The NBA coaching carousel

By Bill Ingram Sports Central Columnist

It's hard to say which recent firing in the NBA is the most surprising, though the race is between two coaches. Is it Paul Silas, who somehow managed to carry his injury-depleted New Orleans into the playoffs, or is it Rick Carlisle, who got his Detroit Pistons all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals? Silas was fired because team officials expected more from the Hornets, and cared little for the injury excuse. It seems absurd to fire Silas under those circumstances, but the Carlisle situation was a little more complicated.

In spite of his success, Carlisle is said to have lost the confidence of the players. Apparently, a number of players mentioned this in their exit interviews with team president Joe Dumars, who responded quickly and succinctly when Larry Brown suddenly became available. Brown was all but signed in Houston when he got the call from Dumars, and he hopped a plane and got that deal done basically by phone while in the air.

Paul Silas wasted little time finding a new home. He interviewed with the Rockets, but Rockets owner Les Alexander really wanted Brown, so Silas went and signed with the Cavs. By the time Alexander and the Rockets learned that Brown was suddenly out of the picture, Silas was already in contract negotiations with the Cavs, who were more interested in Jeff Van Gundy until the TNT analyst told them exactly how much money and power he would require. Van Gundy's demands are said to be so high that no team will take him away from his TV analyst job.

Meanwhile, the availability of Carlisle has the Blazers thinking about letting Mo Cheeks take a walk back to the Sixers after all. They had formerly turned down a request on the part of the Sixers to discuss their suddenly open coaching job. Carlisle was an assistant coach with the Blazers and the team has some interest in bringing in a new coach to facilitate the roster turnover they are anticipating.

With Silas in Cleveland, Carlisle in Portland, Cheeks in Philly, Brown in Detroit ... the teams left looking are Houston and New Orleans. Of the two, as a head coach looking for a job, I'm definitely heading to the city of space exploration, rodeo cowboys, outstanding Mexican food, and 7-5 Chinese centers.

The Rockets are looking for someone to lead the team into the next era, the Yao Ming Era. The Steve Francis Era was short-lived, and characterized with selfishness and a distinct lack of leadership. Rockets owner Les Alexander is looking for someone who can bring some discipline -- and some low-post passes -- to his promising young lineup. The current favorite for this job is former Rocket Mike Dunleavy, but the word out of Houston is that they may also have some interest in Orlando coach Doc Rivers.

The coaching carousel is only getting started, and if the runner-up for the Eastern Conference Championship can fire their head coach, I guess anyone can. The only coaches who are really secure in the jobs would seem to be Gregg Popovich and Byron Scott.

Article courtesy of Sports Central.