The rest of the revamped Suns coaching staff around new head coach Terry Porter likely will have a familiar look.
Suns lead assistant Alvin Gentry is expected to keep that role and work a fifth season on Phoenix's coaching staff, which likely will include Suns fan favorite Dan Majerle, former All-Star center and head coach Bill Cartwright and Porter colleague Igor Kokoskov.
Gentry, who has coached 20 years in the NBA with three head-coaching stints, could have followed Mike D'Antoni to New York and joined the Knicks staff like Phil Weber and Dan D'Antoni but is staying with a contract extension.
Majerle, a former Porter teammate in Miami a decade ago, has served as a Suns television broadcast analyst for the past four seasons. He recently expressed interest in coaching if Porter was hired. Majerle is a Suns Ring of Honor member who played eight of his 14 seasons in Phoenix, where he was a three-time All-Star and was on the 1993 NBA Finals team.
Cartwright has spent the past four years as an assistant with New Jersey, where his contract expired. He was Chicago's head coach for 151 games, including the 2002-03 season. He also served as a Bulls assistant for six seasons, including the 1997 and 1998 championship teams.
Cartwright played 15 seasons, including one with Suns General Manager Steve Kerr and three Bulls le teams. He figures to be a big-man mentor and hands-on coach for power forward Amaré Stoudemire, who has become a perennial All-NBA pick but can improve his defense and rebounding.
"The physical presence of looking someone in the eyes is important," Kerr said Tuesday after interviewing Cartwright. "When you're coaching, that means something and the credentials of fighting Shaq on the court and having them do it. It's not just a theory. It's, 'I did it.' "
Kokoskov was a Detroit assistant the past three seasons, the last two with Porter when Porter became the Pistons' lead assistant. Kokoskov received his first NBA job on Gentry's Clippers staff in 2002, when he became the first full-time, non-American assistant in NBA history. Kokoskov, a Yugoslavia native, coached Serbia and Montenegro in the 2004 Olympics and 2005 European Championship.
The Suns did not announce the hirings but two sources said they are imminent.
not bad. i would still like to have paul silas as an assistant but all and all not bad.
Majerle was to appease the fans. Most every Phoenix fan wants Majerle to be treated like royalty. I don't see him as a coach. A frat brother, sure, but coach? not so much...
Maybe he can be firm? Maybe he can teach qulity defense and shooting? If not, then what the is he going to teach?
He's too much of a "buddy" to be a quality hire, I fear.
I'm glad Gentry stuck around.
Gentry is a solid lead assistant.
Will barbosa miss his life coach Dan D'Antoni though?
It woudl be nice for someone to teach barbosa something other than either driving or lobbing 3's, like defense. :p They need him and stoudamire to learn. Then you might have 4 people playing defense and nash out there.
no chip
good
I want to steal Gentry for SPURS
TP should be really good for Barbosa. I'd imagine the first thing he'll do is actually get the team to acquire a real backup point guard so he can play in his natural position.
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