The Brooklyn Nets coach gets the axe just 24 days after he was named the Eastern Conference coach of the month for November......
Brooklyn Nets started the season off like a juggernaut, but in the last month or so, they have fallen like a house of cards.
Their front office thinks that the man responsible for the slump, which has seen them lose 10 of their last 13 games including a 17-point blowout loss against the Boston Celtics on Christmas, was head coach Avery Johnson and on Thursday, they decided to axe him.
Johnson was under scrutiny because of the recent skid, but never expected an axe so soon. He was left disappointed;
"For me, I've got to be able to look myself in the mirror," Johnson, who led the team to a 14-14 record, said at his press conference Thursday. "And even though I'm disappointed with how things ended, I think I did the best job I could under the circumstances. But obviously it wasn't good enough, and now it's time to move on."
The Nets have placed assistant P.J. Carlesimo at the head coach for the moment, but are reportedly very interested in bringing Phil Jackson, the legendary coach who has 11 championship titles in his resume, on board.
Phil’s agent has however made it clear that the veteran mentor is not interested in the coaching stint.
"Phil has no interest in the Nets job at this time," Musburger said via text as reported by NBA.com.
Jackson instead is more interested in a management role, much on the model of Pat Riley at the Miami Heat. This will not only allow him to reduce the travelling, but also enable him to make strategies towards making this team a champion, something in which P-Jax is an expert.
The Nets are also considering Jerry Sloan, Stan Van Gundy, Nate McMillan, Mike Dunleavy, Mike Brown, ESPN's Jeff Van Gundy, Flip Saunders and Larry Brown. Sloan was Deron Williams’ coach at Utah Jazz and it was his system which made the point guard into a star he is today. Given that Williams has been mightily struggling to make impact at Brooklyn, the Nets will also be tempted to unite the duo. However, given the differences between the two at the end of their tenure at Utah Jazz, it seems highly unlikely.
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