Philadelphia 76ers Gamble On Firing Coach Maurice Cheeks
Online Casino Advisory sports analyst Edmund Crumley has confirmed that the Philadelphia 76ers are firing coach Maurice Cheeks today. A news conference will be held later this afternoon by general manager Ed Stefanski to announce the decision.
Crumley spoke to sources inside the organization, who said the new coach was all but certain to be assistant general manager Tony DiLeo. DiLeo has been an organization man, working within the 76ers' front office in various capacities since 1989.
The Philadelphia team was supposed to challenge for division and conference titles in the National Basketball Association this year, after adding All-Star power forward Elton Brand to a young, aggressive line-up that improved greatly during the course of last season. But the team has not started well, going to nine wins against fourteen losses over the first quarter or so of the season.
Gambling experts had begun the season with Philadelphia as a twenty-five-to-one pick for the NBA title, putting the 76ers among a group of intriguing and improving teams. But the play of the team so far this season has seen the number drop to a sixty-to-one posting at the Palms Casino.
Cheeks returned to Philadelphia, the city where he starred for so many years as a point guard, after coaching the Portland Trailblazers. Cheeks enjoyed a honeymoon as a favorite son, having started on the last 76er team to win a championship.
And, having reached the playoffs last year with young stars like Andre Iguodala, Cheeks was expected to bring the team back to national prominence this season. But the addition of Brand meant slowing a team that ran consistently last year, and has cost the team the speed advantage the young legs gave them last year.
Crumley says, "The 76ers seemed to know what moves they have wanted to make since they traded Allen Iverson. But now, this firing takes them off the charted course. It comes across as a panic move because the adjustment of team chemistry to include Brand has been slow."
