[情報] Sources: Bulls lurk as D'Antoni nears Suns split
Suns coach D'Antoni talks to Bulls, moves closer to leaving
By Marc Stein
ESPN.com
Mike D'Antoni's strong interest in coaching the Chicago Bulls emerged last
week. Now it's being officially reciprocated.
NBA front-office sources told ESPN.com on Monday night that Bulls general
manager John Paxson came away from two interviews with D'Antoni in Phoenix
impressed and seriously interested in the coach who wants to leave the Suns
in part because of a tense working relationship with Paxson's good friend
Steve Kerr.
Sources in both organizations openly expect D'Antoni to wind up in Chicago
now -- with one Phoenix source going so far as to describe a deal as
"imminent" -- but it's believed that financial complications account for the
one obstacle that could derail his move from the desert to the Windy City.
ESPN.com reported Friday that Chicago was the most likely landing spot for
D'Antoni if he could convince his owner (Robert Sarver) and team president
(Kerr) that it was time to part company. Yet it remains to be seen how much
the Bulls are willing to spend on a new head man when they still owe an
estimated $6 million to new Milwaukee Bucks coach Scott Skiles, according to
NBA coaching sources.
What's increasingly clear is that D'Antoni will be leaving the Suns as soon
as he can get another job, which would spare Phoenix from paying off the two
years and $8.5 million left on D'Antoni's contract by firing him or trying to
negotiate a buyout. With D'Antoni determined to move on but not inclined to
forfeit the money owed him by quitting, Kerr announced Monday that he was
backing off his earlier vow to deny the coach permission to speak with other
teams. Allowing D'Antoni to land a new job and thus a new salary would offset
whatever the Suns owe him.
"As we have continued to convey, we value Mike D'Antoni as the head coach of
the Phoenix Suns and would like him to continue leading this basketball
team," Kerr said Monday in a statement. "Because he has requested to speak to
other teams about their head coaching vacancies, we have granted him
permission. We will have no further comment until this process further
evolves."
D'Antoni, reached Monday via phone by The Associated Press, likewise declined
to elaborate.
"I really can't say anything," D'Antoni said.
Although he also interviewed with new New York Knicks president Donnie Walsh
within the last 48 hours, New York is not considered a realistic destination
for D'Antoni. Chicago would appear to be a much better match, offering not
only a move to the easier East but also an opportunity to work with several
players who have been linked to Phoenix in trades in recent years (Joakim
Noah, Tyrus Thomas and Thabo Sefalosha) as well a budding star (Luol Deng)
who was drafted with a pick traded by the Suns to Chicago.
If there's a basketball issue working against D'Antoni's candidacy in
Chicago, it's that Paxson -- like his friend Kerr -- is much more
conservative and defensively focused in his approach than D'Antoni.
But the bigger uncertainties are what happens if D'Antoni isn't hired in
Chicago or New York ... and whom Phoenix pursues as a replacement if D'Antoni
does leave this week as widely anticipated.
D'Antoni staying in Phoenix to coach after details of the Suns' in-house
discord have been made so public is difficult to envision. The Suns, though,
clearly don't want to fire D'Antoni, who likewise won't walk away from his
contract without a new gig, raising the possibility of an ominous impasse.
Identifying potential replacements for D'Antoni in Phoenix might be even
tougher.
ESPN.com reported last week that recently dismissed Dallas Mavericks coach
Avery Johnson -- who's still on the Bulls' radar after they interviewed
likely Mavs successor Rick Carlisle and Knicks favorite Mark Jackson -- has
already been ruled out as a possibility for Phoenix.
Kerr, furthermore, strongly dismissed recent suggestions that he would be a
candidate to move to the bench, reiterating his long-held stance that he
wouldn't even consider coaching until his children are out of school. TNT
analyst Doug Collins, who resides in the Phoenix area, is bound to be
mentioned as well, although it's unknown whether Collins can be lured back to
coaching at age 56 after turning down offers from Milwaukee in the summer of
2005 and again last month.
Complicating matters further is the fact that Phoenix would almost certainly
need an experienced coach to inherit a team that is still trying to integrate
Shaquille O'Neal into its high-octane offense.
D'Antoni met with Sarver and Kerr for more than two hours Friday, with Kerr
saying afterward that they all wanted to take a few days to digest what was
discussed. Yet Kerr has also stated repeatedly since the Suns' season ended
last Tuesday in San Antonio that he and Sarver remained hopeful of convincing
D'Antoni that the parties' philosophical differences could be resolved.
But sources close to the situation have maintained for days that D'Antoni
does not want to continue coaching in Phoenix if he must implement the
changes suggested by his bosses, which include increasing the time spent
practicing defense and a more stern approach with younger players such as
Suns forward Amare Stoudemire and guard Leandro Barbosa.
Sources say D'Antoni considers Kerr's strategic suggestions to be meddlesome
and representative of a lack of support from the front office after the Suns
averaged 57 wins over the past four seasons, three of which ended with
playoff losses to the execution masters from San Antonio. But some veteran
players, sources add, have echoed management's request for more emphasis
placed on defensive preparations and seeing the likes of Stoudemire and
Barbosa held more accountable for their mistakes.
Sports Illustrated's Jack McCallum -- who spent the 2005-06 season as a
virtual member of D'Antoni's coaching staff to write the acclaimed book
"Seven Seconds or Less" -- reported last week that D'Antoni considers those
differences to be "irredeemable."
--
※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.cc)
◆ From: 61.230.174.95
推
05/06 17:58, , 1F
05/06 17:58, 1F
ChicagoBulls 近期熱門文章
PTT體育區 即時熱門文章
53
73