Vinny Del Negro To Go? Or Eddie Jordan?

Let's start with the Top 10 plays from Wednesday nights NBA action.



You'll notice that the only two plays involving the Chicago Bulls and the Philadelphia 76ers were that they were on the receiving end of the highlight. It sums up the situation facing those teams right now.

In Sunday's power rankings, I wrote that Indiana Pacers head coach Jim O'Brien is my tip to be the most likely coach next to get the gun, but seeing the Chicago Bulls go down to the Atlanta Hawks by 35 points really means that Vinny Del Negro has stormed into favouritism.

It was the Bulls ninth loss in 10 games and second 30+ point hammering in the last three games. In between? A two point loss to the New Jersey Nets, who by the way won on the road for the first time this season.

There's no fight in the Bulls and it they give up too easily. It hasn't been a great year for sophomore Derrick Rose which has been really surprising. He was so good last year, especially in the playoffs, but he looks unsure of himself at the moment.

At 7-13, Chicago starts a six-game homestand tomorrow night which Del Negro's fate will likely be decided by, but, with the Celtics and Lakers coming to town, if I was a betting man, I'd have a few bob on Vinny to be unemployed by Christmas.

*****
The euphoria of the second coming of Allen Iverson as 76er has worn off pretty quickly.

Kate Fagan of the Philadelphia Inquirer "On Monday night in Iverson's emotional return to the Sixers, 20,664 people packed the Wachovia Center. Last night, that number dropped to 12,136.

Along with the attendance, so too dropped Iverson's effectiveness. He played 33 minutes, scoring 11 points on 3-for-10 shooting with three assists, six turnovers and no rebounds.

Last night's game should have been the streak's end: The Sixers were at home, playing an injury-wracked opponent, a team with double-digit losses."

The Philly faithful saw Iverson and fell in love for one brief encounter, but the 11 straight losses is just too much. For the record, Philadelphia is only better than the New Jersey Nets in the eastern conference.

Maybe Philly's head coach Eddie Jordan will also be looking for another job soon. If so, it will mean he has been sacked twice in 12 months.

Is this really Tom Cruise?