Two Coaches Already On The Hot Seat

It's just over a week into the season, and already two head coaches are on the proverbial (and very sweltering) hot seat. When teams that have large collections of high-end talent get off to very slow starts, eyes inevitably turn to the coach. But in the case of these two guys, they were already on notice in the court of public opinion even before the ball went up on opening night.

Steve Nash

Just one look at Brooklyn Nets Twitter during one of their games, and you'll get an idea of how fans feel about Nash's coaching.

Brooklyn was hosting the Dallas Mavericks Thursday night, and at one point in the game, the Nets were letting Luka Doncic go single-coverage against 6'1" Patty Mills. Time and time again.

Putting Patty Mills on Luka…. My god…. STEVE NASH YOU NEED TO BE FIRED!!!!!!!!! and people say give him time?!?!?! 🤦🏽‍♂️🤦🏽‍♂️🤦🏽‍♂️🤦🏽‍♂️id rather have no coach at this point
— The_Real_Parody (@The_Real_Parody) October 27, 2022

Mavs: We'd like you to switch, so that Luka can go 1-on-1 vs. Patty Mills.

Nets: Great idea!
— John Schuhmann (@johnschuhmann) October 28, 2022

WHY IS PATTY MILLS GUARDING LUKA?
— Brooklyn Netcast (@BrooklynNetcast) October 28, 2022

But there's more. Somehow, going into Thursday night's game, Kevin Durant had the worst plus/minus of any player in the entire NBA (minus-58). How is that possible, you may ask?

The Nets are 29th in the NBA in defense. ESPN NBA Insider Brian Windhorst points out that the vaunted "Big Three" of KD, Kyrie Irving and Ben Simmons have spent 77 minutes on the floor together so far, and the Nets are minus-30 in those minutes.

To be fair, as noted by fellow ESPN Insider Tim Bontemps, "they have no interior defenders, they have no size, and they have no other defensive talent on the roster outside of (Simmons and Royce O'Neal)."

But it's not like the team with KD and Kyrie is an offensive juggernaut at this point either. "The bigger issue for them is that they're 18th in offense right now," said Bontemps. "If they're going to be somewhere in the middle of the pack on offense, they're just going to be a flat-out bad team."

Clearly, the Nets need to turn around their 1-4 start soon, or they might not have any choice but to grant Durant's offseason wish of firing Nash.

Doc Rivers

The Philadelphia 76ers were picked by many pundits to finish with the top record in the Eastern Conference this season, but have stumbled out of the gate to a 1-4 start just like the Nets. But unlike Brooklyn, they don't have the excuse of trying to integrate one of their key players after a year and a half away from the game.

"This has been an unmitigated disaster," said ESPN's Tim Bontemps on The Hoop Collective podcast of the Sixers' season so far.

"This is a team that's less than the sum of its parts" adds Brian Windhorst.

The Sixers are 27th in team defence, and oftentimes, they just look like they don't care. That lack of preparedness and effort has got to be laid on the coach.

My only hope for the Sixers is that they play poorly enough to start the season that Doc finally gets fired and Sam Cassell takes over. The Sixers will never win with Doc Rivers as their head coach and the organization's insistence on keeping him is infuriating to say the least.
— PHILS IN 4 (@76erz4lyfe) October 19, 2022

What if the Phillies got the crowd jacked before Game 3 by having Doc Rivers come out thinking he’s throwing the first pitch & instead he’s fired in front of 45,000 people?
— ANNNNNNNNNND…UH-OH (@DDtch33) October 28, 2022