Today , Maurice Cheeks became the fifth coach fired within the first quarter of the season .
the first quarter of the season
['today', 'maurice', 'cheeks', 'fifth', 'coach', 'fire', 'quarter', 'season']
Today , Maurice Cheeks became the fifth coach fired within <m> the first quarter of the season </m> .
The Sixers have disappointed this season , just 9-14 despite the inspired 2007-08 run ( which culminated in taking two of six against the Pistons ) and the pick-up of dominant pivot Elton Brand over the summer .
If you do n't know by now : you disappoint in the NBA , you get canned .
Today , Maurice Cheeks became the fifth coach fired within <m> the first quarter of the season </m> .
At this point , the emotional roller coaster of the NBA season seems much more telling to any particular coach 's fortunes than overall performance .
Reggie Theus , long in danger , pulled off a huge upset of the Lakers on Tuesday .
He 's expected to stay safe barring a basketball apocolypse ( or a bad loss to the Knicks tonight ) .
Marc Iavaroni of Memphis got a win at an opportune time this week .
Sure , it was over the Thunder ... but whatever .
( Also , his owner is being cheap right now . )
Cheeks had an opportunity to turn things around this week with a home-and-home against the Cavaliers , a team many picked the Sixers to eclipse this season .
The Cavs won the set by a combined 24 points and have the league 's second-best record .
While fellow fired coaches Eddie Jordan and Sam Mitchell seem assured of another top job as soon as next year , Cheeks surprisingly figures to land closer to the Randy Wittman/P.J. Carlesimo pile .
Many felt Cheeks was the victim of a regime change and not his own failure in Portland ; as such , he seemed like a safe pick for the Philly job ( especially considering his history in the town ) .
But although there has been change in the Sixers ' front office ( current GM Ed Stefanski did n't hire Cheeks , in other words ) , this sacking is more tied to the team 's failure .
You fail 1.5 times in today 's NBA , you might be done for a while. Cheeks is smooth and well-liked , so he could get a gig soon enough .
But it seems more likely that he 'd get back on the bench as an assistant or move to a college program