What does it say about the NBA that, one fourth of the way through the 2001-02 season, we've had four coaching changes -- and only one of them was your basic mercy killing?

The Nuggets have endorsed Evans' more laid-back approach, but any team which has to rely on Nick Van Exel is in trouble. Antonio McDyess is due back in another month or so, by which time Denver will, again, be hopelessly out of it.

Dave Cowens was shown the door at Golden State for all the traditional reasons. His team was underachieving. His team was bickering about roles and minutes. When you don't win under those situations, and you rarely do, you lose your job.

But the other three changes have been presented as resignations which we'll have to accept at face value barring anything else. We'll never know, of course, whether Tim Floyd jumped before he was pushed. And don't you find it revealing that he thanked a lot of people in the Chicago organization, but left out the man who brought him there, Jerry Krause? Floyd certainly had his reasons to resign. He was tired of the relentless losing.

Dan Issel was an emotional wreck and he needed to go somewhere else and finally figured that out. His was what you call a mutual resignation.

Jeff Van Gundy? He actually did resign because he wasn't enjoying it any more. He needed a break to recharge the batteries and remember what his daughter looks like. He'll be back.

But if there were differences in each of the four changes, there has been one constant. In each case, the old coach was replaced by one of his assistants. That is the safest and most convenient route to take. It's rare that someone plucks a George Karl out of Real Madrid, as the Sonics did, to come in at midseason and replace KC Jones.

Don Chaney replaced Van Gundy and Brian Winters took over for Cowens. For now, Mike Evans is the man in Denver. Bill Berry was picked to take over for Floyd on an interim basis, but many suspect longtime Krause favorite Bill Cartwright will eventually end up with the job.

Chaney and Winters have both had NBA head coaching jobs before. The other two have not. But whether you've coached 600-odd games (Chaney) or none at all (Berry/Cartwright), there is still one article of faith when you move over during the season: It ain't easy.

Jim O'Brien took over a reeling Celtics team in midstream last season. Boston lost in his first game, falling to 12-23. The Celtics then did a stunning 180 over the rest of the season (24-23) and carried it over this season, opening with 17 wins in their first 25 games.

O'Brien had an inherent advantage in that he knew the players and, more important, they knew him. And they were so ecstatic to be rid of the micromanaging, self-aggrandizing Pitino, that they would have played hard for just about anyone.

But O'Brien also offered this bit of advice to the new men: "Don't dwell on the circumstances which led to the change. Move on." That's easy for him to say. His team was visibly unhappy and underachieving. The Bulls and the Nuggets aren't underachieving. They're just bad.

Whoever eventually gets the top job in Chicago isn't going to fare any better than the beleaguered Floyd. The Bulls are, as Floyd so adroitly put it, "rebuilding on our rebuilding" and that is hard to do. It's even harder when your foundations for the future are a couple of clueless hunks just out of high school.

Chicago usually played hard for Floyd. There weren't a whole lot of times when the Bulls visibly packed it in for the night. Berry is in an unwinnable situation because he has to know he's a caretaker. The players know that as well. The usual analogies -- re-arranging the Titanic deck chairs or putting a band-aid on a broken leg -- apply here. The Bulls are, if everything goes according to Hoyle, maybe two to three years away from competing for the playoffs? And since when has anything ever gone according to Hoyle in the NBA?

Winters was Tim Floyd before Tim Floyd. He took a thankless and made-to-be-fired job of coaching the Vancouver Grizzlies out of the box. He had no chance there, but he does have some possibilities in Golden State. The Warriors are not a bad team. They're just in the wrong conference.

Any team with Antawn Jamison, Danny Fortson, Larry Hughes and ultra-hops rookie Jason Richardson has some hope. The Warriors also have something few teams have these days -- men with size. They could get something decent for Marc Jackson once he is able to be moved next month and, who knows, in a year or two, they could be the new Dallas. Do you like their situation better than, say, Utah, San Antonio, Portland or the Suns in a couple years?

But who knows if Winters will be around that long? Or Chaney, who hasn't had much luck with the Knicks (4-6) since he took over for Van Gundy. He should understand, however, that he's the lucky one. His team actually has a chance to be in the muddled Eastern Conference playoff picture. The other replacements aren't so fortunate.

The Nuggets have endorsed Evans' more laid-back approach, but any team which has to rely on Nick Van Exel is in trouble. Antonio McDyess is due back in another month or so, by which time Denver will, again, be hopelessly out of it. Chicago already is out of it and has been for weeks. The Warriors are in the Pacific Division basement -- but only two games out of eighth place in the Western Conference. The playoffs are a longshot.

Maybe it's just best just to wish these new coaches all the best for the new year. They all knew the drill when they got into this manic business. And they all know now that what got them where they are could just as easily happen to the guy who sits beside them, or someone else, if things don't improve.

Peter May, who covers the NBA for the Boston Globe, is a regular contributor to ESPN.com.