Kori Ellis
05-06-2005, 12:33 AM
Knicks: Carlesimo no longer on outside looking in
Friday, May 06, 2005
BY DAVID WALDSTEIN
Star-Ledger Staff
http://www.nj.com/sports/ledger/index.ssf?/base/sports-0/1115355068312630.xml
After 5 1/2 years in an unofficial basketball exile, P.J. Carlesimo is poised for a return.
It may not happen with the Knicks or the Cleveland Cavaliers or the Orlando Magic this time. But the consensus around the NBA, in the college ranks, and even in the governor's mansion, is that enough is enough.
"He will definitely be a head coach in the NBA again soon," Nets president Rod Thorn said. "And I wouldn't be surprised at all if it was this coming year."
Knicks president Isiah Thomas has interviewed Carlesimo once and will probably talk to him again about becoming the team's head coach, and at least two other clubs have made inquiries, leading people who know Carlesimo to believe the ice is starting to thaw.
"Something is going to happen this year," said Pacers coach Rick Carlisle, a former assistant under Carlesimo in Portland from 1994-1997. "I've been hearing his name a lot, and a couple of different organizations have called me to ask about him. He deserves a chance, not because he's great guy, but because he's a great coach."
For most of the 5 1/2 years since Carlesimo was fired by the Warriors in 1999 -- two days after Christmas -- with a 46-113 record, no one called him, despite more than 60 head job openings in the NBA. Last year he said he received one call from an NBA team, but this year there have been "a few," he said.
"It's like night and day, the volume," said the former Seton Hall coach, who wouldn't name the teams.
Whether anyone will acknowledge it or not, since Latrell Sprewell attacked him during a 1997 Warriors practice, Carlesimo has been branded by the incident, unable to shake the blame-the-victim stigma that said he had it coming, that all his hollering had finally caught up with him.
Even Gregg Popovich, who hired Carlesimo in 2002 to be his assistant in San Antonio, gave it some consideration.
"I thought about it," Popovich said. "I'm human. I thought about it before I hired him. But I'm sure glad I got over it. I think his time being a head coach in the league again is long overdue."
Popovich said Carlesimo has been instrumental to his success the past few seasons, including two years ago when the Spurs beat the Nets to win the NBA championship.
Most recently, he said Carlesimo designed the base game plan for San Antonio's defeat of the Nuggets in five games in their first-round playoff series. In the final game Wednesday, Popovich said he was irate at Bruce Bowen for blowing a defensive assignment and started in on him during a timeout.
"P.J. looks me in the eye and says, 'Hey, we're up six, there's this much time on the clock, the guys' been busting his butt through five games and doing a helluva job,'" Popovich said. "'He messes up once and you're going to be on his (butt). Go love him, will ya?' :lol
"The perception because of that one incident is that he's not a player's coach or that he gets on players. I can tell you, if someone is smart enough to hire him as a head coach after this season, half my team will want to go with him. They love the guy, from the last guy on the team to (Manu) Ginobili and (Tim) Duncan. But that one incident put a stall on things. We know it's unfair, but that's the way life is."
Popovich was expressing an opinion that many of Carlesimo's friends share, from Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski to acting New Jersey Gov. Richard Codey, a longtime friend of Carlesimo's from his Seton Hall days.
Carlesimo said the Sprewell incident "didn't help me," but refuses to blame it for the fact he didn't get an interview for more than four years.
"Certainly, he didn't do anything wrong," Gov. Codey said. "Both he and Sprewell have put it past them, and it shouldn't be an issue. If it is, it's certainly embarrassing to the league and the Players Association. But I don't think it is. I've had about six or seven players from the league (Samuel Dalembert, Andre Barrett, Al Harrington and Brevin Knight) work for me and all of them say it's a non-issue."
Spurs president Danny Ferry played for Carlesimo on the 2002-03 championship team, and said he never saw a problem between the coach and the players.
"He has a great relationship with all the players," Ferry said. "There hasn't been one hint of a problem between him and anyone."
Krzyzewski said he has no better friend in the coaching world than Carlesimo -- even after Carlesimo beat his Duke Blue Devils in the 1989 national semifinal game on the way to Seton Hall's excruciating loss to Michigan in the final.
"He did one of the great things that a coach has ever done," Krzyzewski said. "He lost a heartbreaker in the national championship game on a foul situation, but you never heard P.J. make an excuse about it. He was the same way about (the Sprewell incident). He took the high road in that and never made excuses."
Carlesimo said his primary focus remains on helping the Spurs to a third NBA championship, but he does want to coach again. But any old head coaching job may not be enough to lure him away from what he considers a fantastic situation next to Popovich in San Antonio. Obviously, because of his local roots, the Knicks would qualify.
"If it worked out I would love to do it, and New York, for a lot of reasons ... is one of the best positions in the league," he said. "So, hopefully Isiah and I will get a chance to talk again and hopefully something might develop with New York, but he's looking at some other very talented people and he's got a very talented coach in place in Herb Williams, so who knows what's going to happen?"
While Thomas talked to Phil Jackson and Flip Saunders and others about the job, he has told people he likes Carlesimo's tough side. When asked if Carlesimo would be accepted by the players, Thomas was vague.
"How can I say it?" he began with a laugh. "Ahh, P.J. can say it himself."
Okay.
"In this league, a coach's relationship with his franchise player is critical," Carlesimo said. "In Portland that was fine. My first year in Golden State that wasn't fine."
Carlesimo has grown since the Sprewell incident, and mellowed a bit, to be sure. But he hasn't turned into Elmer Fudd on the sideline.
"I've still got to be me," he said. "I'm still going to be direct. If someone is not playing hard or not playing smart, I'm going to get on them. But we'll have to wait and see what happens. I would like to think, especially given the success we're having here, and considering my track record, that I'll get another opportunity."
Friday, May 06, 2005
BY DAVID WALDSTEIN
Star-Ledger Staff
http://www.nj.com/sports/ledger/index.ssf?/base/sports-0/1115355068312630.xml
After 5 1/2 years in an unofficial basketball exile, P.J. Carlesimo is poised for a return.
It may not happen with the Knicks or the Cleveland Cavaliers or the Orlando Magic this time. But the consensus around the NBA, in the college ranks, and even in the governor's mansion, is that enough is enough.
"He will definitely be a head coach in the NBA again soon," Nets president Rod Thorn said. "And I wouldn't be surprised at all if it was this coming year."
Knicks president Isiah Thomas has interviewed Carlesimo once and will probably talk to him again about becoming the team's head coach, and at least two other clubs have made inquiries, leading people who know Carlesimo to believe the ice is starting to thaw.
"Something is going to happen this year," said Pacers coach Rick Carlisle, a former assistant under Carlesimo in Portland from 1994-1997. "I've been hearing his name a lot, and a couple of different organizations have called me to ask about him. He deserves a chance, not because he's great guy, but because he's a great coach."
For most of the 5 1/2 years since Carlesimo was fired by the Warriors in 1999 -- two days after Christmas -- with a 46-113 record, no one called him, despite more than 60 head job openings in the NBA. Last year he said he received one call from an NBA team, but this year there have been "a few," he said.
"It's like night and day, the volume," said the former Seton Hall coach, who wouldn't name the teams.
Whether anyone will acknowledge it or not, since Latrell Sprewell attacked him during a 1997 Warriors practice, Carlesimo has been branded by the incident, unable to shake the blame-the-victim stigma that said he had it coming, that all his hollering had finally caught up with him.
Even Gregg Popovich, who hired Carlesimo in 2002 to be his assistant in San Antonio, gave it some consideration.
"I thought about it," Popovich said. "I'm human. I thought about it before I hired him. But I'm sure glad I got over it. I think his time being a head coach in the league again is long overdue."
Popovich said Carlesimo has been instrumental to his success the past few seasons, including two years ago when the Spurs beat the Nets to win the NBA championship.
Most recently, he said Carlesimo designed the base game plan for San Antonio's defeat of the Nuggets in five games in their first-round playoff series. In the final game Wednesday, Popovich said he was irate at Bruce Bowen for blowing a defensive assignment and started in on him during a timeout.
"P.J. looks me in the eye and says, 'Hey, we're up six, there's this much time on the clock, the guys' been busting his butt through five games and doing a helluva job,'" Popovich said. "'He messes up once and you're going to be on his (butt). Go love him, will ya?' :lol
"The perception because of that one incident is that he's not a player's coach or that he gets on players. I can tell you, if someone is smart enough to hire him as a head coach after this season, half my team will want to go with him. They love the guy, from the last guy on the team to (Manu) Ginobili and (Tim) Duncan. But that one incident put a stall on things. We know it's unfair, but that's the way life is."
Popovich was expressing an opinion that many of Carlesimo's friends share, from Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski to acting New Jersey Gov. Richard Codey, a longtime friend of Carlesimo's from his Seton Hall days.
Carlesimo said the Sprewell incident "didn't help me," but refuses to blame it for the fact he didn't get an interview for more than four years.
"Certainly, he didn't do anything wrong," Gov. Codey said. "Both he and Sprewell have put it past them, and it shouldn't be an issue. If it is, it's certainly embarrassing to the league and the Players Association. But I don't think it is. I've had about six or seven players from the league (Samuel Dalembert, Andre Barrett, Al Harrington and Brevin Knight) work for me and all of them say it's a non-issue."
Spurs president Danny Ferry played for Carlesimo on the 2002-03 championship team, and said he never saw a problem between the coach and the players.
"He has a great relationship with all the players," Ferry said. "There hasn't been one hint of a problem between him and anyone."
Krzyzewski said he has no better friend in the coaching world than Carlesimo -- even after Carlesimo beat his Duke Blue Devils in the 1989 national semifinal game on the way to Seton Hall's excruciating loss to Michigan in the final.
"He did one of the great things that a coach has ever done," Krzyzewski said. "He lost a heartbreaker in the national championship game on a foul situation, but you never heard P.J. make an excuse about it. He was the same way about (the Sprewell incident). He took the high road in that and never made excuses."
Carlesimo said his primary focus remains on helping the Spurs to a third NBA championship, but he does want to coach again. But any old head coaching job may not be enough to lure him away from what he considers a fantastic situation next to Popovich in San Antonio. Obviously, because of his local roots, the Knicks would qualify.
"If it worked out I would love to do it, and New York, for a lot of reasons ... is one of the best positions in the league," he said. "So, hopefully Isiah and I will get a chance to talk again and hopefully something might develop with New York, but he's looking at some other very talented people and he's got a very talented coach in place in Herb Williams, so who knows what's going to happen?"
While Thomas talked to Phil Jackson and Flip Saunders and others about the job, he has told people he likes Carlesimo's tough side. When asked if Carlesimo would be accepted by the players, Thomas was vague.
"How can I say it?" he began with a laugh. "Ahh, P.J. can say it himself."
Okay.
"In this league, a coach's relationship with his franchise player is critical," Carlesimo said. "In Portland that was fine. My first year in Golden State that wasn't fine."
Carlesimo has grown since the Sprewell incident, and mellowed a bit, to be sure. But he hasn't turned into Elmer Fudd on the sideline.
"I've still got to be me," he said. "I'm still going to be direct. If someone is not playing hard or not playing smart, I'm going to get on them. But we'll have to wait and see what happens. I would like to think, especially given the success we're having here, and considering my track record, that I'll get another opportunity."