Keith Smart as coach of the Golden State Warriors

OAKLAND, California - it was a single shot that Keith Smart could not do.

Perhaps no one could.

The Golden State Warriors separated with their coach Wednesday, the first major impact this shoulder of a new property group who promised radical change in the franchise not perennial.

Smart, the guard of Indiana known for hit "the shot" against Syracuse who won the 1987 NCAA Championship title Hoosiers, spent seven years as assistant with Golden State before he replaced Don Nelson just before training camp. Warriors went to 36-46 by virtue of the chip, improved 10-match of the previous season, but clearly not enough to placate owners Joe Lacob and Peter Guber.

Only a rare postseason was likely to save the jobs of Smart.

"I would say it was impossible," warriors General Manager Larry Riley said the Smart challenge. "But it was difficult." We all know that. ?

New brass managed to hastily put Smart in place even before that the NBA officially approved the sale of warriors year last for a record 450 million of long-time owner Chris Cohan. Smart was given only a one year contract with an option to team for next season, and he was often marked a candidate to fill responsible for overseeing the transition.

The coach met with Lacob and basketball operations staff in the morning and said that it would not be retained.

"It is a very complex decision and not easy to do." Nobody likes to make changes that affect someone's life, "Lacob says a few hours later, speaking before the unveiling of a court renovated bearing his name at Haight of Alameda elementary school nearby. "It is something that we felt we really had to do." We really want to strive to be a great team and we thought that we could improve ourselves. ?

Rocky Widner/Getty ImagesKeith Smart will not have the chance to improve the record of 36-46 Warriors next season.

The new owners have promised to restore the franchise to glory with splashy and playoff performances signatures. The Warriors made the playoffs only once since 1994. Yet fans in the basketball-crazy Bay area are some of the most loyal and vocal in a market saturated with sports teams.

Golden State had already decided to keep Riley: GM. The team also hired since long time agent of NBA Bob Myers a few weeks ago to be the Deputy Director and eventual successor of Riley. New coach decide to keep the assistants on staff.

Lacob said that Riley and his staff will make the choice on a new coach, with his entry. While Lacob would prefer someone with head of NBA previous coaching experience, it will not be a requirement. He refused to say if the Warriors are interested in former coach Jerry Sloan or NBA analyst for the Utah Jazz and former of the Knicks and rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy - two names which have already been surface.

Among the other sure to receive the attention of the Cleveland Cavaliers former coach Mike Brown and Lawrence Frank, coach of New Jersey Nets single which is now the wizard top with the Boston Celtics, where Lacob previously held a small stake in the team.

After one season, the Warriors decided to part with coach Keith Smart ways. Smart has led the team to 10 wins than the previous season, improved the team defensive and cut the margin of rebound of the warriors.

Lacob wish to move quickly to find a new coach and acknowledged that front office is a short list of potential candidates.

"We will look for someone that, certainly, experience, someone with a lot of great capacity to relate to the players," said Lacob. "We will focus on a number of people and try to make the best choice we can to be the best as possible."

Smart had little time to deliver a winner.

He said the moment where he began in that he would put his own stamp on the bench any how long lasted its mandate. He walked around the locker room before training camp seeking a handshake to each player, a Pact of signalling that they would allow chip to their coach and to be involved in their lives.

Ultimately, these efforts were not sufficient.

Smart was still left with the stumbling block even as many of its predecessors: work with an erroneous list that, even at its best, no competitor series the deep Western Conference playoffs. Smart juggled the combo sous-dimensionnés guard Monta Ellis and Stephen Curry, with mixed results, and the absence of a genuine within presence even if new warriors exposed.

"At some level and certainly I know some will say this - that he deserved another year, that he did not have a list complete, and there is a kernel of truth," said Lacob. "But we thought that we could be better." "I think some more so desired to have their guy in the extended property.

Smart often takes a hard-line approach with Curry, banquettes even second year late leader in a few games. Their relationship has never been perfect, but the chip was always appreciated by the players - including Curry - and members of the front office until the end.

The Smart age 46 kept the run-and-fun offence Nelson perfected a time, leading to some dazzling outputs and turmoil, including a sequence of three consecutive victory in April against the Lakers in Los Angeles, Dallas and Portland. But the defensive effort was never there, and a six-losing consecutive at the end of March that struck the Warriors of playoffs contention spelled the end of the mandate of the Smart.

"It is difficult due to the personality of a guy like Keith Smart, the quality of the individual was and the fact that it is fully professional," said Riley. "In this regard, there are a few difficulties." On the other side of this is that we make a decision to go forward. ?