# ESPNEWS: Jim O'Brien FIRED...Mo Cheeks named Head Coach



## ThaShark316

From ESPNEWS...no link yet.


All Sixers fans are NOW Happy.


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## Minstrel

As a Blazers fan, I never much cared for Cheeks as a head coach. Not because he happened to be there when the team experienced a downfall, but due to his baffling substitution patterns and devotion to Damon Stoudamire at point guard even when others, like Scottie Pippen, ran the point better.

Perhaps, though, he'll be a better coach in his second go-'round.


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## BEEZ

ThaShark316 said:


> From ESPNEWS...no link yet.
> 
> 
> All Sixers fans are NOW Happy.


 I hate Mo Cheeks just as much


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## Premier

_Anyone _is better than Jim O'Brien.

Link


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## BEEZ

oh brother. Horray that Obrien is gone. Hello to Maurice Cheeks and his lame duck offensive scheme.


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## mediocre man

Premier said:


> _Anyone _is better than Jim O'Brien.
> 
> Link



Mo's not. He's a horible X's and O's coach. He is just awful....But nice hire I guess. If you're really lucky you'll get a couple of his old assistants from the Blazers last year in John Lawyer and Tim Grgrich.


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## Sliccat

This is bull****. Billy King needs to go. I've been one of his biggest supporters, but this move is glaringly stupid.

1. Jim's already been here for a year, knows most of his team, they went on a great run before bumping into their worst match up in the league, and there was no real reason to fire him. A point comes when teams have to just stick with the team they have.

2. Maurice Cheeks!? Obviously a PR move to sell tickets, and nothing else. He's a worse coach that O'Brien, because while Obie has big strenghts and big weaknesses. Cheeks is medicore at every thing involved in coaching.

If they win a game under 50 next season, the whole structure of this team needs to go, and they need to rebuild. Iverson, Webber, King, Cheeks, McKie, all need to go, and build a new future, because King has just completely ruined any chance that the sixers will be anything next year.

Of course, by the preseason, I'll have convinced myself everything will work out again, and predict 50 wins, and of course, they'll miss the playoffs.


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## B_&_B

As a Trail Blazer fan, best of luck to ya with Mo as your coach... he's a great guy, but not a good coach.


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## JT

excellent. hopefully he knows how to use cwebb to his full potential


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## Sliccat

Premier said:


> _Anyone _is better than Jim O'Brien.
> 
> Link


No, Jim's weaknesses just outweigh his strengths, Mo doesn't have any strenghts. What do you hire him for? He's a former point guard, played in Philly, and will probably get along with AI. We already had that.


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## Premier

Name a coach with a worse offensive plan than that of Jim O'Brien. He simply doesn't understand how to create a productive offense. Sure he can design plays (he's a pretty good X/O coach), but they all involve perimeter shooting and putting the frontcourt at the high-post where they will be able to get long rebounds. This limits any chance of motion in the offense, allowing the opponent to revive themselves and making it harder for a chance at victory.

His defensive plan is overrated. It involves wearing the opponent down using pressure starting from the perimeter. This may work in college (like Rick Pitino, where he learned the system), but more athletic players in the league can take advantage of it by a series of picks, cuts, etc. to create dribble penetration in hope to dump it off to the big-men for a layup. In Boston, Dick Harter was really the reason for our impressive defensive statistics. I don't really know about Philadelphia, but I'm sure it's close to the same.


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## BEEZ

BEER&BASKETBALL said:


> As a Trail Blazer fan, best of luck to ya with Mo as your coach... he's a great guy, but not a good coach.


 We have known that for years as I have been screaming never to hire this terrible coach. Billy King actually managed to find a worst coach than Obrien. How nice


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## 2PacFan4Life

cheeks to philly's been rumored for years. bout' time it happened


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## RP McMurphy

Surprising news, to say the least. I always thought Maurice Cheeks got a raw deal in Portland. That team is in worse shape than every other team in the Western Conference and Cheeks is the only thing that kept them from total collapse over the past two seasons. Once they fired him, they *really* started to suck.

I bet Cheeks still lets Allen Iverson handle the ball for most of the time, because he always let his guards handle the ball a lot in Portland. Depending on what you think of Iverson and Webber, that could be a good thing or a bad thing.


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## Sliccat

Premier said:


> Name a coach with a worse offensive plan than that of Jim O'Brien. He simply doesn't understand how to create a productive offense. Sure he can design plays (he's a pretty good X/O coach), but they all involve perimeter shooting and putting the frontcourt at the high-post where they will be able to get long rebounds. This limits any chance of motion in the offense, allowing the opponent to revive themselves and making it harder for a chance at victory.
> 
> His defensive plan is overrated. It involves wearing the opponent down using pressure starting from the perimeter. This may work in college (like Rick Pitino, where he learned the system), but more athletic players in the league can take advantage of it by a series of picks, cuts, etc. to create dribble penetration in hope to dump it off to the big-men for a layup. In Boston, Dick Harter was really the reason for our impressive defensive statistics. I don't really know about Philadelphia, but I'm sure it's close to the same.


You're acting like we think Obie's a good coach. Wrong. Cheeks is just worse.


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## Burn

Well there goes Coach O'Brien's lifelong dream that they mentioned in every single 76ers game...


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## Minstrel

RP McMurphy said:


> Once they fired him, they *really* started to suck.


Not due to a loss of coaching acumen. Due to the fact that the Blazers made a conscious effort to play their younger, rawer players who were expected to (and did) make mistakes, in order to give them a chance to develop in actual competition.

And the result was actual, observable strides in players like Telfair, Khryapa and Outlaw.


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## thekid

Good hire for the Sixers, at least compared to O'Brien.


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## Halo

I like Cheeks, I think he's a good guy and he does have the respect of AI, but I don't think he's a great coach myself. I just hope it works out.


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## E.H. Munro

Who the heck leaked news of the Hoops Boston Awards? Dammit. Weisbrod resigns after learning of his nomination and Cheeks is obviously determined to repeat. I hope those rumours of Eric Musselman coming back are true.


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## Showtyme

This is great news for Philly. Really really great news.

I think this will increase the likelihood that Dalembert will return, and that Webber becomes a more important, better-used piece of the team. Cheeks is no genius, but he's a good guy that lets his players play.


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## AnDrOiDKing4

Lets see if he is smart enough to run the ball through Webb's hands.


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## futuristxen

Not bad. Not bad at all.

Though I thought Jim O'Brien was decent. His teams always find a way into the playoffs.

Mo Cheeks to philly isn't suprising though. They've been wanting this for a long time.


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## c_dog

jim o'brien definitey did not fit in philly, however, he managed to get the job done. the sixers had a very respectable 43-39 record and made the playoffs when many were writing them off, favoring the up coming teams like cavs. let's not forget O'Brien was locked up long term(4 years) at roughly 4million per season. that's not chump change. the sixers organization must have REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY hated him, and i mean really. it's mind boggling why they'd sign him to such a lucrative and long contract in the first place when they didn't even know how he would fit in the system.

for AI's sake, i can only hope Mo Cheeks do well because otherwise i see another coaching change this time next season. the sixers organization needs to make up their mind as to who they want as their head coach and stop replacing them as if they grow on trees.


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## sherwin

Well Cheeks is known as a players' coach, I hope he can deal with Iverson and not just be passive and let Iverson do whatever he wants. Cause that doesn't work.


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## gambitnut

Premier said:


> Name a coach with a worse offensive plan than that of Jim O'Brien. He simply doesn't understand how to create a productive offense. Sure he can design plays (he's a pretty good X/O coach), but they all involve perimeter shooting and putting the frontcourt at the high-post where they will be able to get long rebounds. This limits any chance of motion in the offense, allowing the opponent to revive themselves and making it harder for a chance at victory.
> 
> His defensive plan is overrated. It involves wearing the opponent down using pressure starting from the perimeter. This may work in college (like Rick Pitino, where he learned the system), but more athletic players in the league can take advantage of it by a series of picks, cuts, etc. to create dribble penetration in hope to dump it off to the big-men for a layup. In Boston, Dick Harter was really the reason for our impressive defensive statistics. I don't really know about Philadelphia, but I'm sure it's close to the same.


Take out the part about being a good X/O coach and you have a good description of Cheeks as a coach.


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## Coatesvillain

This is terrible.. I'm with sliccat (seems like we're agreeing a lot more now).. this SUCKS!

Was Jim O'Brien bad, yes.. but like I said he came a long long way as the season progressed, Mo Cheeks couldn't lace O'Brien's dress shoes. Man, this doesn't feel right.. Mo's my favorite Sixer all-time, but he can't coach..


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## BallStateCards

That only took two years of rumors to come to fruition...


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## HKF

Not a Jim O'Brien fan at all. Very stubborn coach, who's philosophy is pretty bad to begin with. Glad to see him gone.


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## DieSlow69

Yeah Yeah I know Cheeks sucks anus at coaching but think about it at least the players that we like will finally get to play together......I see Sammy getting consistent minutes....Webber will get his shots and hopefully come back healthier....And of course AI will get his.....I see it as a better move than most of you guys think. I think Korver will go to the bench now and come out firing as a six man giving us something of the bench with Willie Green(finally he will play). Something Obrien wouldn't do because he liked to lunch 3's and say the hell with defense......*Face it Anything is better than Obrien he had a wack as scheme and did not listen to his players he did to much experimenting and not coaching and playing his best players*....Good Riddens Obrien!!!!!!!!


Sixers 4 Life :clap: :banana:


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## Ps!ence_Fiction

I have to go change my undergarments...


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## Blazer Freak

Man, I'm sorry, but you guys are kinda screwed. Mo, he's a great guy, but a ****ty *** coach. He isn't a good X and O coach, his sub patterns are wack, and if a player is on fire, he'll take him out. I was hoping he wouldn't get another job for a team that I liked. This sucks, King really does need to go.

THE ONLY GOOD THING that came out of this hiring could be that Mo isn't mean to his players at all, so Webber won't get his feelings hurt. Thats about it.


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## Ps!ence_Fiction

I'm extremely happy that Obie is gone, but I'm not sure that Mo Cheeks is the best move. From what I've heard, he's a bad coach (though Portland did do worse without him this year). Hopefully this will all work out. I'm just glad that the players like Sammy will finally get consistent minutes. Once again, here's to hoping this all works out :cheers:


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## Blazer Freak

Man, I'm sorry, but you guys are kinda screwed. Mo, he's a great guy, but a ****ty *** coach. He isn't a good X and O coach, his sub patterns are wack, and if a player is on fire, he'll take him out. I was hoping he wouldn't get another job for a team that I liked. This sucks, King really does need to go.

THE ONLY GOOD THING that came out of this hiring could be that Mo isn't mean to his players at all, so Webber won't get his feelings hurt. Thats about it. And that they will atleast have a consistent starting lineup. But forget ever having a solid sub pattern.


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## SodaPopinski

Premier said:


> Name a coach with a worse offensive plan than that of Jim O'Brien.


Um... Mo' Cheeks?

Hate to tell you this, but his offensive schemes in Portland were terrible and disgustingly predictable to anyone who had seen one Blazer game.

Defensively, you'll be okay.

In other words, get used to a bunch of 82-79 losses.

-Pop


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## gambitnut

Ps!ence_Fiction said:


> I'm extremely happy that Obie is gone, but I'm not sure that Mo Cheeks is the best move. From what I've heard, he's a bad coach (though Portland did do worse without him this year). Hopefully this will all work out. I'm just glad that the players like Sammy will finally get consistent minutes. Once again, here's to hoping this all works out :cheers:


The fact that all of our veterans, including some of our best players, were injured at the end of the year and we wanted to play they young players anyway to see what they could do had much more to do with our bad record at the end of the year than Mo being fired.

Also, I wouldn't count on anything to do with playing time being consistent with Mo as coach.


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## Dan

the only reason Portland had a 50 and 49 win season under Maurice Cheeks was because of 1 man.

Scottie Pippen


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## gambitnut

Hap said:


> the only reason Portland had a 50 and 49 win season under Maurice Cheeks was because of 1 man.
> 
> Scottie Pippen


I'd say two men. Sabonis is the other.


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## ms200402

Cheeks is not only a great guy but also a good coach. 
He did not have full right to control Blazers in the last two years.
Think about Scott's 1,2,3 play, Zach's growing, Rasheed's 3,4,5 play.
Please eat your words when Mo will be successful in 76ers.


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## Blazer Freak

You better do the same when he proves you wrong and Philly doesnt win as many games as they did this year. Hell they barely made the playoffs this year, they might not next year. The only thing that could make them is Webber and AI gelling.


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## Coatesvillain

The one thing that upsets me the most about all this, is that Mo Cheeks is a hero in Philly, and usually when guys come back here and don't live up to the overwhelming expectations their image is ruined (Larry Bowa).

If I'm wrong, I'll be the first to admit it..but I have a feeling I won't be.


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## Kunlun

Well, looks like we all got what we wanted, O'Brien out. But was it worth it to get Maurice Cheeks? I'm not sure about that. When I read O'Brien was fired I got all excited, but then finding out Cheeks would be our new coach really killed it for me. Maurice Cheeks' offense is terrible, it's a bunch of isos and there isn't any real structure to it, kind of like O'Brien's with less threes. 

What I don't understand is why we went immediately for Cheeks and didn't wait for the off season and look at some coaches like Flip Saunders or Nate McMillan, both of whom I feel are much better than Maurice Cheeks. I think we did this last season too with the hasty hiring of O'Brien before looking at others. 

Anyone know how long we signed Cheeks for?


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## SixersFan

While Billy King has shown that he can do good drafts and good trades, his coach hirings have been awful.

Let's hope this works out, if it doesn't I'm pretty sure BIlly King is done in Philly.


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## Coatesvillain

SixersFan said:


> Let's hope this works out, if it doesn't I'm pretty sure BIlly King is done in Philly.


I doubt it, remember the Flyers fire a coach almost every year and Bobby Clarke still has his job, and they are owned by the same people who own the Sixers.

The reason the Sixers went with Maurice Cheeks, is basically because he was the guy that King wanted two years ago after Larry Brown wanted. Twice he asked for permission to talk to Cheeks, and the Trailblazers wouldn't give it to him, so when Cheeks is free it was basically academic.

I guess we'll have to live with it, and see what happens.


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## ms200402

Blazers like nice guy so they threw Bozi, Rasheed, Jeff, Woods. 
But why did they also throw the most nice guy like Cheeks?
Darius should go! Nash should go! Don't blame Mo, He is good!
Although what job he will do, I support him and support 76ers. 
Make a wish for Cheeks and 76ers!


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## Dynasty Raider

ThaShark316 said:


> From ESPNEWS...no link yet.
> 
> 
> All Sixers fans are NOW Happy.


What a SHOCKER!!! This will never work, not if Cheeks brings that same disgusting smirk of public dissatisfaction with his team if they're not winning. AI won't tolerate that. This will be interesting.

WoW ... I thought Cheeks had retired. Damn, what brought this on? Did you ever watch any of the Trailblazer games?

For AI's sake, I hope this works. It just doesn't seem fair to keep up all of these changes during his career. 

I'm in shock. But, if the Sixer Fans have faith in Cheeks, I guess as a distant fan, I must just wait and reserve further comment.


EDIT: Additional Thought. I'm sure AI had some input in the decision to bring Mo aboard, so AI probably won't be subjected to that smirk. And, since we all learn from our mistakes, Maybe ... just maybe, Mo is old enough to have learned from his experience with the Trailblazers. I HOPE SO!!!!


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## RipCity9

ms200402 said:


> Cheeks is not only a great guy but also a good coach.


Meanwhile, back in the real world.....

Mo's only saving grace in Portland was helping a 13-year old who forgot the words to the Star Spangled Banner. His coaching is nowhere near the caliber of a good NBA head coach. One of his assistants that he brought with him to Portland was a former TICKET SELLER for the Sixers. Think I'm kidding? Wish I were.


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## gambitnut

RipCity9 said:


> Meanwhile, back in the real world.....
> 
> Mo's only saving grace in Portland was helping a 13-year old who forgot the words to the Star Spangled Banner. His coaching is nowhere near the caliber of a good NBA head coach. One of his assistants that he brought with him to Portland was a former TICKET SELLER for the Sixers. Think I'm kidding? Wish I were.


The scary thing is, a ticket seller could possibly be at least as good of a coach.


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## SirCharles34

Hap said:


> the only reason Portland had a 50 and 49 win season under Maurice Cheeks was because of 1 man.
> Scottie Pippen


You've gotta be kidding me...sorry- *** Pippen? We wouldn't be mentioning his name if it were'nt for Jordan. Pip didn't do squat in Portland except complain. What a pro he was!

Anyway, I like the hiring of Mo Cheeks. Who else were we going to get? We could've stuck w/ Obie for another season, but I didn't see Webber being anymore an integral part of the offense next season than he was this season. At least w/ Cheeks, he'll let the players play. I hate coaches who handcuff talent all in the name of their selfish personal basketball idealogies, which usually do not work. Obrien was very guilty of this by not playing Sammy enough; making the decision not to start Big dog at the beg of the season; not knowing how to implement Willie Green into the offense, thus wasting his skillz on the the bench all season; I could go on but I'm too tired rehashing all the negative stuff this coach has done to our team. 

I welcome Mo Cheeks. I see him in the mold of a Paul Westphal type coach. He wasn't a good x's and o's coach either but his teams was in contention every yr and he was 2 wins away from winning a title with the Suns. Hell, I'll take that anyday over what we had w/ O'brien. This hiring gives me reason to be optimistic and excited about next season.

Go Sixers!


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## Rayza

I think there is more to firing O'Brien then meets the eyes. I think King was forced into firing O'Brien by the players. I mean who liked this guy? No one on the 76ers roster as far as I know. The difference between him and coach Brown is that no one RESPECTS him as a coach. Iverson had his differences with Brown, but he always maintain the respect for him. But seems like no one on the 76ers even RESEPCT O'Brien. AI havent complained publicly about him because he has matured and captain of the team. But I can tell that AI dont really RESPECT O'Brien.

Reason for the quick hiring? To keep the younger players. Sammy, Green, Korver, Salmons. Most of them deserved more court time, and to have a great guy like Cheeks, they can bond with him, which adds another element to trading a player.

Maurice aint the best coach we all know that, but to me, he is better than O'Brien in our situation on any given day.


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## BEEZ

Rayza said:


> I think there is more to firing O'Brien then meets the eyes. I think King was forced into firing O'Brien by the players. I mean who liked this guy? No one on the 76ers roster as far as I know. The difference between him and coach Brown is that no one RESPECTS him as a coach. Iverson had his differences with Brown, but he always maintain the respect for him. But seems like no one on the 76ers even RESEPCT O'Brien. AI havent complained publicly about him because he has matured and captain of the team. But I can tell that AI dont really RESPECT O'Brien.
> 
> Reason for the quick hiring? To keep the younger players. Sammy, Green, Korver, Salmons. Most of them deserved more court time, and to have a great guy like Cheeks, they can bond with him, which adds another element to trading a player.
> 
> Maurice aint the best coach we all know that, but to me, he is better than O'Brien in our situation on any given day.


 The only thing is, Cheeks didnt play the younger players in Portland because he wanted to, it was only ever done out of neccessity


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## mellow-dramatik

i like it......though i would have liked nate better


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## Dizmatic

To be honest, I'm glad O'Brien is gone. I don't care how the Sixers so called improved. It was more because of AI playing like a MVP than anything O'Brien conjured up. O'Brien was terrible. In a weak Eastern Conference, we barely got into the post season. Totally unacceptable. He didn't play Willie Green, played Kyle Korver too much, and for some odd reason didn't play Sammy early in the year. He had Marc Jackson taking clutch shots??!! His substitution patterns were horrible. He did nothing to help his case to bring him back. The Mo Cheeks hire was something King wanted to do 2 years ago before the revolving door of coaches. Portland would not give him permission to talk with Mo. I saw him in Portland and I think he had a bad group of guys to work with. We all know about the Trailblazers and the malcontents on that roster. I'm not saying Mo is a great coach, but I think he has a better opportunity to make his niche with this team. The Sixers will be better. I do not forsee a drop. If Mo can at least bring stability and a system that the core can have success in, then I think the Sixers talent alone will improve us. Webber wasn't great when he came to Philly, but O'Brien did a poor job in getting him in the flow of the offense and maybe trying to come up with a way to hide his lack of mobility. And what did he see in the Sixers that he thought his perimeter based offense would work? Sorry for the rant but I am happy that O'Brien is gone. I am going to be optimistic about the Cheeks hiring. I don't think the Sixers had a chance to get any of the good coaches out there. Time will tell of course as to how the Mo Cheeks era will evolve.


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## Blazer Freak

alleninsf said:


> You've gotta be kidding me...sorry-*** Pippen? We wouldn't be mentioning his name if it were'nt for Jordan. Pip didn't do squat in Portland except complain. What a pro he was!
> 
> Anyway, I like the hiring of Mo Cheeks. Who else were we going to get? We could've stuck w/ Obie for another season, but I didn't see Webber being anymore an integral part of the offense next season than he was this season. At least w/ Cheeks, he'll let the players play. I hate coaches who handcuff talent all in the name of their selfish personal basketball idealogies, which usually do not work. Obrien was very guilty of this by not playing Sammy enough; making the decision not to start Big dog at the beg of the season; not knowing how to implement Willie Green into the offense, thus wasting his skillz on the the bench all season; I could go on but I'm too tired rehashing all the negative stuff this coach has done to our team.
> 
> I welcome Mo Cheeks. I see him in the mold of a Paul Westphal type coach. He wasn't a good x's and o's coach either but his teams was in contention every yr and he was 2 wins away from winning a title with the Suns. Hell, I'll take that anyday over what we had w/ O'brien. This hiring gives me reason to be optimistic and excited about next season.
> 
> Go Sixers!


*No attacks*. Scottie Pippen, nothing? He's one of the 50 greatest players of all time, and he was the one that really coached the Blazers for those first 2 years. He lead the Blazers too the playoffs those two years. Maybe you should watch some Blazer games before you say anything. Cheeks has just as bad of an offense as Obie, he's average on D, he is as stupid as a rock when it comes to X's and O's, and his sub patterns are never consistent. 

You can go ahead and be optimistic, but it won't last once the season starts.


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## Coatesvillain

alleninsf said:


> You've gotta be kidding me...sorry- *** Pippen? We wouldn't be mentioning his name if it were'nt for Jordan. Pip didn't do squat in Portland except complain. What a pro he was!


Pippen did the massive complaining in Houston, in Portland he was pretty much the veteran leader of that team. He wasn't the athlete he was in his prime in Chicago, but he was a very effective and smart player in Portland.

The thing people have to understand with Mo Cheeks is, a lot of the things we were complaining about with O'Brien are the same problems we'll have with Cheeks.

What I'm got from the Billy King press conference, in where he said the Sixers are going to try to win a championship this year or the next, is that if there's no championship in these two seasons that they'll blow everything up.


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## Max Payne

I understand where everyone is coming from but I figured there are a few points to note. Firstly, when you have a dominant slasher like Iverson, most plays are designed around simple screens and picks. Sure it's great to have loads of set plays at hand but when you have a creator like Iverson on the floor, you want to roll with the running game and a lot of the offense coming in the flow of the attack. So even though Cheeks may be quite inept at dreaming up plays, maybe the effect won't be as bad as we think.
Also, it seems that big men have thrived under Cheeks and we have on of the best young ones in the league in Sammy Dalembert...so maybe we can hope that Dalembert turns into a demon and really helps this team out.


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## Coatesvillain

The thing is, if the team seriously wants to win and be one of the elite teams in the league these next two years.. it can't be Iverson Vs the World. Like I was saying when we acquired Webber, it's fine to have Iverson run the break, but Webber is going to have to run the half court offense. I'm not asking for Mo Cheeks to be like Rick Carlisle and call every play, what I'm asking for is some semblance of structure. 

I just don't want Iverson handling the ball as much next year, maybe in the fourth quarter, but I feel we have enough talent on this team where he shouldn't force his offense all game long.


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## Coatesvillain

> "[Cheeks] is maturing as a coach," Nash replied. "Initially, he probably wasn't as confident in his X's and O's as he is today. That was why he leaned on [assistants] Jim Lynam and Dan Panaggio.
> 
> "His greatest strength is in interacting with players, and he's better today than he was. Initially, he had veterans like Scottie Pippen and Arvydas Sabonis for assistance with that. There were some difficulties periodically, but he's not the only coach to have experienced that."
> 
> Nash is Philly born and bred, and is a former Sixers general manager. Cheeks, Chicago born and bred, emerged as one of Philadelphia's most favorite adopted sons. He played here for 11 seasons, winning an NBA title as the point guard of the 1982-83 Sixers. He spent seven seasons as a Sixers assistant.
> 
> "It's always hard to go back to your roots," Nash said. "Everybody wants to. It's hard. Mo knows Philadelphia. He's revered there. Taking this challenge, that could change. There was nobody bigger than Bobby Clarke [as a player with the Flyers], yet people have been highly critical of him [as an executive]. Billy Cunningham was successful there. Larry Bird was successful going home to Indiana.
> 
> "Mo had talked about Philly as his dream job, and he was denied the chance to talk to the Sixers 2 years ago. But he's there now, so let him ride it as long as it lasts. His big advantages are, he knows the ownership, he knows the management people, he knows the key player in Allen Iverson.
> 
> "Coaching in this league is a real challenge. That's why coaches are so highly compensated; they often have short stays and face a tremendous challenge, moreso than ever before."


LINK


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## Dizmatic

PhillyPhanatic said:


> The thing is, if the team seriously wants to win and be one of the elite teams in the league these next two years.. it can't be Iverson Vs the World. Like I was saying when we acquired Webber, it's fine to have Iverson run the break, but Webber is going to have to run the half court offense. I'm not asking for Mo Cheeks to be like Rick Carlisle and call every play, what I'm asking for is some semblance of structure.
> 
> I just don't want Iverson handling the ball as much next year, maybe in the fourth quarter, but I feel we have enough talent on this team where he shouldn't force his offense all game long.


Philly I agree totally. I thought it was always a problem. Your 2 guard - Iggy should have more than 6 or 7 attempts per game. I'm hoping the structure will be there with Cheeks also. That's all I want. He doesn't have to be a genius, just let me know who is the first guy coming off the bench, make decent defensive adjustments, etc.


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## ms200402

No matter How Cheeks was/is/will? I support Cheeks and 76ers.
I wonder there are so many cheeks-haters in Portland, which is a 
nice city with nice people there. 
They put the personality first and then a coach or a player. So Rasheed/Bonzi/Jeff left, but why did you guys treat Mo. like that? 
He left and will not affect Blazers anymore,
To bless him is a good behavior every gentleman should be easy to do.
Go cheeks! Go 76ers!


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## SixersFan

PhillyPhanatic said:


> The thing is, if the team seriously wants to win and be one of the elite teams in the league these next two years.. it can't be Iverson Vs the World. Like I was saying when we acquired Webber, it's fine to have Iverson run the break, but Webber is going to have to run the half court offense. I'm not asking for Mo Cheeks to be like Rick Carlisle and call every play, what I'm asking for is some semblance of structure.
> 
> I just don't want Iverson handling the ball as much next year, maybe in the fourth quarter, but I feel we have enough talent on this team where he shouldn't force his offense all game long.



I agree. The days of the Philadelphia Iversons need to end if this team is going to be a contender. While AI may be better than ever, todays league is tougher to get through than in 2001.

I'll give Cheeks time, but I'm not expecting a major improvement. I feel that the team will improve its record next year almost no matter what because of the Webber acquisition and Sammy starting those extra 19 games.

It will be so nice to watch the Sixers get rebounds again.


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## gambitnut

Rayza said:


> I think there is more to firing O'Brien then meets the eyes. I think King was forced into firing O'Brien by the players. I mean who liked this guy? No one on the 76ers roster as far as I know. The difference between him and coach Brown is that no one RESPECTS him as a coach. Iverson had his differences with Brown, but he always maintain the respect for him. But seems like no one on the 76ers even RESEPCT O'Brien. AI havent complained publicly about him because he has matured and captain of the team. But I can tell that AI dont really RESPECT O'Brien.


Why did we continue to have off-court problems in Portland? The players didn't respect Mo.



> Reason for the quick hiring? To keep the younger players. Sammy, Green, Korver, Salmons. Most of them deserved more court time, and to have a great guy like Cheeks, they can bond with him, which adds another element to trading a player.


What was the reason we fired Mo when we did? He refused to play the young players more even though we were long out of the playoff race.


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## gambitnut

alleninsf said:


> Anyway, I like the hiring of Mo Cheeks. Who else were we going to get? We could've stuck w/ Obie for another season, but I didn't see Webber being anymore an integral part of the offense next season than he was this season. At least w/ Cheeks, he'll let the players play. I hate coaches who handcuff talent all in the name of their selfish personal basketball idealogies, which usually do not work. Obrien was very guilty of this by not playing Sammy enough; making the decision not to start Big dog at the beg of the season; not knowing how to implement Willie Green into the offense, thus wasting his skillz on the the bench all season; I could go on but I'm too tired rehashing all the negative stuff this coach has done to our team.





Max Payne said:


> Also, it seems that big men have thrived under Cheeks and we have on of the best young ones in the league in Sammy Dalembert...so maybe we can hope that Dalembert turns into a demon and really helps this team out.


Big men thrived DESPITE Mo, not BECAUSE of him. Mo does have an idealogy, he was a PG and loves to play veteran PGs and let them shoot all they want, at the expense of the good shooting young players. Mo seems to have a bond with Damon Stoudamire, so don't be shocked if he convinces the 76ers to sign Damon for the MLE, starts Damon next to Iverson and the rest of the team never gets the ball.


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## mixum

*Sixer fans....i hate to be a downer but Cheeks IS AWFUL!*

Let me simply ask you, if Cheeks couldnt win a playoff series with a team of Pippen, Sheed, Wells, Sabonis, D.Anderson(when he was decent), Zach Randolph, Dale Davis, Damon Stoudamire, Ruben Patterson....how in the blue hell do you philly fans expect him to win with basically Iverson+webber and some young talent WHO MO HATES TO PLAY IN CLUTCH MOMENTS?

Mo is teh worst coach ive ever seen in big spots as far as drawing up plays. He also does not like to play younger guys. Only reason us Blazer fans ever found Zach was because cheeks was forced to play him when sheed got suspended...otherwise dale davis woul have gotten all the minutes.

HE SUCKS AS A COACH but is a great guy.


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## SixersFan

*Re: Sixer fans....i hate to be a downer but Cheeks IS AWFUL!*

they played the Mavs to 7 games that year.

Not too bad, that was when the Mavs were at their best.


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## mixum

*Re: Sixer fans....i hate to be a downer but Cheeks IS AWFUL!*

how about vs the lakers the year before...you are gonna sit there and tell me that he couldnt win 1 game of that series with our talent at the time?


please....cheeks is not that good period.


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## Dan

*Re: Sixer fans....i hate to be a downer but Cheeks IS AWFUL!*

since when do you hate to be a downer?


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## SixersFan

*Re: Sixer fans....i hate to be a downer but Cheeks IS AWFUL!*



mixum said:


> how about vs the lakers the year before...you are gonna sit there and tell me that he couldnt win 1 game of that series with our talent at the time?
> 
> 
> please....cheeks is not that good period.


Actually yes, he was long since retired by then. :biggrin:


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## Coatesvillain

*Re: Sixer fans....i hate to be a downer but Cheeks IS AWFUL!*

Here's the audio to Mo Cheeks' press conference:
http://www.nba.com/media/sixers/cheeks_050524.mp3

And here's the audio of Allen Iverson's press conference:
http://www.nba.com/media/sixers/iverson_050524.mp3


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## jpk

I'm going to remain open minded about Mo. AI and Webber both like "players coaches". Webber espeically thrives under them (Steve Fisher, Rick Adelman).

As for losing O'Brien, I'm not shedding any tears. I've been calling for his head since I started watching the 76ers this year. I feel bad for anyone that gets the boot, but I'm not going to miss yelling at my TV screen for the coach to get it together.


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## OnlyTheStrongSurvive

i look at this board for the first time for like a week and it makes me sick.. specially the blazers fan's who come on this board thinking that Mo was a bad coach... dont hate fellaz.. akknowledge that every one of your players was a headcase. Mo did everything he did in portland to succed with what he got. Sixer's fans puttin down Mo and he didnt even coach a game yet.. i mean come on, "we aint even talkin bout the game..the actual game.."

Sixers will have a 50 win season next season and make a title run.. period. 

im out


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## Ps!ence_Fiction

OnlyTheStrongSurvive said:


> i look at this board for the first time for like a week and it makes me sick.. specially the blazers fan's who come on this board thinking that Mo was a bad coach... dont hate fellaz.. akknowledge that every one of your players was a headcase. Mo did everything he did in portland to succed with what he got. Sixer's fans puttin down Mo and he didnt even coach a game yet.. i mean come on, "we aint even talkin bout the game..the actual game.."
> 
> Sixers will have a 50 win season next season and make a title run.. period.
> 
> im out


I agree, give the man a chance in Philly before we decide to bash him.


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## BEEZ

OnlyTheStrongSurvive said:


> i look at this board for the first time for like a week and it makes me sick.. specially the blazers fan's who come on this board thinking that Mo was a bad coach... dont hate fellaz.. akknowledge that every one of your players was a headcase. Mo did everything he did in portland to succed with what he got. Sixer's fans puttin down Mo and he didnt even coach a game yet.. i mean come on, "we aint even talkin bout the game..the actual game.."
> 
> Sixers will have a 50 win season next season and make a title run.. period.
> 
> im out


 Im a Sixers fan and if you are a fan of Basketball, you would see that your post is wrong and also lacks knowledge on the Blazers team. Plain and simple Maurice Cheeks was a terrible X's and O's coach. His substitution patterns were borderline criminal. He has Larry Brown disease to where he finds his favorites and thats all he plays. Look back in this forum you will see I have never wanted him here because hes just not that good of a coach. Back on to the Portland thing, every single one of their players were not headcases. So no your post in theory is incorrect. Its good to have another Sixers fan around though.


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## OnlyTheStrongSurvive

give him a chance, how many blazers were headcasses then? 90%, my bad..

my theory is there for correct... d.miles? d.Stoudamire? R.Wallace?? are you serious??? your right, their unselfish players :clap: 

your judging him on X's and O's with the blazers, he has new players and if you knew anything what was going on youd know hes sitting down with the players and coming up with some plays designed for key players.

PEace 

Im out


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## BEEZ

OnlyTheStrongSurvive said:


> give him a chance, how many blazers were headcasses then? 90%, my bad..
> 
> my theory is there for correct... d.miles? d.Stoudamire? R.Wallace?? are you serious??? your right, their unselfish players :clap:


So 3 out of 16 players equals 90%. I will even give you R. Patterson and Qyntel Woods. That still only 31% of the players on that time so your statement still makes no sense.



> your judging him on X's and O's with the blazers, he has new players and if you knew anything what was going on youd know hes sitting down with the players and coming up with some plays designed for key players.
> 
> PEace
> 
> Im out


Any coach is going to be judged on how they "Coach" a game. Thats the tactical part of it meaning the X's and O's. I have a question. I've been a Sixers fan longer than most on this forum have been alive, so how is Mo Cheeks sitting down with players coming up with designed plays for them when Mo Cheeks much less the Sixers organization knows whose going to be on the team.


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## OnlyTheStrongSurvive

you know Iverson And C-webb will be there... thats where it all starts... 

webber was unhappy with O'Brien in that he didnt have the ball in his hands enough.. Mo wants to fix that


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## Coatesvillain

I'm just bumping this so we can see everyone's feelings of this move.


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## Your Answer

Love the firing but could of did a better job hiring


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## sixersonline

Route I-76 said:


> Love the firing but could of did a better job hiring


Any names in mind? 

Bear in mind, for any coach with a winning or championship pedigree, coaching this Sixers team is NOT on anyone's list of dream jobs.

We have a brutal media.
We have a hostile impatient fan base.
The difficulties taming Iverson's game into more of a team oriented game are well known.
We're lacking in quality NBA depth.
We're lacking in experienced basketball talent (outside of AI and C-Webb).
We're lacking in available cash to spend via free agency.
The organization has been in penny pinching mode since the summer (Mckie, Jackson, now Hunter)
And Billy King doesn't exactly inspire a great deal of confiden as a GM and team President, so you have to figure there will be questions about the direction of the franchise.

So all things considered, Cheeks was/is probably the best choice for the job. He had the Portland experience, but overall, I think he's still finding his way as a coach. He's sharp enough to recognize the kind of help he needs to bring in on his staff.


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## Your Answer

sixersonline said:


> Any names in mind?
> 
> Bear in mind, for any coach with a winning or championship pedigree, coaching this Sixers team is NOT on anyone's list of dream jobs.
> 
> We have a brutal media.
> We have a hostile impatient fan base.
> The difficulties taming Iverson's game into more of a team oriented game are well known.
> We're lacking in quality NBA depth.
> We're lacking in experienced basketball talent (outside of AI and C-Webb).
> We're lacking in available cash to spend via free agency.
> The organization has been in penny pinching mode since the summer (Mckie, Jackson, now Hunter)
> And Billy King doesn't exactly inspire a great deal of confiden as a GM and team President, so you have to figure there will be questions about the direction of the franchise.
> 
> So all things considered, Cheeks was/is probably the best choice for the job. He had the Portland experience, but overall, I think he's still finding his way as a coach. He's sharp enough to recognize the kind of help he needs to bring in on his staff.


I dont know much about any coaches until usually after they coach my team so I wouldnt be able to say who or if anyone was better to hire but I have always said we need to KEEP Cheeks now bc there is def nothing worth anything available right now but the way Cheeks has coached this season there might of been someone else better available be4 the season started but maybe not If it came down to JOB or MO I would choose MO over and over again


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