The Philadelphia 76ers fired Coach Maurice Cheeks Saturday morning after a disappointing 9-14 start to the 2008-09 season .
9-14
philadelphia 76er fire coach maurice cheeks saturday morning disappointing 9-14 start 2008-09 season
The Philadelphia 76ers fired Coach Maurice Cheeks Saturday morning after a disappointing <m> 9-14 </m> start to the 2008-09 season .
The Philadelphia 76ers fired Coach Maurice Cheeks Saturday morning after a disappointing <m> 9-14 </m> start to the 2008-09 season .
The Sixers had a three-game losing streak going into Saturday night 's contest against Washington , and more had been expected from a team that signed free-agent forward Elton Brand to a five-year , $ 80 million contract in the off-season .
`` I made the decision because I felt we were not progressing the way we wanted to progress , '' said general manager Ed Stefanski at a news conference .
`` I feel on the floor we were n't executing the philosophy that we want to have as Sixers basketball . ''
Stefanski said Tony DiLeo , the team 's assistant general manager and senior vice president , will coach the team the rest of this season .
Excluding Brand 's 15.9 points and 10 rebounds , the team 's stars have not played up to past standards .
Andre Miller is averaging 15.5 points per game , Andre Iguodala 14.9 points , a drop of five points per game from last season , while Samuel Dalembert is down almost five points per game with his 5.8 points and just over two rebounds .
Cheeks compiled a 162-139 record in three-plus seasons and coached the 76ers to 40 regular-season victories in 2007-08 before a six-game loss to Detroit in the Eastern Conference quarterfinals .
He is the fifth NBA head coach fired this season , joining Oklahoma City 's P.J.Carlesimo , Washington 's Eddie Jordan , Toronto 's Sam Mitchell and Minnesota 's Randy Wittman .