Closing the Book on Carlesimo
My mission in New Orleans Saturday night, the first day of the Scott Brooks era, was to get the scoop on what happened to fired coach P.J. Carlesimo, to find out where he went wrong and whether he lost this Thunder team.
But as one player graciously told me after hearing me receive company line after company line before the Thunder took the court against the Hornets, “You know we’re going to take the high road.” Not that it was needed, but that confirmed there was more to the story of Carlesimo’s dismissal. More to it than the Thunder’s 1-12 record, its 10 straight losses, it’s league-worst averages of 17 turnovers, 12-plus point defeats, 40 percent field-goal shooting and its second-to-last ranking of 89 points per game.
Some have claimed the Thunder did indeed tune out Carlesimo, while others either never were fans of his or suggest it wasn’t his fault.
But Thunder players did say all the right things Saturday, wishing Carlesimo the best in his future endeavors and even going as far as taking the blame for his downfall. Here are their comments in full. It’s long, but all told it gives you an idea of the mood of the players, all of whom felt some sort of change was needed but stopped short of saying it should have started with Carlesimo’s job.
EARL WATSON
On his reaction: “It’s never easy, especially when you realize that in this type of game everyone’s involved, everyone failed, not just P.J. So we wish the best for him. We wish we could have done a lot more to help him. But this is where we at right now.”
On whether a change was needed: “It’s not up to me to decide if a change was needed. I feel like whatever the coach wants to do we try to make the best out of it and we try to make it work.”
On whether P.J. lost the team: “I just feel like it was a difficult transition for him coming into the situation. Only he can really answer that question.”
On whether the team respected him: “I’ve always respected P.J. I always will. That’s just me.”
On what went wrong: “I don’t know.”
KEVIN DURANT
On his reaction: “I didn’t know it would happen. It caught me off guard. It was a shock. This is my first time going through this. Some of the older guys went through coaching changes and things like that. But P.J. was my first coach when I came into the league so this is something that’s going to stick out to me. When they announced it to the team it came out of nowhere and I was a little shocked. But we got to move forward. We got to move past that. Scotty Brooks is our guy now. I believe in everything he’s going to do for us so we just got to continue to get better.”
On whether a change was needed: “It’s not my position to say if it was needed or not. I think we were getting better. Obviously the front office wanted to make a decision so that’s what they did. But I’m just not in a position to say we needed that or P.J. was a bad guy. We just got to, as players, do our part to help this team win.”
On whether the team respected him as a coach: “I would say so. He demanded a lot out of us. Every day in practice he brought that fire and every day in the game so I would say we respected him. I know I did a lot.”
On whether P.J. lost the team: “I think that was all on us how we were losing and how we were playing. We told ourselves that it’s not on the coaches it’s on us. Because we’re out there playing. That’s the main thing, we got to play hard.”
DAMIEN WILKINS
On his reaction: “I was a little shocked. I think P.J. worked extremely hard to have us as prepared as he possibly could for every game last year and this year. I think we put a lot of blame on him when we didn’t do enough looking in the mirror. That’s unfortunate for him.”
On whether P.J. lost the team: “I don’t know. It’s hard to tell. We were all so frustrated by not winning. I think it was even more frustrating to lose the way we’ve been losing. It’s hard for everybody.”
On whether a change was needed: “I think anytime you start off 1-12 and you’re losing games by an average margin of like 20 points (really 12) or being down by 20 in every game a change somewhere is needed. That doesn’t always mean it’s with the coaching staff. Unfortunately, in this business it always ends up being the coaches first. Whatever happens after that happens. But it’s unfortunate it had to be coach P.J. to be the first one to go. But I guess a change had to come from somewhere, whether it was going to be in our lineup or whether it was going to be our coach. I think we all felt that. At some point we had to change up something. Something had to be done to try to get us on track to try to salvage this season before it gets out of hand.”
NICK COLLISON
On whether P.J. lost the team and a change was needed: “I don’t know. It’s hard for me to say. We were struggling. We’ve been struggling obviously. But I don’t think you can say a coaching change is going to change everything. We’re not doing a very good job of anything right now. So it’s going to take a lot to change how we’re doing. I think when a coach gets fired like this it’s a reflection on our entire team, not just him. It’s not just his fault. We’ve all struggled and we’ve all failed so far.”
On whether the team respected P.J.: “I think P.J. had the respect of guys. I think to a man most everybody liked P.J. and thought he was fair. That’s the way I felt about him. Things just get tough when you’re having a year like this. Things have happened, but I equate that more to the frustrations of the losing than to people not having respect for P.J. I think everyone in here pretty much respected P.J.”
CHRIS WILCOX
On whether a change was needed: “I don’t know. A change was definitely needed but I don’t know if it necessarily needed to be P.J. because at the end of the day we’re on the court.”
On whether P.J. lost the team: “I don’t think he lost the team. I think us as professionals, we just didn’t come and compete every day. It’s not the coach.”
DESMOND MASON
On why the move was made: “It’s hard to put a finger on it. That’s something that Sam can speak on more. I know, for me, we want to win basketball games. For us, we have to go out and do our part as a team, the five guys on the floor to give us an opportunity to do that. Just like players, sometimes coaches make mistakes with play calls or the rotation or things like that. But again, the players still have to go out and do their part and play hard.”
On whether P.J. lost the team: “I don’t think he lost the team and I don’t think the guys stopped listening. We have a young team and that’s something that veteran type teams do. Guys kind of say, ‘You know what, forget this I’m going in my own direction.’ But we got young guys that want to go out and compete and they want to do well and they’re trying to prove themselves in this league. So a guy like Russell is not going to make a conscious decision to go out and say, ‘You know what, I’m just done.’ He hasn’t played but 12 games. So I don’t think that was the case. I just think it was a case that we had gotten frustrated as a team with not winning basketball games. We had gotten in situations where we make runs on teams or we get leads and teams start attacking us and we just could figure out how to fight back. And those things were just frustrating as a whole.”
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Shaq On OKC
Shaquille O’Neal and the Phoenix Suns are in town for tomorrow’s game agaisnt the Thunder. Shaq made an appearance tonight at a Feed The Children event at a northwest Oklahoma City church and gave his opinion on the Thunder.
O’Neal steered clear of elaborating on comments he made in March to a Seattle columnist that quoted him as saying the potential relocation of the Sonics was “dumb” and “stupid” and Oklahoma City “should have to wait from the bottom like everybody else.”
“I was instructed by a guy from Seattle to say that,” O’Neal said when a reporter asked about the comments. ”I can’t tell you (who). But the Oklahoma City fans are very, very rowdy fans. They’re into their sports. It’s a tough place to play. Seattle had the franchise for a while but it didn’t work out. Now Oklahoma has it. And I wish the city and I wish the franchise well.”
When asked his opinion of the Thunder, O’Neal said: “They’re a very young energetic team. They’ve got a lot of great young, exciting players. They just have to keep playing together. You must first learn to fail before you succeed. They’ve been failing a lot of years. So one of these years they’ll be a force to be reckoned with.”
And just in case anyone might have been curious, Shaq’s favorite peanut butter is Goober Grape.
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Thunder-Hornets Live Blog — 7 p.m. Saturday
P.J. Carlesimo Fired
By Darnell Mayberry
Staff Writer
The Oklahoma City Thunder has fired coached P.J. Carlesimo, according to multiple league sources.
It’s unclear who will replace Carlesimo on the bench on a permanent basis, but assistant coach Scott Brooks is believed to have been named the interim coach and will take the helm immediately with Saturday night’s game at New Orleans.
Carlesimo guided last year’s Seattle SuperSonics to a franchise-worst 20-62 record in his first season with the team in 2007-08. The Thunder is a league-worst 1-12 three weeks into the season after losing its 10th straight game Friday night against the Hornets. The 25-point defeat to the Hornets served as the final straw to what’s been a horrific start to the Thunder’s inaugural season in Oklahoma City.
The Thunder has lost by an average of 14 points during its current losing streak, and front office executives became increasingly incensed with the team’s lack of effort. Oklahoma City has trailed by at least 30 points in five of the past nine games.
The Thunder’s lone win was a three-point victory on Nov. 2 against the Minnesota Timberwolves, who are third-to-last in the Western Conference with a 2-9 record.
After showing signs of defensive improvement over last season in the first six games, the Thunder allowed 100 points or more in the past seven games. The team is ranked 25th in points allowed with a 101.2-point average and 29th in the league in scoring at 88.9 points per game.
The Thunder also ranks last in field-goal percentage (40.4 percent) and turnovers (17 per game).
Thunder general manager Sam Presti was non-committal on Carlesimo’s future following the end of last year’s tumultuous season, leading many to wonder how long the coach would be around in spite of the team’s rebuilding efforts.
Brooks, meanwhile, is one of the league’s up-and-coming assistant coaches and could be named the full-time coach.
A graduate of the University of California, Irvine, Brooks averaged 4.9 points, 2.4 assists and 1.0 rebounds over an 11-year career from 1988-99 with Philadelphia, Minnesota, Houston, Dallas, New York and Cleveland.
Brooks was an assistant with the Sacramento Kings in 2006-07 before joining Carlesimo’s staff a year later. He began his coaching career with the Denver Nuggets as an assistant from 2003-06.
NBA Live Chat: Thunder vs. Hornets
Steven Hill Sent to Tulsa
The Thunder announced today that Steven Hill has been assigned to the Tulsa 66ers of the NBA D-League.
Hill, a 7-foot, 245-pound center, played in one game for the Thunder, scoring two points with three rebounds in two minutes.
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Thunder Speak on Boos
Joe Smith
“We didn’t give them too much to cheer about after the first half. It kind of surprised us a little bit, but at the same time it’s something that we deserved a little bit because, like I said, after the first half we didn’t give them too much to cheer about. They made their run and we made a run in the second half. But for the most part in the second half I think we kind of deserved it a little bit.
Damien Wilkins
“I’ve been hearing it. When you’re sitting you’re hearing it all. So I’ve been hearing it. It’s really not a whole lot you can do. You can’t go apologize to all 19,000 people. The only thing you can do is really just give a better effort. It’s embarrassing really. It’s embarrassing for us. It’s embarrassing for I know my family, I can’t speak for everyone else but I’m sure it is. To hear those boos after the excitement that was built up in this season, for us to come out and play like we played recently is just not acceptable. And some how some way we’ve got to turn this thing around.”
P.J. Carlesimo
“I don’t hear a lot during the game to be honest with you. But I know for a good chunk of the first half I heard them. When you normally hear it most is during a timeout to be honest with you. During the game, you’re focused and you don’t hear as much. I do know that there was a couple of timeouts and there were a couple of runs during that first 21 minutes where I definitely heard the crowd. And I heard them during the second half when they were trying to encourage us and get us going. We’ve got to be concerned with ourselves and just taking care of our own business.”
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Thunder-Clippers Live Blog
Thunder Girls & Thunder Realignment
An article on the front page of NBA.com delves into the issue of realigning the divisions to put OKC in the Southwest Division. It’s an article that’s worth a read but an argument that misses the mark.
The issue of OKC remaining in the same division is a story I broke in April, three months before the relocation was announced. It’s also a topic I explored last month, when coach P.J. Carlesimo called OKC “infinitely better” than Seattle in terms of its geographic location.
The only reason people have a problem with OKC being in the Northwest division is because OKC is obviously nowhere near the northwest. But consider the Northwest Division nothing but a title. As you can see here, Oklahoma City is actually better positioned from a travel standpoint in the Northwest Division than the Sonics were last season in Seattle. Seattle is obviously much closer to Portland and nearly 400 miles closer to Salt Lake City. But OKC is much closer to Denver and Minnesota……And much of the rest of the NBA, for that matter.
Too much is made of divisions. Teams play divisional opponents four times each season, twice at home and twice on the road. Teams within the same conference but not the same division play each other at least three times and some opponents four times. The conference teams that meet three times will square off four times the next season. So it’s really much ado about nothing. When it comes to divisions, you’re essentially looking at one more trip somewhere in some instances and no difference in others.
If OKC was in the Southwest, it still would have to travel to Portland and Salt Lake and Sacramento and Oakland twice every other season. You’re really not helping out anyone by realigning.
The league has done a good job of trying to fit regional teams into the same division. But, frankly, all that matters with respect to divisions is the awarding of a top four seed to the division winner. Aside from that, consider divisions as meaningless titles.
As Carlesimo put it in September: “Half the teams in the league I don’t think know who the teams in their division are. It matters if you win your division. But other than that it’s just where you finish in the conference.”
* The Thunder Girls calendar will be unveiled Thursday at Buffalo Wild Wings on Northwest Expressway at 7 p.m. The Thunder Girls will be in attendance, posing for pictures and signing autographs. The calendar will be available for a one-night only price of $15 on Thursday and bumps to $20 after that.
The 14-month calendar features all 20 Thunder Girls and can be purchased while supplies last in the Thunder Shop, at www.thunder.nba.com or at any Thunder game at the Ford Center beginning Nov. 21.
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Thunder Players on (Future teammate?) Blake Griffin
Kevin Durant, Jeff Green and Russell Westbrook sat courtside at last night’s OU-Davidson game in Norman to get an up close and personal look at Blake Griffin and Stephon Curry. All three were impressed with the individual performances of the two All-Americans, and this morning I asked the Thunder players about Griffin’s potential, the possibility of teaming with him next season and Curry’s career night. Here’s what they had to say……
Jeff Green
Q: What were your impressions of Blake?
A: Strong player. He plays very hard. He’s on the boards like a monster. He’s a great player, a good athletic guy.
Q: How do you see his game translating to the league?
A: It’ll be a good transition. He’s still not perfect. It’s a lot of things he needs to work on, developing a consistent jump shot. But other than that he’s a good talent, and he looks like he works hard. I know Jeff Capel makes him work hard. So he’ll be in good hands.
Q: Was there ever a moment during the game where you thought this could be my teammate next season?
A: (Laughs). Nah. I was just out there watching basketball. Two good college players going at it. I never really stopped to think about that.
Q: Could you see him fitting on the Thunder?
A: You never know. We could use a lot of pieces. You never know what we need in another year. Whatever we need, I’m sure we’ve got guys in the back room that can handle that.
Q: What were your impressions of Stephon Curry?
A: Tremendous shooter. He does it all for the team. He pretty much carries his team. He’s a good leader. He keeps his composure very well. You saw that last night. He hit that big 3 at the end. But he’s a good player. He’s a tremendous shooter.
Russell Westbrook
Q: What were your impressions of Blake.
A: He’s good. He’s strong. He gets every rebound, I know that. He’s active.
Q: Was there ever a moment during the game where you thought this could be my teammate next season?
A: No. I never think like that, because you know what, we’re about to start winning some games. So I never thought like that.
Q: How do you see his game translating to this level?
A: It’s going to be big. He’s going to play the four. He’s strong, quick and athletic. I’m pretty sure he’s going to do a great job ending this year, and hopefully if he decides to leave he’ll do a great job at the next level.
Q: I saw you exchanging some words with Curry during the game. I remember you shut him down last season and held him to 15 points on 6-for-19 shooting in a 75-63 win. What were you guys saying to each other last night?
A:That’s my man, Curry. I told him good game. He said he was happy to see me this year. But he’s a great player, the hardest player I’ve had to guard.
Q: But were you talking trash to him during the game? He hit a 3-pointer in the first half and he turned around and…
A: He turned around and looked at us because I was like, ‘Good shot. And one.’ Because it was a good shot and he still made it. And he smiled at us. But I wasn’t talking mess. I just said “And one.” He shot it and the dude kind of hit his arm and he still made it. And he looked at us and smiled at us.
Q: What do you think Curry’s going to be like at the next level?
A: I think he’s going to be good. He can shoot the ball. You can’t give him no space. He’s smart. He’s playing point this year. He’s dishing the ball off real well. He’s going to be alright as long as he keeps playing the same way.
Kevin Durant
Q: Your impressions of Blake Griffin?
A: Man, that was unbelievable to be honest with you to see those two dudes just go at it the way they did. I know Blake Griffin didn’t score as many points as Steph did. But the way he controlled the game on the boards and how well he scored in the second half to put his team up, it was unbelievable. Blake Griffin is a helluva player.
Q: How do you see his game translating to this level?
A: He’ll be a phenomenal rebounder, of course. He’ll be a guy that does a lot of dirty work that can score inside. Once he gets some face-up ability to shoot over the top of guys he’ll be unstoppable. I know in a matter of time he’ll be in the league, but he’s a great college player right now.
Q: Is there anybody in the league now or from the past that you compare his game to?
A: Down the line, I see him as like a Carlos Boozer. A more athletic Carlos Boozer. He’s going to be a great player, man. I was impressed last night with him and Curry and also Willie Warren played well, too.
Q: Did you ever play against Warren in high school or on the AAU circuit?
A: No. I played against Blake Griffin, though, in Vegas. I didn’t know who he was. He was rebounding and dunking like (crazy). He dunked once so hard against us. It was the summer going into my senior year in Las Vegas at the Nike tournament they had. They don’t count rebounds in AAU but he had to have a double-double. So I knew he was going to be good.
Q: Was there a moment were you were thinking last night this could be my teammate next year?
A: (Laughs). Nah, because anything can happen in the NBA. You never know who’s going to be on your team. Like I didn’t know Russell Westbrook would be on my team this year. So anything can happen. But I know for sure he’s going to be in the NBA. But I don’t know when or who he’s going to play for.
Q: Your impressions on Curry’s performance?
A: People say he was off and he still had 44. For him to be a 6-2 guard and not as athletic as a lot of these guards today and how he gets his shot off and how he gets to the basket and looks for his teammates (was impressive). He had five or six assists, too. Six or seven maybe. He’s just a phenomenal scorer. I remember when I was 10 years old and I played against him and he was shooting NBA 3s nothing but net. So he’s a great scorer and it was a fun game to watch.
Q: And you couldn’t help yourself, huh, when you got on the big screen and flashed a sign a lot of people around here don’t like?
A: You know I had to do it. Really, I hate playing in there. The atmosphere is good for basketball, but the fans are crazy. They love OU, obviously. But it was good to get back and represent the Horns. Of course (they booed me). One fan was so mad after the game. He was like, ‘That’s why the Thunder are losing.’
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