Fools. Oh well, the Nets are probably now my least favorite Eastern Conference team now anyway. So, whatever they can do to screw themselves up is good with me. (I am looking forward to their relocation to Brooklyn though in a positive way.)
Wow. You just knew this was going to happen. I left it on NBATV after the game and I heard the guy talking about Scott getting ejected from the game yesterday. His 5-game losing streak recently also. When I heard he got ejected I thought he was going to be canned soon. The reason it sticks out is the precedent it sets: How do you fire a coach that took a total crap franchise and put it in the NBA Finals back-to-back years? Granted the additions of Jason Kidd and Richard Jefferson that season had a lot to do with it but this has to be a "players-calling-the-shots" type deal or new ownership looking at dollars and cents and their vision of the team.
It was made crystal clear since Nov that the only thing keeping Scott around was the sale of the team. Team sold, Scott gone. Evan
New ownership prematurely calling the shots in NJ? But not Atlanta? Gee, maybe Kidd can get Eddie Jordan back?
anyone remember a season in nba history where so many coaches got fired? ..... i hope to see rudy soon to coach a franchise...
I wish Rudy T success and am grateful for what he has done for Houston, but please do not coach the Nets. Enough has been made of that EG trade, but if Rudy T were to lead the Nets to countless Finals appearances (most likely loses), Rockets fans here would never hear the end of it.
Man, I hope that the selling of the team and the firing of the coach helps us play against them this Saturday (in front of celebrities and superbowl visitors) That'd be sweet! Too bad it's not on national TV -- droxford
I'm not really going to defend Scott - I honestly feel Kidd and Eddie Jordan were the biggest keys to the franchise's turnaround. After that, I would even put Kittles return (after knee troubles), as well as KMart's, above Scott as reasons the Nets went to the Finals. Before Kidd arrived, he had a poor relationship with his players, routinely going at them in the media, and never got Starbury to even think about playing within his system. The players ran the locker room and the team, not Scott. See KMart vs KVH, Kidd blasting the coaches in the locker room this year, KMart and Jefferson treating Zo like trash and not being reprimanded, etc. There hasn't been an authority figure in NJ outside of Kidd for four years. Evan
The problem with the Nets vacancy though is this: The coach who takes the job is automatically underperforming if he does not take them to the NBA Finals. Scott just went twice, so anything less than winning the East would be viewed as a downgrade. Only winning the NBA Finals would make the coach look like he improved the team. In other words, this is the one vacancy that Phil Jackson would never look at. Any established coach who takes that job runs the risk of losing reputation/value because the bar is automatically set high. A lot of coaches want to come in, teach a system and get the players familiar with that system. If you don't make the NBA Finals? You and your system will be judged accordingly.
In my opinion the Nets are clearly on the downside. They have already peaked. It will be interesting to see what they do with K-mart now. I am not a Nets fan by any stretch, so I am glad to see them in turmoil.
When your star player hates you...your days are numbered. Kidd meant with Management on saturday and demanded a change...that's what he got. It's a players league, ultimately.
I'm not so sure, many of the Nets players reportedly felt like they were succeeding in spite of Scott, and often credited former Assistant Eddie Jordan, with their successes in recent years. Plus, fan/media expectations in NJ are low, mostly because nobody in the region cared that much about the team....and will care even less so now that they are moving across two rivers. I actually think, with a lame duck team, that it will be fairly low pressure there for the near future.
It would be a hoot to see Rudy coaching Collins, EG, RJ and the SG (I forgot his name) that the Nets picked with our last Round One pick... Any other "ex-Rockets" on that squad?
I thinnk that will make life worse for the coach. The owners will suffer from their lame-duck status and shift the pressure onto the coach's shoulders.
