[TimesPicayune] No doubt Scott the right coach for the job
http://www.nola.com/hornets/t-p/index.ssf?/base/sports-1/1085813811223890.xml
No doubt Scott the right coach for the job
Saturday, May 29, 2004
John DeShazier
Last year, the Hornets went searching for a coach. This year,
the Hornets went searching for the right coach.
And that major adjustment might provide the difference between
establishing some semblance of stability on the sideline rather
than suffer continued barbs over coaching decisions.
Byron Scott, introduced on Friday as the Hornets' head coach, is
the third man to hold the job since the franchise relocated to
New Orleans. And by even the most minimal of standards, three
coaches in three seasons isn't a good thing.
So as much as the Hornets need Scott to be the right coach now,
they also need him to be the right coach later, so that the
merry-go-round will cease. They need him to be as much a part of
the foundation as a player, to be as assertive and lucid as he was
during his introduction as Hornets coach, confident that whatever
play he makes will be backed.
"It's going to be a building process (as the Hornets move from the
Eastern Conference to the Western Conference)," majority owner George
Shinn said. "This coach should be here, to help us not just (the
upcoming year) but the coming years.
"We're going to step up and do what the hell we've got to do to get
it done."
Scott has done it before, and that's among the most comforting thing
that can be said of him. It gives you reason to believe he can provide
stability to a position that has been a one-and-done deal for his
predecessors during the Hornets' tenure in New Orleans.
He has the resume, credibility and contract ($10 million for three
years, with a team option for a fourth season).
But just as much or more, he has the full support of management.
The understanding is clear that Scott isn't going anywhere soon, that
he'll have input on determining which players stay and go, that the
chain of command flows upward through him to the general manager, not
downward through the general manager to him. And that's the kind of
clarity that can be attained when a franchise hires a coach who has
jewelry (three championship rings as a Lakers player) and two NBA
Finals appearances to his credit as a coach, and gives him the kind of
deal that suggests players will go before he will.
"(The financial and length of contract commitment) was important,
especially in this day and age," said Scott, who was fired after leading
the Nets to their most prosperous NBA seasons. "But it wouldn't have
mattered to me if it was a two-year deal. Players are not going to run
over me."
Scott said that he and players will talk, debate and if it comes to it,
finally just agree to disagree. But if a common ground can't be reached
-- and he assures that one will be reached -- there seems to be no doubt
Scott will have the final word.
"It was very important for us to get a guy who has a name in this league,
who commands respect from officials, from the league, from the players,"
All-Star guard Baron Davis said. "It does stabilize things, gives us a
good, solid foundation. We're at the point where it's time to start
knuckling down, bringing some excitement to this place."
Certainly, there's reason to be optimistic, though everyone in the
organization realizes and openly admits that next season will be
difficult, and maybe one or two seasons beyond that. The Hornets have
pieces, but not a completed puzzle, and pieces aren't going to get it
done in the West.
But they do have good pieces. And they have a new and better direction,
the assumption being Scott had a little something to do with New Jersey
reaching the NBA Finals for the first time in franchise history.
And they appear to have stability in the first chair, in the form of a
coach who isn't going anywhere.
Check that -- not "a coach."
The right coach.
. . . . . . .
John DeShazier can be reached at jdeshazier@timespicayune.com
or (504) 826-3410.
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