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Bower steps down as GM of Hornets

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Associated Press

NEW ORLEANS -- New Orleans Hornets general manager Jeff Bower resigned Wednesday to become an assistant coach at Penn State.

The moves comes three days after the Hornets fired coach Paul Silas and his assistants.

Bower has been with the Hornets for six seasons, two as GM. He'll stay with the team through the NBA draft June 26.

Meanwhile, former Chicago Bulls coach Tim Floyd is expected to be interviewed by the Hornets next week.

Floyd is not necessarily a leading candidate, a team source who asked not to be identified told The Associated Press. Team officials have said they expect to meet with several candidates, although they have not identified any others.

When Floyd resigned as Bulls coach in December 2001, his record in a little more than three seasons was 49-190, one of the worst ever for an NBA coach.

Reached by The Times-Picayune of New Orleans, Floyd confirmed he would talk with the Hornets.

"This would be a dream come true," Floyd said. "We love this part of the country. And the Hornets are a very fine team. I'd love the opportunity to coach them if given the chance."

Before taking over at Chicago, Floyd was 81-47 in four seasons as head coach at Iowa State, with three of those teams going to the NCAA Tournament. His 1996-97 team reached the regional final, losing 74-73 in overtime to UCLA.

Floyd coached at the University of New Orleans for six seasons, compiling a 127-58 mark, including NCAA berths in 1991 and '93. Floyd is 243-130 as a college head coach with five NCAA tournament appearances.

One other possible candidate is Mike Fratello, who coached Atlanta and Cleveland and is a friend of Hornets minority owner Ray Wooldridge.

Former New York Knicks coach Jeff Van Gundy could be another candidate but the Knicks have yet to allow him to meet with other teams before his contract with them expires on Aug 1.

Hornets owners George Shinn and Wooldridge still have yet to specify why they fired Silas, who was popular among players and fans and had taken the team to the playoffs four times in five seasons, twice getting to the second round.

Team spokesman Harold Kaufman said Tuesday that the owners just wanted to "go in a different direction."

"They feel Bob Bass is the architect of one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference and they feel they owe it to the fans to help get the team to next level," Kaufman said. "They think the talent is there."