Borrego plucked from Spurs staff

[EricB]

According to Art Garcia, Monty Williams named James Borrego one of his top assistants.

IIRC James Borrego is the hispanic man you see behind the bench and sometimes in the huddles with the Spurs.

If so, good luck and congrats on your promotion@

[Mr.Bottomtooth]

Monty Williams is in New Orleans right?

[Solid D]

James has been their video coordinator for a while. If you know the Spurs staff, you should remember James.

The Spurs have seen several of their assistants move on and up. Joe Prunty was an assistant coach and the Video Coordinator in the early 2000s but went to Dallas. They also lost Borrego's assistant v.c.s the past few years. Vin Bhavnani was hired by Presti and before him, it was Brian Keefe going to the Sonics prior to their move to OKC.

[E-RockWill]

James' official title was Head Video Coordinator. He does practice w/ players & sit on the bench. He is also a nice guy, so good for him.

[SenorSpur]

James has been their video coordinator for a while. If you know the Spurs staff, you should remember James.

The Spurs have seen several of their assistants move on and up. Joe Prunty was an assistant coach and the Video Coordinator in the early 2000s but went to Dallas. They also lost Borrego's assistant v.c.s the past few years. Vin Bhavnani was hired by Presti and before him, it was Brian Keefe going to the Sonics prior to their move to OKC.

I remember reading somewhere Prunty's contract was not renewed with the Blazers. I wonder if he'll land a job with Williams in New Orleans?

[EricB]

Borrego I noticed must have had added scout responsibilities for some games cause I noticed he'd once in a while join in the huddles in time outs...

[Solid D]

It's frequently a stepping-stone role to other positions. For instance, Paul Rivers was the Spurs Video Coordinator about 5 years ago, before Borrego, and he went to the Pistons...then Presti hired him to be the Thunder's Technology Director.

[Mel_13]

I remember reading somewhere Prunty's contract was not renewed with the Blazers. I wonder if he'll land a job with Williams in New Orleans?

Or in New Jersey with Avery.

[Solid D]

Here, read this. It's from '07, an interview with the Cavs Video Coordinator. It gives some good insights into that role. Although the position is a/v and technology driven, it requires a base of basketball knowledge and includes a coaching roadmap.

http://www.nba.com/finals2007/clevelandvideo_070613.html

Tale of the Tape Man
by Dave McMenamin
Posted Jun 15 2007 1:47AM
Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE/Getty Images

CLEVELAND, June 13, 2007 -- You've all seen it on the jumbotron before when your team is down by a few buckets in the fourth quarter and a timeout is called.
It's a staple of the NBA experience: The motivational highlight package featuring big shots and spectacular plays by your favorite players spliced between clips from movies like Gladiator, Miracle, Hoosiers and Any Given Sunday all set to an inspiring tune such as the theme from Rocky.

It makes your flesh do its best impression of a basketball, as the goosebumps rise on your arms, and makes the hair on the back of your neck do its best impression of a defender waiting in the lane to take a charge, as the follicles stand straight up.

That's how video serves the common basketball fan, but what about the players and the coaches?

I caught up with Cavaliers video coordinator, Steve Hetzel, during Cleveland's media availability on Wednesday to discuss his role in breaking down game film for the team and how his work helps everyone on the staff from Mike Brown down to Ira Newble.


NBA.com: What is your role exactly with the team and are you going to add any motivational tactics to tomorrow's pregame video package?

Steve: I don't do anything in terms of motivation. I mean, we have done a couple of those things this year, but in terms of production, I go to the Cavs' TV and they do all the editing and splicing and use all the different camera angles and music. My job is specifically opponents scouting and self scouting. I put the film into the computer, cut it up, and dissect it in terms of labeling plays ...

NBA.com: So postgame last night, what was your night like?

Steve: I basically just prepared the film for us to watch as a staff this morning. I labeled our plays and San Antonio's plays, made sure that it was clean all the way through -- I try to take out as much dead time as possible -- I was here pretty late, but that's just the nature of it.

NBA.com: In terms of labeling the plays, is that something you're aware of, you can pick them out right away?

Steve: Yeah. I mean, you watch a season and you do so many NBA teams and you see that the majority of teams run the same stuff. We're very similar to San Antonio, so we run a lot of the same stuff as them, and then when you study them as much as we do in a playoff series, as soon as you see the play you recognize it. So, its not a drawn out process.

NBA.com: Now, you guys watch the tape as a team together, right?

Steve: We don't watch the entire tape. What we did was watch the film as a staff this morning, coach picks out certain clips that he wants to show and it's normally around 45-60 clips that we show the team.

NBA.com: And then it runs in the locker room on loop before the next game?

Steve: No, what happens before the game is that I just run the game. So last night's game will be played for them before Game 4. And then right before the game, 30 minutes on the clock, we show a play edit of San Antonio. It's about a five to seven minute tape of plays that we're concerned about.

NBA.com: Out of this group of guys, is there anybody that takes more stock in watching the tape than the other guys?

Steve: Well, you know Eric [Snow] is always a guy that pays close attention because he's a veteran and he's a defensive-minded player so he's very keen on that sort of thing. LeBron is always focused during the tape before the games. You know, he'll ask us to rewind it so he can go back over certain things. For the most part, when it's time to go, everybody gets focused and locks in on the play tape we're about to show.

NBA.com: You said in the past you have reached out to the Cavs' TV people to splice in motivational footage. What kind of stuff was that?

Steve: We have a theme, "Trust, Communicate, Help and Sacrifice," so we try to find plays that show that. You know, hustle plays ... the guys feeding off eachother emotionally ... and we try to put that together with that message and they do an outstanding job. I don't know if you've seen their pregame, but they're some of the best that I've seen. So, we give them the ideas, they find the clips and they put it together.

NBA.com: Do they use pop culture references too like movies and things like that?

Steve: We haven't this year. I've suggested a couple songs that we've used. When you make a highlight film, it's usually like a movie theme type of thing to get you going, but we've done a couple things with some songs that the guys seem to like.

NBA.com: What were some of the songs?

Steve: This year we used Soul II Soul's "However Do You Want It" to show right before the playoffs. The a capella version. I think they really liked that. We've done it three times. We did one right before the season, one halfway through and then one right before the playoffs.

NBA.com: I was reading your bio and it says you were a manager on the basketball team at Michigan State. How did you break in to the NBA?

Steve: When I was at Michigan State, the reason I got into being a manager was that I wanted to coach. When I saw the video coordinator using the equipment that we use, it's called XOS Technology, I kind of saw it as a way to bring value to myself when I was done there I knew how to use that stuff. Plus, I saw him moving up. He took a job with San Antonio. He got hired as a video coordinator there. I was at Michigan State another year. I graduated, he asked me to be his intern and I came down and I started in San Antonio. It's been unbelievable in terms of my growth as a coach of just watching film all the time. You learn so much. Last year as an intern I basically just did grunt work. And here, as the video coordinator, being in the coaches meeting, knowing what Coach Brown wants to show ... It's a definite progression.

NBA.com: One of my good friends is a walk-on at D 1 school and is trying to get into coaching. Do you think that this is a good path for somebody that obviously is not a star player, but has the knowledge of the game?

Steve: There's always different ways to take and there is no definite way to go, but looking at this coaching staff, it's almost like you're in a pedigree to become one ... Coach Brown was a video coordinator, Melvin Hunt was a video coordinator, Michael Malone was a video coordinator, Kenny Natt was a video coordinator ... So that's three assistants and a head coach that started out in the video room, so it's very encouraging on my part, to see if I keep on doing it and if I just work hard so that good things will happen.

NBA.com: So basically, there is nothing that you guys are going to do different down 3-0 in terms of your job?

Steve: No. Not our prep or anything. I think, along with Coach Brown's theory, we put it on ourselves. We're a no excuse team. We don't need anything extra. Our backs are against the wall right now. If we don't come out fighting, no motivational tape is going to be there to help us.

[El Jefe]

Couldn't have been a nicer guy. I've had a few contacts and dealing with him over the years, hate to see him go. But glad he's moving up in the world.

[Spurs Brazil]

Good luck to him

[Mel_13]

Former Spurs point guard Jacque Vaughn is expected to serve as an assistant coach for the team's summer league squad next month in Las Vegas, an endeavor he might hope to parlay into a full-time gig next season. The Spurs are in search of a replacement for long-time assistant coach/head video coordinator James Borrego, who left after seven seasons to join Monty Williams' new staff in New Orleans.

http://hoopshype.com/rumors.htm

[ElNono]

I know most of the staff and I have to admit that the name doesn't ring a bell. Doesn't mean he wasn't with the Spurs. I'm sure that there are people I don't know.

But I believe the bench for the Spurs was Pop, Bud, Newman, Chip England Brett Brown, Will Sevining(probably not spelled right), and Chris White.

I know those guys are on the bench, but it's possible there are one or two more.

This is the guy:

http://www.nba.com/media/spurs/james_borrego_150.jpg

I remember him sitting behind the bench every home game.

[bigfan]

Another former Spur to a coaching/front office career. I remember when Monty Williams was a player here too.

[Solid D]

http://www.nba.com/hornets/news/borregos_path__hornets_bega_2010_06_30.html

(video)

June 30, 2010


Their friendship began in a place known around the San Antonio Spurs’ basketball-operations offices as “The Cave.” Five years later, they’ll be teaming up once again, this time in a venue commonly referred to as “The Hive.”

After retiring from the NBA as a player in 2003, Monty Williams joined San Antonio during the 2004-05 season as a coaching intern. In his new role, one of the people Williams worked with extensively was video coordinator James Borrego, who was in his second year with the Spurs. En route to the Spurs winning their third NBA championship over a seven-year span in June 2005, the two men spent countless hours in San Antonio’s video room, breaking down film of opposing teams. They quickly realized that they held similar beliefs about the game of basketball.

“That’s kind of how our relationship started,” remembered Borrego, who was named a New Orleans Hornets assistant coach Wednesday at age 32. “Monty wanted to dig in and get his hands dirty in video and learn. He and I spent a number of hours together, watching film, talking basketball philosophy. We bounced ideas off each other.

“The (video coordinator) job sort of forces you to be in there for hours. It’s like a bunker – we called it ‘The Cave’. Some days you’re in there and you don’t even see the sun. You get there for work in the morning before the sun is up, and you stay there until after the sun is down. But it’s a great foundation for learning the game and building your philosophy.”

Borrego earned a second NBA championship ring in 2007 with the Spurs. He and Williams remained close after Williams took an assistant coaching job with Portland in 2005-06 under Nate McMillan. “We’d see each other four times a year (when San Antonio played against Portland during each regular season) and we’d text each other throughout the year,” Borrego said. “He became a good friend of mine, and someone who shared the same values.”

Borrego, who spent seven years with the Spurs, is the latest member of that organization to be hired and promoted by another NBA team. Several former San Antonio coaches and executives, such as Oklahoma City Thunder general manager Sam Presti, have thrived in their new roles.

“When I went there, they had just won the championship in 2003,” said Borrego, a former University of San Diego forward who was a Toreros assistant for two seasons after college from 2001-03. “My wife and I had heard great things about the organization, but had no idea it was going to turn into seven years of great experiences and being a part of two championships. All the great coaches and players there, and being a part of that family, it changed my life forever.”