"Must . .. resist . . . urge to choke . . . "The Seattle SuperSonics have decided to hire P.J. Carlesimo as their new head coach, an NBA source said Tuesday evening.Thanks to Supersonicsouliac John McWalter for the tip!
Carlesimo has spent the previous five seasons as an assistant on the staff of Spurs coach Gregg Popovich.
Seattle’s new owner, Clay Bennett -- a former member of the Spurs’ ownership group -- has tried to use the Spurs as a blueprint to remake the Sonics. Last month, Bennett hired Spurs assistant general manager Sam Presti to oversee the Sonics’ front office.
Seattle is expected to announce Carlesimo’s hiring Wednesday afternoon.
Read it here.
UPDATE: The Seattle P.I. reports that the Sonics have a press conference scheduled for Thursday afternoon. It looks like this might be for reals.
God, that photo is priceless.
ReplyDeleteCarlesimo would have been the wrong guy for the Magic, but I think he fits in well with the Sonics. I think of him as a calming presence and as a coach who preaches fundamentals. For a young team on the cusp of greatness, those are good qualities to have.
Ugh.
ReplyDeleteI like him better than our other options.
ReplyDeleteAnyone know our Summer League roster?
PJ Carppissandmoan?
ReplyDeleteHe better wear a collar.
Probably a good thing for him the Sonics aren't resigning Danny Fortson.
Anon, here's the Sonics' summer-league roster:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nba.com/sonics/news/roster070703.html
Damn. I thought Dwayne Casey was becoming the front runner. I guess this means Spree won't be coming to the Sonics anytime soon
ReplyDeleteThis stinks. They want no ties to the area or previous teams at all. With a bit of luck the name and records can be kept here as a condition for ScumbagBennett breaking the lease.
ReplyDeleteTrueHoop linked to an article that speculated the reason Casey wasn't hired is because he LOVES Seattle as a city and wouldn't want to move.
ReplyDeleteClay Bennett sounds like a real jerk.
As much as I like to bash Bennett & Co., that story is a bunch of bunk. Sam Presti isn't going to wreck his career as a GM by choosing an inferior coach just to help smooth relations. Same goes for Dwayne Casey; he knows this is a business and if his bosses decide to move to OKC, he's going to move right along with them, regardless of whether he'd like to stay in Seattle or not.
ReplyDeleteThe columnist that put that piece together - Steve Kelley - is known for just regurgitating old stories when he's too tired to come up with something new. I like to think of his articles as something along the lines of MadLibs.
That said, Clay Bennett sounds like a real jerk to me, too.
Realistically, this is a 2-3 year project- we're about where the Blazers were the year they won 20 games.
ReplyDeleteHmm, what a co-inky-dink, we have a retread coach (who's proven at Golden State he's eminently capable of losing a lot of games) and a roster teardown that will ensure the Sonics stay crappy and cheap through the remainder of their lease. Go figure.
Steve Kelley.
ReplyDeleteWhy construct a full paragraph when a single sentence will suffice?
I'll tell you why.
COLUMN INCHES.
If Clay really wants to model his new purchase after the Spurs, he should try to sign Tim Duncan, because that's what that franchise is really all about. Forget the culture mumbo jumbo and hire an unstoppable power forward who can dominate both ends of the court.
ReplyDeleteCulture... please.