HOOPSWORLD | Basketball News & NBA Rumors

Coaching Searches Continue: There are four NBA teams actively looking for new head coaches – Houston, Indiana, Los Angeles and Golden State – and while each is at a different point in their search, a lot of the same names are showing up in multiple places.

Houston Rockets:  The Rockets seem to be down to three candidates with Celtics’ assistant Lawrence Frank, Mavericks’ assistant Dwane Casey and former Wolves’ coach and executive Kevin McHale comprising the three-person short list.

Sources close to the situation peg Dwane Casey as the front runner mainly because of his long experience in player development and extensive coach resume, something the Rockets were looking for in whomever they hired.

The fact Dallas is still playing and could be playing for several more weeks means Houston may not have an announcement on their coach until mid-June if the Mavericks advance past the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Hang tight Houston, Casey would be a very good hire and is well worth the wait.

Indiana Pacers:  Interim head coach Frank Vogel is said to be the front runner to keep the Pacers’ job, however there has been talk ownership wants president Larry Bird and General Manager David Morway to talk to a few additional candidates as due diligence before extending a contract to Vogel.

The Pacers are expected to talk with former Cavs’ coach Mike Brown, Celtics’ assistant Lawrence Frank, Mavericks’ assistant Dwane Casey, and Lakers’ assistant Chuck Person.

At the end of the day this might all be for naught as it seems the Pacers want Frank Vogel back, but whenever teams talk to additional candidates, especially as many as Indiana is going to talk to, it shows there is at least an inkling of doubt and that might be enough for an upset of the favorite – Frank Vogel.

L.A. Lakers:  There are a few thing to know about the L.A. Lakers coaching search: it’s not going to play out in the media like some other jobs have started to and the candidate that gets the job is going to have to play nice with Lakers’ executive Jim Buss, something outgoing coach Phil Jackson never did.

For weeks it was speculated current Laker assistant Brian Shaw was a front runner, however sources close to Shaw and the Lakers’ situation say he’ll get an interview out of courtesy but he is not considered a front runner.

Named coaches such as former Rockets’ coach Rick Adelman and former Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy seem to be getting more consideration than in-house candidates like Shaw.

League sources say that Adelman is the likely front runner, although he has not interviewed yet for the job. Dunleavy is considered a second choice candidate and sources near the situation say Dunleavy and Jim Buss got to know each other when Dunleavy was running the Clippers and there is a mild friendship which could be why Dunleavy is getting consideration despite his dismal track record with fellow Staples Center tenants the L.A. Clippers.

Lakers’ sources warned this weekend not to rule out left field candidates, as the search for their next coach is expected to be extensive.

In previous years the Lakers have extended their job to Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski and this coaching search could include another Hail Mary pass to a major name.

Coach K has said he is staying at Duke, but could the Lakers make a run at Kentucky’s John Calipari, Michigan State’s Tom Izzo or even Louisville’s Rick Pitino?

It would be hard to argue those three college coaches wouldn’t be better suited for the spotlight of coaching the Lakers than Brian Shaw and Mike Dunleavy.

It seems like Rick Adelman is the front runner, but with Jim Buss running the show on the Lakers next coach, it’s going to be hard to handicap this process simply because he is not openly talking to anyone sharing information outside of the organization.

Golden State Warriors:  The Warriors have amassed a short list of replacements for outgoing head coach Keith Smart and majority owner Joe Lacob is expected to be very hands on in selecting his next head coach.

Former Cavs’ coach Mike Brown, Mavs’ assistant Dwane Casey, Lakers’ assistants Brian Shaw and Chuck Person along with Celtics’ assistant Lawrence Frank are expected to interview formally in the coming days.

Warriors’ sources pegged Mike Brown and Lawrence Frank as the front runners.

Lacob, who was a minority investor with the Boston Celtics before purchasing the Warriors last summer, believes a defensive-oriented coach is the direction his club needs to go.

Brown and Frank fit the resume the Warriors are said to be looking for – coaches with a strong defensive philosophy and coaches that have run their own teams and been to the playoffs repeatedly.

Warriors have not established a timeline for hiring a coach, but with other teams talking to many of the same candidates there is some urgency before the ideal candidate gets gobbled up by a competing team.

Minnesota Timberwolves:  The Minnesota Timberwolves are expected to meet with head coach Kurt Rambis and his agent in Chicago this week to resolve the uncertainty surrounding Rambis.

It’s believed Rambis wants assurances his job is safe going into the season or he’d like his release to pursue other opportunities.

Wolves’ sources said it likely Rambis is retained and a new assistant coaching staff is hired.

Sources near the situation point to a fractured coaching staff as the reason the Wolves struggled down the stretch and there seems to be some level of support for that inside the management team in Minnesota.

Depending on the conditions the Wolves lay out for Rambis, he could be just as easily fired as retained, so the next week should shed some light on which direction the Wolves are headed at head coach.

A large number of the candidates listed above will be in Chicago this week for the NBA Draft Combine, so expect some of the interviewing to take place this weekend, especially against the back drop of draft picks.

It’s unlikely anyone gets hired this week, but it is likely a front runner is clear by week’s end and contract discussion start next week as teams begin working out draft picks in their building, something a head coach likes to be involved in.

Meet Jon Diebler: If you are a fan of Ohio State or a big time College basketball fan, the name Jon Diebler is all too familiar. He was an unconscious 50.2% from three-point range at Ohio State this season, thats second best in the nation. Diebler knocked in 114 threes on the season, which is good enough for fourth-best in the nation. To say Jon Diebler can shoot the basketball is a massive understatement.

Diebler is training for the NBA Draft at Impact Basketball in Las Vegas and hopes to prove to NBA teams that while he can still shoot the ball in a lights out fashion, that there is a little more to his game than just spotting up on the wing.

Diebler’s athletic game is not going to win him a lot of awards, but an NBA team sitting on a draft pick in the late forties, early fifties could do a lot worse than a kid that works as hard as Diebler, loves to be coached and can shoot the lights out from almost half court.

Looking Towards the Draft: The NBA’s annual Pre-Draft Combine gets underway in Chicago later this week and as teams head towards The Windy City in hopes of finding talent, teams like the Charlotte Bobcats need this draft – considered extremely flat in terms of talent – to pay off in a big way.

{AUTHOR_BOX}"We will get this right," Bobcats general manager Rod Higgins said to Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer.

The Bobcats have three selections in the first 39 picks, so packaging a couple of picks for a bigger asset or the chance to move up a few positions is a real possibility.

"Depending on the specifics, you’d always have to think about that," Higgins said. "Say, at No. 19 we are not seeing players who we think can help us. And there was a (veteran) available who’d be in our top seven or eight. You’d have to consider that."

The Bobcats have already started scheduling individual workouts and hope to look at prospects in their setting not just to gauge their talent and skill level but to get a feel for who these guys are and what they are really about.

"I want to see if a player’s skills match his NBA position. And intangibles are also very important: How passionate is he about basketball? Anybody would want to play in the NBA, for the lifestyle, the money, the fame. So you want to see some love of the craft."

The Bobcats have a number of needs to fill this off-season but with head coach Paul Silas looking to be more up-tempo next season adding athletes matters most.

"More athleticism in general, particularly as we transition between defense and offense, because Paul wants us to be more of an up-tempo team," Higgins described.

"You see the way (Dallas backup point guard) J.J. Barea has been breaking down defenses? That’s probably a need for us."

As things stand today the Bobcats look to hold the 9th, the 19th and 39th picks in the 2011 NBA Draft.

The NBA Draft Lottery is Tuesday night at 8:30pm EST on TNT, and unless the ping-pong balls show Charlotte some love, they will have to be extremely crafty to live up to Rod Higgins pledge of getting it right in a draft class that truly lacks star power.

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