DBAHO Posted March 17, 2005 Share Posted March 17, 2005 Wow, I seriously can't believe this, and I'm gonna give John Weisbrod major props for it. Davis wasn't going to come back anyways, so why not try to save the season now and make the playoffs instead of just going through the motions for the next 20 or so games. Now if he can trade Steve Francis in the off-season and hire Flip Saunders, I'll be a happy man. The Magic have fired head coach Johnny Davis, and Chris Jent will fill in for him on an interim basis. Wow. Apparently ownership had enough of the six-straight losses and the poor conduct and play by Steve Francis, Stacey Augmon, Hedo Turkoglu, Deshawn Stevenson and the rest of the team over the past several weeks. Maybe this will make Francis happy and get the whole team back on the right track. Maybe. Mar. 17 - 8:15 am et Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qwerty Posted March 17, 2005 Share Posted March 17, 2005 (edited) He should be just for the way his name is spelled. http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2015188 ORLANDO, Fla. -- Johnny Davis was fired Thursday as coach of the Orlando Magic, who have lost six straight games and are on the verge of falling out of playoff contention. Assistant Chris Jent was named interim coach. "We work in a bottom line business," general manager John Weisbrod said in a statement. "It is our responsibility to do everything possible to create the best opportunity for success." Davis was dismissed along with assistant coach Ron Ekker hours after Wednesday night's 110-102 road loss to the Los Angeles Clippers, dropping the Magic to 31-33 and leaving them tied with Philadelphia for the final Eastern Conference playoff spot. The team, in the middle of a West Coast road swing, plays Friday at Seattle. Davis told the Orlando Sentinel he was "surprised and disappointed" by the firing with just 18 games left in the season and the club still trying to make the playoffs. "It caught me completely off guard," Davis told the newspaper. Jent, who spent two seasons in the NBA and was a member of the 1994 champion Houston Rockets, became a Magic assistant this season and is a head coach for the first time. He was promoted over assistant Paul Westhead, who coached the Los Angeles Lakers to the 1980 title and later coached the Denver Nuggets. Davis was hired as coach on Nov. 17, 2003, replacing Doc Rivers when last season's team was 1-10 and on its way to losing 19 straight. Later in the season under Davis, the team lost 13 straight, including an NBA-record seven straight by at least 15 points and finished 21-61. In the offseason, the team traded All-Star forward Tracy McGrady to Houston. Orlando showed improvement before its recent slump. Davis, a low-key coach, seemed to lose control of his players. In Sunday's 98-82 home loss to New Jersey, the Magic received several technical fouls and scuffled with the Nets. Reserve guard DeShawn Stevenson booted the ball into the stands at the buzzer and forward Stacy Augmon squirted lotion on reporters in the locker room. Davis' overall record with the Magic was 51-84. He also coached Philadelphia in 1996-97, going 22-60 there. Orlando is the seventh team this season to make a coaching change, following Memphis, New York, Denver, the Lakers, Minnesota and Portland. One down one to go dbaho. Edited March 17, 2005 by qwerty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qwerty Posted March 17, 2005 Share Posted March 17, 2005 Damn, sorry to whoever merged this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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