The Oklahoma City Thunder got the firings rolling by dismissing P.J. Carlesimo after a 1-12 start, then posted the same record in Scott Brooks' first 13 games. The injury-plagued Washington Wizards (Eddie Jordan) and Sacramento Kings (Reggie Theus) also made changes. So did the Toronto Raptors (Sam Mitchell), Philadelphia 76ers (Maurice Cheeks) and Minnesota Timberwolves (Randy Wittman), teams that expected to be much better than they are.

Coaches always say they're hired expecting to be fired - but not this much, this soon. "It's pretty consistent the way they're going about it. Once you start going in the other direction, there's no miracle trades," Adelman said. "The classic line I've seen a couple of times is, 'Everybody's accountable.' I've seen general managers say that, or personnel people. But everybody's still there but the coach.

"So not everybody is accountable. Even though that's a nice statement to say, I don't think that's the truth. When you're a coach in this league, you know that's something that can happen at any time," he said.

Adelman notes that young coaches often get started with bad jobs. Theus, for example, saw Mike Bibby and Ron Artest traded during his one-plus season by a Kings team that is on the decline after Adelman had it near the top earlier this decade.

Karl said some of the problem is the false hopes teams have after summer signings. The 76ers contracted Elton Brand and the Raptors acquired Jermaine O'Neal, and both teams were widely picked to finish in the top half of the Eastern Conference. However, neither club gave its coach much time to get the new changes working - even though Philadelphia started slowly last season before Cheeks led a second-half surge into the playoffs.

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