Sixers fire Mo Cheeks

After signing Elton Brand in the offseason, the Sixers were supposed to get to the next level and compete for a top spot in the Eastern Conference. Instead they have come up well short of expectations as the Sixers are currently in last place with a 9-14 record. Unfortunately, any time a team makes a big free agent acquisition and then underachieves, someone has to pay the price. The man that will be paying the price this time is head coach Maurice Cheeks.

The Sixers have fired Cheeks and will replace him with an interim coach, director of player personnel Tony DiLeo. Cheeks spent three years coaching the Sixers and never led them to a winning record nor did he ever win a playoff series but he did about all that could have been expected with the limited talent he was given in previous years. Now that he has better talent, more was expected of him and the results just weren't there. I don't know much about his replacement, Tony DiLeo, but he's likely a placeholder until the team can bring someone else in with some experience.

The Mo Cheeks coaching era is over in Philadelphia and it was certainly less accomplished than his playing career as a Sixer. He had his moments and he should be commended for leading the Sixers to the playoffs last season when they had no business getting there. Unfortunately, he doesn't have a good track record coaching teams with talent, so the Sixers felt it was time to move on. If they can't improve this season, and fast, you may see some more big changes coming down the line.

Sixers extend Mo Cheeks

The Sixers have all the players in place to field a competitive team for the next few years and now they have their coached locked up for the foreseeable future. Maurice Cheeks, who signed a one-year contract extension back in February, signed another contract extension that will keep him in Philly. Terms of the deal were not announced, but the Sixers will have Cheeks under contract for at least the next two seasons.

While Cheeks is not considered one of the best coaches in the league, with the job he did last season, he certainly deserves to be a part of a Sixers team he helped take from a rebuilding team to a possible contender. Cheeks did an excellent job weaving in the young players last year while playing to win.

GM Ed Stefanski can now sit back and relax and watch the team he has created work with the coach he wants at the helm. There was some question when Stefanski came in as to the future of Cheeks but it's clear that Ed thinks Mo is the right man for the job.

Mo Cheeks to get Contract Extension

Since when does coaching a team to a 96-127 record get you a contract extension? The Sixers are close to giving head coach Maurice Cheeks a new contract. He is currently on the last year of a three year deal. There is no word yet on how long the deal is, or for how much. Maybe Cheeks should only get paid if he can finally guide the Sixers to the playoffs.

All jokes aside, Cheeks has done enough to warrant an extension. He hasn't had much to work with, and he has done a good job transitioning the team from the Allen Iverson era to the Andre Iguodala era. He gets the team playing hard, and while a record of 23-31 this season isn't that impressive, with the talent he has been given it is better than expected. As long as he can keep the young guys playing hard, he deserves to be the coach of this team. The contract extension will also keep our old friend Larry Brown from swooping in and trying to snatch the job away.

UPDATE: Cheeks got a one year extension, with an option for a second year, worth up to 3 million.

*Sixers lose to Timberwolves I hope that GM Ed Stefanski watched tonights game and used it as leverage when talking about the value of Cheeks' contract. The Sixers looked lethargic and got blown out against the lowly Minnesota Timberwolves, who got just their 11th win of the season. Stat line of the night had to go to Willie Green, who in 19 minutes shot 3 for 10, and managed to record zero assists, rebounds or steals. They play the Knicks tonight, at home. Normally I would say it is a winnable game, but this is the Sixers.