Atlanta Hawks: Avery Johnson continues talks with Hawks as his other options dwindle
Avery Johnson is in continued discussions with the Hawks about their vacant coaching position as at least one and maybe two other jobs he’s interested in are out of play.
The Philadelphia 76ers hired Doug Collins today after Johnson had been one of several candidates to interview for the job. And the Hornets reportedly have moved on in their search after Johnson lobbied for dual front-office/coaching position for his hometown team, according to a person familiar with the situation.
Representatives for Johnson said they’ve continued to talk with the Hawks after Johnson met with the team on Monday. However, a person with knowledge of the Hawks’ search said today that the team has not narrowed its field of candidates.
The Hawks still are set to meet with Dallas assistant and former Timberwolves coach Dwane Casey this weekend in Chicago. They’ve also conducted a phone interview with Portland assistant Dean Demopoulos.
Johnson also reportedly will meet with the New Jersey Nets about their coaching position. If he’s still is looking for front-office power, he’s not likely to get it in either New Jersey or Atlanta.
Hawks general manager Rick Sund owns full personnel power with the Hawks, including the ability to hire and fire coaches. Though Sund said he often consults with the ownership group, co-owner Michael Gearon Jr. said owners leave decisions up to Sund.
In New Jersey, new Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov announced general manager Kiki Vandeweghe will not be retained and that team president Rod Thorn would take over his duties. Thorn has been Nets president since 2000.
Meanwhile, the Hornets apparently no longer are considering Johnson. Boston assistant Tom Thibodeau and Portland assistant Monty Williams will get second interviews for the New Orleans Hornets’ head-coaching job, according to a Yahoo! Sports report.
MC
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
296 comments Add your comment
jroc
May 23rd, 2010
11:13 am
Coach Mark Jackson: Hey Josh go baseline for the alley ooop slam come on baby make me say Hey Mama there goes that Man. Yes he did it there goes that man! there goes that man! there goes that man mama!
Riiight
May 23rd, 2010
11:23 am
Hire Marc Jackson, and make Jeff Van Gundy, Sam Mitchell, and Larry Drew his top assistant Coaches.
terrell
May 23rd, 2010
11:24 am
BK tried to fire Woody for talking him into passing on Paul and Williams for Marvin, after they started looking like HOF’s and Marvin was still Marvin. lol! He just had to have his veteran pg. And Mary B, still thinks Woody wanted CP3. lol!
terrell
May 23rd, 2010
11:32 am
Joe Mama, what 4 all-nba players?
Grandad
May 23rd, 2010
11:38 am
Joe Mama: alias – the ”Mad hatter”
Please list the four all NBA players.
Make sure now, that they were all NBA, in the year in question.
It doesn’t count if they have a [all NBA] corpse on the roster.
I honestly have not looked it up, so I really don’t know.
smh
May 23rd, 2010
11:50 am
lol@terrell. Exactly . There is only 3 people who post on here who think Woodson wanted CP3, drmaryb, Jody, and truth serum with his dumb azz. These 3 must have been under a boulder when the news came out because everyone else knows this but them. Woodsons preference of veteran pgs has hurt this team for years . He didn’t want CP3, Deron, or Rondo but he liked Marvin and Sheldon smh. Enough said.
doc
May 23rd, 2010
11:53 am
DMR, great comments there. i think your rant could have gone on if you had allowed it, too. thanks for making your point but if you want to come back occasionally to make additional points you are welcome.
doc
May 23rd, 2010
11:58 am
o’brien ….. ROFL! i posted this on the other site ….
doc
May 23rd, 2010
10:13 am
astro asked. “newkid, when was the last time the team used their biannual or midlevel?”. isnt it implying maybe it would be a good idea to fork out a bit more money, i presume.
nire repeatedly says, “the hawks owners are not cheap!”
i ask how can both be true? someone is wrong here.
my two cents worth. we fire a guy that has sme bulk which we are in dire need of,so we can investigate who is out there to help our team as it makes its run to the playoffs. we “find” mario west, a quick guard, who we already have one on the bench with better handles and resign him for the rest of the season. not my idea of anything close to pushing the envelope of opening the pocketbook nor being creative. they lost me right there on the season.
WWSD
……
i guess it was in the same vein as what you were talking about.
ReddJonn68
May 23rd, 2010
12:05 pm
I still think that everyone looking for a coach right now will regret someday not really giving Mark Jackson a solid look. I think the point guard mentality is the same reason Rivers is able to communicate so well with the Celtics. Yes, Avery was one too, but he had his shot in Dallas. If you go could go back in time, when they where in their primes, who would you take Mark or Avery? Keeping it real !!!!
Grandad
May 23rd, 2010
12:05 pm
Truth_Serum /”Hatter”:
Centers are not to be misconstrued with the uneducated term “big” that idiots use. A center is not a power forward and a power forward is not a center. Centers are skilled positions. There are 2 powerforwards 2 guards but 1 center.
There are 2 powerforwards…..Did you mean two forwards?
Or
If there is no center, two powerforwards?
What if
Your running the triangle/triple post?
Or
A point guard two wings [such as Joe & Jamal] + a High/Low?
And
Your
[5] (Sampson) plays the high & your [4](Olajuwon) plays the low?
*Sampson = 7-4 / Olajuwon = under 7-0 (true hgt) *some say 6-10
Is a stretch [4] a power forwrd? hmmmmmm
Some fans want us to draft Cole Aldrich to have a true Center!
“The incredible shrinking Cole Aldrich” – NBA.com
6-9…bare feet about the same as Al.
(except he’s white & can’t jump) – but he’s a real Center…huh?
I’m glad you explained it for me, TS, really.
I know you don’t believe me but you’re one of my favorite bloggers.
Probably my favorite non “Bubba Crew” not named drmaryb.
for everone else, don’t be upset, I just figured you were in the crew.
terrell
May 23rd, 2010
12:06 pm
Honestly, I want Byron Scott. He took the Nets to the finals twice, with JKidd, K-Mart, and a bunch of role players. Did a helluva job in N.O too, in a tough Western Conference. And once again. CP3, David West, and a bunch of role players. He might end up in Chicago though.
doc
May 23rd, 2010
12:07 pm
meanwhile:
Obama sends top chiefs to monitor spill response
a whole huge gulf of mexico ecosystem is in danger because of our military-industrial complex and group of government elected employees feeding at the hand of it. folks, this aint the valdez and this aint alaska the state that incidentally gets government paybacks to every citizen up there.
now back to the real content…..
glad i have important things to be concerned about to keep my mind off the real world.
Grandad
May 23rd, 2010
12:08 pm
Whoops – sorry – forgot to put 1st paragraph in quotations!!!
Truth_Serum deserves credit when it is due!!!
doc
May 23rd, 2010
12:10 pm
granddad, why bother? in doing do you only increase the numbers that scroll you. anyone by now of sane mind is scrolling what you continue to reply to. personally, i think you got better things to do and say from what i have read than reply to such drivel or bait.
ReddJonn68
May 23rd, 2010
12:13 pm
Oh yeah Woody does look like a dunce for passing on CP3 & Deron Williams, but he didn’t resign Bibby for 6.2 mill per yr & Marvin for 7.5 mill per yr. Keeping it real !!!!
doc
May 23rd, 2010
12:16 pm
granddad, yes, he does but that is the point, most of the time it is just bait. that besides his clear cut identity crisis. heh heh
got to do as you please, everyone, including break up into different identities if it floats your boat.
smh
May 23rd, 2010
12:17 pm
True ReddJonn but he was the one who insisted that Sund bring them back. As he put it, he wanted to keep the core together to see if they could make the next step.
Grandad
May 23rd, 2010
12:17 pm
doc – are you serious?
Does ”BIG OIL” get a pass on everything?
Former admin. managed to deregulate Big Oil so they
didn’t have required (other countries) safety precautions.
I would rather talk basketball as well.
So, don’t post propaganda.
Sorry, Doc.
Obviously, we differ on this.
Lets keep it to B-ball so we can remain friends!
lewis
May 23rd, 2010
12:21 pm
sign and trade joe johnson + marvin for hinrich and deng?
get rid of joe’s contract, huge improvement at SF?
Hinrich – proven leader, surprising defensive intensity, can hit the 3 – still a large downgrade but I don’t think I want the Hawks SG to be the leading scorer, but more of a defensive player who hits 3’s / open jump shots while not trying to do too much. I think points could come from Teague dishing it down low to Horford, Smith and Deng. This should leave Hinrich open to be a spot up shooter.
Hinrich – 8 mil expiring contract in 2011
Deng – (26) 12-13 mil for the next 2 years
Deng averages about 17-18 pts a game, was the sportsmanship player of the year, could also bring leadership. Has a big heart, made evident to me by the way he hustled against Lebron and the cavs in the first round this year. He’s not afraid. He proved he’s not afraid to play against anyone, Hawks need more guys like that.
Al
Josh
Deng
Hinrich/Jamal
Teage/Bibby
use any extra money to bolster the bench, particularly the backup forward joe smith needed to be this year.
am i crazy?
ReddJonn68
May 23rd, 2010
12:21 pm
Ok valid point. So Sund should be holding a pink slip as well, instead making another DUMB desicion that will affect the Hawks for the next 5 yrs !!!!! Keeping it real
Ken Strickland
May 23rd, 2010
12:23 pm
DRMARYB/OBRIEN-no argument here on Salim and Acie not being pure PG’s, but the fact is they were still drafted for that purpose. And don’t forget, JJ was initially brought here to play PG as well.
DRMARYB-I don’t understand how you can say Teague didn’t play any DEF whatsoever, and not have a single issue when it comes to Bibby and his total lack of DEF ability. Every scouting report and official report on Teague credits him for his solid on the ball DEF. JJ was the only Hawk guard that was able to thrive in Woodson’s stupid switching DEF.
When Magic Johnson came into the league, there were pundits who doubted his ability to be an effective NBA PG. He lacked a jump shot and couldn’t throw a rock in the ocean either. They also questioned his lack of speed, quickness and the ability of a man his size being able to defend the quicker, faster, smaller PG’s. If you spend all of you effort and time focusing on what you perceive a player can’t do, you tend to overlook all of the positive things that player can do. Magic was a perfect example.
Magic was too big, slow and couldn’t shoot, Isiah Thomas, Chris Paul, Mug Bogus, Spud Webb, Charlie Criss and Allan Iverson were either too small or short and Deron Williams was too fat. How long did Ben Wallace sit at the end of the bench because his coaches focused on what he couldn’t do, like shoot, score, dribble, before Piston’s GM and HC LBrown decided to take advantage of what he could do, like rebound, run the court and play solid one on one DEF, including shot blocking.
When you have SF’s(Marvin/Evans), C’s(Horford/Zaza), SG’s(JJ/Crawford), and PF(JoSmith) that are solid outside shooters, you can afford to start and/or give major mins to a quick, fast, penetrating PG like Teague, who actually plays solid one on one DEF.
lewis
May 23rd, 2010
12:23 pm
and if no Marvin, how about Chills + JJ ?
Grandad
May 23rd, 2010
12:26 pm
doc – I can’t help myself sometimes.
I really enjoy trying [in vain] (of course)to educate
the young man/person?.
Sautee, I think, debates.
Myself, I truly like him.
Does that make me deranged also?
I hope not, just an old-timer, enjoyin’ a young-un’s follies.
ReddJonn68
May 23rd, 2010
12:28 pm
I’m sorry Ken Strickland if your gonna let Marvin shoot from outside. You may as well let Stevie Wonder drive on 285 during rush hour. Keeping it real !!!!!
doc
May 23rd, 2010
12:31 pm
granddad, unless you are misreading what i just said that big oil gets nothing close to a pass and neither do any of our government leaders from both parties that feed at the hand of big oil, then i dont think we disagree. that was hardly what i said.
now back to our ostrich stance.
oh yeah, dont get me started on the banking system either. heh heh
WWSD
doc
May 23rd, 2010
12:33 pm
yes, i really like him too. sorry, he feels so fragmented at times. it is so unnecessary and only eats away at any cred he might have.
Ken Strickland
May 23rd, 2010
12:45 pm
NAJEH-I’m not the 1st one to bring him up, but I’m certainly his biggest fan as far as being our future HC. He’s managed to come up with a DEF strategy that’s totally confused the Magic players and their coaching staff, and after 3 losses, they still don’t have a clue. His strategy has been so smothering defensively, that they have lost their will to compete. The Celtics are doing to the Magic what they’ve routinely done to us, especially in our last record setting playoff series embarrassment. This is exactly what coaches routinely did to us under Woodson.
While a lot of people are going to give HC Doc Rivers credit for the Celtics surge, the mind and inspiration behind their DEF surge has been Thibodeau. However, Doc should be given credit for allowing his assistant to take command over his DEF, rather than trying to be the do all, say all, take for all, dominating type of HC. Phil Jackson allowed his assistant to design and implement his triangle OFF.
Riiight
May 23rd, 2010
12:47 pm
I was being serious, If’ you’re going to hire a rookie coach like Marc Jackson, then you have to put experiencd and talented caching minds around him. I think Jeff Van Gundy would do it b/c they are buddies, and Sam Mitchell lives here and is from GA and is currently doing spot duty on NBA TV. Besides, Assistant Coaches have better job security. Larry Drew peobably wants to stay close to his son and probably has a home here.
That would give Marc a great foundation and support if he ever gets in over his head. I think mark has something to offer, especially offensively. JVG can handle the defense since that seems to be his specialty. Mitchell is great with players and won’t acccept any back-talk/foolishness/excuses from smoove et al.
Grandad
May 23rd, 2010
12:48 pm
Great – Because the last thing I want to do
is piss off my friends.
When I debate serious stuff I tend to lose
my sense of humor.
Now back to “Real Serious Stuff”
like when will someone in Atl. slip us a tidbit
of info on the coachinf search?
Instead of this garbage:
Mark Bradley »
ESPN report: The Hawks aren’t on Chris Bosh’s wish list
________________________________________________________
If you haven’t seen this yet, you may want to give it a try.
posted by:
WTF
May 21st, 2010
11:25 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gph8RwIYPvM&feature=related
____________________________________________________________
When I watched this interview I decided – we need this guy!
Thought you might enjoy.
Grandad
May 23rd, 2010
12:54 pm
*12:48 PM / Post @ [doc] – Sorry, I forgot salutations!
doc
May 23rd, 2010
1:19 pm
granddad us old farts have to stick together.
cool
ryan
May 23rd, 2010
1:21 pm
Mike Woodson had to go he drafted all those PF&F i do not think Avery Johnson would have passed on CP3 or Derron Williams or Rondo. Rick Sund put those great Detroit and Seatle teams together. Sund drafted Kevin Durant and signed Ray Allen and Gary Paten.
Mel
May 23rd, 2010
1:22 pm
Orlando is looking like we did against them in the 2nd Round, and to think we handled the Celtics all season long
Grandad
May 23rd, 2010
1:33 pm
per DraftExpress:
“The freakiest measurements of all belong to Hassan Whiteside. The soon-to-be 21-year-old freshman bafflingly elected to arrive for measurements in flip-flops (a true story), which only gave him an additional inch in shoes (6-10 ½ without shoes, 6-11 ½ with)—as opposed to Cole Aldrich who gained 2 ¼ inches. With that said, he [Whiteside] possesses one of the longest wingspans in NBA pre-draft camp history
at 7-7.”
Cole Aldrich only measured 6-9 bare feet.
Riiight
May 23rd, 2010
1:34 pm
We need to draft Sherron Collins in the 2nd Round and trade Mike Bibby
Grandad
May 23rd, 2010
1:35 pm
Mel:
My #2 son says Orlando must’ve hired Woodson!!!
Mel
May 23rd, 2010
1:43 pm
Grandad,
Yeah, Shaq said a couple of years ago that SVG is the master of panic… Guess we see what he was talking about..
lewis
May 23rd, 2010
1:49 pm
he doesn’t panic anymore than any other hc in the league…he just sucks at hiding his emotions
Grandad
May 23rd, 2010
2:00 pm
I am officially switching from ‘Zoubek’:
[didn't attend "Portsmouth"]
(wasn’t invited to combine)
Do not know his official measurements?
Now, for that reason + what I now know;
I’m leaping on the Dexter Pittman bandwagon!
Several of you guys were intrigued a week or so ago.
You get all the cred.
His measurements were off the charts:
per DraftExpress:
“Dexter Pittman is quite a unique physical specimen in his own right, measuring 6-9 ½ without shoes, with a 7-6 wingspan. He also has the biggest hands in this draft (a new stat) at 10.5 inches.”
Also, 6-11 with shoes.(honor grad) Big 12 Academic All-Conference
espnU – talked about teams in the NBA – East:
needed a player like him to battle D.Howard w/o committing to
double-teams.
Lost over 100 lbs. since arriving @ U of Texas. [committed worker]
Shot 60% career @ Tex. *perfect fit, spell Al & Josh, 20/25 min. per.
Plus, I don’t think he will be there in 2nd round….So @ # 24 = Dex.
Grandad
May 23rd, 2010
2:10 pm
2nd round = Ryan Richard
Mel – I’m alright with Sherron Collins also.
I think it’s funny that he outweighs Vanardo by 6 lbs.
216 – 210 / 10 inches shorter + 6 lbs heavier / thats just funny.
terrell
May 23rd, 2010
2:56 pm
If we want to get up and down the court, we dont want Pittman.
O'Brien
May 23rd, 2010
3:04 pm
Doc,
Nire will say that historically, teams don’t usually spend that kind of money until after they make a deep playoff run (the exception being the big money teams of course).
So one of 2 things need to happen. Hawks need to either make a deep playoff run, or fans need to show up to increase revenue, which might lead to ownership spending more.
Ken S,
The players have bought into thibodeau’s defense (I’m not sure woody’s players bought into his switch everything all the time. Although that could be because the switch was designed to hide bibby, who was the teacher’s pet).
And doc rivers has given thibodeau head coaching duties too, so i would love to see him get an interview.
But as doc said, we don’t even know if thibodeau is interested in the hawks (although I don’t see why he wouldn’t be).
Grandad,
Dexter Pittman in the second round is a good choice. But I also like varnado (although he is very skinny) if he is there.
I don’t want a rookie PG. We already have teague, so I would prefer a young vet
lewis
May 23rd, 2010
3:32 pm
“Nothing makes a guy more accountable on the floor in games and every day in practice than knowing there’s somebody behind him who is capable and ready to take his minutes,” said general manager Steve Kerr. “That goes for Steve and Amar’e. Alvin’s willingness to use all our roster throughout the year has let the reserve guys know that they’ll always get their chance and the starters know that there is never an excuse to pace yourself.”
Grandad
May 23rd, 2010
4:14 pm
O’Brien:
I don’t think Dex Pittman will still be around
when we pick in 2nd.
If you like somebody & they will help your team pick ‘em.
terrell:
The 1st thing you must have before you can run is
”possession” of the ball.
- and therefore -
(1) prevent other team from scoring [D.Howard]
(2) rebound
doc
May 23rd, 2010
4:24 pm
o’b, have you researched that theory to see if there is much truth to it??
cart or horse stuff, eh?
terrell
May 23rd, 2010
6:28 pm
Grandad, Pittman avg’d 10 and 6. We could get that from Randolph Morris. Why waste a draft pick? I say we go after a sf in the 1st,(Paul George), and possibly another sf in the 2nd(Stanley Robinson). Gottafind a replacement for Marvin. Maybe take a chance on Centers Jerome Jordan or Pittman, but unless we trade Josh Smith and move Horford to pf, or find a GM dumb enough to take Zaza’s contract off of our hands, why take a center? Center wasn’t the problem in my opinion. It was poor sf and pg play that did us in.
Big Ray
May 23rd, 2010
6:30 pm
Grandad ,
You clearly have the tolerance, patience, and wisdom that we younger ones lack. That is certainly admirable in the way of character traits.
Blast
May 23rd, 2010
6:46 pm
Quite impressed with the Celtics. They won my respect when they knocked out the mighty Cavs, now they are poised to sweep the team that swept Hawks! At 1.24 seconds to go in the first half of game 3, Orlando had only scored 6 points! Sweet to see Orlando get a taste of their own medicine. Like dishing it out, show now that you can take it.
Can Hawks take a leaf from Boston’s defence and unselfish play? They are winning as a team, not iso’s, and having Rondo blossming helps. I don’t think Hawks would have beaten Boston if they’d met in the playoffs this year. Boston is playing championship basketball.
Amazing how the herd thins out as we near the top. We all knew LA would come out tops in the West. Only question was who will they play in the West finals. Turns out to be suprising Phoenix, who are on the verge of being swept.
In the East, Cleveland was the favorite, Orlando a brooding underdog, and Boston a distant third. Look who is 3-0 now.
Even with a big lead in game 3, Boston never let up. They kept playing, kept hustling, kept scoring, pouring it on in the 4th. Hawks would have been playing not to lose, running down the clock, taking bad shots, playing selfish and turning the ball over as they unceremoniously lose the lead and game.
First it was the Sweet Sixteen. Then it was the Elite Eight. Now we are down to the Final Four, about to face off for the championship.
The NBA. Where amazing happens.
My money is on Boston to win it all.
Ramon
May 23rd, 2010
7:30 pm
Whomever the coach is, I pray it is announced by this time next week!
Here we go again
May 23rd, 2010
7:40 pm
“I don’t want a rookie PG. We already have teague, so I would prefer a young vet”
Why so Teague can waste away on the bench during cricial moments of a game when he could be getting valuable experience? NO sir!
I want our PG’s to be on the same level, they can learn together and be treated equally. Look at it this way They’re GOING to be able to play defense, handle the basketball, and give us more that 9ppg ESPECIALLY combined which is way more than we got from Bibby.
You sound just like woodson. Being a Rookie wasn’t a bad thing when D-Rose was droping 36 pts on the Celtics in the 2009 playoffs. It Certainly wasn’t a bad thing when Brandon Jennings lit us up for 34 in game 2 of the 1st Round.
Gearon even gave his blessing in an interview, which means that the owners are not afraid to scrifice a few wins so long as we’re there when it counts (i.e 2010 Celtics)