PhillyArena

According to Comcast SportsNet, the Sixers have hired former Wizards coach Eddie Jordan.

As I said before, Eddie Jordan was not my top choice, and I have many questions:

• How much stock do you put in his career 230-288 coaching record?
  
• How much do you attribute Washington's turnaround into a playoff team on Jordan, and how much on the complete overhaul of the Wizards roster and influx in talent?
  
• Can this team execute the Princeton Offense? What does this mean for Samuel Dalembert and Reggie Evans? Does this change the likelihood Andre Miller will return?
  
• Was Eddie Jordan Stefanski's pick all along?
  
• How much did money and the fact they're still paying Maurice Cheeks' contract factor into Ed Stefanski's decision?
  

I'll give my thoughts on these questions in a bit.

You can add Chris Ford and Jay Wright to the list of names interviewed for the Sixers vacant head coaching position.

Ford has been the head coach of the Celtics, Bucks, Clippers and Sixers, and has a career record of 323-376 as a head coach.

Wright, head coach at Villanova, asked for his name to be taken out of consideration. He released the following statement:

“Last week, Ed reached out to me to see if I would be willing to speak to him about the Sixers’ coaching position. He is a longtime friend of mine whom I have great respect for and is someone I talk to often. We had a lively conversation about the vision Ed has for the Sixers organization. As a lifelong Sixers fan, I was honored to be part of the process.

“Following our meeting, I called Ed to thank him and requested that he remove me from consideration. I love Villanova and it is where I want to be. I am grateful to the Sixers for including me in the process. There is a lot to look forward to for Sixer fans like me with the young talent they have put together and the leadership of Ed Stefanski.”

Just received word that the Sixers have interviewed Celtics assistant Tom Thibodeau. No word on the details of the interview or how it went.

More potential coaching candidates:

• Kurt Rambis. Rambis spent a part of one season as an interim coach with the Lakers, going 24-13 after taking over for Del Harris. Rambis has been with the Lakers since, both as an Assistant General Manager and as Assistant Coach.
  
• Dwane Casey. Casey was the Minnesota Timberwolves head coach for about a season and a half, taking the reigns from Kevin McHale to start the 2005-2006 season, and being let go halfway through the 2006-2007 season with a 20-20 record. He is currently an assistant coach with the Dallas Mavericks, and was previously a long time assistant with the Seattle Supersonics, under both George Carl and Nate McMillan.
  
• Tom Thibodeau. One of the names previously mentioned, the Sixers have confirmed they will bring in Celtics assistant coach Tom Thibodeau in for an interview, although a date has not yet been set.

The Phillies officially announced yesterday that J.A. Happ will be making the Phillies start Saturday against the Yankees. With the move Chan Ho Park will be moving to long relief in the bullpen.

With the exception of a small number of starts last year, Park has been largely ineffective as a starter since 2001. Despite that, he was given a chance to compete for the starting spot during spring training, and was the most effective of the 4 candidates (with the others being Happ, Carrasco, and Kendrick) down in Clearwater.

I think that was, in the end, a mistake. Regardless of how well one pitches in spring training, it should not be the only, or even main, criteria for winning a spot. 20 good innings in February should not overrule what has been a decade of not getting the job done as a starter. If we're going only by spring training results, Happ should have been in the rotation ahead of Hamels. Clearly spring training was not going to override actual game results there, and it shouldn't have in Park's situation either.

I previously said that Park should get the spot only if Happ and Carrasco don't get the job done. Happ did get the job done, and should have been starting from the beginning. Regardless, I think this is the right move. Park's previous two starts prior to the Washington debacle were the exceptions.

With the announcement earlier this week that Tony DiLeo does not with to return as head coach, the search for a new head coach is officially underway.

The frontrunner, seemingly from the time Maurice Cheeks was let go, appears to be former Wizards head coach (and Nets assistant coach) Eddie Jordan. Stefanski has a familiarity with Jordan from their days together in the Nets organization. Jordan is scheduled to interview today.

Jordan likes to run a Princeton style offense, predicated on ball movement and cuts. It questionable whether that offense could be run with the current personnel, as it often requires a ballhandling pivot man who can open up the lane, something that current center Samuel Dalembert would seemingly struggle with. It also typically has more shooting from the wings to space the floor.

Another name commonly thrown around is Avery Johnson, the tough nosed defensive oriented coach, who was recently on with 950ESPN. His comments that he does not see Andre Iguodala as being capable ofplaying SG (and thus bringing into question Thaddeus Young's future role) makes me a little leery of his direction. It would also be a huge shift in personalities, going from players coaches in Cheeks and DiLeo to a very strict, stern coach in Avery Johnson.

One name thrown around that the Sixers have yet to expressly show interest in is former Sixers star and current TNT analyst Doug Collins. In Collins' first year with teams, his teams win totals have improved 10, 18 and 18 games over their previous years win total. Outside of a brief 2 year stint to return to coaching at the request of Michael Jordan with the Wizards, Collins has been largely on the media side of the aisle since he left Detroit in 1998. He has a career .536 winning percentage (332-287).

Another dark horse name is current Celtics assistance coach Tom Thibodeau. After leaving the Sixers (along with John Lucas) in 1996, he has made quite a name for himself as a defensive mind, helping the Knicks, Rockets and now Celtics become top defensive teams. Although he is under contract, Celtics GM Danny Ainge has reportedly promised Thibodeau he would allow him to go on any interviews for a top job.

My Wishlist (in order):
Thibodeau
Collins
Jordan
Johnson

My odds that they'll be hired:
Jordan (50%)
Johnson (30%)
Collins (10%)
Thibodeau (10%)