Another NBA Coach (Mo Cheeks) Goes Down

↵The Sixers have disappointed this season, just 9-14 despite the inspired 2007-08 run (which culminated in taking two of six against the Pistons) and the pick-up of dominant pivot Elton Brand over the summer. If you don’t know by now: you disappoint in the NBA, you get canned. Today, Maurice Cheeks became the fifth coach fired within the first quarter of the season.
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↵At this point, the emotional roller coaster of the NBA season seems much more telling to any particular coach’s fortunes than overall performance. Reggie Theus, long in danger, pulled off a huge upset of the Lakers on Tuesday. He’s expected to stay safe barring a basketball apocolypse (or a bad loss to the Knicks tonight). Marc Iavaroni of Memphis got a win at an opportune time this week. Sure, it was over the Thunder ... but whatever. (Also, his owner is being cheap right now.)
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↵Cheeks had an opportunity to turn things around this week with a home-and-home against the Cavaliers, a team many picked the Sixers to eclipse this season. The Cavs won the set by a combined 24 points and have the league’s second-best record.
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↵While fellow fired coaches Eddie Jordan and Sam Mitchell seem assured of another top job as soon as next year, Cheeks surprisingly figures to land closer to the Randy Wittman/P.J. Carlesimo pile. Many felt Cheeks was the victim of a regime change and not his own failure in Portland; as such, he seemed like a safe pick for the Philly job (especially considering his history in the town). But although there has been change in the Sixers’ front office (current GM Ed Stefanski didn’t hire Cheeks, in other words), this sacking is more tied to the team’s failure. You fail 1.5 times in today’s NBA, you might be done for a while. Cheeks is smooth and well-liked, so he could get a gig soon enough. But it seems more likely that he’d get back on the bench as an assistant or move to a college program.↵