Tony DiLeo has decided to go back to his front office job, leaving the Sixers without a Head Coach. So, whose it gonna’ to be?
The Sixers haven’t exactly had success picking head men recently, how will they go about it this time around? A point that has to be made is that this will technically be Ed Stefanski’s first Head Coach. So, his job is to find the right head man for this team, something Billy King couldn’t do.
It may seem easy in hindsight but there is no exact science to hiring the perfect Head Coach. A lot of it has to do with timing, and a lot of it has to do with luck.
So who would be the perfect fit for the Sixers? Below I’ve taken a look at some candidates:
Tom Thibodeau
Thibodeau has 19 years of NBA coaching experience, and is currently an associate assistant in Boston with the Celtics. Thibodeau is known as a strong defensive coach, teams under his defensive leadership have finished in the top 10 in defense 15 times throughout his coaching career. He has been a Sixer, he was an assistant under John Lucas during the 1994-95 season.
Eddie Jordan
Jordan last worked in the NBA as Head Coach of the Washington Wizards where he had some success, becoming the 3rd winningest coach in Wizards history. In 2008 the Wizards started off 1-10 and Jordan took the fall. As a whole, Jordan has 12 years of Head Coaching/Assistant Coaching experience.
Doug Collins
Another former Wizards coach, Collins hasn’t coached since 2003.
Besides his playing career Collins is well known as being coach of the Bulls when the Michael Jordan era started. Collins however, never reaped the benefits, meaning zero rings, he was replaced by Phil Jackson in 1990. Collins has been serving as an NBA analyst since his last coaching job. He was also a former no. 1 pick of the 76ers.
Avery Johnson
Avery Johnson is most well known for his playing career, however he made a name for himself coaching the Dallas Mavericks. After reaching the Conference and NBA Finals in his first two seasons, early exits his last two seasons did him in. Most people said Avery did a good job relating to the players since there wasn’t a large age gap and it hadn’t been that long since Johnson had played. In the end though it seemed as if his players were taking advantage of him.
Chris Ford
Chris Ford is another guy who made a name for himself on the court, but has really established himself as a Basketball man off it as well. Ford has experience as the head man of the 76ers, he was Interim Head Coach after Randy Ayers was fired during the 2004 season. For the 2005 season Jim O’Brien was brought in and Ford returned to his front office duties. Ford was put in a bad position coaching a Sixer team that had zero identity and just had nothing going for them.
As I said before picking a Head Coach isn’t always easy. Reading about some of the candidates above may not send you into excited frenzy but some are very qualified.
I have my favorites, and I have guys including some listed above that I absolutely do not want to be Head Coach of the Sixers.
A lot of people fall into the Avery Johnson and Eddie Jordan trap. There is nothing like recent success to light a fire under people. However, Johnson and Jordan both coached completely different squads. Neither seem like a good fit to me.
However, a guy like Doug Collins seems like a good pick to me. He hasn’t coached in a while, but sometimes seeing the game from the outside can really help. He’s had to take a completely unbiased look at the entire NBA for the last six seasons. He’s seen a lot of teams and a lot of games. And with his past experience I think he’d be a great choice. Somebody with some pedigree, someone players can respect but won’t take advantage of.
The Sixers don’t need another Randy Ayers, and they certainly don’t need another Jim O’Brien. Here’s hoping Ed Stefanski makes the right choice, and brings in Doug Collins as Head Coach.
That’s my pick, let me know what you think!
-Mike Santa Barbara
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