Sweet. Most Memphis fans (including myself) were hoping for this. After firing Mike Fratello last season following a 6-24 start, the Grizzlies employed a similar style of "run and gun" basketball under assistant-turned-head coach Barone. And we still lost a lot. But hey, it was more fun to lose 113-107 than 88-76, right?
Many thought Iavaroni would re-unite with Toronto Raptors GM Bryan Colangelo, as they worked together in Phoenix. But Toronto's Sam Mitchell earned Coach of the Year honors, so it would be weird to fire him.
In a week where our draft hopes shifted from Greg Oden/Kevin Durant to Brandan Wright/Al Horford/Yi Jianlian...we needed some good news.
Iavaroni is also 6'8", so he could definitely play the four.
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I don't have enough superlatives for how great of a hire this is for the Grizzlies. Just an absolute steal. I was hoping the Kings would get him. Alas, we're going to be stuck with Heywood Jablomey.
sondog,
why are you so "high" on coach lavaroni? we want to know more.
The book "7 Seconds or Less." Pretty compelling. It paints a picture of Iavaroni of a guy who is as responsible for the Suns' style of play as D'Antoni. Except Iavaroni actually wants them to play defense too. The NBA has a habit of hiring coaches who have been vomited up by other teams already, so it's good to see a top assistant get the nod.
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