NBA EAST Orlando goes back to future with Hill

The Magic hired their former coach to take over for the fired Johnny Davis.
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) -- The Orlando Magic reached back to their successful past Tuesday and hired Brian Hill as their new coach.
Hill, an assistant with the New Jersey Nets the last two seasons, took the Magic to their only NBA Finals appearance in 1995. In three-plus seasons with Orlando, he won a franchise-leading 191 games against 104 losses, and his .647 winning percentage also is the best in team history.
Introduced at a news conference to the "Welcome Back, Kotter" theme song, the 57-year-old Hill said he often thought of returning to Orlando despite an ugly parting in 1997.
"It's always kind of been in the back of my heart to get back to the Magic organization," said Hill, an assistant here for three years before being promoted to head coach.
"When you have something good and you leave it, and then you have substitutes, things to compare it to, you realize, 'That thing was pretty darn good.' "
Former Grizzly
Hill, who also coached the Vancouver Grizzlies, has a career coaching record of 222-227, with three postseason appearances.
The Magic first contacted Hill more than two weeks ago before they made him an offer Sunday night following a meeting between Hill, team owner Rich DeVos, and president and chief executive officer Bob Vander Weide at DeVos' estate in Grand Rapids, Mich.
"He is experienced, disciplined, structure-oriented and excellent in regard to game preparation and in-game strategy," Vander Weide said in a statement. "In addition, he brings a great deal of energy to the post. The bottom line: the organization is excited to have him back and it just feels right."
Other candidates were Magic interim coach Chris Jent, former Minnesota coach Flip Saunders and Memphis assistant Eric Musselman.
The last coach to go back to an organization for a second engagement was Dan Issel, who led the Denver Nuggets from 1993-95 and again in 2000-02.
Hill and Francis
Hill takes over a roster with a good core of talent in Grant Hill, Steve Francis, Hedo Turkoglu, Dwight Howard and Jameer Nelson. But the team faded late last season to miss the playoffs for the second straight year, which led to the firing of coach Johnny Davis in March.
Hill's first stay in Orlando ended poorly. A locker room coup, orchestrated by disgruntled star Penny Hardaway, led to his dismissal with 33 games remaining in the 1996-97 season. The Magic have not advanced past the first round of the NBA playoffs since Hill's departure.
Yet neither Hill nor Vander Weide wanted to portray this hiring as a way to right a past error.
"What happened in 1997, to me, really has no bearing on this," Hill said. "I think I'm a different coach. I'm sure this is a somewhat different organization. All the players are completely different."
Since the firing of Hill, the Magic have yet to win 50 games in a season, let alone 60 as they did in 1996. That year, with Hill at the helm and Hardaway and Shaquille O'Neal dominating on the court, Orlando won the Eastern Conference title in its seventh year of existence. In the NBA Finals, the Magic were swept by the Houston Rockets.
The hiring of Hill capped off a busy two days for the organization. On Monday, general manager John Weisbrod resigned after 15 months on the job.
Hill said he learned of Weisbrod's resignation the night before, but added that had no effect on his decision whether to take the job.
"I see talent here," Hill said. "I see a team that is capable of starting that journey and continuing to grow to being championship caliber."