Jeff Van Gundy told Rockets general manager Carroll Dawson that he likely would not make a decision until today or Monday and was true to his word. But Dawson could not keep himself from waiting by the phone.

He paced for a while, occupied himself with household chores, reminded himself of how well he felt his recruitment of Van Gundy to be the next Rockets coach had gone. But he could not relax until Rockets general counsel Michael Goldberg received word from Van Gundy's agent Jim Ornstein that Van Gundy would take the weekend as planned before calling with his decision.

"I'm just waiting to see what he says, doing things around the house," Dawson said. "He said he would talk to me Sunday or Monday. It was sort of a normal day, the first one I've had in a while."

He would have preferred an abnormal day, one that included his first coaching hire since he picked Van Chancellor to coach the Comets. But he and Goldberg said that not hearing from Van Gundy on Saturday did not change their confidence in landing him.

Van Gundy has at least one option. He met with the Wizards on Wednesday, and there has been speculation throughout the NBA that the Wizards could put together a package worth $35 million over five years with a small percentage of the team.