Avery Johnson has been relieved of his coaching duties by the Nets today, as reported by Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. He finishes with a 60-116 (.341) record in two-plus seasons with the Nets. P.J. Carlesimo will serve as interim head coach this Friday against the Charlotte Bobcats.
After starting the season 11-4 in November, Johnson won the Coach of the Month award for the Eastern Conference. But come December, the team absolutely fell apart. They are now 3-10 this month after last night's 15 point loss to the Milwaukee Bucks. Deron Williams expressed his discomfort in Avery Johnson's system earlier this month.
In his press conference, Billy King stated that he had talked to ownership and came to the conclusion that he would fire Avery. He says that he "didn't like the direction the team was going" and that's what his decision rested on. He also said that Deron Williams was not the reason behind the firing, even after his public comments regarding Avery's system. He stated that he also was looking at personnel changes, but first he wanted to see whether a coaching change would be best.
When Avery Johnson took the podium, he immediately thanked the front office, ownership the other coaches, and the players. It was easy to hear the disappointment in his voice when he spoke. He thought the meeting was going to be about what was going to be happening with the team, but it ended up being the meeting about this being the end of his run with the team. He said that "Billy did a great job trying to fight for me, but it's something that I guess had to happen." He also said that he thought he had a very good relationship with Deron, and that it's unfair for anyone to try and pin this on him. "Being a coach is not always fair. You aren't always going to get a fair shake. If I was owning the team, I wouldn't have fired myself." He thinks that he has a bright future in coaching and would like to continue his career. Today is also his wife's birthday. "It's not a great birthday gift."
What do you think of the firing? Premature? It should have happened earlier? More blame should be put on the players? Leave your thoughts in the comments section below.
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The Brooklyn Nets have fired coach Avery Johnson, league source tells Yahoo! Sports.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) December 27, 2012
After starting the season 11-4 in November, Johnson won the Coach of the Month award for the Eastern Conference. But come December, the team absolutely fell apart. They are now 3-10 this month after last night's 15 point loss to the Milwaukee Bucks. Deron Williams expressed his discomfort in Avery Johnson's system earlier this month.In his press conference, Billy King stated that he had talked to ownership and came to the conclusion that he would fire Avery. He says that he "didn't like the direction the team was going" and that's what his decision rested on. He also said that Deron Williams was not the reason behind the firing, even after his public comments regarding Avery's system. He stated that he also was looking at personnel changes, but first he wanted to see whether a coaching change would be best.
"Avery worked his butt off...somehow it just wasn't translating with the players on the floor, for whatever reason. I don't know why."After being asked if he felt any pressure to do this because of how well the "other team in New York" is doing, King replied with a witty response. "The Rangers aren't playing, are they?" King has made it clear that as of now, P.J. Carlesimo is the coach. He wouldn't comment on whether or not he was going to reach out to Phil Jackson.
When Avery Johnson took the podium, he immediately thanked the front office, ownership the other coaches, and the players. It was easy to hear the disappointment in his voice when he spoke. He thought the meeting was going to be about what was going to be happening with the team, but it ended up being the meeting about this being the end of his run with the team. He said that "Billy did a great job trying to fight for me, but it's something that I guess had to happen." He also said that he thought he had a very good relationship with Deron, and that it's unfair for anyone to try and pin this on him. "Being a coach is not always fair. You aren't always going to get a fair shake. If I was owning the team, I wouldn't have fired myself." He thinks that he has a bright future in coaching and would like to continue his career. Today is also his wife's birthday. "It's not a great birthday gift."
"It's something that I guess had to happen." -Avery Johnson on being firedMany people saw this move coming, and Nets fans have been calling for this all month. I think it's a great move. His system clearly wasn't working. The isolation plays were failing miserably every time they were run for the main reason that this team is filled with guys who are not isolation players including "iso-Joe" Joe Johnson. Guys were working too hard to get a shot off and it wasn't working, so now it's time for Billy King to find a coach who will fit perfectly with this team.
What do you think of the firing? Premature? It should have happened earlier? More blame should be put on the players? Leave your thoughts in the comments section below.
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