http://www.nola.com/hornets/t-p/index.ssf?/base/sports-1/1083837783290580.xml Bass' retirement is first move of a triple play Thursday, May 06, 2004 Peter Finney The Hornets' press conference to announce the retirement of Bob Bass as general manager should be the first of three called by the team in the coming weeks. The next one will be to announce Bass' successor. Soon after, they'll call a third to announce Tim Floyd's replacement as coach of the city's NBA team. At least, that's the way I see it. I'll be shocked if owner George Shinn and the man he selects to run the basketball operation do not come to a meeting of minds and make a coaching change. And if this is how it all comes to pass, let me repeat what I said a month ago: If I were Tim Floyd, I'd almost want to be fired, freed to coach a different sport -- college basketball. Funny how things worked out. The Hornets, on balance, battled through more injuries than they did a year ago under Paul Silas and still went one game further -- the seventh game of a first-round playoff series -- than they did a year ago. But this was overshadowed by events, in and out of Floyd's control, beginning with the cancerous presence and extended absence of Jamal Mashburn. The manner in which Mashburn quit on his teammates, how he was coddled by the general manager as he rehabbed from a minor injury in Miami, created a poisonous atmosphere that festered until the All-Star forward returned after missing the first 44 games. When he did return, for all of 19 games of an 82-game season, Floyd learned what Silas had faced through much of his stint as head coach of the Hornets: Mashburn and Baron Davis, the Dynamic Duo of an otherwise ordinary NBA team, could not coexist on the basketball court. Of course, getting guys with fat wallets to coexist is the job of every NBA head coach. With Mashburn virtually a no-show, with Davis an offensive force who marches to his own drummer, Floyd struck the pose of an overwhelmed salesman, trying to put out one fire after another, searching for the right matchups, looking to make the right substitutions. It's this simple. When the head coach is selling and the players aren't buying, it's always the head coach's fault. When David Wesley, who won a playoff game with some deadly outside shooting, goes 1-for-13 in an 85-77 Game 7 loss to Miami, it's more the head coach's fault than Wesley's. That's a fact of life in the NBA. At the moment, Phil Jackson is facing a fact of life with his triangle offense and guard Gary Payton. Payton doesn't like it, says it limits what he can do. Lakers assistant Tex Winter, architect of the triangle, insists the opportunities are there for Payton -- that is, provided Payton does what he's supposed to do. When Winter was told Payton didn't like the triangle as much as the offense he ran during his long tour of duty in Seattle, Winter snapped: "How many championships did Seattle win?" For the Hornets, who are moving to the Western Conference next season, it will only get tougher. Bob Bass allowed the team to age, and whoever steps in as general manager will be facing some critical decisions. This especially applies to the future of Mashburn. While it's difficult to imagine him returning and sharing a basketball with Baron Davis, Mashburn did nothing to help his trade value when he trashed Hornets management, this after management did nothing but pamper an $8 million player. All Mashburn did was reveal himself as a selfish man with his own agenda. If Tim Floyd walks the plank, as I expect, at least he'll exit as someone who made his share of coaching mistakes while giving it his best shot. He didn't quit. . . . . . . . Peter Finney can be reached at [email protected] or (504) 826-3802. --

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