Jeff Bower, Tim Floyd Take Over Hornets

Word leaked soon after Hornets coach Byron Scott's dismissal became known that New Orleans GM Jeff Bower would take the reins as head coach, with former Hornets disaster coach Tim Floyd coming back to assist him. At a press conference announcing the moves, Hornets exec Hugh Weber told reporters Bower does not have an interim tag on his title: he is the coach for this season.

Now who exactly is Jeff Bower, other than someone who looks more like a professional bowler than someone involved in basketball?

Bower has been with the Hornets since 1995, working as a scout, an assistant coach and a general manager. He has never been a head coach at any level. He worked under both Paul Silas and Floyd as an assistant, and before joining the Hornets was an assistant at Marist and Penn State. He finished third in NBA Executive of the Year voting in 2008, but has since been criticized for some rather short-sighted acquisitions and a less-than-stellar draft record.

Bower has a bald head and a moustache, which have no bearing on his coaching skills, but c'mon, like I can go without mentioning that?

Floyd is, unfortunately, well known by NBA heads. He preceded Scott in the Hornets' coaching chair, getting canned after a season in which he took a rather stacked squad to a .500 record and a first-round exit back when New Orleans counted as an Eastern Conference club.

Prior to that 41-41 season, Floyd had an NBA coaching record of 49-190, all spent with the post-MJ Bulls. He is regarded terribly by almost everyone who observes the pro game, with the exception of Jerry Krause and (apparently) Jeff Bower. Floyd was a successful college coach, tallying a 327-181 record over 16 seasons. He coached the University of New Orleans for six years in the '90s, earning him some popularity in the Crescent City that would later help him get the Hornets job.

N.O., of course, had little choice in moving Bower to the hot seat. Scott didn't carry assistant coaches with much experience (none has ever been an NBA head coach) and the only marquee coach currently available is Avery Johnson, who you figure might get a look this summer but would be a tough leader to fit in seamlessly during the season. Of course, if New Orleans can't turn this around, that might not matter.

I hesitate to predict Bower will be awful, considering that Tony DiLeo actually did a swell job in Philadelphia last season having had little NBA coaching experience. The jobs done by Ed Tapscott (like DiLeo, a career front office type) and Jay Triano (a longtime assistant coach) were less impressive, but that shouldn't prejudice Bower. He has a top-five player and a few other decent pieces, which is actually quite a lot to work with. We'll see how it goes.