Legendary college basketball coach Don “Bear” Haskins calls Tim Floyd “probably the best recruiter I’ve ever known.” Now Floyd faces his greatest challenge.
He must convince Michael Jordan that he’s more than just some pretty-boy college coach from Iowa State who kissed up to Bulls General Manager Jerry Krause.
First, however, Bulls Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf must persuade Jordan to so much as grant Floyd an audience. For two years Jordan has heard the rumors Krause wants to hire Floyd, and for two years Jordan has rolled his eyes.
Indications from several sources Wednesday were (1) Reinsdorf and Krause are leaning toward hiring Floyd to replace Phil Jackson, but (2) Jordan has balked at meeting with a guy he and Jackson derisively nicknamed “Pink,” as in the rock group Pink Floyd.
So Reinsdorf could choose to (1) Hire Floyd anyway and hope Jordan eventually would agree to play for him, or (2) Hire a top NBA assistant approved by Jordan, or (3) Elevate Bulls assistant Frank Hamblen and (4) Make Floyd an assistant until Jordan retires.
There are no indications the Bulls have interviewed any candidate but Floyd. However, the Arizona Republic reported Wednesday that the Bulls have asked permission to talk with Phoenix Suns assistant Scott Skiles. Reinsdorf declined comment on the Bulls’ search, citing the “sensitivity” of the current NBA lockout.
Yet, although players and management aren’t supposed to have any contact, a source close to Jordan says that shouldn’t prevent discussions with Reinsdorf about the coaching search.
Here’s what Jordan and many Bulls fans probably don’t know: If any coach with such unspectacular credentials could persuade Jordan to give him a chance, it probably would be Floyd. The guy who coaches the Cyclones is just that: a whirlwind of charisma, dedication and highly respected defensive coaching savvy. If Jordan gave him an hour, Jordan probably would be impressed.
But for now Jordan would rather get pink eye than meet with “Pink” because Floyd is Krause’s “boy.” Jordan resents Krause for the credit he attempts to take for building Jordan’s dynasty and for making Jackson’s life miserable the last two seasons. Occasionally Krause has tried to sell some media members on Floyd’s merits.
In doing so Krause has all but ruined his favorite candidate’s chances. In many fans’ eyes, Floyd has become the coaching equivalent of Floyd the Barber.
For sure he has become Krause’s “fishing buddy.” Krause boasted to reporters that he has fished with Floyd and the legend grew like Moby Dick. Lately Krause has protested he and Floyd have fished together only four or five times.
But Krause clearly is taken with the 44-year-old coach. Krause invited Floyd, but not Jackson, to his daughter’s wedding last summer and made sure Floyd spent time with Reinsdorf.
But you have to wonder if the only fish Floyd wanted to catch was Krause. Krause says he’s strictly a “catch and release” fisherman. So might Floyd do to Krause what Jackson did: befriend him until Krause hired him, then turn on the GM? Catch and release?
Krause, loathed by most of his players (and in turn by many fans), desperately wants a coach who will remain loyal to him. Krause can be an easy mark for a supersalesman such as Floyd.
Floyd always has been fanatically ambitious–perhaps blindly so at times.
As a backup player at Louisiana Tech, Floyd wrote a note to Haskins at the University of Texas-El Paso asking for a coaching job. Haskins knew Floyd’s father, Lee, who coached at Southern Mississippi. Haskins gave Floyd a shot as a recruiter for a salary under five figures.
In his book “Haskins: the `Bear’ Facts,” Haskins writes, “If Tim had just one dollar for every hour he spent working after 5 p.m., he’d be a rich man. . . . He used to wear me out recruiting. He never took no for an answer.”
But as a head coach at Idaho and New Orleans, Floyd also developed a reputation for taking chances on players with questionable grades and character. In 1990 the Los Angeles Times reported that New Orleans coach Floyd tried to recruit 6-foot-10-inch Clifford Allen while he was in prison. Allen already had been run off by Nevada-Las Vegas coach Jerry Tarkanian and three junior colleges.
Allen said Floyd had visited him at the correctional facility in Chino, Calif., and offered him and his girlfriend illegal inducements. Floyd wouldn’t respond to repeated interview requests.
An NCAA source says it has watched Floyd closely for several years, but it hasn’t been able to prove any wrongdoing.
In his first three seasons at Iowa State, Floyd’s teams went 64-29 and made the NCAA tournament each March. His 1996-97 team made it to the Sweet 16. Only because Floyd couldn’t get two potential stars in school last year did his team go 12-18.
Haskins says, “Nobody plays defense better than his teams.”
Yet how do you sell Floyd to Bulls fans? Rick Pitino had just taken Providence to a Final Four before going to the Knicks. John Calipari had just taken Massachusetts to the Final Four before going to the Nets. Krause’s “boy” just went 12-18.
Then again, the Jerrys often don’t care what anyone thinks–perhaps including Jordan.
Some in the organization believe if Jordan truly wants to play another season, he’ll play for just about any coach if Scottie Pippen returns. Yet don’t forget how irritated Jordan was by showman Calipari’s running, jumping, flailing, screaming style. Floyd has some emotional showman in him too. Floyd would have to calm down to have a chance with Jordan.
But first he’ll have to get his foot in Jordan’s door.
