Mo Money, Still Problems?
Hiring a new coach will not end the Sixers' problems.
It took them two years. Three coaches. Randy Ayres, Chris Ford and Jim O’Brien. One playoff victory and 88 losses.
The Philadelphia 76ers have finally found their man.
The Sixers hired Maurice Cheeks as their new head coach May 23. Cheeks played for the Sixers for 11 seasons, and helped lead them to an NBA Championship in 1983.
Cheeks finally brings stability to a position that has been more unsteady than Brittany Spears’ relationships. Since Larry Brown bolted for Detroit, the three 76ers coaches that have occupied the position -- Ayres, Ford and O’Brien -- have combined for an abysmal 76-88 record.
Cheeks is the perfect fit for the Sixers. He has proven that he can coach anyone by taking the aptly nicknamed Portland Jailblazers to 50 wins during the 2002-03 season.
Perhaps the greatest positive about the Cheeks hiring is Allen Iverson’s admiration for the former Sixers assistant coach. Not only does Cheeks have Iverson’s respect, he has something that the NBA’s leading scorer covets most -- a championship ring.
“I got all these fingers and no rings on them,” Iverson said. “I’m willing to do anything to win a championship. I’ll run through a wall if Mo tells me to.”
Iverson joked that he was so happy with the Cheeks hiring that he wanted to kiss him on the mouth.
I think I’d rather watch Monster-In-Law 50 times than something like that, but the point remains clear. Iverson wants Cheeks as his coach. And, this is Cheeks’ dream job. So, everything should be rosy in the City of Brotherly Love, right?
Wrong.
There is something rotten at the core of the 76ers. A $20 million toad with bad knees and a terrible attitude. A power forward who stands around the three-point line and puts up shots uglier than Phil Spector’s new hairdo, instead of posting up defenders and collecting rebounds. A player disgruntled with his current situation in Philadelphia. Chris Webber.
As revered as Cheeks is in Philadelphia, he cannot dissolve Webber and the Sixers’ other problems. He is not some sorcerer with a magic wand, who can whisk away all of the problems the team has.
Along with the Webber situation, the Sixers have to find playing time for Willie Green. A 6-4 guard, Green cannot play on the court the same time as Iverson, because opposing teams would take advantage of the small backcourt. Kyle Korver, the Ashton Kutcher look-alike is one of the elite three-point marksmen in the NBA, but he has the defensive presence of an 80-year-old grandmother. Samuel Dalembert is an imposing inside presence, but still does not know the game of basketball after four seasons in the NBA. Aaron McKie, who averaged a whopping 2.2 points per game last season, will be getting paid more than $5 million per season until 2008.
Cheeks is the right coach for the 76ers. He just has the wrong team.
NBA Column Links:
2006: 2006 NBA Draft Thoughts
2005: 2005 NBA Draft Thoughts
What Is He Thinking?
NBA Finals 2005: Unwatched Greatness
Mo Money, Still Problems?
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