John Weisbrod announced today that Magic head coach Johnny Davis has been relieved of his duties. The Magic lost the 2nd game of a five game road trip and their 6th in a row overall. In addition, defensive coach Ron Ekker was released as well - no real surprise there. Assistant coach Chris Jent has been named interim coach.
So, this is what we know. The Magic are in big trouble. The team is not playing well and defense has been a problem all year. Coach Jent will not solve either of these problems. There may be a small fire lit under the team - but everyone knows Jent will not be a long term solution. We do know there are several good coaches waiting for their next job. By releasing Davis before the end of the season, they are in a better position to land a top-notch coach. They will not have to play the wait-and-see game this summer.
What's next? A purge. The only assistant we can truly expect to be here next year is Clifford Ray. With the Magic moving Jent to interim coach, you can expect that Paul Westheads days are numbered. Why else would they slap an interim tag on someone with no head coaching experience over one that does.
The funny part of all of this, Weisbrod's comments about Jent. "He brings a great work ethic, excellent X's and O's knowledge, and has been a part of winning teams as a player," said Weisbrod. Do you remember last year? We heard the same thing about Davis.
Davis was a decent coach, but he wasn't the coach to get this team where it needs to be. I said the same thing about Doc Rivers last year. We are a .500 team until we get a coach capable of managing the egos and attitudes of these players. I welcome the change and feel it was necessary in order for this team to succeed. I probably would have rather them wait until after the season, but I agree with the move.
