New assistant Woodson wanted to coach with
Brown<br> <br> <br>By PHIL JASNER
<br>jasnerp@... <br><br>What attracted Mike Woodson, the 76ers'
newest assistant coach, to Philadelphia?<br><br>"What
attracted me was Larry Brown saying he wanted me to be part
of his staff," Woodson said. "It doesn't get any
better than that."<br><br>What else? "This team went to
the NBA Finals last season," Woodson said. "I've
never been to the Finals, as a player or as a coach.
That had to have been an unbelievable experience. I'd
like to be part of a situation where we go there
again."<br><br>Woodson, 43, spent the last two seasons as an assistant to
Randy Wittman with Cleveland. When Wittman was fired,
most of the Cavaliers' staff was also dropped. "When I
first talked to [Brown], he said he had some interest
but that I had to be patient, because he was looking
at some others, too," Woodson said. "I interviewed
about 2 1/2 weeks ago, and now I'm
here."<br><br>Woodson will join Randy Ayers and John Kuester as bench
assistants on a staff that includes Herb Brown and Dave
Hanners. The opening was created when Maurice Cheeks
became the coach of the Portland Trail Blazers, and
remained open after former North Carolina star and
assistant Phil Ford declined an offer from
Brown.<br><br>Woodson, the Big 10 Conference's Most Valuable Player at
Indiana in 1980, was the No. 12 overall pick in the '80
draft, going to the New York Knicks. He spent 11 seasons
in the league as a player, including part of '81-82
with the New Jersey Nets when Brown was the
coach.<br><br>He retired after appearing in 15 games with the
Houston Rockets and the Cavaliers in '90-91.<br><br>He
was an assistant coach for three seasons with
Milwaukee before joining the Cavaliers.<br><br><br>Six
shots<br>Marc Zumoff and Steve Mix will be back for their
eighth season as the Sixers' TV voices, handling four
preseason games and 60 regular-season games on Comcast
SportsNet and 11 games on Channel 57. Producer Shawn
Olesiak also is returning for his eighth season. The
Sixers' telecasts have been nominated for a Mid-Atlantic
Emmy seven seasons in succession. . .The Sixers have
added Donna Katzman as communications coordinator. *