http://www.nola.com/hornets/t-p/index.ssf?/base/sports-1/1084008613296550.xml Hornets fire Floyd after loss Shinn vows to bring in top-flight coach Saturday, May 08, 2004 By Jimmy Smith Staff writer Tim Floyd, whose hiring in June was the object of league skepticism and some ridicule in light of his 49-190 NBA career coaching record, was fired as coach of the New Orleans Hornets on Friday, three days after the team was eliminated in the first round of the playoffs. Floyd had two years remaining on his contract, which called for an additional $3.5 million in total compensation, a figure for which the Hornets are responsible. Hornets owner George Shinn said at a news conference Friday at the New Orleans Arena that he would spend whatever it takes to bring in a proven NBA coach who could help the Hornets compete when the team moves into the more rugged Western Conference next season. "This is very unfortunate," Shinn said, reading from a prepared statement before taking questions. "I want to thank Tim Floyd for his hard work. But we're in a bottom-line business. And it's our responsibility to create the opportunity for our team to succeed. "We brought a coach in here who we thought could help us make a run to the next level. And we were not successful. We will go back and do what we can to get the right coach to help take us to that next level. I want to express to our fans our goal remains the same. That is to work toward putting the best possible team on the court and become a contender. . . . Our basketball staff will begin a coaching search immediately and I'm certain we will find the best possible coach to lead our team." Floyd, who has not returned telephone calls the past two days, could not be reached for comment. A Hornets spokesman said Floyd was given the news during a meeting with Shinn and Bob Bass, the team's executive vice president of basketball operations and general manager, at the Alario Center on Friday morning. Assistant coaches Alvin Gentry, Jeff Bower, Jan van Breda Kolff and Kenny Gattison were unaffected by Friday's firing. Gentry, who has been a head coach in the National Basketball Association with the Detroit Pistons and Los Angeles Clippers, said earlier this week he would not be interested in the Hornets' head coaching position if Floyd was fired. "Hell no," Gentry said. There are several former high-profile NBA coaches who are unemployed and possible candidates for the Hornets job. They include former New Jersey Nets coach Byron Scott, fired in a player revolt; ex-Cleveland and Atlanta coach Mike Fratello, who was interviewed for the Hornets vacancy in May 2003; and ex-Seattle and Milwaukee coach George Karl, with whom Hornets guard Baron Davis feuded during last year's unsuccessful World Basketball Championships. Dallas Mavericks coach Don Nelson is rumored to be in jeopardy of losing his job after his team's first-round elimination, and there are reports that L.A. Lakers coach Phil Jackson could leave after the playoffs because he has not received a contract extension. His team trails in the Western Conference semifinals, 0-2, to the defending champion San Antonio Spurs. Former Hornets assistant coach Brian Hill, a finalist in last year's coaching search and former head coach of the Orlando Magic, could be a candidate. He is an assistant coach for the Nets and cannot be contacted until New Jersey is eliminated from postseason play. Earlier this week, Bass announced his retirement effective June 30. That means Shinn must identify and hire individuals to fill the two most important positions in his franchise. Which hire would come first Shinn could not say. "That's a good question, but to be very candid, I don't really know the answer to it," Shinn said. "It depends on who's out there and who's available. As a result of this announcement, we should be hearing from other candidates, someone who hasn't coached in a while that we could take a look at. "If that happens, I've seen mistakes made in the past where you wait too long to interview 20 people and the one you want to hire gets away. Obviously it makes more sense to find Bob's replacement first and let that person hire the coach." The current going rate for an NBA head coach is between $3 million and $4 million per season. Floyd earned $1.3 million this year. Last year, the Hornets decided not to extend Paul Silas' contract because the team couldn't advance past the Eastern Conference semifinals during his tenure and because he asked for more than $4 million annually. "I'm totally open," Shinn said. "Our goal is to get better. And if it takes extra money to get better, we'll clearly do that. We're going to do what we have to do to get better. If we do that, it'll help sell tickets. And that's another goal we want to accomplish. To do that, we have to invest money. And we're willing to do that." Sources close to the team indicated Shinn was displeased with the Hornets' finish this year. After a 17-7 start, the club was beset by injuries, player dissatisfaction because the team allowed Jamal Mashburn to rehabilitate at his Miami home after arthroscopic knee surgery, and growing speculation that players had no confidence in Floyd or his system. The Hornets compiled a 24-34 record for the rest of the season on the way to a 41-41 regular season record and then were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by the Miami Heat, 4-3. There also were concerns, sources said, that Floyd concentrated too much on in-game strategy at the expense of substitution patterns. But Shinn refused to criticize the job Floyd had done this season. "Most of you guys have followed our games," Shinn said. "You know what went wrong as much as we do. We're not going to stand up here and tear somebody down. That's not what we're about." . . . . . . . Jimmy Smith can be reached at [email protected] or (504) 826-3814. --

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