Sixers fire Eddie Jordan

[Andrew]

Out after just one season.

Eddie Jordan is the latest coach fired by an organization that can’t find the right mix of players or the right coach to contend for NBA championships. Jordan and his maligned Princeton offense were given all of one season to make it work.

One year in Philadelphia is like lasting through a multiyear deal with other organizations.

Since Larry Brown left in 2003, four other coaches have failed to coach more than 82 games for the organization. Jordan’s dismissal means a second straight offseason of a coaching search.

So much for him not being concerned about his job security. Of course, that could be because another opportunity is on the horizon.

There continues to be speculation that Larry Brown is leaving Charlotte and heading back to the Sixers, which has been denied but given Brown's nomadic tendencies and habit of looking to move on when things are going pretty well at the current gig, would it be all that surprising if that actually happens? As for Eddie Jordan it's a tough break, but we've seen quite a few coaches being canned after one season (or less) in recent years so clearly teams don't have a lot of patience if the wins don't come straight away.

[NovU]

8th coach in 10 seasons... Perhaps, they should start firing GMs too.

[benji]

They did.

[Lamrock]

God it would suck to be a Sixers fan. Most of the cap tied up into a 50+ loss team for the next 3-4 years. (see also: Detroit) Jordan was a poor fit, so this is a nice start, but I think its going to take more than this for a Sixers renaissance.

Was looking at the Sixers this year to see why they sucked so much. While injuries and the increased presence of Brand (and Iverson) didn't help, it seems like the coach could be one to blame for the diminished production of nearly everyone on the team. What say you, Ben?

[shadowgrin]

I hope they don't get Mark Jackson or Dunleavy.
Avery Johnson isn't bad but there are rumors that the Hornets are after him. Jeff Gundy is preferable too, if only it would remove him from commentating games.
Larry Brown is great and all but he will eventually get bored and move on again to another team and I think MJ will use his magic or pretty much give whatever Brown wants for him to stay.

8th coach in 10 seasons... Perhaps, they should start firing GMs too.

benji's right, Billy King had already been fired, which is good.
Fire Ed Stefanski? I really should slap you NovU.

[Lamrock]

Ed Stefanski's been a good general manager? What good has he done besides drafting Speights? Signing Brand? Hiring Eddie Jordan in the first place?

[shadowgrin]

I'm not saying he's Jerry West good but he's what the Sixers can get right now unless they get that assistant gm? whose name I can't remember from that other team whose name I can't remember also. (Denver?)

I blame Brand on Brand. Eddie Jordan, I had no idea why the Sixers got him in the first place. He was horrible in his later days at Washington, granted that the "franchise" player (Arenas) and their key bigman (Haywood) were mostly out but he had 2 players (Butler, Jamison) that are capable of concentrating the offense on and oodles of bigmen to somewhat offset Haywood's absence.

[Lamrock]

When you're an up-and-coming young team, signing an aging, injury prone power forward to an 80 million dollar contract doesn't seem to be the most logical idea. Sure, the other "marquee" FA's that year were Corey Maggette and Baron Davis IIRC (who played the same positions as the Andres, and their promising backups Lou Williams and Thaddeus Young), but it seems like Ben Gordon would have been a more logical fit there.

Point is, the Sixers have regressed talent wise and cap-wise since Stefanski's tenure began. That to me shows poor general managing.

[benji]

Sure, the other "marquee" FA's that year were Corey Maggette and Baron Davis IIRC (who played the same positions as the Andres, and their promising backups Lou Williams and Thaddeus Young), but it seems like Ben Gordon would have been a more logical fit there.

Josh Smith.

And shadow, I think, should remember the thread for which we are all eating crow today.

[Lamrock]

Yeah, I knew I was forgetting someone there. Childress too, since Iguodala plays better at the 3. Signing Childress then trading a second rounder for Camby (like the Clippers eventually did) would have been a good summer for the Sixers.

[Drex]

Fuck yeah, the bitch is gone. The loss of Andre Miller really hurt the team a lot, but I have no idea how Jordan has offers, he fucking sucks.

[shadowgrin]

When you're an up-and-coming young team

...who just made the playoffs the previous season and badly needed a post presence, signing an aging power forward who happened to be one of the best in the league before being injured makes logical sense. Though I agree that the amount of the contract is a bit too much then.

injury prone

Hindsight. Brand played three almost complete seasons (81-79-80) before his injury in LA and subsequent signing with the Sixers.

Good point on Ben Gordon, the Sixers badly needed a good shooter then, even now (no thanks to Jason Kapono).

Point is, the Sixers have regressed talent wise and cap-wise since Stefanski's tenure began. That to me shows poor general managing.

Talent-wise, they let Andre Miller walk out the door but even though he's doing well in Portland now he's not exactly young either and suited for an "up-and-coming young team" especially when they were counting on their "point guard of the future" Louie Williams to finally break out, which unfortunately didn't happen because of injuries.
Cap-wise, the Sixers were fucked by the contract of Brand. If Brand did of what was expected of him or at least near that, there won't be a big deal of the Sixers screwed up cap. That's why I blame Brand on Brand (I'm still hoping that some of it were on the coach). He was being depended as the franchise player the team could count on but ended up screwing the franchise with his salary. Unless they can trade him.

For Childress, the Sixers already had Thad Young and most GMs could care less of Childress as the attention was on Joe Johnson for being the sole player to lift the Hawks out of mediocrity. Plus Childress wanted more money and starting role, iirc, and the most "knowledgeable" NBA media and GMs didn't consider him to be worth the money.

IIRC, Josh Smith was flip-flopping at the time with the Hawks regarding contract negotiations, which somewhat raised a red flag to other GMs. But yeah, getting Josh Smith wouldn't be bad, especially on the cap.


Only the March Madness thread comes to mind, but it isn't that since you're not eating crow with Duke.

[Drex]

Josh Smith would have been perfect for the team. Imagine a frontcourt of Dalembert, Smith and Iggy in D. The amounts of dunking would've been high.

[Lamrock]

airBerlin cited Josh Smith as the right pick as the time and got about a dozen people arguing the contract. In hindsight, he was totally right.

[shadowgrin]

Yeah, hindsight's a bitch. Heck, I used to wet my pants because I thought Ben Wallace was a perfect player for Larry Brown's system, if the Sixers could get Wallace. Guess I was right, unfortunately it was in Detroit.

[benji]

To be fair to those of us who aren't irrational, at the time, nobody knew Josh Smith would ever come around to realizing how much he used to kill teams by doing everything he shouldn't and nothing he should.

Had Brand not gotten re-injured, the discussion may be different.

To answer the other question, the fact that Speights wasn't shoved into the lineup when healthy was the biggest obvious failing. The team had nothing to lose playing him starter minutes, and platooning him, Dalembert and Brand ALONE up front. I also would've told Young to fuck off (to his entitlement) this season, moved Andre up for much of games, and...sigh, played Willie Green and Rodney Carney more. Thaddeus needed a boot up his ass after he was handed the world post-rookie season. (See: Daniels, Marquis.) The Iverson shit only happened because they bombed handling the backcourt all season. I would've kept Ivey (although Meeks was alright) and pushed Holiday more. They did have an issue defensively, but I would've been more concerned about getting the offense going and then adjusting down the stretch of games to enforce the defense. (We're of course pretending I can't bring up all those good players from the D-League who should be in the league but aren't for irrational reasons.)

In other words, wait for 82games to update their data for the end of the season and I'll see how many wins I can squeeze out of them.

[Andrew]

I hope they don't get Mark Jackson or Dunleavy.

It would get Mark Jackson off ESPN broadcasts though.

[shadowgrin]

What? And commit the crime of missing out on intellectual basketball gems when he's commentating, especially when the Lakers are playing.

[Andrew]

It's a sacrifice I'm willing to make. I'm selfless that way.

[shadowgrin]

But it's a crime! "It's against the law-son"...

[Andrew]

Probably one of his better quips.