Maurice Cheeks Squeezed Out in Philadelphia
Maurice Cheeks was fired as head coach of the Philadelphia 76ers this afternoon.
The news doesn't come as a huge surprise. Rumours of Cheeks' demise had been swirling around for the past few weeks. The 'Sixers, after enticing Elton Brand away from the L.A. Clippers in the summer with $80 million, were tipped to become big improver's in the Eastern Conference.
Instead, the 'Sixers have regressed this season and were 9-14 at the time of Cheeks sacking.
So, how did it go wrong so quickly for Cheeks? Maybe he became a victim of Philadelphia's strong—yet surprising—finish to the '07-'08 season.
The 76ers back then snuck into the playoffs with a 40-42 record, but they weren't given a lot of hope in the first round against the Detroit Pistons. However, Philly got the jump on the Pistons and at one stage, led the series two games to one. They also had a double-digit lead in Game Four before Detroit regrouped and took the series in six games.
Philadelphia's potential was easy to see. Andre Iguodala was evolving into a star, Andre Miller was a calm and controlled point guard, and while Thaddeus Young made typical rookie mistakes, he also looked like he had what it takes to make in the NBA.
Young and exciting, all the Sixers needed now was a genuine inside presence. It was a perfect situation for a veteran with a low post game.
Enter Brand.
23 games into this season though and Philly have looked muddled and confused. They don't seem to have a true team leader. Perhaps they were expecting too much from Brand too soon. After all, he wasn't the only Sixers player to receive a big payday in the off season.
The early returns on Andre Iguodala's $80 million, five-year contract extension, haven't been good.
Iggy's scoring is down five-points-per-game from last season (14.9 from 19.9). It has partly to do with Brand's presence and to the continued emergence of Young, but mostly Iguodala has himself to blame.
He has fallen in love with his jump shot. And it's not loving him back.
He is shooting a career low 43.9 percent from the field and is averaging only 4.5-free throw attempts per game, down almost two from last season's 6.2.
Further, despite also shooting a paltry, career low 25-percent from the three-point line, Iguodala continues to jack up almost three per game.
Last year, pre-monster contract, Iguodala wanted everyone to believe that he was ready to lead this team. He worked hard and was largely responsible for Philly's surprising late season run.
Now, Iguodala needs to get back to attacking the hoop and to utilizing his strengths. His athleticism allows him to beat his opponents off the dribble, but he hasn't been as interested in doing that consistently so far this season.
If Iguodala gets his focus back, this could have a greater impact on Philadelphia's season than the interim coach, who was named as assistant General Manager, Tony DiLeo will have.
