Alvin Gentry is headed to the Warriors, and Kevin Eastman moved to the front office as part of the Clippers’ recent shakeup.
Doc Rivers needs reinforcements on his bench.
Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports:
LAC is considering ex-NBA head coaches Mike Woodson and Lawrence Frank as asst candidates to replace Gentry & might hire both, a source said
— Marc J. Spears (@MarcJSpears) June 20, 2014
Both would make strong hires.
Frank previously served as Rivers’ lead assistant in Boston. Though too inflexible to succeed as a head coach, Frank prepares thorough gameplans and is known for a strong work ethic in a field full of hard workers. That’s an excellent skillset for an assistant.
Woodson is the coaching equivalent of a AAAA baseball player. He’s too good to be an assistant coach, but not quite good enough to warrant getting hired as a head coach. Woodson, who has never worked with Rivers, is a little too backward in his ways when in charge, but Rivers could lean on Woodson’s large amount of basketball knowledge rather than allowing Woodson to set the agenda.
Rivers has never shied from hiring quality assistants, and more than ever, he he’s too powerful to be undermined. Some head coaches fear assistants who might become too influential – Frank lost his last job, because Jason Kidd was one of them – but, to his his credit, Rivers doesn’t.
Landing either Woodson or Frank would help the Clippers. Getting both would be a major coup.