According to Woj, New Orleans fired Monty Williams

[sed522002]

Adrian Wojnarowski ?@WojYahooNBA  5m5 minutes ago
New Orleans has fired coach Monty Williams, league sources tell Yahoo Sports.

[Roy H.]

His roster was a mess, so it's hard to blame him much, but I'm not a fan of Monty Williams.

I'll be curious to see if the Pelicans go after Calipari.

[sed522002]

His roster was a mess, so it's hard to blame him much, but I'm not a fan of Monty Williams.

I'll be curious to see if the Pelicans go after Calipari.

I wasn't too much of a fan either. It's kinda ironic that they mandated he make the playoffs this season or else-no excuses- and still fire him anyways.

[Atzar]

Surprising.  His roster has maybe three players that I'd be happy to take on any team (and then a few more who can be good in the right situation).  I fully expect Anthony Davis to eventually supplant LeBron as the best player in the world, but he's not quite there yet and he doesn't have enough help right now to expect more than that team accomplished this year. 

[Moranis]

I'm surprised given they made progress this year, but I'm also not that surprised because Williams' isn't exactly a good coach.  OKC should have taken a similar position years ago with Brooks.

[Eddie20]

Thibs will probably replace him

[sed522002]

Thibs will probably replace him

I was just going to post that:

David Aldridge ?@daldridgetnt  7m7 minutes ago
But if the Bulls indeed get rid of Tom Thibodeau after the playoffs, he's a clear and obvious candidate to coach Anthony Davis & Pels.

[jgod213]

His roster was a mess, so it's hard to blame him much, but I'm not a fan of Monty Williams.

I'll be curious to see if the Pelicans go after Calipari.

One thing I will give Monty credit for was his handling of the Ryan Anderson situation.  He deserves a large amount of credit for helping Anderson put the pieces back together after the tragedy he endured.  Despite his limitations as a coach, I think it'll be a bit of a tough goodbye for a lot of players in that locker room.

[D.o.s.]

His roster was a mess, so it's hard to blame him much, but I'm not a fan of Monty Williams.

I'll be curious to see if the Pelicans go after Calipari.

One thing I will give Monty credit for was his handling of the Ryan Anderson situation.  He deserves a large amount of credit for helping Anderson put the pieces back together after the tragedy he endured.  Despite his limitations as a coach, I think it'll be a bit of a tough goodbye for a lot of players in that locker room.

Agreed.

For anyone who doesn't know what's being talked about:
http://www.si.com/nba/2014/11/13/ryan-anderson-gia-allemand

[GetLucky]

Very true about the Anderson situation. Williams seems like a great guy, if a mediocre coach.

However, I think Williams could be the most unsung NBA hero ever. If you think back, in 2012 Williams refused to let the Pelicans tank, even when they were squarely out of the race. Their fans were frustrated, like we were last year, when the team went on a winning streak during its last few games. The Pelicans were seemingly losing valuable lottery odds, dropping all the way to 4th, only 1 game behind Cleveland and Washington. However, that pick became Anthony Davis. 

[Roy H.]

Thibs will probably replace him

I was just going to post that:

David Aldridge ?@daldridgetnt  7m7 minutes ago
But if the Bulls indeed get rid of Tom Thibodeau after the playoffs, he's a clear and obvious candidate to coach Anthony Davis & Pels.

God help Jrue Holiday.  Thibs isn't necessarily the guy you want to see nurse guys back from injury.

[LGC88]

Funny, my wife and I were talking about him during their series with GS. We thought that Monty Williams was way too nice to be a coach in nba.

[SHAQATTACK]

Williams ...I ve always thought was a GOOD human ....a decent guy , I d want to play for or make a living working for him.  ......not many coaches I can say that about off hand.

But......if .....I'm the GM .....and I have a once in a life time chance with A.Davis. Maybe once every 50 years a team gets a player this talented.  Well.....you have to act now ..before the other GMs get to Davis ll.lwith all the Hollywood , etc .....

Or lakers will have Love and Davis there before you can blink an eye.

You have to make hay now!  You can.'t wait for the Spurs or Lakers to gobble him up during a rebuild .
You know know the Lakers always believe they must have the best center......it's their chosen right.

If I'm the GM of NO , I'm  doing all a can to keep him here.   And that means getting a top 10 coach .....they are going to do everything possible to keep their star ...to be super star for next 10 plus years in NO and out of LA.

NO .....is doing same thing Thunder just did ......doing everything to keep their stars in a small market.


Lakers will steal them blind in a heartbeat

[Snakehead]

I think the media outrage is ridiculous.  Did they actually watch the Pelicans?  Yes they had injuries, but if you watched the team actually, especially on offense, there was just zero direction.  The offense was give Davis the ball midrange or lob it to the rim no matter what the defense is like.

I think they are somehow are underrating how good Davis is.  He's so good on both sides of the floor that I feel like he is a guy that can lift a team to the Playoffs himself.

It's cool if Williams is a great guy.  I appreciate that.  Doesn't mean he's a good coach though.  Maybe he's an assistant.

I think there's plenty to knock, and now is exactly when you make a change if you don't believe in Williams.  Why wait?  Just because he made the Playoffs?  Then flounder for years when this year there are some possibly great candidates available?  Obviously Thibs would be great for them.

[celticsclay]

I think the media outrage is ridiculous.  Did they actually watch the Pelicans?  Yes they had injuries, but if you watched the team actually, especially on offense, there was just zero direction.  The offense was give Davis the ball midrange or lob it to the rim no matter what the defense is like.

I think people somehow are underrating how good Davis is.  He's so good on both sides of the floor.

It's cool if he is a great guy.  I appreciate that.  Doesn't mean he's a good coach though.  Maybe he's an assistant.

I don't know if this is true or not, but if the ownership actually said something along the lines of you, got to make the playoffs to keep your job and then he made the playoffs and they still fired him, well then they probably shouldn't have done that. I don't think he is a great coach either, but I think that may be the part that upsets people (if true).