It was just announced on PTI that the Grizzlies have chosen Phoenix assistant Marc Iavaroni as their new head coach.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">AP -- The Memphis Grizzlies, looking for a coach who can help the team work its way up from the bottom of the NBA, have set a "major announcement" for Thursday amid newspaper reports they are hiring Phoenix Suns assistant Marc Iavaroni. </div> http://www.memphisflyer.com/memphis/Content?oid=oid%3A29191
Iavaroni, will be a good coach. To bad for the Magic, great for the Grizz. He should establish their offense right away. I see great things for the Grizz.
If they get Iavaroni, draft Brandan Wright, and get a solid PG it will have been a good offseason for the Grizzlies.
<div class="quote_poster">J_Ray Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Is this guy any good? Cuz Just being an assistant for the Suns don't mean much to me.....</div> Yea, he's supposed to be good. Has a very creative, intuitive mind. Works very well with bigs. Has learned from some of the best, including Pat Riley, Jerry Sloan, and D'Antoni. So, with that said, I assume his strengths are offense, but he knows the importance of defense as well.
<div class="quote_poster">J_Ray Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Is this guy any good? Cuz Just being an assistant for the Suns don't mean much to me.....</div> Supposed to be a fairly highly touted potential head coach. Like Silva said its believed that offense is his strong suite and hes also got a reputation for developing bigs. It seemed like the Grizz went towards a running, up tempo style game when Barone was appointed coach so maybe he'll continue that. Also, I agree with Bobcats, if the Grizzlies draft Brandon Wright (excellent PF prospect with superstar potential) or Horford (good prospect who compliments Gasol well) and acquire a good PG they're golden. They already have Lowry (who I'm a huge fan of), who was playing well before an injury last year so maybe in his second season he steps up a bit and proves himself as a starter.
Hey, I was wondering who you guys think Iavoroni is leaning towards in the draft, Yi, Wright, or Horford. I keep hearing they should get Horford to compliment Gasol, but Wright has Amare type potential written all over him with his body type and athleticism. Not only that but I feel Wright has more defensive potential than Horford does. There's also a rumor on the street that Atlanta's GM, Billy Knight, is in love with Yi......figures, the guy is an idiot.
He's just ugly looking. But other than that he was the lead assistant and I've seen him pretty involved when he was with the Suns. Should be interesting to see if he can turn things around here.