Good call, Jeff. Let’s see, coach the Rockets or the Wizards. One of them has a good nucleus, a history of success, a decent chance of being competetive next year. The other has no hope, no superstar, no will, an owner older than Moses and an organization in turmoil who’s chewed up and spit out four coaches in the last five seasons. I’m sure that was a hard decision to make.
I like Jeff Van Gundy. He was great as the Knicks coach. He, Mike Fratello and Marv Albert were a good TV crew for TNT this year. He’ll be a great coach for the Rockets. Would he have been successful with the Wizards? Maybe, but he has a lot more tools in Houston. He has a team that looked good at times last year, and just needs a little maturity. The Wizards have several holes, players who gave up on their coach last year, and the shadow of Michael Jordan looming over them. Maybe now that Jordan’s gone, things will be better for the Wizards, but I doubt it.
Why am I writing about this? I don’t even know. I don’t like the Wizards. I’ve still not given up my allegience to my two west coast teams (Utah and Phoenix, although now that Malone’s probably gone and Stockton’s retired, not sure what’s keeping me rooting for Utah other than Mr. Sloan). DC will always be the Redskins’ town anyway, unless the Wizards are really good, and who can honestly say they see that coming?