Category: NBA (Page 528 of 595)

Mike Montgomery has been fired as coach of the Golden State Warriors after two years with the team. He was reportedly at odds with many of the players, and joins a long list of successful college coaches who were unable to enjoy immediate success in the NBA.

“I’m very appreciative of the opportunity that I was presented two years ago,” Montgomery said in a statement released by the team. “This was a new challenge that I was eager to embrace and glad that I had the chance to pursue and experience. I’d like to thank the Warriors’ organization for their support, professionalism and class, and I’d also like to thank the fans of the Bay Area. This is a tremendous region for basketball and the support that they have provided me over the years has been simply outstanding.”

That’s a pretty classy statement from a guy who has just been canned. During his two-year stint, Montgomery was often at odds with his players. In college, players have to conform to the head coach. In the pros, it’s the other way around.

Sources have told ESPN that former Dallas coach Don Nelson is set to replace him. The Warriors are expected to make the announcement Wednesday.

The U.S. faced Australia in the “eighth-finals” of the FIBA World Championship, as the tournament switched to a one-and-done format. Team USA responded with three quarters of good play, putting the Aussies away, 113-73.

The U.S. came out sluggish once again, having trouble covering Australia’s three-point shooters, a problem that has reared its ugly head throughout the championship. Team USA’s half-court offense is suspect and the team has a tendency to resort to isolation play that is so common in the NBA. So far, the team’s overall talent level has made up for its lack of cohesiveness.

Australia’s best player is Andrew Bogut and his nine first quarter points kept his team in the game early. In the second quarter, inspired play by Joe Johnson and the thus far little-used Chris Bosh, along with poor shooting by the Australians, resulted in a 19-1 run, leading to a 59-29 halftime margin. The second half was more of the same – the game was over in the second period.

In other tournament play, Argentina, Lithuania, Turkey and Spain advanced to the quarterfinals, while Germany (with Mavs’ star Dirk Nowitzki) fought off a feisty Nigeria squad and survived to play Team USA on Wednesday (6:30 AM ET on ESPN2).

Heading into its final game in group play, Team USA had already clinched top spot in Group D. It would be understandable if the team came out a bit flat, but they didn’t, and went on to a 103-58 victory over Senegal. Chris Bosh finally got some minutes and made the most of them, posting 20 points and 10 rebounds. LeBron James, who struggled in the game against Italy, added 17 points in the win.

The top 16 teams move onto the next round, where the U.S. team will face Australia on Sunday.

“It’s ‘one and done’ and this is not a seven-game NBA series,” Team USA coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “We have to be ready for each ball game. The best way to get ready is to play defense at the start of each ball game. We’ve done a good job defensively. Hopefully, we’ll pick that up even more, now that we’re going on to Tokyo.”

In the NBA playoffs, teams get four losses before they are eliminated from the playoffs. The team needs to understand that there are no second chances in international play. They need to make the most of every possession and the best way to do that is to be sure to take care of the little things, like boxing out, playing help defense and practicing good shot selection.

The television schedule is still unsettled. View the entire schedule here.