Former Cavaliers coach Mike Brown and current Mavericks assistant Dwane Casey will be the first two interviews for the Warriors as they attempt to fill their head-coaching vacancy, ESPN.com’s Marc Stein is reporting.

One source told Stein that the Warriors established a mutual interest with Brown since former coach Keith Smart was fired on April 27th, and are hoping to interview Casey before the Western Conference Finals. HOOPSWORLD attempted to confirm the report, but were told that all coaching discussions will remain internal.

Stein went on to write that sources have told him the Warriors will gauge Jeff Van Gundy and Jerry Sloan’s interest, but it’s not known if they will be interviewed.

Brown built a 272-138 record and won the NBA’s Coach of the Year Award during his five seasons in Cleveland, while Casey went 53-59 during his one and a half seasons as head coach in Minnesota.

Both are known as defensive-minded coaches who are young enough to relate to players.

{AUTHOR_BOX} Another Syracuse Tweener?

For seemingly as long as Jim Boeheim has been the basketball coach at Syracuse, the Orange(men) have had a 6-9ish tweener in the middle of their 2-3 zone. And more often than not, he went on to fail as an NBA player.

Guys like Otis Hill, Darryl Watkins and J.B. Reafsnyder struggled because they weren’t quite big enough to defend centers or fast enough for power forwards at the professional level. Sure, Derrick Coleman, Rony Seikaly and Etan Thomas had success in the NBA, but Boeheim’s bigs have been more Craig Forth than Louis Orr.

The latest Syracuse player to get slapped with the “tweener” label does have one thing going for him: He’s never even heard the term.

“The what?” Syracuse senior Rick Jackson asked after participating in the Nets Scouting Combine on Sunday.

"Tweener" may have been new to Jackson, but not because it’s unfitting. Jackson is 6-9, and despite anchoring the middle of Syracuse’s defense for the past four seasons, he’s likely going to have a size or a speed disadvantage as a pro.

“It’s going to be a challenge from guarding these guys to having to guard Shaq or something like that,” Jackson told HOOPSWORLD.

“I’ve always been that way—able to play the 4 and play the 5 at times,” he continued. “I just try to work on my quickness and my defense so I can guard the Carmelo Anthonys and the great players like that out there on the wing. Just stay in front of them and make them try to make tough shots.”

Jackson did more than that as a senior. After averaging 9.7 PPG, 7.0 RPG and 2.0 BPG in 2009-2010, the Philadelphia native exploded for 13.1 PPG, 10.3 RPG and 2.5 BPG this past season and continued to impress scouts at the Portsmouth Invitational, where he tallied 17 points and 12 boards in one 30-minute performance.

But as good as he’s played over the past 300 or so days, Jackson still has moments of insecurity. Like any prospect, he wants to make the best impression he can on a scout, but it can be hard to get noticed when you’re playing with four other guys that are trying to set themselves apart as well.

“Yeah it’s always going to be that way,” Jackson said. “You obviously want to do more than what you do sometimes. Sometimes you get lucky and you play your best game, but you know it’s not going to always be that way. You’re going to miss shots and all I can do is try and focus on rebounding, you know, because that’s what’s going to get me to where I need to be. You know, rebounding, defense, and just finishing around the basket.”

Fortunately for Jackson, he was able to show his rebounding and defensive abilities on Sunday.

“I think I did a great job—a good job,” he said. “I started cramping up a little bit at the end. You know you’ve got to keep fighting through it. Show people that you’re tough and you’re not going to quit just because things get hard.

“I think things went good,” he continued. “I came out here and gave it all that I had. I just tried to rebound, run the floor, just really tried to be a defensive threat out there. You know, it’s going to be hard to really get shots up and things like that because guys are just running and shooting and just trying to play. But overall I think it was a good day.”

Jackson is trying to cross the same bridge that many undersized centers have failed to cross before him. The ones who have succeeded—guys like Ben Wallace and Dave Cowens—have all been solid rebounders. And according to Boeheim, that could be Jackson’s ticket to the NBA as well.

“Me and him just talked about rebounding,” Jackson said. “That’s what teams want me to do and that’s what I’ve been trying to focus on, but at the same time I’m trying to step out and maybe shoot the ball, a little midrange, and show scouts some different things that I didn’t do in college.”

Jackson is probably a second-rounder at best, but if the CBA can get resolved between the owners and the union, several teams should show interest even if he goes undrafted.

Henderson to Undergo Hip Surgery

Bobcats guard Gerald Henderson is set to have surgery to repair a torn labrum on his left hip today in Vail, Colorado, the team announced in a statement. The belief is that if a congenital defect with his hip can be fixed, Henderson wouldn’t suffer from knee tendinitis.

“Gerald had some knee tendinitis issues this season, and the doctors have told us that fixing this congenital defect in his hip should alleviate those problems," Bobcats General Manager Rod Higgins said in the statement. "The doctors also feel that addressing the hip issue now will help prevent the possibility of further damage in the future."

The timeline for Henderson’s recover is 4-6 months, but the team made a point of writing that, “he is expected to fully participate in training camp prior to the 2011-12 season.”

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