Day: June 27, 2011

Adrian Dantley gone from Nuggets

The Denver Post reports:

Adrian Dantley won’t be a Nuggets assistant coach next season, a source confirmed.

Dantley, a Hall of Fame player, was on the Denver staff for eight seasons. He was an interim head coach late in the 2009-10 season when George Karl left the Nuggets because of throat and neck cancer. The Nuggets went 13-12 while directed by Dantley and lost a first-round playoff series to the Utah Jazz.

Dantley’s departure follows that of Stacey Augmon. Augmon left Karl’s staff to become an assistant coach at UNLV, where he starred as a player.

Dantley’s contract wasn’t renewed.

Big Baby Glen Davis hires sports psychologist

Ricky Doyle of NESN reports:

Glen Davis

Glen Davis struggled throughout the playoffs as the Celtics were bounced in the second round by the Miami Heat. In an effort to help himself mentally, Davis has hired a sports psychologist.

The 6-foot-9 forward appeared on KFXX in Portland to discuss a number of topics, including his playoff struggles, which included him averaging only 4.9 points and 3.6 rebounds in 21.2 minutes per game.

He said he wasn’t there mentally and that he is doing a lot of mental preparation for the upcoming season.

“I hired a sports psychologist to help you tap into the zone…as far as you miss a shot, you don’t worry about that,” he said. “You go to the other end and use that energy to do something else on defense…Let it pass like a cloud. Clouds pass by you all the time and you don’t worry about it. You’ve just got to keep going. That’s what I’ve been concentrating on, just how to handle things like a professional.”

Josh Harrellson hopes to be terrific garbageman for Knicks

Lenn Robbins of the New York Post reports:

Josh Harrellson, the No. 45 overall pick whom the Knicks acquired from the Hornets in a draft-night deal for about $750,000, said he thinks he can have a long NBA career as — his words — a garbage man.

It’s a role he said he always felt comfortable with but certainly perfected at Kentucky, where he had one of the most volatile careers in Wildcats history.

Harrellson was recruited by Billy Gillispie, who quickly found the perfect scapegoat in the 6-foot-10, 270-pound center. Gillispie once locked Harrellson in a bathroom during halftime of a game and made him take the equipment truck home from a road game.

Harrellson was hoping for a second life at Kentucky when Gillispie was fired and replaced by John Calipari. But after grabbing 26 boards in the Blue-White game, he drew Calipari’s ire by tweeting that he got no love from his coach. Calipari then banned players from using Twitter.