On Monday, Suns assistant Dan Majerle interviewed to be the Sixers next head coach. Here's what he said afterwards:
They're talented," Majerle told The Arizona Republic. "They've got a lot of similarities to the way we're set up. I think they're looking to play fast, which is probably one of the reasons they talked to me. With that personnel, they probably should play fast."
On where he stands with the team ...
"I have no idea," Majerle said. "I know they're interviewing a lot of people. I think they're meeting with as many people as they can and I was just glad to be able to go through the process. It's just one step at a time and we'll see."
Link: The Arizona Republic
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In other news, another candidate who's interviewed for the job might be emerging as the favorite.
In the 10-plus days since meeting with Doug Collins about the team's coaching vacancy, 76ers president and general manager Ed Stefanski has contacted Collins' camp every other day, according to multiple sources close to the situation.
One source said the two parties have been in "continued communication," while another source labeled Stefanski's communication with Collins as "very good."
After interviewing Collins, Johnson, Mitchell, Laimbeer, Majerle, and Williams, the Sixers may be ready to narrow it down.
According to a third source close to the situation, Stefanski had been planning to schedule an interview with Utah Jazz assistant coach Tyrone Corbin but has since backed off, possibly indicating that the Sixers' next head coach will come from the aforementioned list of already-interviewed candidates.
Andre Iguodala weighs in ...
According to multiple sources, Sixers swingman Andre Iguodala would be in favor of Collins' hiring.
Link: The Philadelphia Inquirer
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My take:
There's two things I don't like about these reports. 1. I don't like Doug Collins. I ranked him 8th on my coaching big board, and wrote this about him when his name first surfaced.
Collins is my least favorite candidate. He had the privilege of coaching Michael Jordan 5 of his 8 years in the NBA, yet never made a Finals appearance. His 15-23 playoff record is wildly unimpressive. He's 58 years old. He's been out of the league for 7 years. His teams were never spectacular at anything. His offense ranked in the top 8 only once, and his defense ranked in the top 8 twice. I see absolutely nothing good that can come from signing Doug Collins. Plus, he fails in the most important category -- he's boring behind the mic.
A couple things I want to add: Based on his analysis on TNT he seems to know the game. He has a reputation of being a disciplinarian, and he'd bring some much-needed accountability and discipline to the Sixers. Fine. The problems I have with Collins are: he's old, he's been out of the game for almost a decade, he won't bring a fresh coaching philosophy to the table, and his teams haven't been spectacular in either offense or defense during his coaching career. To me, hiring Collins would be taking one step forward and two steps back. He might get the Sixers a few more wins in the short-term and bring them a little closer to mediocrity, but that's not the goal. The goal is to build something -- for the future -- and I don't hink Collins accomplishes that.
2. I don't like the implication that the current candidates will be the only candidates. No Budenholzer, no Casey, no Thibodeau ... the top 3 coaches on my board.
(HT: The Legend)