Another one?

"We do not want to change coaches [again]," Ed Snider said. "We've seen enough coaches."

Quick - was Snider talking about
A. his Flyers? Or
B. his Sixers?

B. On Monday, the Sixers fired Head Coach Jim O'Brien and replaced him with Maurice Cheeks. The Sixers will be paying three former or current head coaches next year, four if Chris Ford sticks around (though he's classified as some sort of super scout and is not technically drawing a coach's salary). Reminds me of when Joe Conklin was doing a Pat Croce imitation on WIP, writing out monthly checks to coaches and players no longer here, but still on the Sixers' payroll. It went on and on and on...

So, did Allen Iverson get O'Brien fired? I say no. Iverson had the highest scoring average of his career (something a point guard shouldn't do, but this is not your typical point guard situation), plus finished 5th in assists (something a good point guard should do). The lack of a stable rotation, the lack of developing the core of the team (if Willie Green is "untradable" shouldn't he have played more?), the incoherent defenses, the lack of getting Chris Webber involved in the offense, O'Brien's communication breakdown with multiple players - all of these contributed to O'Brien's exit.

One question posed on Comcast SportsNet last night was: if Mo Cheeks were not available, would this move still have been made? Hmmm. Remember two years ago that Detroit fired a very capable Rick Carlisle, who was still under contract, in order to get Larry Brown, despite the fact that Carlisle had just taken the Pistons to the Eastern Conference Finals and had back-to-back 50-win seasons. The Sixers have coveted Cheeks for years but were rebuffed by Portland each time contact was requested. I don't think the Sixers would have made the move just to get Flip Saunders, for example. We'll find out if this all works. In the meantime, the Sixers need some shooters and some rebounders.