A different direction
Bucks show Ford the door; Versace also won't return
Posted: Wednesday August 26, 1998 08:29 PM
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Ford coached the Bucks to a 36-46 record last season Tom Hauck/Allsport |
MILWAUKEE (AP) -- Chris Ford, who failed to end the Milwaukee Bucks'
seven-year playoff absence, was fired Wednesday as coach.
The team is "going in a different direction," general manager Bob
Weinhauer said during a news conference. "We're in the business of winning
basketball games. Even though we've had success to some extent, we have not
had enough."
Point guard Terrell
Brandon, acquired in a major trade last September, said Ford's firing
did not surprise him.
"I've been traded before, so I learned not to be surprised," Brandon
said. "When you're around for a certain amount of years, you understand the
business and I think it's a business decision more than anything else."
Brandon said he liked Ford, and a new coach would be an adjustment for
everyone.
"I think he was great. I just started to understand his philosophy, so
that'll be different," Brandon said. "But we have some good guys on the
team that can adjust to different things."
Ford, 49, a former Boston Celtics coach,
joined the Bucks in June 1996 with a three-year contract. The Bucks hired
him after Mike Dunleavy moved up the general manager. But Dunleavy resigned
as general manager in 1996 and later returned to coaching in Portland.
The Bucks were 33-49 in Ford's first season and showed only slight
improvement, to 36-46, last season.
Weinhauer and Bucks owner Herb Kohl made the decision to fire Ford Monday
after lengthy discussion, Weinhauer said.
"Chris Ford has in many respects done a good job," Kohl said. "But we
think in order to maximize the talent that we have, the best thing is to go
and find a coach of a nature, of a sort that would ensure that we reach the
next level."
Weinhauer said he spoke with Ford Wednesday morning, and "I can safely
say he was disappointed, but understanding."
Assistant Dick Versace also was fired, Weinhauer said.
It will be up to Ford's replacement whether to keep assistants Jim Todd
and Mike Woodson, Weinhauer said.
Team members had not been told of the decision before the announcement
because of the NBA lockout, which prohibits players and managers from
speaking.
Weinhauer acknowledged the awkward timing of the move, which came during
the lockout and two months after the NBA draft.
"Some of you might wonder ... why now," he said. "I think this summer is
unusual because of the lockout and the time that we had.
"Even if this were a normal summer, if we felt that this was the right
thing to do now, it probably would be the right thing to do whether there
[was] a lockout or not a lockout," Weinhauer said.
The team plans to "go after the best people that are available" to
replace Ford, Weinhauer said. He said he had a short list of candidates,
although he declined to identify anyone.
Ford's successor will be the team's sixth coach since 1987.
This decade the Bucks have been unable to parlay lottery picks into a
playoff berth. The Bucks were widely expected to end their playoff drought
last year, with a nucleus of forwards Glenn Robinson
and Tyrone
Hill and guards Ray Allen and
Brandon. But all four lost significant playing time to injury, dooming the
team to a seventh straight lottery-pick finish.
The Bucks said they would honor the third year of Ford's contract.
Ford spent five years as Celtics coach and has a 291-283 career record.
Ford did not attend the press conference and didn't return phone messages
left at his office and at his home.
Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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