ESPN’s Stephen A.Smith is reporting that the Philadelphia 76ers have fired head coach Maurice Cheeks
The Philadelphia 76ers fired coach Maurice Cheeks on Saturday, sources told ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith.
Assistant general manager Tony DiLeo will be the interim head coach for the remainder of the season, the sources said. Cheeks’ deal with the 76ers, who started the season 9-14, was guaranteed through next season.
Good news for Sixers fans. Mo Cheeks is a poor head coach and the team was clearly under-performing under his guidance.
I have no knowledge of Tony DiLevo so I have no idea if their choice for an interim coach is a good one.
Here’s part of his profile on NBA.com
Tony DiLeo enters his 17th season with the 76ers basketball operations department. After spending four seasons as the Sixers director of player personal (1999-03), DiLeo was promoted to senior vice president/assistant general manager in September 2003.
DiLeo assists President Billy King with player procurement through his evaluation of amateur and professional talent, and supervises the team’s draft effort and college and professional scouting systems.
During his tenure, DiLeo has been involved in every aspect of the team’s basketball operations, including coaching, scouting and management. Formerly the team’s director of scouting and assistant coach, DiLeo has extensive experience in international basketball, both as a player and coach. He played and coached in West Germany for 10 seasons before joining the Sixers staff for the 1990-91 season. He coached the West German men’s and women’s teams from 1979-90, winning nine national titles in the country’s top division. DiLeo was selected as the West German federation National Coach (1981-85) and the country’s coach of the year in 1987.
A quote from the updated ESPN link:
Team president Ed Stefanski said he met with Cheeks, describing the former 76er star as a “gentleman throughout” and a “class act.”
“I felt we were not progressing the way we had wanted to progress,” Stefanski said.”I didn’t feel on the floor we were executing the philosophy we wanted to have as Sixers basketball.”
A good article from Chris Sheridan on the going-ons in Sixers land
Very interesting wire report on ESPN on an interview Cheeks did after the dismissal, with some interesting quotes from the man
Sometimes, Cheeks said, it can be the coach’s fault a team does not perform as expected.
“In my case, it was the coach,” he said.
But the team struggled early and had lost eight of 10 before Stefanski fired Cheeks and replaced him with assistant general manager Tony DiLeo.
“Things don’t always work out the way you expect them to,” Cheeks said. “I take solace in the fact I did the best I could.”
He refused to place blame for the team’s poor performance on anyone but himself.
“Sometimes being fired is one of the things that entails being a head coach,” he said
Posted on December 13, 2008 by Dave