Honets Lose GM Bower

Bower steps down as GM of Hornets

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ESPN.com news services


NEW ORLEANS -- Three days after firing coach Paul Silas, the New Orleans Hornets have lost general manager Jeff Bower.

The team announced Wednesday that Bower resigned in order to become an assistant under new Penn State basketball coach Ed DeChellis.

Bower, a native of Hollidaysburg, Pa., and a graduate of St. Francis in Loretto, had expressed a desire to move his family closer to home. He previously worked as an assistant at Penn State from 1983-86.

"Jeff will definitely be missed in the Hornets organization but I know he will be just as successful at Penn State as he was with the Hornets," said Bob Bass, the team's executive vice president of basketball operations.

Bower has spent the last nine seasons with the Hornets, including the last two as general manager. He handled the day-to-day basketball operations since taking over as general manager in June 2001, but Bass continued to make the major personnel decisions.

Bower will remain with the club through the June 26 draft.

New Orleans fired Silas on Sunday, two days after being knocked out of the first round of the playoffs by the Philadelphia 76ers.

The Hornets went 47-35 this season, finishing third in the Central Division and fifth in the Eastern Conference despite a pair of injuries to star guard Baron Davis. They lost to the 76ers in six games, playing without injured forward Jamal Mashburn in the middle two games.

Meanwhile, former Chicago Bulls coach Tim Floyd is expected to be interviewed by the Hornets next week.

Floyd is not necessarily a leading candidate, a team source who asked not to be identified told The Associated Press. Team officials have said they expect to meet with several candidates, although they have not identified any others.

When Floyd resigned as Bulls coach in December 2001, his record in a little more than three seasons was 49-190, one of the worst ever for an NBA coach.

Reached by The Times-Picayune of New Orleans, Floyd confirmed he would talk with the Hornets.

"This would be a dream come true," Floyd said. "We love this part of the country. And the Hornets are a very fine team. I'd love the opportunity to coach them if given the chance."

Before taking over at Chicago, Floyd was 81-47 in four seasons as head coach at Iowa State, with three of those teams going to the NCAA Tournament. His 1996-97 team reached the regional final, losing 74-73 in overtime to UCLA.

Floyd coached at the University of New Orleans for six seasons, compiling a 127-58 mark, including NCAA berths in 1991 and '93. Floyd is 243-130 as a college head coach with five NCAA tournament appearances.

One other possible candidate is Mike Fratello, who coached Atlanta and Cleveland and is a friend of Hornets minority owner Ray Wooldridge.

Former New York Knicks coach Jeff Van Gundy could be another candidate but the Knicks have yet to allow him to meet with other teams before his contract with them expires on Aug 1.

Hornets owners George Shinn and Wooldridge still have yet to specify why they fired Silas, who was popular among players and fans and had taken the team to the playoffs four times in five seasons, twice getting to the second round.

Team spokesman Harold Kaufman said Tuesday that the owners just wanted to "go in a different direction."

"They feel Bob Bass is the architect of one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference and they feel they owe it to the fans to help get the team to next level," Kaufman said. "They think the talent is there."

 

he's a smart man.

 

Things are coming unraveled.