Hill not fighting (Schmidtz Blog)

[bhnole 153]

quote:

Why Doesn't BHill Fight For Job? His Silence Speaks Volumes

Posted on May 4, 2007 8:44:55 AM

 

 

This is strange, to say the least.

 

The Magic are like boxing commissioners, considering whether to revoke Brian Hill's license as head coach.

 

They are the review board.

 

Hill is the fighter.

 

It's just that most of the time . . . the fighter will plead his case for getting back into the ring. Go down swinging, so to speak.

 

And yet, Brian Hill, when reached by our Tim Povtak on Thursday, refused to make a case for himself. He refused to embrace the idea that he's returning or debunk the notion that he's in quicksand.

 

When Povtak asked him, point blank, several times, if he were coming back as coach, Hill said he wouldn't comment.

 

What does that tell you?

 

It tells me two things:

 

1. Brian already knows he is down for the count. I mean, if you were confident you were keeping your job, why not say, with a snarl, "I'm coming back and I don't know why you media folks keep asking me this. Let me get to the beach."

 

2. Brian, a classy professional who has a long relationship with the DeVos family, is not a bridge-burner. He knows that if he wants a job in the Magic's front office one day --- and he does, but as a general manager --- he can't be ripping the club. Especially if they are about to pay him the next two years remaining on his deal --- to the tune of $6 million --- or are negotiating a nice settlement.

 

This is how millionaires in corporations handle stuff.

 

Why else would Hill allow himself to twist in the wind?

 

It's hard for me to buy into the idea that President Bob Vander Weide and GM Otis Smith are asking Brian to change how he coaches and everything will be fine.

 

Hill's going to change who he is after 30-plus years in the business? Like the Magic didn't know what they were getting when they hired him ---for the second time? Most coaches are open and listen to front-office suggestions, but they have to wonder when the front-office "advice" will stop.

 

And Hill has to wonder what credibility he has with the players and ticket-holders now that the Magic have gone public in saying his performance is under review. Vander Weide said "the process" will take two to three weeks.

 

No, it feels as if the Magic need time to plot their next move (coaching hire), time to develop an exit strategy for Hill and themselves.

 

That Hill didn't comment doesn't surprise me at all. I've known Brian for years, and he is as wary and cautious of the media as any coach I've ever been around, measuring every word. He's a fighter --- he has more heart and guts and fire than some of his players -- -but he's no mud-slinger.

 

But it's Hill's silence that tells me a lot.

 

It's as cryptic as a Magic official curiously volunteering before this thing broke that, "Brian is 59 and frustrated," greasing the wheels for the club's would-be departure perhaps.

 

And Hill's silence is as cryptic as Vander Weide saying he couldn't answer "right now" whether Brian would be the coach next season.

 

Did anyone else get a chill down their spine when reading about his desire to be GM one day. Considering he was the one behind the Fran fiasco, I would take the Hockey Puck back over him.

[bhnole 153]

quote:

Why Doesn't BHill Fight For Job? His Silence Speaks Volumes

Posted on May 4, 2007 8:44:55 AM

 

 

This is strange, to say the least.

 

The Magic are like boxing commissioners, considering whether to revoke Brian Hill's license as head coach.

 

They are the review board.

 

Hill is the fighter.

 

It's just that most of the time . . . the fighter will plead his case for getting back into the ring. Go down swinging, so to speak.

 

And yet, Brian Hill, when reached by our Tim Povtak on Thursday, refused to make a case for himself. He refused to embrace the idea that he's returning or debunk the notion that he's in quicksand.

 

When Povtak asked him, point blank, several times, if he were coming back as coach, Hill said he wouldn't comment.

 

What does that tell you?

 

It tells me two things:

 

1. Brian already knows he is down for the count. I mean, if you were confident you were keeping your job, why not say, with a snarl, "I'm coming back and I don't know why you media folks keep asking me this. Let me get to the beach."

 

2. Brian, a classy professional who has a long relationship with the DeVos family, is not a bridge-burner. He knows that if he wants a job in the Magic's front office one day --- and he does, but as a general manager --- he can't be ripping the club. Especially if they are about to pay him the next two years remaining on his deal --- to the tune of $6 million --- or are negotiating a nice settlement.

 

This is how millionaires in corporations handle stuff.

 

Why else would Hill allow himself to twist in the wind?

 

It's hard for me to buy into the idea that President Bob Vander Weide and GM Otis Smith are asking Brian to change how he coaches and everything will be fine.

 

Hill's going to change who he is after 30-plus years in the business? Like the Magic didn't know what they were getting when they hired him ---for the second time? Most coaches are open and listen to front-office suggestions, but they have to wonder when the front-office "advice" will stop.

 

And Hill has to wonder what credibility he has with the players and ticket-holders now that the Magic have gone public in saying his performance is under review. Vander Weide said "the process" will take two to three weeks.

 

No, it feels as if the Magic need time to plot their next move (coaching hire), time to develop an exit strategy for Hill and themselves.

 

That Hill didn't comment doesn't surprise me at all. I've known Brian for years, and he is as wary and cautious of the media as any coach I've ever been around, measuring every word. He's a fighter --- he has more heart and guts and fire than some of his players -- -but he's no mud-slinger.

 

But it's Hill's silence that tells me a lot.

 

It's as cryptic as a Magic official curiously volunteering before this thing broke that, "Brian is 59 and frustrated," greasing the wheels for the club's would-be departure perhaps.

 

And Hill's silence is as cryptic as Vander Weide saying he couldn't answer "right now" whether Brian would be the coach next season.

 

Did anyone else get a chill down their spine when reading about his desire to be GM one day. Considering he was the one behind the Fran fiasco, I would take the Hockey Puck back over him.

[MagicFanBen 0]

Oh please god just rid us of Hill. Let him be a memory we celebrate to forget.

[Osprey 199]

I got a chill Bh, I don't want Brian Hill anywhere near personnel decisions. I am all for giving him a job with the Magic, but more along the lines of a Public Relations ambassador.

 

Otis Smith should not have to worry that Brian Hill is coming to take his job however, and that may be a reason not to make Hill a part of the organization whatsoever.

[Marc Acres 3:16 418]

That is terrifying. Micromanagement from the GM desk...please put him in community affairs or sales or something anything other than on the court decisions.

[centaur27 0]

The position he would fulfill the best is as the janitor.

[Osprey 199]

quote:

Originally posted by centaur27:

The position he would fulfill the best is as the janitor.

 

Not really, most of the cleaning equipment, (brooms, mops, etc.) would be broken in half after the first week..........

[MagicFanBen 0]

quote:

Originally posted by Osprey23:

I got a chill Bh, I don't want Brian Hill anywhere near personnel decisions. I am all for giving him a job with the Magic, but more along the lines of a Public Relations ambassador.

 

Otis Smith should not have to worry that Brian Hill is coming to take his job however, and that may be a reason not to make Hill a part of the organization whatsoever.

 

No way any respectable coach would want Brian Hill anywhere around if he became the Magic Head Coach. Too may potential problems with that. I think the Magic are privately hoping they get a Weisbrod deal out of him.

[MagicFanBen 0]

quote:

Originally posted by centaur27:

The position he would fulfill the best is as the janitor.

 

Then he already knows where his office is from the first time he was fired.

[Emory889 353]

OMG, there is no way in hell I want Brian Hill making personnel decisions. Forget everything I said about promoting him to the front office. Just get him out of the organization so there is no chance of him ever being the GM.

 

I think I'm going to be sick.

[PR 0]

BH. HE is good

[The Solution 0]

quote:

Originally posted by Marc Acres 3:16:

That is terrifying. Micromanagement from the GM desk

 

Oh my, I think that would be the undoing of Bob Vander Weide and his hair.