By SportsDirect

By Sports Direct

Houston – Denver Nuggets assistant Melvin Hunt and Memphis Grizzlies assistant David Joerger arrived in Houston Friday morning for interviews with Rockets officials.

The team is in the process of building a staff for new head coach Kevin McHale, who was introduced Friday during a news conference at Toyota Center.

Hunt worked for the Rockets from 1999-2004 in several capacities, including two years as an assistant coach.

After leaving Houston he spent one season as an assistant with the Los Angeles Lakers and five years with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Hunt just completed his first season with the Nuggets.

It’s exciting,” Hunt said in an interview with FOX 26 Sports after arriving at Bush Intercontinental Airport. “To get a chance to sit down with some folks I know and meet some folks and just kind of interview each other, go back and forth and talk a little bit.

“I’ve gotten a chance to grow and mature and that’s a big thing to me. I think they know a lot about me and I know a lot about them.”

Hunt considers himself to be in a great situation. He works for the Nuggets, but may have the opportunity to return to where it all began for him in the NBA.

“It’s always good to have some options,” Hunt said. “This is intriguing. I llike the direction the Rockets are going hiring Coach McHale. I like where I am with Denver.

“This is just an opportunity to look at and sit down with some folks I already know.”

Joerger has been with the Grizzlies for three years.

Prior to that he had compiled one of the most successful records ever as a head coach in minor league basketball.

Joerger most recently won the NBA Development League championship with the Dakota Wizards in 2007.

He also won one title in the International Basketball Association and three championships in the Continential Baskeball Association.

Joerger also won two coach of the year Honors in the CBA.

He politely declined comment to FOX 26 Sports after his arrival at Bush Intercontinental Airport.

HOUSTON – NBA sources told FOX 26 Sports the Houston Rockets will meet this weekend with Denver Nuggets assistant Melvin Hunt.

The Nuggets granted the Rockets permission to speak with Hunt, who will interview with Houston officials on Saturday as the team works to fill new head coach Kevin McHale’s staff.

Hunt worked for the Rockets from 1999 to 2004.

He was Houston’s video coordinator/scout for two years, assistant coach for two years and then spent one season as the Rockets’ college and international scout.

After leaving Houston Hunt spent one season as an assistant with the Los Angeles Lakers and then five years on the staff of the Cleveland Cavaliers.

He just finished his first season with the Nuggets.

Prior to Hunt’s career in the NBA, he coached in college and in high school.

As has been widely reported, NBA sources confirmed for FOX 26 Sports the Rockets will meet with Memphis Grizzlies assistant David Joerger on Friday.

By Russ Oates

– Senior Editor

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May 23, 2011 – Do the Colorado Rockies have you wondering where that hot April start has gone? Tired of the NFL Lockout since the only news coming out these days involves legal battles in court? Still wondering where the Denver Nuggets are heading in the post-Carmelo Anthony? Hoping things can’t get worse for the Colorado Avalanche?

If any of the above applies, there’s one team you can turn your attention to and know that you’re following a good story. I am, of course, talking about the University of Denver’s lacrosse team. On May 28, the No. 6 Pioneers will play the No. 7 Virginia Cavaliers in the semifinals, the winner advancing to the championship game to play either No. 5 Duke or Maryland.

The Pioneers went 11-2 in the regular season, picked up two more wins to capture the 2011 ECAC Lacrosse tournament and then drew the No. 6 seed in the 2011 NCAA Lacrosse Tournament. That draw marked the first time a team west of the Mississippi River would host a tournament game.

And the Pioneers didn’t disappoint. Playing at Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium, the Pioneers defeated the Villanova Wildcats, 13-10, in the opening round of the tournament. Freshman midfielder Jeremy Noble (4G, 2 A) and freshman goalie Jamie Faus (12 saves) both proved influential in the win.

On Saturday, May 21, the Pioneers traveled to the campus of Hofstra University to play the No. 3 Johns Hopkins Blue Jays, a nine-time NCAA Lacrosse Tournament champion, in the quarterfinals. I had the opportunity to attend this game.

Here the Pioneers warm up before the game. This was the second game of the day, as No. 7 Virginia upset No. 2 Cornell to start the day.

Johns Hopkins also practicing before the game. Would the favored Blue Jays be able to shutdown the upstart Pioneers?

Viewers on ESPN2 saw the game through the camera on top of the Hofstra press box seen above.

DU’s Mark Matthews looks on, waiting for the Pioneers to make an attack. Matthews had a goal and two assists.

Cameron Flint was a huge part of the Pios success on Saturday afternoon. He had three goals on six shots (five on net). Here Flint surveys the field, looking to find an open man. The Pioneers didn’t try to force many shots, instead setting things up and keeping a relentless attack on the Hopkins defense.

And that offensive attack led to the Pioneers winning, 14-9. Though the Blue Jays had brought the game to within one point in the third quarter, the Pioneers regained the momentum in the final quarter.

And here’s the handshake. The Pioneers will now head to Baltimore, MD, to face the Virginia Cavaliers for the right to advance to the championship game. Led by second-year head coach Bill Tierney, the Pioneers could join what is currently the Club of Eight to make it a Club of Nine if they advance to and win the championship game on Memorial Day.

Tierney, though, is no stranger to going this deep in the tournament. Before joining DU in July 2009, Tierney coached the Princeton Tigers for 22 years, won six championships and appeared in the finals eight times. Mile High Sports has a good profile on Tierney’s decision to move west and the impact he has had since then.

No matter the outcome this coming weekend, the Denver Pioneers have done Colorado proud this year.

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