Associated Press

 

CHICAGO -- Chicago Bulls coach Bill Cartwright was fired Monday, a casualty of his team's dismal start in a year that was supposed to bring marked improvement -- maybe even a return to the playoffs.

 

Pete Myers will be the interim coach, and general manager John Paxson hopes to name a replacement within the next week. Paxson was meeting with the team in Dallas, where the Bulls (4-10) play the Mavericks on Tuesday night.

 

"The team is underperforming and we have to find ways to win, period," Paxson said. "I am not satisfied with the team's start this season and changes have to be made. This represents the first change, but not necessarily the last."

 

Cartwright is the second NBA coach to be fired this season after Doc Rivers at Orlando. Rivers has been mentioned as a possible replacement, but the Chicago native is working as a TV analyst and has said he won't coach again this year.

 

Doug Collins' name also has been floated, but the former Bulls coach has said he's not interested.

 

Preseason expectations for the Bulls were huge, with team expected to make its first run at the playoffs since the dynasty days. Instead, Chicago has lost five in a row and shares last place in the Central Division.

 

The Bulls have struggled offensively and defensively, and haven't been able to find a rhythm. Injuries haven't helped, with Tyson Chandler, Scottie Pippen and Marcus Fizer all missing games.

 

But even worse has been the team's energy -- or lack of it. The Bulls lost three of their first four games by an average of 27 points, including back-to-back 30-point blowouts. Eddy Curry, expected to have a breakout year, often looks lost, while Tyson Chandler has been limited by a back injury.

 

Tempers have been flaring, too. Jalen Rose and Jamal Crawford were angry when Cartwright pulled them from the starting lineup in New Orleans on Nov. 8, and the team has been hearing rumors for days that Rose was on his way to Toronto in a trade.

 

So Cartwright's dismissal was no surprise. The former All-Star center even seemed resigned to it Sunday, when Sacramento beat Chicago 110-99 in his last game as the team's coach. Cartwright had more than 20 family members and friends at the game near his hometown of Elk Grove, Calif.

 

"My dad's wisdom was simple: Just do the best you can and come on home," Cartwright said. "That's it."

 

Cartwright was 51-100 since replacing Tim Floyd on Dec. 28. He was a Bulls assistant for six years before that and was an integral part of Chicago's first three championship teams.

 

A first-round pick by the New York Knicks in 1979, Cartwright was traded to the Bulls in 1989 and helped make them one of the NBA's best defensive teams. He averaged 13.2 points and 6.3 rebounds in 17 years in the NBA and was valued as much for his presence and quiet leadership as his skills on the court.

 

"I knew there would be difficult times in this job, but none is harder than replacing a friend," said Paxson, who played with Cartwright on the first three title teams.

 

"I have known Bill Cartwright as a teammate, as a colleague and as a friend for nearly as long as I've been in professional basketball," Paxson added. "I admire his hard work and his efforts and loyalty here. He will always be a Bull."

 

But there's little place for sentiment on a losing team.

 

Chicago has been abysmal since then-general manager Jerry Krause broke up a dynasty after its sixth NBA title in 1998. The Bulls have lost 292 games since and have created and scrapped several rebuilding plans along the way.

 

But this was supposed to be the year everything turned around. Chicago finished 30-52 last year, a nine-game improvement. Curry and Chandler were expected to build on the huge steps they took at the end of last season, and the addition of Pippen was supposed to add veteran leadership.

 

Instead, the Bulls got off to a horrid start and didn't get any better. Cartwright tried to spark the team with his lineup shuffle in New Orleans, but the Bulls won one game since and were clearly slipping back into their bad old ways.

 

They've lost the first three games of a five-game West Coast road trip, dropping them to 0-30 there over the past five years.

 

0-30!? Wow.

 

I think they should hire my main man Bill Wennington, but that's just because that guy's awesome.

....and deservidly(sp?) so

 

now if JWil was healthy, it would be a different story

:shifty

Thank God they finally got rid of him. And even with JWill, I think Cartwright would have been gone, because he is simply a moron who can't coach, they didn't even run plays. Good bye and good riddance Bill, don't let the door hit you in the a** on the way out.

no

 

you are wrong

 

if JWil is healthy, they are better than they are...

no

 

you are wrong

 

if JWil is healthy, they are better than they are...

They would be better, but they wouldn't be going to the playoffs, Cartwright was clueless and he had to go, simple as that.

I'm happy he's gone, he had way too much talent in a crap division too have just four wins. Injuries my a** this was a smart move. Cartwright is your man if you want a guy who can hold a team over till their players develop and I still like the guy he's just not a guy you want to coach a winner.

Good god, which coach is next?

 

If Doc Rivers hadn't signed with ABC a week ago, I'd be afraid to be Don Chaney right about now...