Bye Bye Czar! Grizz give em the boot

[westkoast]

The Memphis Grizzlies fired coach Mike Fratello on Thursday after a 6-24 start.

The Grizzlies' all-time winningest coach, Fratello had a 95-83 record and had guided Memphis to consecutive playoff appearances.

He started the season without All-Star center Pau Gasol, who broke his foot this summer in the world championships and missed the first 22 games.

"Unfortunately, this season has been one of disarray starting this past summer," Fratello said in a statement.

Jerry West, Grizzlies president of basketball operations, announced the move, calling Fratello a great coach and friend.

"We just felt it was time to make a change and move in a different direction based on our record and future goals. We wish Mike the best in his future endeavors," West said in a statement.

Fratello replaced Hubie Brown on Dec. 2, 2004. He took the Grizzlies to the playoffs but was swept in the first round in 2005 and 2006.

The Grizzlies did not announce a new head coach, and said they would look for an interim head coach immediately.

The Commercial Appeal newspaper reported on its Web site that Tony Barone Sr., the team's director of player personnel, was asked to take over. Club officials were mulling other options while waiting for his decision, the paper said.

The Grizzlies scheduled a news conference for Friday morning.

Fratello ranked 19th on the NBA's career wins list and 21st in games coached when he joined the Grizzlies. On March 4, 2005, he became the 19th coach to win 600 games.

Memphis had lost 11 of 16 to start the 2004-05 season but finished Fratello's first season with 45 victories. He couldn't repeat that success this year.

"I am sorry I have not been able to find a way up to this point to turn things around, and I understand why a change needs to be made," Fratello said. "Things will get better with both an abundance of home games coming up and the eventual return of Lawrence Roberts and Kyle Lowry from their injuries."

[Lurker]

Fratello (Hubie/Van Gundy) plays that slow down, half court offense.  With the direction the league has taken the rules (quick, slashing guards) that style suits a veteran/older team.  And Memphis has stocked itself with younger players.  Also Gasol came back and has been quoted as being unhappy. 

Coach or star player?   

[rickortreat]

Too bad for Mike, but sometimes they get fired for bad decision made by the from office or injuries to good players.  For all our admiration of Jerry West, as yet the Grizzlies are not a team that anyone expects great things from.  Competitive yes, but challenging for a top spot, no.

They don't appear to have the pieces to challenge the teams above them, and they are in a tough division in a tough conference.  They're nowhere near where they need to be to compete with Dallas and SA.

Fratello isn't the most pleasant fellow anyway, and it's likely the players started tuning him out.  It's very difficult for a coach to keep players listening to them when nothing's working well! Even selfish ball-hog players like to win.

So who's on the short list of coaches on thin Ice?  Where will Fratello go.  Maybe back to TNT with Sir Charles, that COULD be very amusing 

[westkoast]

Too bad for Mike, but sometimes they get fired for bad decision made by the from office or injuries to good players.  For all our admiration of Jerry West, as yet the Grizzlies are not a team that anyone expects great things from.  Competitive yes, but challenging for a top spot, no.

They don't appear to have the pieces to challenge the teams above them, and they are in a tough division in a tough conference.  They're nowhere near where they need to be to compete with Dallas and SA.

Fratello isn't the most pleasant fellow anyway, and it's likely the players started tuning him out.  It's very difficult for a coach to keep players listening to them when nothing's working well! Even selfish ball-hog players like to win.

So who's on the short list of coaches on thin Ice?  Where will Fratello go.  Maybe back to TNT with Sir Charles, that COULD be very amusing 

I hope that he finds another job because I don't want to hear him back commentating.  If he lands ANYWHERE with Marv Albert I am going to go nuts.

Lurker, don't you think its a combination of a pouty star player and a bad coach?  This team on many nights don't even look like they have a shot to win or give up 3/4ths of the way through the game.  They have some decent players and while you don't expect them to beat the Spurs or Mavs, they surely could beat the Knicks/Bucks/Hawks all teams that have given them a whipping here lately.

[Lurker]

Lurker, don't you think its a combination of a pouty star player and a bad coach?  This team on many nights don't even look like they have a shot to win or give up 3/4ths of the way through the game.  They have some decent players and while you don't expect them to beat the Spurs or Mavs, they surely could beat the Knicks/Bucks/Hawks all teams that have given them a whipping here lately.

It most likely is a combination of both coach & player.  But when it comes down to it who gets fired?  The coach.  Gasol, when healthy, is a top 10-15 big man in the league (before anyone gets too riled up I didn't actually sit down & rank them but Gasol would start on half of the teams in the NBA).  If forced to trade Gasol, Memphis would follow in the Shaq/Iverson trade scenarios and not receive equal value.  Thus time to try a new coach.

Here is part of an article from ESPN (need the damn insider to get full story):

An NBA player agent, who requested anonymity, claimed that his client wanted out of Memphis if Mike Fratello wasn't let go.

"I know it's popular to blame the players," the agent told Insider. "But everyone in that locker room was miserable. Fratello's style of play and rotations made no sense. Mike's a good coach, but he wasn't the right coach for this team."

With Fratello out, West said he'll turn to a trusted aide to take the reins of the team -- Tony Barone, Sr.

"Tony is going to be our head coach," Grizzlies president Jerry West told ESPN.com. "He has a great familiarity with the players. He has a brilliant basketball mind. He has a great rapport individually with the team and he's a tough guy."

West said that any appointment would be on an interim basis until the ownership issue with the team is resolved. Owner Michael Heisley has turned in a cancellation notice for a proposed sale to a group led by Brian Davis and Christian Laettner. Nothing will be official either way until Jan. 15.

"It's been a huge distraction," West said. "I'm looking forward to reestablishing the great working relationship I've had with our owner, Michael Heisley."