Just fifty games into his first season coaching the team, Maurice Cheeks has been relieved of his duties as head coach of the Detroit Pistons. The timing of the move seems curious as the team is coming off back-to-back blowout wins over the Brooklyn Nets and Denver Nuggets.
“Our record does not reflect our talent and we simply need a change,” said Pistons owner Tom Gores, via official release. “We have not made the kind of progress that we should have over the first half of the season. This is a young team and we knew there would be growing pains, but we can be patient only as long as there is progress. The responsibility does not fall squarely on any one individual, but right now this change is a necessary step toward turning this thing around. I still have a lot of hope for this season and I expect our players to step up. I respect and appreciate Maurice Cheeks and thank him for his efforts; we just require a different approach.”
The Pistons are a disappointing 21-29 this season, but remain in the thick of the playoff chase in the NBA’s Eastern Conference. They are in 9th place, just 1/2 game behind the 8th place Charlotte Bobcats, and the Pistons have one game in hand.
“This was a difficult decision for the organization to make but we needed to make a change,” Pistons president of basketball operations Joe Dumars said. “We have great respect for Maurice and appreciate his hard work.”
The move was met with shock by players on twitter including Brandon Jennings, and Charlie Villaneuva.
Jennings tweeted “wait what” shortly after news broke. He later went on to tweet, “I will like to thank Mo Cheeks for everything, thank you for helping me become a better person & player. I’m still learning.”
Meanwhile Villaneuva tweeted, “Is it true?” shortly after reports started to surface about the move.
An interim coach has yet to be named. Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports reports that assistant John Loyer is expected to be the front-runner for the job. Meanwhile ESPN is reporting that former that former Memphis Grizzlies Head Coach Lionel Hollins is a front runner for the job on a full-time basis.
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