Alvin Gentry will join the Hornets' coaching staff today, becoming the fourth and final assistant under head coach Tim Floyd.
Gentry will be introduced at a 10 a.m. press conference at the Alario Center, sources said.
Gentry, 48, has been an NBA head coach for parts or all of seven seasons, compiling an overall record of 177-226 with the Miami Heat, Detroit Pistons and Los Angeles Clippers. His most recent stint was with the Clippers and ended March 3, when he was fired as the Clippers struggled to a 19-39 record amid expectations that the young, talented team might challenge for a playoff berth in the Western Conference.
Gentry's first head coaching job was with the Heat, when he replaced Kevin Loughery during the 1994-95 season and posted a 15-21 record. Next was a three-year stretch with the Pistons; he replaced Doug Collins and led Detroit to a 16-21 record in 1997-98, went to the playoffs after a 29-21 record in the lockout-shortened season of 1998-99 and was fired after 58 games and a 28-30 record the next season.
The Clippers selected him as head coach before the 2000-01 season and won 31 and 39 games before floundering this past season. Gentry was replaced by Dennis Johnson.
Via New Orleans Times-Picayune
New Orleans Hornets, Los Angeles Clippers, Miami Heat, Detroit Pistons
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When the moment finally came Thursday night, the crowded room was quiet and the man of the hour was nowhere to be seen.
ESPN's coverage of the NBA draft had gone to commercial with the New Orleans Hornets on the clock for their second-round selection. When the network returned from the station break at about 10 p.m., the crawler at the bottom of the screen silently told everyone at Trademarc's Sports Grill in west Mobile what they had been waiting to hear.
James Lang is now a professional basketball player.
The Hornets made Lang, a 6-foot-9, 305-pound center who played at Shaw High School before transferring to Birmingham's Central Park Christian two years ago, the 48th pick of the draft and completed his jump from high school to the NBA.
As it turns out, it's a jump that will take only two hours by car.
Via Mobile Register
New Orleans Hornets, NBA Draft
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All the Hornets want us to read into the selection of David West is that they couldn't have gotten a better player, regardless of position, with the 18th pick in the first round of the NBA draft.
So we'll indulge them and hope that West, the first three-time Atlantic 10 Conference Player of the Year, can wedge his way into the playing rotation, even if/when the team re-signs free-agent forwards P.J. Brown and Jerome Moiso. And that he's a better fit for them than will be any of the players drafted after him, lest the young man be doomed to a career of comparison.
If nothing else, New Orleans on Thursday night took the most productive player remaining on the board, a 22-year-old college senior that, though ancient by NBA draft standards, carries the plus of requiring a minimal adjustment period.
"It pays off to stay in school for all years," West said. "I learned some things, and so I'm ready to play and I feel ready to play."
"I don't think there's any question that a senior is going to be more ready to play than an underclassman," said Bob Bass, the Hornets' executive vice president of basketball operations and general manager.
Via Times-Picayune
New Orleans Hornets, NBA Draft
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Hornets Jun 2003 Archive
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Morning Journal | Jun 27, 2003
The hot rumor flying around the league yesterday was that the Cavaliers were going to sign power forward P.
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Cincinnati Enquirer | Jun 27, 2003
David West remained patient Thursday night, as NBA Commissioner David Stern announced the 13 lottery picks and four more before he walked to the podium at The Theater at Madison Square Garden to disclose the New Orleans Hornets' choice.
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New Orleans Times-Picayune | Jun 26, 2003
Basketball coaches Kenny Gattison and Blaine Taylor were pitted against each other in 2001 as candidates for the Old Dominion job.
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New Orleans Times-Picayune | Jun 26, 2003
Bob Bass strode to the podium for one last pre-draft gathering with the media Wednesday looking dapper in a multi-colored, open-collared sports shirt that seemed timely and appropriate.
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New Orleans Times-Picayune | Jun 26, 2003
The hoopla surrounds the new, and there's nothing wrong with that.
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New Orleans Times-Picayune | Jun 25, 2003
The New Orleans Hornets have been preparing for the NBA draft since their season came to an end in early May.
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New Orleans Times-Picayune | Jun 25, 2003
The Hornets are bringing back a piece of their past to join the team as an assistant coach.
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New Orleans Times-Picayune | Jun 23, 2003
A van Breda Kolff is returning to professional basketball in New Orleans.
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Times-Picayune | Jun 20, 2003
The Hornets today will name former general manager Jeff Bower as assistant coach at a news conference following the pre-draft workout at the Alario Center, a source close to the negotiations told The Times-Picayune on Thursday.
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Times-Picayune | Jun 17, 2003
After his 14th NBA pre-draft workout Monday morning, former Mississippi State standout Mario Austin seemed ready for the draft to finally be behind him.
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New Orleans Times-Picayune Columnist Jim Derry | Jun 16, 2003
It was February 1992, I was covering men's basketball at UNO for the first time, and I wasn't quite sure how to ask the coach how the Privateers' game against Arkansas State slipped away.
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New Orleans Times-Picayune | Jun 16, 2003
It has been enlightening during the past week to talk with observers of the NBA and read what they have written about the Hornets hiring Tim Floyd as their new coach.
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Cleveland Plain Dealer | Jun 15, 2003
Stephen Silas has heard the whispers and is aware of the criticisms associated with his position.
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New Orleans Times-Picayune | Jun 14, 2003
The Hornets will not field a team in next month's Southern California Summer Pro League.
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Houston Chronicle | Jun 14, 2003
The Rockets took a small step toward adding former New York Knicks star Patrick Ewing to their new coaching staff Friday, receiving permission from the Washington Wizards to talk to their assistant coach.
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New Orleans Times-Picayune | Jun 13, 2003
A month ago, Allan Bristow was teaching kids to swim.
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Minneapolis Star Tribune Columnist Dan Barreiro | Jun 13, 2003
While hungry candidates continue to wait for their first shot at being an NBA head coach, Tim Floyd has just been given his second.
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Times-Picayune | Jun 12, 2003
On his third day on the job Wednesday, Coach Tim Floyd watched four draft prospects go through a workout designed by the Hornets at the Alario Center.
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Denver Post | Jun 12, 2003
The best basketball players in the world are coming to Colorado.
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New York Post | Jun 11, 2003
Tamper, tamper.
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Times-Picayune | Jun 11, 2003
Tim Floyd, hired Monday as the Hornets' coach, has not disclosed whom he plans to pursue as assistants, but former Cleveland Cavaliers coach John Lucas expressed an interest in the job Tuesday.
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Times-Picayune | Jun 10, 2003
Hornets All-Star forward Jamal Mashburn was lounging in the Hawaiian sun Monday afternoon when he found out the identity of his next immediate supervisor.
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Times-Picayune | Jun 10, 2003
Steve Kerr had left the Windy City, just as most of the rest of the players from the Chicago Bulls' championship teams had done, before Tim Floyd paced his first hundred miles along the United Center sideline.
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Times-Picayune | Jun 10, 2003
When Tim Floyd was asked if he believed in "serendipity" -- finding something by accident -- there was a long pause, a little soul searching, thoughts of one door closing, another opening, then, finally, an answer.
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New York Post | Jun 10, 2003
DID you hear New Jersey is offering to sign and trade Jason Kidd for Tony Parker?" I asked Tim Duncan while walking him to the team bus following Game 3 of The NBA Finals whose highlight, so far, is Dikembe Mutombo turning 90 before the Nets did.
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Chicago Tribune | Jun 10, 2003
Close to five years ago, following a public courtship that annoyed some and energized others, Jerry Krause hired Tim Floyd to succeed Phil Jackson because he thought Floyd could coach in the NBA.
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Chicago Tribune | Jun 10, 2003
The New Orleans Hornets must feel proud.
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New Orleans Times-Picayune | Jun 9, 2003
Bob Bass, New Orleans Hornets executive vice president of basketball operations/general manager, will recommend to team owners that the club hire former Chicago Bulls and University of New Orleans coach Tim Floyd as its next head coach, sources close to the negotiations said Sunday night.
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Charlotte Observer Columnist Rick Bonnell | Jun 8, 2003
Even though Mike Fratello pulled his name out of the Hornets' coaching search, don't be surprised if he ends up back in the mix in New Orleans.
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Atlanta Journal-Constitution | Jun 8, 2003
Coaching: the sports world's most fickle profession.
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Times-Picayune | Jun 7, 2003
Allan Bristow isn't much of a second guesser.
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New Orleans Times-Picayune | Jun 4, 2003
Nobody attending the NBA's pre-draft camp that started Tuesday will be among the top 20 players chosen later this month, Hornets' executive vice president of basketball operations Bob Bass said.
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Associated Press | Jun 2, 2003
Mike Fratello withdrew from the New Orleans Hornets' coaching search Monday, leaving Brian Hill and Tim Floyd as the only candidates the team has identified.
