Jonathan Feigen’s latest on the Rockets head coaching search brings even more names to the forefront. New to the game, per the article, are Clippers assistant coach Dean Demopoulos, Philadelphia assistant Quin Snyder, Memphis assistant Dave Joeger, and, if he’s not named to replace Phil Jackson, Lakers assistant Brian Shaw.

This paragraph is quite a perplexing puzzle. Lets see if we can figure it out:

As with Morey’s description of the players he wants, they will seek a coach on the rise and particularly with a determination to grow on the job. They will not, however, want someone who will need on-the-job training, instead seeking a coach with the experience to be in charge immediately and handle early rough spots.

So they want a coach that’s on the rise…but also a coach that has experience? That’s not an easy horse to find, Daryl.

The only candidates the Rockets seem to have ruled out in advance, Feigen says, are college head coaches with no NBA experience.

Reading between the lines though, and I know this won’t eliminate every experienced candidate for the job, it seems to me that Morey is less interested in bringing in a guy that has instant credibility and more interested in finding someone who he personally thinks can help grow the team. Mike Brown could very well be a fit for them, but my initial thought is that this tends to favor the assistants like Mike Budenholzer. Personality and planning could win out over credentials here.