This is just too bad...

["Robertson, Kevin, CON, OASD(HA)/TMA" <Kevin.Robertson@tma.osd.mil>]

This sucks, man... I liked Chris and hoped he would do well with the Bucks.
They were riddled with injuries... it wasn't his fault.

Kevin


Bucks fire coach Ford after two seasons

MILWAUKEE -- Chris Ford, who failed to end the Milwaukee Bucks' seven-year
                 playoff absence, was fired Wednesday as coach.

                 The team is "going in a different direction," general
manager Bob Weinhauer said
                 during a news conference. "We're in the business of winning
basketball games.
                 Even though we've had success to some extent, we have not
had enough."

                 Point guard Terrell Brandon, acquired in a major trade last
September, said Ford's
                 firing did not surprise him.

                 "I've been traded before, so I learned not to be
surprised," Brandon said. "When
                 you're around for a certain amount of years, you understand
the business and I
                 think it's a business decision more than anything else."

                 Brandon said he liked Ford, and a new coach would be an
adjustment for
                 everyone.

                 "I think he was great. I just started to understand his
philosophy, so that'll be
                 different," Brandon said. "But we have some good guys on
the team that can
                 adjust to different things."

                 Ford, 49, a former Boston Celtics coach, joined the Bucks
in June 1996 with a
                 three-year contract. The Bucks hired him after Mike
Dunleavy moved up to
                 general manager. But Dunleavy resigned as general manager
in 1996 and later
                 returned to coaching in Portland Trail Blazers.

                 The Bucks were 33-49 in Ford's first season and showed only
slight improvement,
                 to 36-46, last season.

                 Weinhauer and Bucks owner Herb Kohl made the decision to
fire Ford Monday
                 after lengthy discussion, Weinhauer said.

                 "Chris Ford has in many respects done a good job," Kohl
said. "But we think in
                 order to maximize the talent that we have, the best thing
is to go and find a coach
                 of a nature, of a sort that would ensure that we reach the
next level."

                 Weinhauer said he spoke with Ford Wednesday morning, and "I
can safely say he
                 was disappointed, but understanding."

                 Assistant Dick Versace also was fired, Weinhauer said.

                 It will be up to Ford's replacement whether to keep
assistants Jim Todd and Mike
                 Woodson, Weinhauer said.

                 Team members had not been told of the decision before the
announcement
                 because of the NBA lockout, which prohibits players and
managers from
                 speaking.

                 Weinhauer acknowledged the awkward timing of the move,
which came during
                 the lockout and two months after the NBA draft.

                 "Some of you might wonder ... why now," he said. "I think
this summer is unusual
                 because of the lockout and the time that we had.

                 "Even if this were a normal summer, if we felt that this
was the right thing to do
                 now, it probably would be the right thing to do whether
there (was) a lockout or
                 not a lockout," Weinhauer said.

                 The team plans to "go after the best people that are
available" to replace Ford,
                 Weinhauer said. He said he had a short list of candidates,
although he declined to
                 identify anyone.

                 Ford's successor will be the team's sixth coach since 1987.

                 This decade the Bucks have been unable to parlay lottery
picks into a playoff
                 berth. The Bucks were widely expected to end their playoff
drought last year, with
                 a nucleus of forwards Glenn Robinson and Tyrone Hill and
guards Ray Allen and
                 Brandon. But all four lost significant playing time to
injury, dooming the team to a
                 seventh straight lottery-pick finish.

                 The Bucks said they would honor the third year of Ford's
contract.

                 Ford spent five years as Celtics coach and has a 291-283
career record.

                 Ford did not attend the press conference and didn't return
phone messages left at
                 his office and at his home.