Issel Bows To Pressure, Steps Down At Denver
Dan Issel, who helped turn around a foundering franchise, resigned as coach of the Denver Nuggets on Sunday, saying the duties and pressures of the job “have started to make me something I don’t want to be.”
In a hastily arranged news conference, Issel, 46, said he will remain with the Nuggets’ organization. His specific duties haven’t been determined, but he might help oversee the team’s move into a new arena in 1997.
Assistant Gene Littles will become interim head coach for the remainder of the season. Mike Evans will remain an assistant, and a second assistant will be hired soon.
Issel said he and general manager Bernie Bickerstaff “have been talking about it for a long time. I think it came to a head in the last couple of days. It’s tough to do something that your heart is not completely in. I think the way I was conducting myself was starting to show on the team.”
For Littles, it is the third time in his NBA career he has assumed the head coaching duties during a season. He had previous stints with Cleveland and Charlotte.
“I thought somebody had been traded, and I hoped it wasn’t me,” center Dikembe Mutombo said after Issel gathered the team before practice.
Coleman to take out trash
The New Jersey Nets’ Derrick Coleman will finally get his chance to exchange insults with Patrick Ewing and the rest of New York Knicks face-to-face instead of taunting them from the bench.
Today’s matinee at Madison Square Garden will be the first time since last year’s playoffs that Coleman will be on the court against the Knicks. In two previous meetings this season, all the Knicks have seen of Coleman is his wardrobe.
On the other hand, the Knicks have heard plenty from Coleman, who has traded nasty stares and even nastier words with Ewing. In their first meeting - an 85-83 Nets’ win at the Garden Dec. 20 - Coleman’s taunts paid dividends as Ewing missed a crucial fourth-quarter free throw.
Then again, all the talking in the world could not prevent the Knicks from whipping the Nets on Dec. 27 at the Meadowlands.
“If (Ewing talks back) that’s when I know I’m in here,” says Coleman as he pointed to his head. “Part of the game is talking trash.”
L.J.’s happy and healthy
There seems to be a direct link between Larry Johnson’s back and the progress of the Charlotte Hornets.
Last season, when a deep lower back sprain crippled Johnson, it had the same effect on the Hornets. He missed 31 games and the Hornets missed the playoffs. This season - with Johnson’s back improved, but not completely - the Hornets started slowly, opening with three straight losses and finishing November with a 7-7 record.
Johnson says his back is completely healthy now, and the Hornets are looking pretty robust themselves. After beating the Bulls Saturday night, the Hornets had the longest winning streak that no one ever noticed - eight straight games - and, with the Cavaliers West Coasting, a good shot at first place in the Central Division.