Today, head coach Avery Johnson paid the price for that.

December 25, 2012; Brooklyn, NY, USA; Brooklyn Nets head coach Avery Johnson looks on during the fourth quarter of an NBA game against the Boston Celtics at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

Nets’ general manager Billy King announced Thursday afternoon that the organization has relived Johnson of his coaching duties.

Johnson, who was in the final year of his contract, was named Eastern Conference Coach of the Month for October and November following an 11-4 start. But the Nets have won just three of their last 13 games in December, forcing the team to go make the change.

The Nets, at 14-14, currently hold the eighth and final playoff spot in the East.

In addition, more than a week ago, point guard Deron Williams, who is having the worst season of his career, criticized Johnson’s isolation-heavy offensive system, saying he felt uncomfortable. When it comes to coach or player, we all know who the organization will side with.

P.J. Carlesimo will take over the interim coach.

What the Nets have learned is that New York is still a Knicks town and they have a ways to go to compete for “King of New York” honors.

Unfortunately, Johnson won’t be around to see that happen.

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Of course, these awards are near meaningless for these coaches, whose ultimate goals are to be winning in May and June, as Al Iannazzone pointed out. Coach of the Month is probably little more than a gold star for head coaches at this point in the season. However, considering the circumstances, did the Knicks’ Mike Woodson deserve to be the East’s Coach of the Month?

Through the month of November, Woodson and Johnson’s teams posted identical records of 11-4, tying their teams as leaders of the Atlantic Division. However, the skill level of those teams remains a point of debate amongst Knicks fans in favor of Woodson. In November, the combined records of the Nets’ opponents (current as of today) was 96-105, a winning percentage of .478. The combined records of the Knicks’ opponents in November, also current, was 110-103, a winning percentage of .516.

So while the Nets’ schedule was easier, statistically, it’s also been argued that Avery Johnson doesn’t have the same quality tools to work with as Mike Woodson. While this is probably true to an extent, the Nets didn’t come into the season completely unrepresented or considered to be underdogs. The Nets do still have an All-Star back-court and two borderline All-Stars in Gerald Wallace and Brook Lopez. The Knicks were knocked all offseason for becoming too old and assembling a roster that doesn’t fit together.

Perhaps Avery Johnson’s best case for the award over Woodson is that the Nets won the two teams’ first head-to-head battle. Otherwise, however, the Knicks have also gotten off to a better start statistically than the Nets. According to Hoopdata, the Knicks rank first in offensive efficiency, whereas the Nets are ninth. On offense, the Knicks also shoot a better True Shooting percentage (field goals, three-pointers, and free throws weighed) at third in the league at 56.4%; the Nets are 15th at 52.4%. The Knicks also rank third in three-point percentage and first in turnover rate to the Nets’ 24th and 9th, respectively.

On defense, the Knicks rank one spot ahead of the Nets in defensive efficiency at 11th to the Nets’ 12th place spot. The Nets do rank better than the Knicks in categories like points allowed and opponents’ true shooting percentage, whereas the Knicks have a better rank than the Nets in forcing turnovers.

To the current day, what we have is a somewhat meaningless award and proof that both teams are pretty close in terms of their records, stats, and skill levels. What is interesting is to see who is getting recognized for their accomplishments.

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Could Phil Jackson, the Zen Master himself, get fired this season? Of course not, you idiot, but where do the rest of the coaches in the league stand? (Source: Yarbarker.com)

I seem to be in a major ranking/grading/evaluating the whole NBA-mode, so today we’re gonna check out which coaches might not make it through the season.  Every year it seems like about six coaches are fired in the middle of the 82 game grind.  And a few more who made it through the grist then are shown the exit during the summer.  But we just finished one summer, so we ain’t talking about the next one yet.  Just this upcoming season.  Who’s Bulletproof?  Who’s on the Hot Seat?  And where does everyone else stand and why?  Well, you’re lucky ‘cuz we’s about’s ta answer these questions fer ya.

Bulletproof (again, for this upcoming season only):

Doc Rivers – Celtics

George Karl – Nuggets:  He might quit if it’s too grueling, but ya can’t fire a guy coming back from cancer.  Ya just can’t.  If you disagree, grow a heart, dude.

Phil Jackson – Lakers

Gregg Popovich – Spurs

Jerry Sloan – Jazz

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New Bulls' coach Tom Thibodeau got his defensive chops from one of the best coaches in the game: Jeff Van Gundy. Unfortunately, it seems he also co-opted Jeff's same clothing/grooming style. (source: Yardbarker.com)

There has been confirmation that both the New Jersey Nets and the Chicago Bulls have hired new coaches.  The Bulls have hired Celtic’s assistant coach Tom Thibodeau, widely acclaimed for his defensive schemes.  Many have argued that his addition was equally as key to turning the Celts into defensive juggernauts in 2008 as getting Kevin Garnett.  The Bulls were great stoppers just a few years ago under former coach Scott Skiles (who this year turned the Milwaukee Bucks from matador defenders into, um, what’s the opposite, brick wall defenders?).  While the Bulls’ whirl-a-gig center, Joakim Noah, has kept the team from slacking too much, the arrival of Thibodeu should catapult the team back to a spot as one of the top defensive squads.

Meanwhile, the Nets, after a 12-win season where the only thing they stopped was your team from playing a quality opponent, is already being brought back to life by their new 6’5″ Russian katrillionaire, Mikhail “Don’t Call Him Mikey P” Prokhorov.  It’s a nice coup for him to snag Avery Johnson, the coach with the highest winning percentage in NBA history.  He turned the Mavericks from the offense-only laughingstock 200s posse which included the Sacramento Kings and Phoenix Suns, into a solid defensive ball club.  And that was with a star player, Dirk Nowitizki, who due to his complete lack of D, almost legally changed his name to “Irk.”

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