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Hire And Fire!
P.J. Carlesimo, Eddie Jordan, Sam Mitchell, Randy Wittman, Maurice Cheeks, Reggie Theus. No fewer than six NBA head coaches had been fired even before Christmas this year. None could fulfill the hopes the fans, team and management had before the season. What have been the reasons for so many job openings in the NBA this year?
Jordan: His main problem was injuries to Gilbert Arenas and Brendan Haywood. As always in Washington, the coach was the weakest part of the team. Of all the aforementioned coaches, Jordan was destined to be the first to find a new job.
Mitchell: The old-school style of the NBA’s 2007 Coach of the Year was not really loved by his players. On top of this, Mitchell has never been GM Bryan Colangelo’s favorite candidate for coach. Colangelo wants the Raptors to play faster basketball and thinks his team is one of the best in the East. Maybe his expectations are a little too high. On the other hand, this might just be the next step in bringing in the first NBA head coach not to go through the US coaching school: Ettore Messina. Rumor has it that Ettore could be the next coach for the Raptors, if Jay Triano doesn’t make it happen in Toronto. Messina has won the Euroleague championship four times since 1997 (twice with Virtus Kinder Bologna, twice with current club CSKA Moscow) and might be the most successful coach in Europe. His contract with CSKA Moscow will be finished at the end of this season. On top of this, Raptors Senior Vice President of Basketball Operations Maurizio Gherardini is a good friend of Messina’s since back when they both worked for Benetton Treviso.
Wittman: Bobby Knight was Wittman’s teacher, which may have been the reason he was a little hard on his team. Bad idea, since he had no success stories that might have given him some respect. Result: The team was not listening at all and gave up way too quickly. Kevin McHale took over while giving up his general manager duties. If he manages to get the team back on track, well done. If not, we can add him to this list at the end of the season.
Cheeks: With a aggressive fast-break style, the 76ers surprised the league and even made a name for themselves against Detroit during that playoff series. Elton Brand was supposed to be take the next step to the top of the East but, not looking nearly as agile as before his one-year break due to injury, slows the team down: Easy baskets are not coming for that reason. One more problem: The outside shooters are missing for Philly, which would help out with the double team defense on Elton Brand. Philadelphia is currently 29th in three-point scoring, 28th in three-point percentage.
Theus: Right after his first season in the NBA, some questioned Theus’ ability to coach an NBA team, since they didn’t like the way he was leading. Somehow this must also have reflected on the team in Sacramento, who wasn’t giving 100% each game with Theus as a head coach. Another problem: Shooting guard Kevin Martin barely played because of an ankle injury.
Coaching, anyone?
On the one hand, coaches are leaving the bench as has never happened before; on the other hand, unknown assistant coaches are taking over. Aren’t there any top-notch head coaches available? Here is the list:
Avery Johnson, 194-70 (73.5%)*
Flip Saunders, 587-396 (59.7%)
Jeff Van Gundy, 430-318 (57.5%)*
Mike Fratello, 667-552 (54.7%)
Doug Collins, 332 -287 (53.6%)
Isiah Thomas, 187-223 (45.6%)*
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