Rick Pitino to the Rescue Makes Perfect Sense for Nets

No, Rick Pitino has not contacted the New Jersey Nets asking about the head coaching job that will be filled this summer. He was just inquiring about the Coach of the Day promotion now being used to lighten the mood of the most woeful team in league history.

Anything to get back to the NBA.

This is not Coach K at Duke, who has rejected each and every overture to leave the college ranks and prove himself against the very best. This is Pitino, whose itch to return has grown considerably with all the headaches and heartaches that persist at the University of Louisville. It was only a matter of time.

As the New York Daily News reported, Pitino has used intermediaries to make himself a candidate for the Nets job now being held by general manager and interim coach Kiki Vandeweghe.

Pitino and Nets president Rod Thorn, who both recently attended the funeral of Hall of Famer Dick McGuire, have told sources that no contact between the two has been made. And that's probably true.

Denials aside, this is how these dances always start -- with go-betweens. My people talking to your people.

And this is where Pitino should be, anyway. Coaching in college today is like coaching in the minor leagues, where the most talented players leave at the first opportunity. Have you watched it lately? Beside from the school spirit -- which is wonderful -- it's like watching baseball.

And any ultra-competitive coach who believes he is the best in his profession, can't prove he's the best unless he coaches against the best.

That means the NBA. It's hard to deny Pitino's coaching skill. He is the only coach in history to take three different schools to the NCAA Final Four, winning a national championship at Kentucky.

And his ego demands a return to the Big Leagues.

Joining the Nets now makes perfect sense. It fits his history, once again feeding his "Rick To The Rescue" desires.

He joined the New York Knicks when they were bottom-feeders in 1987, following three seasons of disastrous misery. They won 24, 23 and 24 games before his arrival. In his two years, they won 38 and 52 games, taking his bows, before he left for Kentucky.

There is no better place to look for an NBA head coaching spot now than in New Jersey. It's Turnaround City. It's Rick to the Rescue again. He did it at Kentucky, at Louisville and even New York a long time ago. He returned to join the Boston Celtics for the 1997-98 season, following the lowest point in franchise history when they won just 15 games under M.L. Carr.

He came to Boston fully expecting to win the draft lottery that would have delivered sure-bet superstar Tim Duncan, which would have led to a dramatic rise. Instead, they lost the lottery, settled for Chauncey Billups, and Pitino left in frustration after three-and-a-half seasons, leaving behind his infamous proclamation to Celtics fans: "Larry Bird is not walking through that door anytime soon."

As hopeless as it looks now, the Nets have positioned themselves for a quick and dramatic rise, beginning this summer. They are the favorites to win that lottery and get point guard John Wall in the draft. More importantly, they will have the salary cap space to fit two top-level free agents onto the roster this summer, making a run at both LeBron James and Dwyane Wade.

New owner Mikhail Prokhorov, the billionaire from Russia, is prepared to spend whatever it takes to make a quick splash, which means the next Nets coach also will be one of the highest-paid coaches in the NBA. And he might have a championship contender quicker than anyone realizes.

There is no better place to look for an NBA head coaching spot now than in New Jersey. It's Turnaround City. It's Rick to the Rescue again. He did it at Kentucky, at Louisville and even New York a long time ago. Maybe it didn't work in Boston, but it could have.

Pitino knows what he's doing. He's bright, well-spoken and well-respected as a coach. His sex-scandal in Louisville last summer, stemming from his own admission to marital infidelity in an Italian Restaurant – on the table, no less -- won't detour Prokhorov, who has his own reputation as a playboy.

So yes, this Coach of the Day promotion in New Jersey could lead to a Coach of the Year Award in the NBA.