Carlesimo fired?

[Kindergarten Cop]

Also, in case you were curious, P.J.'s name was taken off in the past (i.e. - it hasn't just been sitting on that roster page for 2 years with none of us noticing.

Wayback Machine from February 2008:

http://web.archive.org/web/200802031.../spurs/roster/

Has there been a more recent edit, because I don't see PJ's name on the Spurs' roster when I click the link.

[IceColdBrewski]

Hopefully he comes back to SA. He's never going to get an NBA head coaching job again, so unless he wants to go find a junior college somewhere...

There are plenty of major colleges that would love to have him if he chose to rejoin the college ranks. When he arrived at Seton Hall, they were the Big East doormat. Carlesimo took them from laughing stock to perinnial final four contender.

He may suck as an NBA head coach, but he woulda been one of the college greats had he stuck it out. Coach K wouldn't make it too long as an NBA coach either. He's too much of a hardass on players if they make a mistake, just like Carlesimo. That act wears thin fast in the NBA.

[CubanMustGo]

It was there after PJ was fired, removed the next day. I sent the E-N a note and McDonald replied, saying it was some sort of screwup by the nba.com guys.

[Allanon]

How many ways can a guy be fired? I've gone to the NBA.COM site 3 days now. The headlines have kept changing:

Carlismo out in OKC, replaced by Brooks - Friday Night
Carlismo dumped by Thunder - Saturday
Thunder decide to roll without Carlismo - Today

Hahah, are they trying to make it sound better?

[Biernutz]

Unlike with AJ, I'm fine with PJ coming back after the all-star game.

[K-State Spur]

There are plenty of major colleges that would love to have him if he chose to rejoin the college ranks. When he arrived at Seton Hall, they were the Big East doormat. Carlesimo took them from laughing stock to perinnial final four contender.

He may suck as an NBA head coach, but he woulda been one of the college greats had he stuck it out. Coach K wouldn't make it too long as an NBA coach either. He's too much of a hardass on players if they make a mistake, just like Carlesimo. That act wears thin fast in the NBA.

I think he absolutely hated kissing the ass of 18 year old kids on the recruiting trail. I suspect he'll hang around the NBA as somebody's top assistant.

[DUNCANownsKOBE2]

Bud was my hope for the Suns job....if PJ or AJ are brought in they need to know they are 2nd fiddle on the assistant pecking order to Bud.

[arodz]

Spurs NEED him back. The offense has suffered since his departure. Not saying he's the reason the Spurs offense was great, but I don't think it was a coicidence that they've struggled since he left.

[cool hand]

I heard from a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend that he will be back.

[mouse]

maybe the real reason they want him on the Spurs to show Pop how to properly trim his beard.

[duncan228]

Charley Rosen chimes in.

Straight shooting

For what it's worth, I was never a big fan of P.J. Carlesimo. Never mind the persistent rumors that his program at Seton Hall wasn't exactly as pure as the driven snow. Never mind that his overly brusque my-way-or-the-highway courtside manner pushed the volatile and more-arrogant-then-thou Latrell Sprewell over the edge.

I was convinced that Carlesimo had no business being a head coach in the NBA on the basis of an interview that took place during his rookie season in Portland.

Before we spoke, I'd questioned some of the players, who were unanimous in their negative judgments of him.

* Carlesimo was usually the last member of the organization to show up for practice and the first to leave.

* His loud and constant berating of them for every mistake angered the players and was therefore extremely counter-productive.

* His game-time subs utions paid little attention to defensive matchups. Nor was he concerned with having five Blazers on the court whose individual skills were complementary. And when these matchups and dysfunctional fives proved to be clearly disadvantageous, he stubbornly refused to make changes. (Several other NBA coaches seconded this appraisal.)

* He was totally intimidated by his veteran players and had no idea how to communicate with any of the guys on the roster.
But Carlesimo's response to my very first question sealed the deal for me:

"What's the difference between coaching on the college level and coaching in the NBA?"

"There's no difference whatsoever," he said. "The basket is still 10 feet high and 15 feet away from the free throw line."

"And the players?"

"Players are players," he said.

Gasp!

After being fired by the Blazers, and then by the Warriors, Carlesimo spent several season as a trusty assistant to Gregg Popovich in San Antonio. While Pop has the same semi-belligerent mind-set, he has the chops to pull it off and earn his players' respect. Carlesimo's reward was to be hired by the Sonics (now the Thunder) to run the show in 2007.

Anyway, after spending parts of seven seasons in some team's command seat, and after compiling a career record of 207-296, Carlesimo has been canned once more.

Not too many NBA watchers were surprised.

And with his latest pink slip, Carlesimo rejoins a long and quasi-distinguished roster of his peers. Like Jim Lynam, Bill Cartwright, Dave Wohl, Dave Cowens, Johnny Davis, Randy Ayers, Phil Johnson, Bob Weiss, Gar Heard, Rex Hughes, Sidney Lowe, Bill Blair, Alvin Gentry, George Irvine, John Bach, Herb Brown, Jim Cleamons, Richie Adubato and Terry Stotts — P.J. Carlesimo is just another example of a guy who was an excellent assistant coach but lacked the charisma and/or the people skills to succeed as a head coach.

Which doesn't mean that he's a bad person.