Turner Sports' Reggie Miller said Derek Fisher (Little Rock Parkview, UALR) deserved more time to turn around the struggling New York Knicks.
"To see him get canned is unfortunate," Miller said. "I understand it is a business, but it makes you scratch your head because you've got the coach with the best record in the Eastern Conference [the Cavaliers' David Blatt] gets fired but yet the coach with the worst record [the 76ers' Brett Brown] gets a two-year extension.
"All these coaching firings, it just doesn't make sense. Again, an owner and management, they have the right to run their organization any way they can, but it's a bad light on the coaching profession the way they're letting some of these coaches go 50 games into a season.
"I personally never thought the Knicks were going to make the playoffs anyway, so I don't understand the objective of letting Fisher go now. I would like to see this: If you're going to let coaches go, you have to start looking at some general managers and presidents, because they're doing all the hiring of the coaches and they're doing all the drafting.
"I would like to see more general managers be on the hot seat as well. Right now it looks like all the coaches are being put on the hot seat, but I think some general managers need to start looking in the mirror."
Swing time
The first stop on the "California Coastal Swing" featured 40 mph gusts and rain that led to a Monday finish at Torrey Pines with no spectators and hardly any volunteers. And that's all it takes to revive memories of what once was referred to as the Wet Coast Swing.
The AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am was canceled after two rounds in 1996, a decision that led to strict weather guidelines on the PGA Tour. Pebble Beach only made it through two rounds in 1998 when players were asked to return in August to complete three rounds and make it official. Payne Stewart (1999) and Dustin Johnson (2009) both won at Pebble Beachwhen the final round was never played because of rain.
As for Riviera? It's hard to forget 2005 when Adam Scott beat Chad Campbell in a playoff and didn't get credit for a PGA Tour victory (except for the $864,000 check) because rain allowed for only 36 holes over four days.
Forgotten are the good days.
The Northern Trust Open at Riviera has been rain-free the last four years during the tournament.
And while the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines didn't end until Monday, it was largely rain-free in eight of the previous 10 years. One of the two exceptions was in 2013 when the tournament finished on Monday because of fog.
Five times in the last 10 years, there hasn't been any rain during the four days of the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, and in two years, there was only light rain during one of the rounds. Weather still seems to be what players think of along the California coast -- good and bad.
When it's good, it can be spectacular. When it's bad, it can be miserable.
There is no rain in the forecast at Pebble Bach this week.
Your lion eyes
From RJ Currie of sportsdeke.com:
"The Detroit Lions have trademarked the phrase Defend the Den. Unofficial slogans include:
"1. Subordinate Claws,
"2. Mission Im-paws-ible,
"3. The Lions Weep Tonight."
Sports quiz
What was the Atlanta Hawks original franchise name when they entered the NBA in 1950?
Sports answer
The Tri-Cities Blackhawks
Sports on 02/11/2016