OKC Fires Scott Brooks

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/source--thunder-fire-coach-scott-brooks-173528838.html



Thunder fire coach Scott Brooks
Adrian Wojnarowski By Adrian Wojnarowski
2 hours ago
Yahoo Sports
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The Oklahoma City Thunder has fired head coach Scott Brooks.

Thunder general manager Sam Presti traveled to meet Brooks near his California home on Wednesday and delivered the news, sources told Yahoo Sports.

Presti's decision wasn't a reflection of the job Brooks did this season, but ultimately a long view for the franchise, sources told Yahoo.

Oklahoma City missed the playoffs for the first time in six years this season, finishing 45-37 with superstar Kevin Durant lost for most of the year.

Florida coach Billy Donovan is expected to become a serious candidate to replace Brooks, sources told Yahoo.

Presti has a longstanding friendship with Donovan, a two-time national championship coach who has been open about his interest in moving to the NBA.

Connecticut coach Kevin Ollie could be a candidate for the Thunder's coaching job, league sources told Yahoo Sports. Ollie was a teammate with Durant and Russell Westbrook in Oklahoma City and he's an individual whom Presti holds in high esteem. But before Brooks' firing, Ollie issued a statement through a UConn spokesman on Wednesday saying he had no "plans" to pursue other jobs.

Two years ago, Presti and Brooks' representative had a difficult negotiation process on an eventual four-year contract extension, and several teams with openings, including Portland, were interested in hiring Brooks at the time. Brooks will immediately become a top candidate for the head-coaching openings in Orlando and Denver, league sources told Yahoo.

Brooks was the NBA Coach of the Year in 2010 and led the Thunder to the NBA Finals in 2012. He went 338-207 in seven season as coach of the Thunder.



bob
MY NOTE:  What's the matter with you?  You can't make the playoffs in the highly competitive western conference without Durant and Ibaka?  Watch the sharks start circling Durant...


.

wow..that's a surprise to me.


I thought he did a good job there.

While I think Brooks did a decent job, especially from a personal interaction standpoint with his players, the OKC offense has been rudimentary and relied too heavily on the individual athleticism of Durant and Westbrook to score.

It certainly wasn't Brook's fault that the Thunder didn't make the playoffs this year, and this might have been his finest coaching performance. But since 2012, when they were a team on the rise and seemed like a good bet to make multiple finals, they've taken a step back, and their promise has remained unfulfilled. The West is really tough, but expectations were built.

Durant will be a free agent in 2016, and OKC needs to show that they can get back to competing for a title next season or else Durant might leave. If things don't go well next season, firing Brooks might make OKC look like a team in disarray, which might be the nudge needed to make Durant sign elsewhere.

By making this move now, they have a year to settle things down and convince Durant to stay. They're hoping for "the Kerr effect," where a coach popular with the players is replaced with a guy who can take a talented team to the next level.

Assuming Durant can come back healthy, OKC is positioned to be really strong next season. Kanter provides an inside offensive presence they've never had -- Ibaka (inexplicably, in my mind) is just a mid-range jump shooter -- and they can develop a true inside-outside offense that will open up the floor for Durant and Westbrook even more. They have a group of nice young players to supplement their stars. And they're betting that another coach will be more able to make all that offensive firepower work to its maximum potential.

Nice summary, Outside.

Sam

Tough business, this coaching.  Win 62% of your games and still get fired.  As good as I think that Brad Stevens is in Boston, he may have to get fired at the end of his contract because he is very unlikely to have won 62% of his games at that time.

At least Brooks should not have to wait long to get hired by another team.

One of the few anticipatory firings.

Win 45 games in a murderous conference with your best player out for most of the year and you're gone.