). We gonna be alright y'all.— XmarksTheSpot
- i love all the people that say how boring the sixers are and nobody cares are the same ones who take the time to deliberately click on a link for a sixers article, read the article, and then comment on the article. morons. anyway, question: WHO is out there to coach this team? scroll through the coaching ranks. aside from phil jackson and jerry sloan and maybe even larry brown, the league is filled with re-treads and no-name assistants who are given a shot. the last year alone has seen more than a 3rd of the coaches in the league fired.— bv437
- I'll tell you a tell-tale sign of a true hater. Why would you view an article and comment on a sport you don't like?????????? You'll never see me commenting on Ovechkin or Crosby. C'mon haters. If you don't like the sport, why read an article about it. Haters.— XmarksTheSpot
- It really disturbs me to be negative at this juncture, but after climbing on the wagon with the signing of Brand and the subsequent addition of various role players, only to see the rotten meltdown WITH those players.....it seems only reasonable. Please don'[t tell me that with the addition of a supposedly good-for-this-team coach we will advance to the second round of the playoffs. I think after spending all season getting the entire roster (whoeverthehell THEY might be!)to learn a new offense, they'll be lucky to even MAKE the playoffs. Good Luck Fast Eddy (really...I mean that) but I think I'll start watching old movies again instead of the sixers.— TBear
Comment removed.- I like Eddie Jordan Don't care about his record with the Wizards because well they are the Wizards!!!!— cusoraider
- Don't think this was a good hire. Jordan's Wizards team were horrible defensively. I'd rather see the Sixers try an assistant from a winning organization than hire this retread.— DMC5
- KMG: Speights is officialy a power forward, so he's behind Brand. Young needs to be on the floor but can't because the Iguodala of playing him out of position failed. Between the two, I'd rather keep Young but it appears the monster contract Iguodala signed makes him untradeable before the 2010 free agent sweepstakes. Same with Brand, except his market value has dropped given he's had two serious injuries back to back.— psv
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- At least when Doug Moe got hired, I had a good feeling. I have a straight out bad feeling about this one.— brianveitz
- Being a big sixers fan I'm not happy or surprised that Jordan is the new coach. His team was 1-10 last year when he was fired, & the man gets another job & Ed S. is trying to sell him as the perfect fit??! Come on Ed - his record is not very impressive - the Wizards had 3 All Stars & couldn't get out of the first round! Great hire.........— ChangeISNeeded
- Give the guy a chance.. I don't think it can get worse..— gallen024
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- YAAAAWWNNNN!!! Wake me when the Sixers get some players that can help this team win.— smw1021
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- Wow!!!!! I hope some of these posts are intended to be jokes. Brand to have an MVP caliber season? That would be his first. Brand to play center (at 6"8")? Call me a cynic, but when Brand actually plays, the team's he has played for have a sub .400 winning percentage over the course of his career. Professional sports is about talent. Stan Van Gundy has a team in the Finals! SpongeBobSquarePants could be the coach and it wouldn't matter.— bailey1
- What the hell has Jason Smith ever done? He was just ok at best during his rookie year. Then last year, the writers (i.e. PJas), made it out like we were losing a 15 points, 10 rebound guy. If we are banking on Smith to be a key part, we are in worse shape than any of us believe.— wingslax35
- GO PHILLIES— Phillies08
- Why was Willie Green at the presser? Nice kid and all but now that Greg Lewis is gone, he moves to top of the list as "next player that needs to be on the next bus out of town". Can't believe B. King was going to give him 20 million + just before Willie tore his knee up. Don't feel too bad for Willie, B. King hooked him up w/a nice little 11 million + until 2011.— DennyP
- Dalembert has 2 more years mrswag. You should stop doing whatever you are doing. Real fans know this team is garbage. Wake up already. I love being the fan that watches all 82 games every season only to see one round and done— stefanskimakesmesick
- This guys is really, really ugly looking.— EnoughAlready
- 5isaKing...who cares about you?— stefanskimakesmesick
He is one creepy looking brutha- All the negative fraud fans just pack up and move, u obviously are not paying attention to the sixers anyway. If you were you would know Dalembert's contract expires soon as well as willie green's. Stop listening to what 610 is saying and get off your butts and go to a game before u criticize what stefanski is trying to build in south philly. We were the freaking 6th seed in the playoffs. You guys are still in love with Mo Cheeks becuz of what he did in 83. Nice Job Mo, ok now get me a coach who can get some spacing on the floor and hold players accountable on the floor.Hopefully thats Eddie Jordan give the guy a fair shot, a REAL fan would— mrswag
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- this stinks ...— scrap32
- Does Jordan know how dissapointed the fans are that he has become the new coach. What is the business plan for the Sixers organization? I just don't get how this team is so poorly run. I really just do not know what to say about this franchise anymore. They have left me speechless, again, and again, and again.— Gmilst1
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- Hey everybody stand up and cheer. It's the team of the year. 10, 9, 8, 76ers.— Drew777
- was anyone there besides you, phil?— rizbik
- Lousy hire. Sad sad sad that the Sixers are stuck in this cycle of mediocrity. They're not bad enough to get into the lottery and get a top three pick to get another franchise player, and they're not good enough to compete for a title. Getting Elton Brand was a bad fit for this team. They need to clean house and start over.— PhillyFanInLA
- I think there is talent here, but a lot of the talent (Iguodala, Speights, Young) plays the same position. Trade one of them for a pure shooting guard and do whatever it takes to get rid of Dalembert. Williams can play point, the #1 pick can back him up. Put Brand at Center. Green, Evans, Smith? All spare pieces, if they play more than 10 min a night on a regular basis something is wrong.— KMG
- No one cares about this. Lead the sports with something more interesting like the Phillies Double A team.— pgcd3
- The Princeton offense will not work in Philly - the ball handling skills simply aren't there. We don't have a roster with that kind of skill. Outside of Miller, Brand and Young, how is this going to work? You need all five players on the same page running this offense, otherwise it simply does. not. work. Does Stefanski have a plan for getting rid of Green and Dalembert and suddenly coming up with money outside of the exceptions they have? Because next year is going to be horrible otherwise.— psv
- I think Eddie is a great hire... Go Sixers!!! Get ready for the domination next year, Elton Brand is going to come back ready to be an MVP caliber player..— gallen024
- How many games does Elton play this season? I'm setting the O/U at 40. Way to spend $$ correctly ED. This team is so strapped with bad contracts it's going to be .500 teams for many many years— stefanskimakesmesick
- Has anyone noticed big bad Eddie Jordan's record with the Wizards teams that had way more talent than the 76ers? How about the great record that got him fired? Does anyone truly believe this team will ever be a contender with the roster and now this coach? Do we tune in each season and hope for sliding into the playoffs? Well...that's what it's become. They will be convinced this garbage will be able to make a shot this season and will make MINIMAL changes this summer. Ed...thanks for nothing— stefanskimakesmesick
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About this blog
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.
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