FanHouse DwaneCasey

Among the myriad NBA head coach executions this decade, Dwane Casey's ceremonial beheading still bothers me the most. So it's good to hear, by way of the Philadelphia Inquirer, that Casey (currently a Rick Carlisle assistant in Dallas) is the first candidate to get a second interview for the open 76ers job.

Few remember the post-Cassell/Sprewell Timberwolves teams fondly, but they really weren't that bad. In 2004-05, Flip Saunders' last season at the helm, the Wolves finished one game out of the eighth seed. That summer, Kevin McHale traded Sam Cassell for Marko Jaric and Latrell Sprewell decided $7 million a year wasn't enough cash for his services.

When it rains, it pours; and then you find out you have a leak and your roof guy is taking offers from the house down the street.

Tom Thibodeau has been an integral part of the Boston resurgence. Thibodeau is considered a defensive genius, and the Celtics' defense has been dominant, even in the face of aging superstars and injuries. Doc Rivers is great at finding cool phrases and inpsiring his team to play hard all the time, but if you want defensive Xs and Os, it's Thibodeau that may be the man behind the curtain.

After the Celtics got worked over Sunday night in Game 7 by the Magic, they probably weren't expecting more bad news this soon.

Well, while it's not catastrophic (that was the Garnett injury), it's still raining.

The NBA Coaching Guillotine considers which coaches have the potential to be executed (figuratively) and why.

Randy Wittman grabbed Minnesota's head coach job in auspicious circumstances in 2007. Dwane Casey, in his second season in charge of the Wolves, had taken the team to a 20-20 start with a top-10 defense despite utterly dismal projection for the squad. (Kevin Garnett was the only above-average player on the team. The other high-minutes player? Ricky Davis and Mark Blount.) At the time of the Casey firing, Kevin McHale said the coach had a playoff roster to work with and just wasn't getting enough out of them. It remains one of the most egregious cop-outs in modern NBA history (slightly edged by Minnesota owner Glen Taylor suggesting Garnett didn't want to win badly enough).

Wittman replaced Casey, and took a fringe postseason contender into the tank. The Wolves finished the season 12-30. The following season, once Garnett had been replaced with Al Jefferson, Wittman won 22 games. Clearly, the Wolves are rebuilding ... so does the record even matter? Remember Casey's raw deal when you read this McHale quote, captured by Jerry Zgoda of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune:

Asked if he was satisfied with the team's coaching thus far, McHale said, "Yeah, well, right now we have to find a way to win basketball games. That's what this game is all about."

Encouraging! Of course, not a soul would cry foul should Wittman walk the gallows -- his rotation has been suspect, the team seems completely aimless most of the time. If there were an NBA yearbook, "Coach Most Likely to Look Completely Lost in Crunch Time" would be a unanimous Wittman victory. But still ... does McHale honestly think the Wolves should be 4-3 right now? Minnesota has some nice young pieces, but Red Auerbach couldn't have this bunch in the playoff hunt. Expecting as much from Wittman is akin to watching a bagel with the hope it'll spread cream cheese on itself.

Someday, a book will be written about the Great Chicago Coaching Search of 2008. A gentle reminder of the men John Paxson has either interviewed or been reported to have talked to so far:

Brian Shaw, Kurt Rambis, Tyrone Corbin, Dwane Casey, Jeff Hornacek, Chuck Person, John Lucas, Eric Snow, Avery Johnson, Mike D'Antoni, Mark Jackson, Michael Curry, Doug Collins, Rick Carlisle, and ... Vinny Del Negro.

And guess who is the front-runner, according to the Chicago Tribune's K.C. Johnson? It's Del Negro, the guy on this list who has never been so much as an assistant coach in the NBA. Del Negro currently works as an assistant GM in the Suns organization, and reportedly works on shooting with the players.

Johnson places Del Negro, Casey and Person as the three finalists, and said the three have been told a decision is "imminent." Of course, the filling of the job seemed imminent back in April, when Carlisle seemed the clear-cut favorite before signing with Dallas, then again in early May, when D'Antoni seemed like a lock, then again last week when multiple media outlets reported Collins was a done deal. So, really, who freaking knows? Maybe Drew Gooden's beard will run the summer league team.

Yesterday my colleague Tom Ziller asked the not-so-hypothetical question, "Whatever happened to Doug Collins?" For a few brief seconds it looked like he was a lock to be hired by the Bulls, and yet instead of getting a deal done the team has continued to drag their heels by giving the likes of Dwane Casey and Chuck Person second interviews.

So what gives? Brian Hanley of the Chicago Sun-Times explains:

General manager John Paxson was unavailable for comment and remained waiting for the OK from chairman Jerry Reinsdorf to hire Doug Collins. Reinsdorf is said to be upset that the news of Collins' imminent hiring was leaked last week to media, which is why he has revisited the decision.

Really? If that's the case, wow, Reinsdorf seriously needs to get over himself. If he's confident enough to make a multi-year offer, he shouldn't be so worried about the news getting out a few days before he wanted.

But while the Bulls are still talking to candidates, the Daily Herald reports that the Bulls "have not shown much interest" in interviewing recently disposed Pistons Flip Saunders (much to the chagrin of local bloggers). The Star-Tribune muses that Flip might take a year off from coaching to serve as a television analyst. Considering he'll still collect $5.4 million owed from the Pistons, there's no reason for him not to jump back into the business.

A week ago, the big (eh) news around the league was the impending hire of Doug Collins in Chicago. Many gnashed their teeth, many cheered the move, most just expressed relief the vital opening would finally be filled after six weeks of hemming. But of course, the hire just kept getting discussed and discussed ... and never actually happened.

Which leaves an opening for more rumors, like this one from Jeff Goodman of FOXSports.com (via Blog-a-Bull):

According to a source close to the situation, former Minnesota Timberwolves coach Dwane Casey's interview with Bulls general manager John Paxson on Wednesday went extremely well, and he has emerged as a legitimate candidate.

Casey did a great job (considering the roster) in Minnesota, and suffered the most undeserved firing of the past four years when he was let go midway through 2006-07. He coaches defense as well as any young coach in the league, and seemed to command the players' respect ... even on a team led by hyper Kevin Garnett.

But wasn't Collins a foregone conclusion? What on Earth has taken Paxson so long on this? Cold feet with Collins? Some sort of disagreement in negotiations? Is Casey (and another interview with Kings assistant Chuck Person) just something to get Collins to concede on some sticking point (like allowing Pax to assign a top assistant as heir to the throne)?

The Bulls are taking their time with this whole "finding a coach" thing, interviewing just about anyone with a shred of interest in the job. According to Brian Hanley of the Chicago Sun-Times, John Paxson has already talked with ...deep breath ... Lakers assistants Brian Shaw and Kurt Rambis, current Jazz assistant Tyrone Corbin and former T'Wolves coach Dwane Casey -- and that's just this week!

Paxson was also scheduled to meet with Jeff Hornacek today and Kings assistant Chuck Person sometime this weekend, as well as John Lucas and Eric Snow sometime in the yet to be determined future. And, of course, don't forget about Celtics assistant Tom Thibodeau, who won't get permission from his current employer until Boston completes their playoff run.

Oh, and remember Avery Johnson? Forget what you heard about him giving Chicago the cold shoulder. Now that the Bulls have the No. 1 pick, he's had a change of heart and was expected to talk to Paxson today.

Count 'em up: that's 10 names, and that doesn't include Mark Jackson, who already interviewed, nor Pistons assistants Terry Porter and Michael Curry, who have been suggested as candidates in the past. Do you notice a recurring theme with all these names? With the exception of Thibodeau and Casey, they're all former players, which makes you wonder if a career coach who never had the chance to rub elbows with Paxson as a player stands much of a chance.

It's Christmas Eve and Tyrus Thomas has no one scold him. This won't do. As of this second, there's no indication as to Scott Skiles' replacement as civilian leader of the Bulls. It's alright, actually -- Chicago doesn't strap them on until Wednesday, when the team visits San Antonio, who has lost only a single game at home this season.

So really, the next real game John Paxson needs to concern himself with is Friday's home tilt against Milwaukee. Surely, a current assistant such as Ron Adams or Pete Myers can manage the team until then. (Jim Boylan, Chicago's lead assistant, is a Skiles guy, having coached under him in Phoenix as well as being the lead assistant for the duration of the Skiles era in Chicago.) Will Paxson be able to locate his replacement (assuming it is not a dreaded 'interim' fellow like Adams or Myer) by then, what with the celebration of the birth of Christ and all?

Dwane Casey started the year as the head coach of the Minnesota Timberwolves. Through 40 games, Casey had the 'Wolves at 20-20, a .500 record. That's not too shabby considering the lack of polished basketball players surrounding Kevin Garnett.

So Randy Wittman steps in and takes over for Casey, and he's 4-7. And already, 'Wolves owner Glen Taylor has decided that Wittman will return as head coach next season.

20-20 record ... fired.

4-7 record ... job security.

Can't fault that reasoning.

This isn't about Wittman's 4-7 record... you can't judge a guy 11 games into his career. He might be a great coach, and it looks like, at least in some ways, the team is responding to him. More than anything else, this is about Dwane Casey and how he got the shaft. A 20-20 record is probably above where the 'Wolves talent indicates they should be.

It just seems like, for some reason, Glen Taylor had it in for Casey, and was in love with Wittman. From the second he hired him as an assistant, he was itching for an opportunity to insert him as a head coach, and he will clearly have more leeway than Casey did. That's pretty much already guaranteed.

Fantastic management up there in Minnesota. Just go ahead and kill yourself, Kevin Garnett. It's not going to get any better.