Cheeks Fired; DiLeo interim coach
News blogs, sports blogs, entertainment blogs, and more from Philly.com, The Philadelphia Inquirer and the Philadelphia Daily News.
Cheeks Fired; DiLeo interim coach
Well here it is: A change. Is it the right change? Is it the change that will propel the 76ers forward. From the beginning, from that 2-5 start, we pointed to this time frame. We said, "Wait for the 20-to-25 game mark." Here it is, 23 games.
If you're looking for the nuts and bolts story of Mo Cheeks firing, click here: Mo Fired.
If you're looking forward, keep reading.
Tony DiLeo. He's the new head coach of the Sixers. Quick bio on Coach DiLeo: He is the Senior Vice President and Assistant General Manager. He's been in the Sixers organization for 19 season, serving as the Director of Player Personnel from 1999-2003. Basically, he has been Ed Stefanski's right-hand man. Over the years DiLeo has had his hand in the operations, coaching, scouting, and management. He spent 10 seasons coaching and playing in West Germany. He was West Germany's Coach of the Year in 1987.
Interestingly enough (from my perspective), I was sitting next to DiLeo at Thursday afternoon's practice at PCOM. We were watching Reggie Evans shoot free throws. And, as we all know, Reggie Evans can use some help shooting free throws. DiLeo, when he played, was a shooter. Through the first couple months of the season, he has (jokingly, I believe) challenged me to a shooting contest. Who would win? I think there is little doubt. Anyway, while we were sitting there, DiLeo offered a few very specific instructions to Evans. All of them worked. For no reasons other than I was curious, I asked DiLeo if he ever wanted to do anything other than work on the management side of basketball. He said he loved coaching, too. But he was clear that never, at any point, would he want to be doing anything other than working within the game of basketball.
I'm not sure why I asked him these things. But it serves our purpose right now, since DiLeo will be the head honcho for the last 60 games of the season or so.
But let's discuss, for a second, Maurice Cheeks. Was the 9-14 start his fault? Or is he the fall guy for a poorly constructed roster?
Right now, I think it's both. We can't argue with some in-game coaching moves, especially rotations. There were certain games I believe were lost because of misuse of the roster, within the game, (specifically the Atlanta game and the Orlando game). But I also believe the moves Cheeks made in the Detroit Pistons game were perfect. His moves won that game for the Sixers. If you add those numbers, you're left with Cheeks impact being -- about -- neutral. Perhaps he struggled to understand how to reconcile the team's mantra of "we're still run-and-gun," with a roster that doesn't necessarily support that identity. Instead of modifying the identity, he kept plugging away, kept trying to be the team the Sixers were last season, when they made that run to the playoffs. Can you blame him? I guess it doesn't matter what we say, the Sixers organization dropped the blame on him.
Let's look forward. What does this move mean? What can we now expect from this team?
The roster hasn't changed. They're still a team divided. By that I mean you have guys -- Andre Iguodala, Lou Williams, Thaddeus Young, Samuel Dalembert -- who excel in transition, but the supposed face of the franchise -- Elton Brand -- who doesn't. He doesn't. I don't care how hard the Sixers tried to tell us all he could run (remember that this summer?). Recently, Brand has been slowed even further by a strained right hamstring. He has admitted he isn't 100% healthy. When the Los Angeles Clippers were in town, Brand's old teammates even mentioned confusion about how he (Brand) would fit into the Sixers uptemo system. They said it didn't fit him.
That's the main issue right now: This team's identity doesn't match its roster.
In comes DiLeo. I'm a fan of DiLeo's (not that that should matter much to anyone). This guy knows basketball. He's been at every game (I believe). He almost always travels with the team. He knows everything about every player's strengths and weaknesses. You know he has been sitting on the sidelines through the first 23 games. You know his mind has been churning about what he might have done differently in certain situations. We can't argue that a change was needed. Maybe he will find the right rotations. Maybe he will impose a different energy (Mo was known to be laid back) that will make the Sixers pay attention. These are all good things.
Here is what needs to be figured out: Andre Iguodala isn't a shooting guard, but Thaddeus Young needs to start. Should the Sixers go small? Will DiLeo keep the starting lineup used for most of the season (Miller, Iguodala, Young, Brand, and Dalembert) or toss his own spin onto the situation? I vote for the latter. Because, one would think, that's why this move was made.
In talking to various scouts throughout the league, this team is a mess. It wasn't a facade at the beginning of the year, all the scouts said they legitimately expected the Sixers to be better. But most leave the game shaking their heads in confusion (much as we've been doing all season).
And there is your Saturday update ...
--Kate
It is sad to see Mo go being the quality person he is. The re-signing of Iguadola will prove to be the biggest mistake. His defense has become average as he has been trying to improve his offense. His jumper has way too much arc to be consistent and he's basically an open floor dunker. Let Lou play and get something for Miller who's probably not too thrilled here anyway.— 2centzwerf- Well said Zipster1-Gangsters, Thugs and fools. NBA stinks out loud! Lord Stanley's Cup back to the City of Champions!!!!!!!! LETS GO FLYERS— Reggie92
- they should fire stephanski instead, i'd rather have korver than brand— dottiepark
Comment removed.- Comment removed.
- I'm back from the party - so far so good - maybe Brands' been told to shot and not pass - lots less turnovers - Sam playing more. So far so good. Off course Washington is not quite as good as Cleveland!— russ4philly
- love cheeks, a great guy, good assistant coach but just could not coach the sixers. this was long over due.— southstreet
- oh and since we are talking about weaknesses of the sixers, can we get a real center. we have not had one since moses malone.— southstreet
- Maurice wasn't the one shooting 31% from three point territory. I saw Iguodala launch a 3 point shot this evening that did even touch the rim. He can't shoot at all. I fault Stefanski. He signed Brand and Iguodala to these mammoth contracts and both are faulty. Iguodala can't shoot or handle the ball. Brand is coming off an injury, and is an undersized power forward who does not play down low. So Cheeks is fired. We'll see how the team fares from here on out. A trade is necessary at this point.— Horlet
- This is obviously not the start anyone was looking for. Mo has to be accountable. If this team was able to put that run together last year and get into the playoffs, they should not be 5 games under .500 with Elton Brand. Mo Cheeks is a great guy, but I was never sold on his coaching ability. The Sixers need to turn things around quickly and Mo had to go.— GHOSTPHAYCE
- Miller - assits; Brand - points; Sam - rebounds; AI some of all: Green - move & shout; Young and Williams - move and score; fantastic foul shooting, especially from second team. Did new coach put his players where they can succeed? Was it the compatition? I feels like the team was more comfortible --- What do you think, Kate?— russ4philly
- I feels should be It feels— russ4philly
- I'm of the feeling we can't take too much from this game, because the Wizards are a pretty bad team right now, but there were two encouraging trends from this game. First, Miller shot less and passed more. For the first time all season, he made passes after penetrating in the halfcourt (usually he shoots in that case). He might have played his strongest game all season with 12 assists, only 2 turnovers (neither resulting from bad passes), 4 rebounds, and 8 points on 4 shot attempts. Second, Dalembert absolutely dominated the defensive boards. For those who want to replace him with Speights, look how the Sixers' defensive rebounding suffered when Dalembert was out. Speights is a much better offensive player, but one of his biggest weaknesses is defensive rebounding (and it is magnified when he plays together with Thad, who also is poor on the defensive glass). So, we'll see if these trends continue the next few games. While I didn't agree with the firing, I can see why it happened when it did, because it would have been harder to justify had it occurred after the Sixers had run off 3 wins out of 4, let's say. A cardboard cutout might have been able to coach the Sixers to victory tonight. (Come to think of it, DiLeo really didn't have much more expression than a cardboard cutout ... -- not saying anything about his coaching ability, for which I'll reserve judgment.)— Statman
- Cheeks was a great player but probably an average coach at best. Sixers lack consitent outside shooting. Brand slows this team down. Brand signing was probably a mistake. I think that he will struggle in playoffs against the likes of Howard, Garnett, and Wallace Brand is undersized power forward who has lost his explosiveness dues to injuries and age. I agree with previous entry that this might be C. Webber all over again. Sixers made bad move giving him long term deal. Sixers needed athletic post player who can run and two other outside shooters. None of the starting perimeter players can shoot. Miller, AI and Young are all slasher type scorers. You need outside shooters to stretch the defense. This team has too many similar parts. They will need to make some trades.— D-Train30
- Fire the dope who threw money at a weak small forward/shooting guard.— sf33
John Mitchell is in his second year covering the 76ers for the Inquirer after joining the paper in November 2011. He covered the Washington Wizards for the Washington Times from 1998 to 2008. He's also worked at the Philadelphia Tribune, the Wilmington News Journal, Courier-Post, Trenton Times and Elmira Star-Gazette.Born and raised in West Philadelphia - not too far from Will Smith - he graduated from Overbrook High School the same year the 76ers won their last championship. He's a proud graduate of Howard University and the proud father of two sons, Jared and Jordan.
ABOUT MARC NARDUCCI
Marc Narducci has served in a variety of roles with the Inquirer since beginning in 1983. He has covered the 76ers as a backup and a beat writer. In addition, Narducci has covered everything from the Super Bowl to the World Series and a lot in between. Narducci also has a true passion for South Jersey scholastic sports, which he has covered for many years.
