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OKC Thunder: Carlesimo lost team first, then job

 
By Jenni Carlson | Published: November 23, 2008    Comment on this article Leave a comment

The horrendous record didn’t get P.J. Carlesimo fired.

photo - Oklahoma City coach P.J. Carlesimo shouts during the NBA basketball game between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the New Orleans Hornets at the Ford Center in Oklahoma City on Friday, Nov. 21, 2008. BY BRYAN TERRY, THE OKLAHOMAN
Oklahoma City coach P.J. Carlesimo shouts during the NBA basketball game between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the New Orleans Hornets at the Ford Center in Oklahoma City on Friday, Nov. 21, 2008. BY BRYAN TERRY, THE OKLAHOMAN

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Ditto for the blowout losses and the atrocious stats.

There is but one reason why the Thunder decided to fire its coach in the wee hours of Saturday morning — Carlesimo lost his players.

"There’s obviously a number of factors when making a decision like this,” Thunder general manager Sam Presti said.

Still, many of the team’s woes can be traced back to an increasingly obvious disconnect between coach and players.

Carlesimo was dealt a woeful hand, a roster with young stars, lacking big men and no outside shooter. That the Thunder had lost all but one of its first 13 games was no big shocker. How the team was losing was difficult to stomach — 30-point deficits have become the norm — but this was never a roster built to contend this season.

John Wooden wouldn’t have a much better record with this bunch.

Still, the dreadful start was not a fireable offense on its own. There was evidence, though, that Carlesimo had lost the players.

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