Sund and Hill Relieved
Posted on Tuesday, April 24th, 2007 at 4:04 pm by Brian Robinson
SEATTLE , Tuesday, April 24, 2007 – Seattle SuperSonics Head Coach Bob Hill will not return to the team next season and General Manager Rick Sund will serve the organization as a consultant during the remaining one year of his contract, it was announced today by Sonics Chairman Clay Bennett.
Bennett and Sonics Vice-Chairman Lenny Wilkens will lead the search for a new General Manager and Head Coach of the SuperSonics.
“Bob Hill and Rick Sund are fine individuals of excellent personal character and are basketball men through and through. They were both extremely helpful to us during this challenging year of transition. We are sincerely appreciative to them for their service and we wish them only the very best,” Bennett said.
“While there is uncertainty as to the future physical location of our franchise, our commitment to creating a culture of competitive excellence for this organization is unwavering. We absolutely aspire to win championships.”
April 24th, 2007 at 4:07 pm
After 2 hours of hitting the refresh button on my e-mail the rumor is confirmed. Official news made.
I’d guess more organizational changes to be made. I have not at this time heard any concrete rumors regarding these particular positions since talk of both David Griffen and Marc Ivaroni of Phoenix emerged a couple of months ago. I know both of these names are in the mix but there are lots of discussions around the league and the office. I’ll let you know if I hear more.
April 24th, 2007 at 4:21 pm
So they did deliver the news to Hill right after he had hernia surgery. Interesting timing.
And what exactly does Sund’s consulting job mean? I have to wonder if Wilkens will be calling the draft and trade shots but using Sund as the guy that knows how to dot the T’s and cross the i’s.
April 24th, 2007 at 4:22 pm
Now, the team can get on with its future. What’s Griffen’s resume like?
My coaching interview list:
1. Silas
2. Ivaroni
3. Carlisle
4. Sam Mitchell (if the rumors that he may be relieved in Toronto are true)
5. Dwayne Casey
I’m against the Rick Adelman idea; he’s a Portland guy. That’s not what we need right now when the team is threatened to be moved out of town. Silas has been a solid, but, not spectacular coach in the league, but, if you surround him with a good GM and decent assistant coaches, he’ll be fine.
April 24th, 2007 at 4:22 pm
I’m relieved as well.
April 24th, 2007 at 4:24 pm
Whats next? we add vetrans and draft good quality players that can help the team. And Rick Adelman coach. and lenny wilkins GM. then we can talk about winning championships.
April 24th, 2007 at 4:24 pm
And what exactly does Sund’s consulting job mean?
Probably what it meant for Weiss… Cameron Wong’s new sidekick.
April 24th, 2007 at 4:39 pm
“Probably what it meant for Weiss… Cameron Wong’s new sidekick.”
He he. Gawd, no! Boob Hill was bad enough! Arrrgh, Dick, you always have to spoil good news with bad!
Seriously, I am so happy to hear this. But against the backdrop of the team leaving, I guess we only have 1 more year here in Seattle to hit the jackpot. I say make some key personnel changes and go for it. It would be one final F/U to the Seattle naysayer biaatches. Then again, might even get to keep the team if they pulled that off.
April 24th, 2007 at 4:45 pm
ESPN is sayinig that this year was our worst record in 21 years. Let’s see that would have been 1986…the year before Chambers, the X-Man, and Dale Ellis. Who was on that team?
Funny, I think that some of our issues were similar to this team. There was a point guard who people didn’t think could lead the team (Nate McMillan) including Red Aurbach who called him ABA talent. In addition, there was a little bit of talent, but, it wasn’t gelling much at all. The drafts gradually started to turn those teams around; let’s hope history repeats itself.
April 24th, 2007 at 5:02 pm
“Bennett and Sonics Vice-Chairman Lenny Wilkens will lead the search for a new General Manager and Head Coach of the SuperSonics.”
I assume this language was carefully chosen and hope it will be precisely followed. These are joint one-step decisions. They are looking for a GM.
April 24th, 2007 at 5:03 pm
Who was on that team?
Funny enough, one of the players the guy the Sonics drafted last time they had the #5 pick… none other than Studly Danny Vranes.
Funny, I think that some of our issues were similar to this team. There was a point guard who people didn’t think could lead the team (Nate McMillan) including Red Aurbach who called him ABA talent.
Nate led the Sonics to the Conference finals during his ROOKIE season.
April 24th, 2007 at 5:24 pm
“Who was on that team?”
Starting lineup was:
PG - Gerald Henderson
SG - Al Wood / Michael Phelps / Danny Young rotating
SF - Xavier McDaniel
PF - Tim McCormick
C - Jack Sikma
Chambers was the 6th man as an instant offense type. The backcourt was an absolute joke, to which the losses can be attributed. Mac10 and Ellis coming in the next year provided the firepower from the guard positions which transformed the team’s fortunes.
April 24th, 2007 at 5:28 pm
Bye Bye Bob Hill!! Almost the best news to hear in a couple weeks!! *applause* Bennett and Wilkens should hire Rick Adelman or Rick Carlisle!! Go Sonics!!
April 24th, 2007 at 5:50 pm
So I heard(but in no way confirmed) that the job of the other pieces on the management side, scouts and assistant GM Rich Cho are safe. I certainly hope so. Rich is a great guy who I didn’t want to get caught up in this.
According to Kevin Calabro the assistant coaches are basically put on hold, with the new coach being allowed to choose his own staff. This is simply great news. we don’t need feel good stories who were good players. We need solid, experienced assistants with a track record in the league. Bob Hill was not given that option.
I am still bugged by the way they deliver this kind of news. Putting it out at 4pm to ensure that it doesn’t hit the talk show circuit and the beat guys don’t get to work the phones. The organization is always afraid of any type of percieved negative coverage.
Obviously Bob and Rick need to get the news directly. After that the thing to do is leak this firing to Hughes, Percy Allen, or Washburn and let them run with breaking the story for a couple of hours. Then they “owe” you a little bit and you earn some points for a later date. Just having the press release go out is pretty much business as usual for this team and IMO a poor way to play the media relations game.
April 24th, 2007 at 5:50 pm
I for one am a bit nervous about Lenny Wilkens having any say ofver the direction of this team. It seems to me bennet could have found a more relevant and talented right hand man.
April 24th, 2007 at 5:58 pm
Their are a number of coaching options that could work. The challenge for the coach is to get Watson and Ridnour to play consistently. Neither NEEDS to get “better”. They simply need to play consistently from game to game. If we could actually expect 11 points and 5-6 assists from Rid and 9 and 6 from Watson then the PG situation would be in better shape. Consistent PG play would allow us to take the ball out of Ray’s hands. He is better when he plays off the ball. He was playing a Kobe game this year (ie., creating off the dribble) when he needs to be more Reggie Miller (catch and shoot).
The real challenge is for the GM. They have too many contracts that are tough to trade. I think they need to be good and get lucky to make a major trade. The team has been set up to count on the improvement of the young guys. I wouldn’t be surprised if the new GM did very little until the next off-season.
On another note, watching a game late in the season, I was surprised how much Lenny seems to like Luke. So, I doubt he is going anywhere.
April 24th, 2007 at 6:27 pm
We need solid, experienced assistants with a track record in the league. Bob Hill was not given that option.
Doesn’t Cheisa count?
April 24th, 2007 at 7:51 pm
we have to find a way to clean house and keep ray rashard and wilcox and maybe one of the young bigs we need a guy coming off the bench that gives instant offens we need a tru point guard that can go for 20 points a night [when needed only not saying i would want him to average that but a scoring threat at point would help]and we need a shot blocker rebounder then we can fill in the blanks .if i’m goin the wrong route lets put some ideas together and maybe we can all come up with something damn it
April 24th, 2007 at 8:35 pm
I would just be reieved if sonics stayed in town.
April 24th, 2007 at 8:55 pm
A certain Boston PG is about to become available….
April 24th, 2007 at 8:55 pm
I not serious about bringing in the aforementioned Celtic, in case anybody missed the joke.
April 24th, 2007 at 9:33 pm
ha its a shame i’m from ny seem like someone pulled the rug from under him
April 24th, 2007 at 9:52 pm
Don’t know if you saw this, but TrueHoop, a column Henry Abbott on ESPN dropped a SonicsCentral reference. Cool stuff.
http://tinyurl.com/ywvege
April 24th, 2007 at 10:01 pm
MK,
I caught it (it showed up in our admin links alerts) and wrote a comment on his blog thanking him for the link love.
Big Chris
April 24th, 2007 at 10:21 pm
What about Dwayne Casey? He was good enough to be the assistant head coach here and would have had the job in 2005, but when everyone thought that Nate would stay, he took the Minne job where he got the shaft big time. He’s a sharp guy and must have learned something from a half season as head coach.
April 24th, 2007 at 11:28 pm
If Lenny Wilkens is either coach or GM this team has no upside for many years to come. At least the current team has some talent, good draft picks and tradeable assets.
April 25th, 2007 at 12:34 am
Get PJ Carlesimo. The Spurs are always willing to let him interview in the offseason.
April 25th, 2007 at 8:19 am
I want to hear from Wilkins and Bennett what kind of team we are going to be. Up tempo or slow down. Defensive stoppers or high 0ctane offense. Princeton offense or triangle, or ???. Then hire a GM who understands the vision and can get personnel to play it, then hire a coach who can coach it, then get the players.
But the “were going to be the best we can be” is BS. Get a plan and stick with it for 5 years.
April 25th, 2007 at 8:32 am
“I want to hear from Wilkins and Bennett what kind of team we are going to be.”
I want neither of these two deciding this. I want them to hire a General Manager, and I want that guy to decide what kind of team he wants to build. Then hire in the coach that fits in line with that vision. Then go get the players that fit into that mold.
“But the “were going to be the best we can be” is BS.”
No its not, it is exactly what they should be saying.
“Get a plan and stick with it for 5 years.”
I prefer ‘get a better plan and stick with it’ because that’s what the last group did and the 5 year plan didn’t go so well.
April 25th, 2007 at 9:22 am
Any truth to this post on another forum?
“Sooner, there is really no way the team will stay in Seattle. I’m a Seattlite, and a life-long Sonic fan. One of my best friends is an account executive with the team, and he told me that after an all-staff meeting with Bennett yesterday, there is absolutely no way the team stays in Seattle. Not only has Bennett given up on the legistlature, the Sonics have lost the piece of land in Renton that the new arena would have been built on (there will be a press release on that in the next day or two). The investor who was going to help buy the land is unwilling to risk the investment if there is no state money for the arena, so now there is no land for a new arena.As for the residents of the area supporting a public-funded arena, there’s pretty much zero support. Key Arena was remodeled only 11 years ago at $220 million, and is already outdated. Safeco Field and Qwest Field have also been built, and all have been publicly funded. People are tired of helping finance these buildings when there are other serious issues to attend to (big transportation problems), even though the money for a new arena would come out of an existing tax. So unless we draft Oden or Durant and there is a last second private sector push for a new building, say hello to the Oklahoma City’s new professional team. (Hopefully Seattle can keep the Sonic name, kinda like Cleveland did w/ the Browns)”
April 25th, 2007 at 9:24 am
The last groups 5 year plan was: spend as little as possible and then sell the team for profit.
There was no other plan than that.
April 25th, 2007 at 9:57 am
This is the best news I’ve heard since, I don’t know, the second week of the season when our optimism was still fresh!!!!!
April 25th, 2007 at 10:11 am
I, as a fan, would be happy with the hiring of Dwayne Casey.
He seems to be a solid coach that was not given a fair chance in Minnesota.
Plus he knows this organization.
April 25th, 2007 at 10:37 am
There was nowhere near that much information spread in the employee meeting.
I’ll try to confirm the status of the option to purchase the land. I’ll tell you however that it is a complete and total no-brainer for Harvest Partners to sell that land to the PBC at any time if they get the arena approved. The public announcement of a purchase option was a nice story, but it was pretty irrelevant. Harvest Partners stands to gain millions on their development by facilitating the creation of this arena. If the option has an expiration date (which is pretty standard in these types of documents) it in no way precludes anyone from coming back to the table. I know Renton has not given up.
I’m not as optimistic as I once was, it’s hard to not get caught up in the rhetoric but I’m nowhere near as pessimistic as you on this. I always knew these threats would have to be made and that things would get under the gun. I’m hearing some names tossed around as potential hires that make me think this group is really, really serious about how it operates. If one of them comes to fruition it will be a name that nobody recognizes but could create a huge impact. To me the fact that they are talking to people of this caliber is a very good sign.
April 25th, 2007 at 10:45 am
“Plus he knows this organization.”
I’d say he ‘knew’ this organization. In reality since he’s left they’ve been sold, the GM replaced and the head coach replaced twice.
April 25th, 2007 at 10:49 am
Brief guesses on GM candidates:
Griffin may be a top candidate but if Lenny has a lot of power or moving seems likely that probably removes him.
Presti could be too young for Bennett.
Tony Ronzone may have helped find Dirk but he also recommended Darko and looking at what he said about other recent european flameouts I cant see bennett’s new direction being taking an international scout and making him a first time GM.
I could see Lenny liking fit with Wayne Cooper. Use to being #2 and former player.
I could see Bennett perhaps gravitating to John Hammond . Lots of coaching experience in addition to front office. Might understand team chemistry.
I looked at John Gabriel but was completely nonplused by his log of transactions at hoopshype.
April 25th, 2007 at 11:11 am
Carlisle apparently just got fired
April 25th, 2007 at 11:41 am
“Carlisle apparently just got fired”
Yup, they just announced that.
http://www.realgm.com/src_wiretap_archives/45810/20070425/pacers_fire_carlisle/
Though, I have a hard time believing that he would be all that great for the current squad the Sonics have, as I don’t see them being able to win with a half court offense.
April 25th, 2007 at 1:39 pm
“Key Arena was remodeled only 11 years ago at $220 million, and is already outdated.”
Where did you get that number? The Key Arena remodel costed less than half that, $100 million.
April 25th, 2007 at 2:46 pm
I read this nice article in Sunday’s Times (or PI, don’t remember) about the whole arena deal. It put forward a real simple suggestion that I haven’t even seen discussed. It was suggesting that since PBC has already agreed to spend $100M+ out of their pocket for the “Renton” arena, why not spend that money to fix/expand the Key? Renovating the Key is certainly gonna cost less than building a brand new arena, and I think the state legislature will be more willing to help. Anyone know if that’s an option that’s being considered?
April 25th, 2007 at 4:10 pm
NK,
one reason is that there are too many decent restaurants and bars close to the KeyArena in lower Queen Anne and Seattle Center. The new management can maximize their profit by having wealthy patrons eat and drink before the games at overpriced places inside the new arena. Hence the focus on the suburban locations.
Another reason is keeping virtually all profits from all events in the new arena to themselves. This is not the case with KeyArena.
Yet another reason is luxury suites. Regular folks may have a problem with spending a lot of money to essentially upgrade luxury suites at the Key Arena. With the new arena, the focus on the luxury suites won’t be as obvious.
The new owners have little compassion for local fans, the Seattle team is just an investment for them.
April 25th, 2007 at 4:25 pm
Alex,
Why do you think that Sebastian Telfair has become available? Honestly, because he’s not that great. Yes, he does have the ability to penetrate, but, he’s too short to ever be a great defender in the league. I’d rather draft Acie Law than create more defensive defficiencies at the point guard position.
Telfair was annointed a “savior” in both Portland and Boston. He succeeded in neither place. Trust me, Portland’s current point guard, Jarrett Jack, has much more of an upside than Telfair. Jack is a more solid point defensively. He’s a better combo guard more in the mold of Sam Cassell. I think we can find a similar guy if we draft Acie Law.
Connelly may also be a better option than Telfair. I just hope that Connelly doesn’t turn into the next Kenny Anderson. Anderson had a phenomenal college career where he could beat absolutely everyone down the floor on the break when he played for Georgia Tech, but, he was just an average journeyman as a pro. In college, he looked like he had the speed of Barbosa or Tony Parker.
April 25th, 2007 at 4:35 pm
“Another reason is keeping virtually all profits from all events in the new arena to themselves. This is not the case with KeyArena.”
You’re right … because with the lease arrangement the way it is nobody makes money at the Key because the city of Seattle is a horrible entity to do business with. That’s why nobody is scheduling concerts at the Key, it’s why the liquor arrangements at the Key suck, it’s why all the truly big time promoters in this town won’t schedule shows there regularly any more and why the City of Seattle will lose all 3 of the sports-themed tenants they had there.
If your point was to insinuate that KeyArena is somehow a good facility, it’s not.
“The new owners have little compassion for local fans, the Seattle team is just an investment for them. ”
And every other pro sports franchise isn’t primarily an investment for its respective owners? Puh-leeze.
April 25th, 2007 at 5:06 pm
James, that was quite a bit of wasted ink about Telfair. You must’ve missed Alex’s immediate follow-up post about missing the joke.
April 25th, 2007 at 5:16 pm
Okay, I missed the joke about Telfair. I’m sure some other team will pick him up, and then he’ll continue his career as a journeyman…
April 25th, 2007 at 6:53 pm
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18317516/
This is probably the info that Bel was referring to that paints a dim picture. I’m not sure whether the casinos possibility is even alive at this point because this comes after the supposed talks with the tribe and Bennett says he doesn’t see a way to get it done.
So…any other ideas?
April 25th, 2007 at 8:07 pm
But Bassy has been through the fire…
April 26th, 2007 at 11:34 am
$220 million was the proposed cost of second redo.
Mark S was right the first redo in mid 90s was under $100 million.
Sonics owners talk of putting in $100 million was largely or exclusively from naming rights. I’ve heard Key Arena naming rights expire in 2010 and that is probably right though I havent confirmed it.
Sale of those future naming rights could be used to do some rehab with or without Sonics . Whether Sonics remain or not certainly will affect value received. Not sure if naming rights with Sonics in Seattle in Key would be significantly different in new arena in a lower income suburb.
I might have been willing to speculate further on Seattle option or any other option but I dont think I will do any more of that until Bennett shows whether he will seriously try any more. To me the burden is on him. If he thinks it is the other way around and on public officials, probably nothing will get done.
April 27th, 2007 at 9:03 am
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/sonics/2003683358_sonics27m.html
Bennett talking about Las Vegas.
…
March 26th, 2008 at 7:20 pm
ezine articles
Good post!
April 22nd, 2008 at 11:24 am
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