FanHouse Brian Hill

Now with four first-round picks to worry about -- and a unique chance to restart the franchise -- new Minnesota Timberwolves boss David Kahn doesn't have enough hours in the day to focus on his first coaching hire.

We'll do it for him.

Despite an earlier report that television analyst Mark Jackson was his top choice, Kahn should be smart enough to know he can do better than that.

Why settle for someone with no coaching experience when there are seasoned guys -- including three who have coached in the NBA Finals -- who will give Kahn a much better chance of succeeding.

Not the Magic, it seems. Despite the fact that Brian Hill was canned in part for failing to develop Orlando's young'uns (J.J. Redick and the departed Darko Milicic) last year, Stan Van Gundy hasn't found much use for them, either. Redick has toiled on the bench all season, averaging 9.1 minutes in 15 games, down from 14.8 in 43 last year.

Might he be traded? GM Otis Smith maintains that Redick is not on the block, but in the same breath claims there's probably a pretty good market for him. From the Orlando Sentinel:

"Actually, his value is pretty high right now," Smith said. "What he can do - shoot - is at a premium in this league. We just happen to have an abundance of shooters. The fact of the matter is, we have players around him who give us something [defense] that he doesn't give us."

He can shoot ... but can't create his own shot. He can play offense ... but can't play defense. Yeah, I bet the phone is ringing off the hook. I'm not saying that Redick is destined to be a complete bust -- he hasn't received the playing time to say that conclusively -- but if were traded this year, it'd likely be for the meager $2 million in cap space he'll bring next summer if his team option isn't exercised.

Now the Magic have fired -- err, "reassigned" -- Brian Hill, who's going to take the reins? The hot name in Florida is definitely Billy Donovan, he of the two-time defending NCAA champion Gators. Donovan has been waiting to get his contract done with the University of Florida, and he's already expressed at least some interest by meeting with the Grizzlies last month.

Donovan is an attractive option on several different levels, not the least of which being leveraging the excitement of his hiring into support for a new arena. Plus, Donovan's coaching style would be a nice change of pace for the Magic, who are hoping to adopt a more up-tempo approach than what Hill was apparently comfortable employing.

That said, I'm guessing Donovan is a pipe-dream. He's got a good situation in Florida, even with the core of his champion squad leaving for the draft. And he'd almost certainly want a great deal of control over personnel decisions, something that current GM Otis Smith might balk at. If he talks with the Magic, I'm guessing it's just because he wants to spur along his negotiations with Florida.

So who is it going to be? Well, if the Magic are looking to pick up their tempo, you have to imagine Jeff Van Gundy is already ruled out, and considering all of the youth on the team (and the potential presence of restricted free agent Darko Milicic), you can probably cross Larry Brown off the list. Obviously, any number of candidates may eventually come out of the woodwork (no one was talking about Sam Vincent or Rick Adelman as potential hires a couple of months ago, and they've each landed jobs), but I'm hoping that this is the team that lands current Suns assistant Marc Iavaroni.

[Update: That didn't take long -- the Orlando Sentinel reports that Hill was relieved of head coaching duties today, though he's expected to stay in the organization in some capacity.]

With any luck, Orlando Magic fans may soon learn the fate of their embattled head coach Brian Hill. Three weeks after team president Bob Vander Weide revealed that Hill's future was in question -- a statement which directly contradicted the vote of confidence given by GM Otis Smith earlier in the season -- the team is expected to finally make a decision, as Vander Weide is expected to meet with Hill sometime this week.

This has been a curious drawn-out drama, as literally nobody in the organization has publicly said anything about Hill's status for the better part of a month. Meanwhile, rumors have swirled around the University of Florida's Billy Donovan, because, you know, paying big bucks for a college coach to jump to the NBA has always worked out so well before.

Personally, I'm guessing the only reason Hill hasn't been canned already is because of some lingering organizational guilt about how his first go-round with Orlando ended up, with Hill losing a power struggle with Penny Hardaway. But to this impartial observer (not to mention this very partial observer), it seems clear that Hill's style of ruling with an iron fist is not what this young team needs.

This past season should have been about developing the young players at any cost, but instead the club barely got to see anything out of first-round pick J.J. Redick and still doesn't have a clue whether Darko Milicic is worth a high-priced extension. Yes, the Magic returned to the playoffs, but looking at things with a big-picture perspective, the season as a whole was probably a step back.

Previously on FanHouse:
NBA Coaching Guillotine: Brian Hill
Is Brian Hill Facing His Second Mutiny?
Brian Hill Tried to Leave Dwight Howard Behind
Magic GM Gives Brian Hill Dreaded Vote of Confidence

After finishing the 2005-06 season on a 16-6 tear, Orlando was an attractive sleeper coming into the year, and when they opened this year with a 13-4, it looked like the Eastern Conference gained another legitimate contender. As everyone learned soon enough, though, Orlando was soon exposed as injuries and inexperience ultimately did them in.

Despite playing sub-.400 ball for most of the season, the Magic snuck into the playoffs, where they had the unfortunate experience of getting swept by the Pistons. The Pistons are as good of a measuring stick as any team in the East given their success the past several years, and when you factor in the regular season Orlando just couldn't compare, going winless in eight meetings. What, if anything, can Orlando take from their brief return to the postseason?

Dwight Howard needs to be involved. Howard is unquestionably Orlando's best player, so it was disheartening to see him so uninvolved in the flow of the offense for most of the series. He scored just 32 points in the first three games ... combined! He was fourth on the team in field goal attempts in those three games, behind Jameer Nelson, Hedo Turkoglu and Grant Hill.

Once the Magic let him loose in Game 4, he exploded for 29 points and 17 boards on 10-15 shooting (9-17 from the line). Yes, he needs to refine his post game, but until that happens he's still a load to handle -- he posted a series-high .548 field-goal percentage.

At least according to ESPN The Magazine, I was spot on with my assessment last month that Brian Hill's act may be wearing thin in Orlando, though Magic GM Otis Smith would have you believe it's not true. From Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel:

Magic General Manager Otis Smith on Wednesday discredited an item in the recent issue of ESPN The Magazine that said players unanimously wanted Coach Brian Hill replaced and that Hill has a poor relationship with star Dwight Howard. "It's not true," Smith said. An item in a notes column next to writer Chris Broussard's "NBA Insider" read, "Despite Magic GM Otis Smith's vow to keep coach Brian Hill, the players are unanimous in wanting him gone. Hill's relationship with star Dwight Howard turned irrevocably sour, a source says, when the coach told his center not to be late for the Monday practice after All-Star Weekend."

It's Smith's job to paint a pretty picture of his team, so I'm going to take his assessment of the situation with a grain of salt. And when you look at what's going on with Orlando lately -- even the usually mild-mannered Grant Hill and steely (that works, right?) Darko Milicic have lashed out -- it's not exactly surprising that there might be dissension in the ranks.

The irony, of course, is that Brian Hill was brought back to Orlando as a way to fix past wrongs, when Penny Hardaway inspired a player mutiny back in 1997. Right about now, I'm thinking maybe it's not the players' fault.

Is it that hard for people? Seems to me like it's spelled just like it sounds. Moving on ... Hedo Turkoglu recently gave an interesting intrerview with HoopsWorld in which he talked about several things, including the apparent leadership void on the Magic:

When you first made it into the NBA I remember your first dinner with Peja Stojakovic and Vlade Divac...Vlade was there in Sacramento to help teach and lead the young players. With all the young players you have now, who is Orlando's Vlade Divac?

"We don't have him. They made a team behind Dwight Howard, and he is a kid. This team was built for him. We of course have Grant Hill, and he sometimes has great games, but we are not consistent. If we can teach that to our kids, we would be ok. Its hard to play without Divac on your team, but its not easy to find something like that. They made a team for Howard and Nelson, and since i have been in this league for a while, I sometimes really want to take that roll (sic) of a leader."

Is Orlando OK with that idea? Are they going in that direction to let you be more of a leader?

"I have been in the league for a while. They are telling me they want me to show up everyday and they want the kids on the team to look up to me and my work ethic. That's what they are saying."

Reading between the lines (which is always completely safe and responsible!), it sounds like Turkoglu is taking a mild shot at Orlando's management. But then again, why does he need permission to take on a leadership role? Either the team respects a guy or they don't, and I imagine that's largely determined by how he carries himself in the locker room and whether he chooses to speak up when needed.

How are we supposed to refer to Orlando's season? They opened the season 13-4 but have since posted an 18-33 season. I mean, after sucking for three they've sucked for two-thirds of the season, it's really too long to say they've "faded," right? Aren't they just a bad team that got lucky in the beginning?

In any case, one theory behind Orlando's "fade" (or "slide" or "regression to the mean" or whatever you want to call it) is that the team got burned out by coach Brian Hill intensity. Whether that's fair or not (the Magic have also dealt with more than their fair share of injuries), now that Orlando has officially slipped out of the playoff picture, there's no denying that Hill's temper is close to a boiling point. After losing to the Kings Saturday night, he had a short fuse Sunday morning. From the Orlando Sentinel:

[W]hen all-star center Dwight Howard was late for the team plane, bound for Miami and Sunday's game against the Heat, Hill had had enough.

He was so upset he basically advised the pilot to put the wheels up and leave Howard behind.

Of course, most of Hill's anger was in frustration and to send a message to Howard.

No way he was going to leave Howard in Orlando and have the Magic face Shaq without him.

According to witnesses, Hill told the pilot, "Let's go!" as Howard pulled up close to the tarmac and was scrambling to make the flight.

Apparently, at least one player quickly got off the plane and said he had left something in his car, a tactic to stall for Howard.

I'm curious who tried to bail out Howard -- I'm guessing it had to be a veteran whom Hill respects too much to scapegoat. Grant Hill? Bo Outlaw? In any case, Howard seems like the most unlikely candidate to finally make Hill explode. I'm sure he's young and makes his share of mistakes, but by all accounts he's an earnest hard worker and one of the best personalities in the entire league. Is going out of the way to make an example out of Howard really the best way to get the team on your side? GM Otis Smith has already given Hill his vote of confidence, but I'm not so sure he'll make it to next season, let alone the remaining three years on his contract.