<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Marc Iavaroni has spent 17 years in the NBA as a player and assistant coach. He's been a head-coaching candidate for four straight summers, and finally landed his first top job this summer, with the Grizzlies. Sporting News' Sean Deveney caught up with Iavaroni to talk about his arrival in Memphis, his point guard situation and why he's a lot hipper than you might think. SN: I know you are in the process of moving to Memphis still. Has that been your summer? Are you settled in? MI: Slowly but surely. Found a place, but the most important thing is I am feeling settled in with the staff and we've had a chance now to talk about what we think this team can do. Most important, we're feeling good about the fact that guys will be coming in earlier than they have in the past. SN: How many are you expecting? MI: Out of the 10 guys who don't have national team commitments, we're expecting eight or nine. There has been a very strong response. I have asked around, wondering when guys have come in the past, and they say between (September) 15 and 20. Look, if we can get guys in just after Labor Day, now we are ahead by a week or a two. SN: Why was this job appealing? MI: I got the sense they want me to be successful. Jerry West was strong in my favor. He painted a picture of myself being in different situations and having success in those situations and yet, here I am, 50 years old, and an assistant for 10 years, so he said, "Why isn't this guy coaching?" SN: Was there ever a point where you said the same thing, "Why am I not a head coach?" MI: After you go through your fourth season of interviews like I had, you start wondering. But at the same time, I told myself I am with a great team, with a coach I enjoy working for, Mike D'Antoni. SN: There is a theory out there that says point guard, or guards in general, get the jobs. Nate McMillan, Mo Cheeks, Doc Rivers, Rick Adelman, Scott Skiles. I could go on. But big men like you, 6-8, 6-9 guys, they don't get coaching jobs. MI: I am sure if you go back and do a scientific analysis, you are probably right. But, I have long gotten past the age where I feel I know better than everyone else. SN: How do you mean? MI: You can have an attitude of, "I played in the '80s, I played for less than $400,000, I was a role player, so I love the game more." I think a lot of older players feel that, but I never really felt like that. That has carried over to my attitude about getting a job or not getting a job, about more point guards getting jobs and all that. What do I have to be bitter about? SN: It's not a bad life, as an assistant coach. MI: People have rougher jobs. It's not ditch-digging. I know a lot of friends, out in regular society, who have jobs and just can't wait for Saturday. I am in a job where I don't even know when Saturday comes. SN: I want to talk about your point guards. You are young at the position. And Damon Stoudamire is 34. What level of discomfort does that give you? MI: We'll have to see. Younger players, you have to be patient. We'll help them, but we want them to make tough decisions under fire. We are not going to spoon-feed these guys. SN: Are you approaching the point guard spot as an open competition? MI: I think I have to. To have credibility, I have to tell them what we see as their strengths and how we are going to use them and let them go out and play. SN: One of the negative things that has hung over the team is whether Pau Gasol has asked for a trade. Have you been able to address that head-on? MI: Yeah, after my press conference, I was on a plane within 48 hours to go meet with him. It was well worth it. I listened to him, he listened to me. We came out of it knowing we would have very good communication. SN: How big a role did Pau play in getting Juan Carlos Navarro? MI: All through the summer, he was telling me and Chris (Wallace) about this kid Juan Carlos Navarro. To Chris' credit, he never rejected it or said, "We can't get this done." The Wizards had his rights, so Chris kept (Wizards GM) Ernie Grunfeld interested and kept Pau updated on the process. SN: You are looking at Juan as a 2-guard. MI: Pretty much. He is capable of playing some point guard. But that is a bonus, we are not going to out and make him a one. SN: Are you nervous or excited about training camp? MI: It is a healthy balance of both, I think. It might get unhealthy the closer it gets. SN: You played in Europe for part of your career. What stands out about playing there? MI: It is something that if you could recreate in the NBA, you would have a lot of success. We're going to try here. But in Europe, we would go up and down the Italian boot in a bus, and after a game, you would go to a nice restaurant, usually the best one in the town. And very often, the other team would be there, too. So, here you are, a big table, a seven-course meal, the wine is flowing, everyone is feeling good. Everyone is together. You are close-knit. That is a scene that is lacking in the NBA. </div> Source: Yahoo Sports
