On Saturday , Cheeks was fired as head coach of the Philadelphia 76ers .
the Philadelphia 76ers
saturday cheeks fire head coach philadelphia 76er
On Saturday , Cheeks was fired as head coach of <m> the Philadelphia 76ers </m> .
Never before in NBA history have coaches fallen this early in the season in such numbers .
Now , Maurice Cheeks became the NBA 's fifth coaching casualty of the season .
On Saturday , Cheeks was fired as head coach of <m> the Philadelphia 76ers </m> .
With the off-season acquisition of Elton Brand , the 2008-09 season was supposed to be a good one for the Sixers .
Unfortunately , it has n't played out that way to date .
Despite leading the team in scoring , Brand has not yet lived up to expectations and the rest of the team also has struggled .
The Sixers have a record of 9-14 and had been expected to be a playoff contender in the Eastern Conference .
According to the Associated Press , the dismissal came hours before the 76ers were to play at home Saturday night , with DiLeo now making his coaching debut against Washington .
DiLeo has spent 19 seasons with the 76ers .
He was promoted to senior vice president/assistant general manager in 2003 .
Cheeks was one of more the popular players in 76ers history and was starting his fourth season as coach .
GM Ed Stefanski had given Cheeks two contract extensions in the past season , but the slow start was enough to cost him his job .