Croce has three obvious choices to fill vacant coaching spot

by Paul Moser sports editor

The Philadelphia 76ers' ended their season, mercifully, on Saturday, April 19. The next day they fired head coach Johnny Davis and general manager Brad Greenberg.

The Sixers had the fifth worst record in the league and were under .500 for the seventh time in a row.

Philadelphia 76ers' president Pat Croce stated that he "made a mistake" in hiring Davis and Greenberg.

That mistake turned into a 2260 record.

Davis and Greenberg did not instill discipline in the organization and as a result caused total disarray.

The Sixers must now look for- ward to signing a new head coach.

Croce is now looking for a proven NBA head coach to take over the Sixers.

There are three obvious choices for the heir apparent to Davis:

Most likely candidate

The most likely contender for the position is Larry Brown. He is coming off four years in the Indiana Pacers' organization, and before that had a successful stint with he San Antonio Spurs.

Brown brought the Pacers to the next level. His team almost made it to the NBA finals, losing in the conference finals to the New York Knicks.

I like Brown because he is a very dominating presence as a head coach and can work with NBA stars, such as David Robinson with the Spurs and Reggie Miller with the Pacers. Brown will be the easiest to get for many reasons. He is coming off a disappointing season with an old Pacers team who no longer look like a contender. Brown may be looking for a young team to transform into a champion, and you do not get much younger than the core talent of the Sixers, namely Jerry Stackhouse and Allen Iverson.

Compared to the other choices Croce is likely to look at, Brown will come relatively cheap, considering that the Pacers will give the Sixers the opportunity to talk with Brown. He will probably be the early frontrunner in the Sixers head coaching position.

Most intriguing candidate

Rick Pitino is the most intriguing candidate for the 76ers' head coaching job.

Pitino could pick any coaching position in the league right now that is open and he would be named head coach before he could speak another word. Pitino comes off of two successful seasons in a row as head coach at the

University of Kentucky. He won the NCAA tournament last year and he took a younger team to this year's final game, losing a heartbreaker to Arizona.

If Pitino were to leave Kentucky, he would probably wait until the NBA lottery this month to see where the teams stand in this years draft order.

If the 76ers' were to get the number one pick in the draft, Pitino would be more likely to come to the Sixers because of the imposing team they could be in future years with he addition of Tim Duncan.

Best candidate

Phil Jackson from the Chicago Bulls is the best candidate for the job. Pitino supporters may question my sanity, but believe me, I have weighed the issues.

Jackson is coming off of a one year contract with the Bulls after successfully coaching them to four championships in six seasons.

Jackson has proven he can win it all at the NBA level. Granted, he had Michael Jordan to help him out, but look at the success of Pat Riley after he left the Lakers and Magic Johnson.

Jackson has proven he can do two things in his career other than win.

First, he can handle a bad attitude, such as Dennis Rodman. He would be great with Iverson and Derrick Coleman.

Second, he has successfully balanced two superstars on one team. Scottie Pippen and Michael Jordan have combined together on all four of Chicago's championship seasons.

I think the key to the Sixers future is finding a way that Stackhouse and Iverson can coexist on one team.

Jackson is the right answer. If you are going to pick one highpriced coach, you may as well pick him to lead the Sixers to a championship.