Pau Dismiss Herbert, Hire Cousin
14.06.2007
French giants and Coupe de France winners Pau Orthez have parted with Canadian coach Gordon Herbert and have moved quickly to replace him with last years Pro B Coach of the Year Olivier Cousin.
Herbert, 48, who also serves as Georgia's National Team coach, had been under pressure since failing to steer Pau into the French league play-offs.
"Following a period of reflection from the two parties since last Thursday on the issue of training, Pau Orthez has ultimately decided not to continue with the coach, Gordon Herbert," said a statement on Pau's official website,
http://www.elan-bearnais.fr.
Under Herbert, who played for Canada's basketball team at the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984, Pau won 18 of their 34 regular season games and finished ninth - one spot below the final qualifying place for the play-offs.
It was a horrible league campaign by the 10-time champions of France.
However, the team did salvage some pride by winning the Coupe de France and finishing among the top 16 of the Euroleague.
Soon after removing Herbert the club hired Cousin, formerly the coach at Pro B side Quimper.
He will take the reins of arguably France's most famous outfit, which has spawned NBA players like Mickael Pietrus of Golden State and Boris Diaw of the Phoenix Suns.
Cousin admitted leaving Quimper, who were a team in the fourth tier of French basketball when he joined them in 1999, was a wrenching decision.
"The most difficult thing wasn't accepting the proposition of Elan, it was choosing to leave Quimper," he said.
"You don't spend eight years at a club by accident."
He added Pau was one of the few clubs who could have enticed him away from Quimper.
"I am not the type of person who goes to coach in Pro A just because it is Pro A," he said.
"But Pau are something else. I am not saying that there was only Pau that would have made me move, but that's not too far off.
"There are only two clubs who would have stood out to me, and one of them was Elan."
Cousin appreciates he has a job on his hands at Pau, but believes he has what it takes to succeed.
"I know the context and I am conscious of what people expect at Elan," he added.
"I am therefore arriving in full knowledge of my responsibilities, compared to the expectation of the public. It is that which is guiding me.
"The club loves a certain style of basketball and I only hope this coincides with the values I try to instill as a coach."
![[Image: franceqw0.png]](http://img222.imageshack.us/img222/1686/franceqw0.png)
