The Golden State Warriors have begun their offseason shakeup by firing coach Rick Adelman. Next, they'll have to decide what to do about general manager Dave Twardzik, the guy who hired Adelman.
The Warriors, who slumped to 30-52 this season and failed to make the playoffs for the third straight year, fired Adelman and his assistants Monday."I felt we had a problem and needed a change," Warriors owner Chris Cohan. "I bought the team just over two years ago. I asked myself, `Are we better off today than we were two years ago?' And my answer was `No."'
The firing of Adelman, who had a 66-98 record in two seasons with the Warriors, had been expected.
"I pretty much knew it was coming," Adelman said. "Pretty much since February I knew it was going to come, it was just a matter of when."
Adelman was the third NBA coach fired since the end of the season, joining Dick Motta of Denver and Johnny Davis of Philadelphia.
There were six firings during the regular season: Bernie Bickerstaff in Denver, Jim Lynam in Washington, Brian Winters in Vancouver, Garry St. Jean in Sacramento, Brian Hill in Orlando and Bob Hill in San Antonio.
Cohan said the contracts of assistant coaches John Wetzel, George Irvine and Rod Higgins will not be renewed.
There was no immediate decision on the fate of Twardzik, who hired Adelman for the coaching job in May 1995, just nine days after getting his own position with Golden State.
"I did not put any time pressure on myself as far as analyzing Dave's performance," Cohan said. "I felt our immediate need was to get the coaching situation settled."
Twardzik and Adelman have shared much of the blame for questionable personnel moves and disappointing performances by the Warriors in the two seasons they've been with Golden State.
The Warriors traded Tim Hardaway and Chris Gatling to Miami for Kevin Willis and Bimbo Coles in February 1996. Hardaway and Gatling both played in this year's All-Star game, while Willis is in Houston and Coles is a backup for the Warriors.
Golden State also got little in return when it dealt unhappy center Rony Seikaly to the Orlando Magic before this past season for three players.
And, after taking Joe Smith with the No. 1 pick in the 1995 draft, the Warriors fared poorly in the 1996 draft. First-round pick Todd Fuller was a disappointment, and second-round selection Marcus Mann left the team during training camp to become a teacher in Mississippi.
"We set goals for this team and the organization, and unfortunately we didn't achieve the levels I expected on the basketball court," Cohan said. "Because of this, we felt a change was necessary."
Cohan said he's going to be open minded in his search for a new coach, though he wouldn't mind someone with previous NBA experience.
"We want the best possible candidate that can show our fans that we can and will make improvement," he said. "But it's always nice to feel confident that the person does have the ability to deal with life in the NBA."
Adelman, who took the Trail Blazers to the NBA Finals twice while coaching six seasons in Portland, has a career record of 357-252. His .586 winning percentage is 12th on the NBA career list.
Adelman came to Golden State two years ago preaching defense to a team that allowed an average of 111.1 points the previous season.