Jeff Bower In Demand, Monty Williams Goes to School, and Other Friday Stories

Happy Friday, y'all.

- We've known for a couple weeks that former Hornets GM Jeff Bower is a strong candidate for the vacant position in Toronto; meanwhile on the west coast, the Portland Trail Blazers have opted to start their GM search from scratch, and this time Bower makes the list.

For what it's worth, I think Bower did a very solid job in New Orleans and that two or three poor decisions torpedoed his long term plans. In sum, the total number of errors was low, but in a tiny market like New Orleans, perfection and luck are requirements in the construction of a title contender. James Posey is obviously the deal that stands out in hindsight. Chasing Kelenna Azubuike and Rony Turiaf during the '08 offseason would probably have been a stronger, better long term strategy at the time, but Azubuike's career has hardly progressed in the past three years due to injury and bad luck.

On the evidence of the Hornets' 2008 peak, Bower definitely had a strong eye for team construction. That '08 team with David West reinforcing Chris Paul's creative ability, Tyson Chandler dominating in the paint on both ends, and Peja Stojakovic contributing at a historic level from the outside was really only undone by its middling bench. So while Posey was never a strong long term addition, from a one year perspective, there was always, at least, the faintest of arguments for him. Of course, Bower ultimately signed a short term option to long term years and dollars, and with injuries felling the rest of the team in a hurry, he paid the price.

- I don't know how many of you follow the Hornets via radio; I try to listen to the radio feed synced with League Pass whenever I can. One half of the radio crew - Sean Kelley to be exact - was part of the Cleveland Cavaliers' search to fill their vacant radio play-by-play position, but the job went to John Michael.

Unclear whether Kelley will be back with the Hornets, though I certainly hope so; he and Gerry V do a great job calling games.

- Finally, Monty Williams visited Terrytown Elementary last week as part of the Hornets' Bee-Fit program. A quote via the Times-Pic:

"I think parents play such a vital role, and (physical) activity doesn't always have to be in the gym or on the field. You can take your child for a walk," [Monty Williams] said. "I wrestle with my boys on the floor and I make them try to battle me and they're working on muscles they didn't even know they had."

I don't know much about parenting, but "I make them try to battle me" sounds like a pretty outstanding method of raising kids.