Avery Johnson fired, Avery Johnson was fired as Nets head coach Thursday afternoon, the team announced, and P.J. Carlesimo will take over as interim coach.
“The Nets ownership would like to express thanks to Avery for his efforts and to wish him every success in the future,” Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov said in a statement.
Johnson became the fall guy what became repetitive ugliness in December. The Nets (14-14) are 3-10 this month, with blowout losses to the Celtics and Knicks. His offense was also criticized by star Deron Williams, prompting Johnson to scrap 40 percent of his offense last week – a move indicating he was unsure of himself and feeling the pressure.
“The Nets ownership would like to express thanks to Avery for his efforts and to wish him every success in the future,” Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov said in a statement.
Johnson became the fall guy what became repetitive ugliness in December. The Nets (14-14) are 3-10 this month, with blowout losses to the Celtics and Knicks. His offense was also criticized by star Deron Williams, prompting Johnson to scrap 40 percent of his offense last week – a move indicating he was unsure of himself and feeling the pressure.
He also altered the starting lineup, benching and peeving Kris Humphries, who the Nets paid $24 million in July. One Nets player was blindsided by the news Thursday afternoon, saying there was no indication Johnson had been let go following Wednesday’s loss to the Bucks.
The Nets took on over $330 million in contracts over the summer, and the team was under pressure to produce immediately because of the move to a new city and a $1 billion arena.
Johnson went from holding the highest career winning percentage in NBA history to a 60-116 record in two-plus seasons with the Nets. He was in the final season of a three-year deal paying him roughly $12 million.
Veteran coaches currently out of work include Phil Jackson and Stan Van Gundy.
On the same day the Nets were embarrassed on national television on Christmas, CEO Brett Yormark indicated a change was in the works by tweeting, “We all need to work harder to find a solution.”
Johnson agreed, but he asked for time that he apparently didn’t have.
“It's the same thing I’ve been saying all along: we all have to get better, we have to improve,” he said Thursday. “It’s gonna be a dogfight all year, nothing’s going to be easy. We’ve got to take the good with the bad. Now is not the time to really analyze what’s happened for us this year, because we haven’t even gotten to the halfway point and we haven’t played a full season with this roster.”
Williams, who had been blamed for Jerry Sloan’s retirement in Utah, did not play Wednesday because of a sore wrist. Asked whose decision it was for Williams to sit, Johnson turned snippy.
“It doesn’t matter. He’s not playing,” he said.
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/basketball/nets/fired-nets-coach-avery-johnson-article-1.1228199#ixzz2GHgQc2jd
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