Staff Blog
Morning Rounds, December 17th
A remarkably underreported aspect of the Maurice Cheeks’
firing has been the back-story of his replacement, Tony DiLeo. Think about it: the Sixers hired a guy who,
despite being within the organization since 1990, wasn’t known at all by casual
fans. Hell, even most hardcore Sixer
fans probably couldn’t put a face to his name, he’s easily the most nondescript
coach in basketball (do a good image search for “Tony DiLeo” … the first two pictures are of Coach Cheeks, the third is of some sort of SportsCenter gremlin and the fifth is a picture of Michael Jordan taken from a website called ‘thetoplessnewsnetwork.’ Only in the sixth picture does the actual DiLeo appear). His resume isn’t
unimpressive but isn’t exactly Larry Brown’s either. DiLeo hasn’t been a head coach for 19 years,
and even then he was doing so in West Germany – he’s been in the Sixer front office since. Doesn’t exactly scream out ‘NBA head coach.’
So why was he tabbed? First of all he’s cheap (hell of an
endorsement, right?). The Sixers are on
the hook for the rest of Cheeks‘ salary; considering that the economy is
tanking and no one is showing up to Sixers games, that is important. The fact that he knows the organization and
was comfortable keeping the entire assistant staff is obviously a part of that.
Another part is that he knows the team inside
and out: Lou Williams talked about how DiLeo used to attend his high school
games, and Willie Green cited him as the
guy who brought in him. Still, the
most relevant reason that Tony DiLeo is the Sixers new head coach may be in fact his
relative anonymity. Where an Avery
Johnson or a Flip Saunders couldn’t have been brought in and discarded no one
will bat an eye in TD ends up back in the front office next year. If the Sixers turn it around, well,
great. But if they don’t, suddenly that’s
fine, suddenly they’re not exactly expected to light the world on fire. Truth be told, naming him coach makes a certain amont of sense to me.
Still, it’s curious that no one seems fazed that DiLeo was the man put in charge. I hope that means that I’m just not giving most people credit – that fans can see what the Sixers are planning, and that they realize that this is the wrong time to try to fix all the Sixers’ problems at once. I hope that that is the case, because if it’s not … it means nobody cares.
 |
| one of 3 pictures of Tony DiLeo available online |
| nba.com |
“There’s no reason for me not to think that I can go for a while.” 82 year old Joe Paterno, in the wake of signing a three year contract extension
Three lines on their world:
- The Pro Bowl rosters were announced
- Albert Haynesworth is out until the playoffs
- and Charles Barkley is pissed about Auburn’s new football coach
Three lines on ours:
- Maurice Cheeks had his farewell press conference
- Joe Paterno signed on for three more years
- and Penn St. inked their QB of the future
Phillies, Birds, Sixers, Flyers and what everybody is talking about after the jump
EAGLES
READ
Les Bowen warns against assuming McNabb is going to be back.
Rich Hofmann notices Quintin Mikell.
Bob Brookover looks bad over the game.
Bob Brookover puts Jason Avant, L.J. Smith, and Brian Dawkins under the microscope.
SKIP
Ray Parrillo thinks the Eagles’ deep receiving corp is doing just fine.
Ray Parrillo reports that Asante Samuel and Brian Dawkins made the pro bowl.
Kerith Gabriel reports that Kendra Wilkinson (who is really short in real life, btw) wants her fiance to get more passes thrown his way.
Reuben Frank attributes the Eagles’ turnaround to their success on third down.
SIXERS
READ
Kate Fagan reports from Cheeks‘ farewell presser.
John Gonzalez on how downright sad the whole affair was.
Sam Donnellon thinks that Cheeks was fired the day Stefanski was signed.
Phil Jasner says the Sixers have to commit to DiLeo, at least through this year.
Tom Moore talks about Cheeks‘ relationship with the media.
SKIP
Phil Jasner writes that Cheeks took the blame for the season and left with class.
Tom Moore looks at what changes DiLeo is implementing.
PHILLIES
READ
Bill Conlin notices the fact that the Phillies just got really old and dismisses the notion that they can’t hit lefties.
SKIP
Todd Zolecki reports from Raul Ibanez‘ press conference.
David Murphy tells Ibanez’ story.
FLYERS
READ
John Gonzalez, Phil Sheridan, and Bob Ford discuss the Flyers’ party-crashing habits.
Ed Moran looks at how far this Flyers’ team has come.
Wayne Fish says it’s no fluke the Flyers’ power-play has been as successful as it is.
SKIP
Ed Moran reports from yet another Flyers’ win.
Paul Vigna says the Flyers are responding to the requests of their fans.
TODAY and MORE
Tony DiLeo’s team takes on the Milwaukee Bucks in their first game after practicing with a new coach.
We’ll be out on assignment until the afternoon so entertain yourself by catching up with my latest obsession until then.
As always, feel free
to email
with any questions, suggestions, comments or complaints.
