Marc Iavaroni

The Memphis Grizzlies fired head coach Marc Iavaroni Thursday night.  Thus continues the trend of professional sports owners giving their coaches the "kiss of death" vote of confidence.  Everytime an owner says a coach's job is safe, you know he is about to get the boot.  It's the same as when a coach says he's not interested in any job other than his current one.  Grizz owner Michael Heisley said earlier in the year that Iavaroni was safe, only to retract that statement prior to the New Year, when his tone changed to "The month of January will decide Iavaroni's fate." The Grizzlies are currently in the midst of a seven-game losing skid, among their longest of the season.  Their lone win this month came against Dallas, and they got thumped by the lowly Charlotte Bobcats on Wednesday, 101-86.  That loss was the Grizzlies' second of the year at the hands of the Bobcats.

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Grizzlies coach Marc Iavaroni may have a young roster to work with, but that may not be enough of an excuse to save his job.  Iavaroni tops FoxSports.com's list of the four NBA coaches most likely to be fired by the end of this season.  Like any other Grizzlies fan, I am frustrated that the team isn't making any progress this year, and I know the coach is the easiest fall guy.  I'm not sure that a midseason coaching change is always the wisest move, but this move may need to happen. It's not like this team is going to make a run to the playoffs in 2009. Iavaroni has a laid-back personality that isn't going to work in the long run for a rebuilding franchise.  More importantly, this is his first head coaching job.  A young team needs the direction of a veteran coach.  The Grizzlies had success under Hubie Brown, and if he had been in better health and not at the end of his career, he would have done wonders for them for several more years.  I am a firm believer that the Grizzlies' problems stem from the top.  Chris Wallace came to Memphis from Portland, which hasn't been a playoff team in a while.  Is this really the best guy Jerry West could recommend before he retired?  Although Portland appears to be turning around with Greg Oden and Brandon Roy as centerpieces, it was near rock bottom both on and off the court under Wallace.  That is more harmful than bad coaching.

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