PHOENIX SUNS

Igor Kokoskov won only 19 games but people are heated the Suns fired him

Apr 22, 2019, 11:05 PM | Updated: Apr 23, 2019, 3:28 pm

Phoenix Suns head coach Igor Kokoskov gestures during the second half of an NBA basketball game aga...

Phoenix Suns head coach Igor Kokoskov gestures during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Washington Wizards, Saturday, Dec. 22, 2018, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

(AP Photo/Nick Wass)


Igor Kokoskov won just 19 games in his first season as head coach.

The head coach’s biggest mistakes included a baffling miscommunication that cost the Phoenix Suns a game against the Boston Celtics because players heard “no foul” when he called for an intentional foul.

He also once, walked on the court against the Pelicans … in the middle of a play. Like the Boston debacle, it also cost the Suns a regulation victory.

Still, it says a lot that basketball folks in Phoenix and elsewhere were baffled by the Suns firing Kokoskov on Monday.

Phoenix will begin to look for its fifth coach in five seasons.

First, let’s see how the latest firing sat with the last head coach who was fired at an odd time, Earl Watson, who got the axe just three games into the 2017-18 season.

It’s hard to disagree with that guttural reaction.

What about Charles Barkley, who addressed Kokoskov’s firing — and the unlikelihood of Barkley joining the Suns in a front office position — on Inside the NBA?

The Suns continue to be impatient at the oddest of times. Regardless of what Kokoskov proved or didn’t, could he really do much with a team of sub-25-year-olds? Could he be expected to win without, you know, a point guard?

Former Suns forward Matt Barnes doesn’t think so. Few disagreed.

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