Would somebody like to explain to me what the point was behind the Sixers' exhaustive coaching search? It took the front office five weeks to sift through a long and diverse list of candidates before finally settling on Doug Collins, who is perhaps an unexceptional hire, but an otherwise reasonable conclusion to the search. Recent history suggests such a thorough process was likely pointless though.
There are fewer coaching positions in professional sports with less job security over the past decade than head coach of the 76ers. Since Larry Brown cut and run for the greener pastures of Detroit back in 2003—figuratively speaking, of course—the Sixers have already fired four replacements, and opted to move on from two interim hires. In every instance but one, the coaches in question were given no more than one season before being shown the door.
It's not a new story, but it is one that leads me to wonder why anybody should care who coaches the Sixers right now. Based on their recent track record, in terms of both organizational stability and the product they've been putting on the court, I will be impressed if Collins is still coaching in 2012.
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I'm not being critical for the sake of cynicism. Collins is facing an uphill battle right from the start. His best player is a second-year point guard who most fans would've dumped in favor of the top choice in the draft. His second best player is an overpaid center who fans have been begging the team to trade for years now. His third best player is the overrated face of the franchise, a guy who can do a little bit of everything, but nothing particularly great. Combined with the 85-million dollar contract of an aging power forward who can't jump, and a pair of once-promising mid-lottery round picks who appear to be reserves at best, there is little room for development with the pieces they already have.
There is actually some enthusiasm resulting from the Sixers' lottery luck. The hope is Evan Turner can come in and eventually become a standout. Will Collins last long enough to see it firsthand though? Even if Turner is an instant star, it will take years until the front office can surround him with enough talent to turn the team into a legitimate contender. How many playoff misses or first round exits will management patiently sit through until it's time to go in another new direction?
To be fair, some of the shuffling went on during the Iverson era. Randy Ayers was not the man to reign in A.I., and the Billy King front office was afraid to back him and cause an irreparable rift with their superstar. Jim O'Brien was more a victim of circumstances once Mo Cheeks became available, as the Sixers thought they finally found their man. And it's hard to come up with any argument in defense of Eddie Jordan, partly due to the fact that it's hard to cite any instances where his team played defense.
But it's not as if you have to search very long to find examples of confusion on this matter in the Ed Stefanski front office. Cheeks led the Sixers on a shocking and exciting playoff run, earning a contract extension in the midst of their success, only to be promptly fired 23 games into the following season. Jordan was eventually signed to a four-year contract, and though the team struggled mightily, management didn't help matters with their faliure to give coach a vote of confidence mid-season. It shouldn't come as a surprise that players would lose interest in his message given what's transpired here over the last eight years.
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What's to prevent that from happening again? Outside of simply winning, I'm not sure anything can, which is exactly I don't understand why things are supposed be any different under Doug Collins. The methods will change, but this team will return basically the same group of underachievers that would give pretty much any coach somewhere between 20 and 40 wins. That's not winning any championships, and that's not helping any coaches keep their jobs with these itchy trigger fingers upstairs.
The answer isn't very complicated. Stop placing the emphasis on who's going to coach the team, and start focusing on improving the roster. The latter is easier said than done, but it's not benefiting anybody to hear a new voice or two every season. Maybe if one man could stick around for awhile without looking over his shoulder every time the Sixers hit a skid, they might be able to at least find some semblance of consistency to build upon.
Or the Sixers can save themselves and everybody else a lot of trouble and start looking for Doug Collins' replacement right now.