Messina: "I'm not here temporarily"

[SpursFan86]

"He wants everyone to know, right off, he's not in San Antonio for career advancement. Messina's relations with the Spurs go back to when he coached Manu Ginobili in Italy, and since then he's come to know and respect those in the organization.

“I'm not here temporarily,” he said. “I'm not here to use this to pursue something else. I'm here to work and learn, and I'm excited. I keep telling my wife, 'You don't get a chance every day to work with the NBA's coach of the year, executive of the year and defending champs.'”

Rest of the article: http://www.expressnews.com/sports/columnists/buck_harvey/article/New-Spur-ready-for-work-and-for-recovery-5738819.php?cmpid=twitter-premium&t=5fe8ecdf44ebaa2aab

[MANUNG-Ginobili]

good for him..could be Pop's replacement in few years time...

[spurraider21]

rather him than udoka

[Chinook]

rather him than udoka

Well, yeah, since Messina is a Hall-of-Fame coach in his own right. But I still really like Udoka. He seems to be in charge of the wings, and that's clearly the place where the team has developed the most over the last few years.

[Seventyniner]

Well, yeah, since Messina is a Hall-of-Fame coach in his own right. But I still really like Udoka. He seems to be in charge of the wings, and that's clearly the place where the team has developed the most over the last few years.

Nothing wrong with Messina as head coach and Udoka being an assistant and a "position coach," though he could get plucked away.

I wonder if Pop was hoping Boylen could do with the bigs what Udoka has done with the wings.

[superbigtime]

What does anyone really see in Udoka as a coach? Not hatin.

[ElNono]

yeah, I don't get what people see in Ime... not that he couldn't be a fine coach down the line, but I haven't seen anything right now that says anything particularly good or bad about him as a coach...

[TheyCallMePro]

You wanna know why European coaches don't get hired in the NBA? Because they're a rough breed, and they don't pamper their players the way coaches in the NBA do. They make them WORK. Messina will bring that toughness and discipline with him to the Spurs. He'll help because our players allow coaches to actually coach. But I do understand why most franchises want to go the domestic route. Keeping players happy is important, the Spurs just prefer winning more. Messina will fit right in.

One concern though. The Spurs won't always be full of international players. And if Messina is going to be here for the long haul, then I'm worried his coaching style and European way of doing things won't vibe with more American players. Sometimes it goes deeper than just bringing in the right players. The sophisticated and moody culture and attitude of Messina might clash with the Millennials in a really bad way. The Spurs are lucky to be an older team now, but that won't always be the case. Messina will have to adjust to coaching younger guys very soon into his career.

[spurraider21]

yeah, I don't get what people see in Ime... not that he couldn't be a fine coach down the line, but I haven't seen anything right now that says anything particularly good or bad about him as a coach...
the only exposure we've really had to ime was summer league, and it wasn't pretty. granted it was summer league players, but there seemed to be little rhyme or reason to player movements

[Chinook]

What does anyone really see in Udoka as a coach? Not hatin.


yeah, I don't get what people see in Ime... not that he couldn't be a fine coach down the line, but I haven't seen anything right now that says anything particularly good or bad about him as a coach...

Well, as I said before, he seems to be working well with Green and Leonard. I also thought he did a great job with the summer-league team. He's well-traveled and hard-nosed, and those are two qualities that a lot of head coaches lack. Obviously, if Pop thought Udoka was ready, he would never have hired Boylen in the first place. But I think that he was impressed with Udoka's job last year. When you think about who Pop lost, someone had to be responsible for holding the staff together. Pop gave a lot of that credit to Ime.

[Chinook]

the only exposure we've really had to ime was summer league, and it wasn't pretty. granted it was summer league players, but there seemed to be little rhyme or reason to player movements

Eh, don't forget that SL teams also have assignments that often supersede winning the game (with playing X so many minutes or putting Y in such-and-such position). I think he did a much better job this year than he did last year for sure.

[benstanfield]

I still don't understand what the bench is gonna look like next year. Messina, Ime, and Boylen next to Pop and Becky sitting with Chip and Chad?

[anakha]

I still don't understand what the bench is gonna look like next year. Messina, Ime, and Boylen next to Pop and Becky sitting with Chip and Chad?

Engelland and Hammon will definitely be sitting behind.

Is three the maximum for assistant coaches on the bench?

[romain.star]

You wanna know why European coaches don't get hired in the NBA? Because they're a rough breed, and they don't pamper their players the way coaches in the NBA do. They make them WORK. Messina will bring that toughness and discipline with him to the Spurs. He'll help because our players allow coaches to actually coach. But I do understand why most franchises want to go the domestic route. Keeping players happy is important, the Spurs just prefer winning more. Messina will fit right in.

One concern though. The Spurs won't always be full of international players. And if Messina is going to be here for the long haul, then I'm worried his coaching style and European way of doing things won't vibe with more American players. Sometimes it goes deeper than just bringing in the right players. The sophisticated and moody culture and attitude of Messina might clash with the Millennials in a really bad way. The Spurs are lucky to be an older team now, but that won't always be the case. Messina will have to adjust to coaching younger guys very soon into his career.

The Spurs try to sign players with the right mentality, Euros or Americans. As long as they keep on doing it, i see no reason why Messina could not be successfull for the long haul

[superbigtime]

Well, as I said before, he seems to be working well with Green and Leonard. I also thought he did a great job with the summer-league team. He's well-traveled and hard-nosed, and those are two qualities that a lot of head coaches lack. Obviously, if Pop thought Udoka was ready, he would never have hired Boylen in the first place. But I think that he was impressed with Udoka's job last year. When you think about who Pop lost, someone had to be responsible for holding the staff together. Pop gave a lot of that credit to Ime.

I must have missed that. Ime doesn't garnish much attention or discussion, he's like the invisible assistant. However, I have read how Pop has praised him, so I guess that is good enough. He hasn't really struck me as the brainy type, maybe he's a player's coach... I just don't know much about him even though he's been here for years.

[Dex]

:hungry: