After their red hot start cooled down dramatically, pressure mounted for head coach Avery Johnson. Today the Brooklyn Nets have relieved Johnson of his duties and named assistant coach P.J. Carlesimo as the interim head coach. Read more after the jump.
Johnson, who was in the final year of his contract, was named Eastern Conference Coach of the Month for October and November following an 11-4 start. But since then the Nets have lost 10 of their last 13 games and are currently 14-14 and eighth place in the Eastern Conference.
The Nets star point guard Deron Williams publicly admitted that he didn’t like Avery Johnson’s system and hinted that it caused for the dramatic decline in his stats. Oddly enough he praised Jerry Sloan’s system although many blame Williams for Sloan getting fired in Utah. Looks like Deron is 2/2 and a certified coach killer.
Expectations were high for the Nets this year but honestly I’m not sure why. Aside from the addition of Joe Johnson all they really did was move from New Jersey to Brooklyn. I guess when you relocate to a big city the expectations triple.
Firing Avery Johnson will not automatically change their woes however the players must also be examined.
“The Nets ownership would like to express thanks to Avery for his efforts and to wish him every success in the future,” principal owner Mikhail Prokhorov said.
Johnson was named coach of the Nets on June 15, 2010. In two-plus seasons with the Nets, Johnson compiled a record of 60-116.
Names being thrown out there to replace Avery? Stan Van Gundy, Larry Brown and none other than Phil Jackson. That last name seems a little unlikely to me.
