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Jones spent the last three seasons as the head coach of the Utah Flash.
San Antonio Spurs spurs
Austin Toros Name Brad Jones Head Coach http://bit.ly/djV6FN
Jones spent the last three seasons as the head coach of the Utah Flash.
Not a bad coach at all. I was kind of surprised the Flash fired him. They replaced him with his 28 year old assistant, which almost seems like another in a long line of publicity stunts.
Doesn't sound too bad and Utah has a pretty similar philosophy to the game of basketball to the spurs.
Yeah, he's Jerry Sloan's nephew by marriage so it was probably pretty easy to pick up some pointers on coaching from him; also has a history of running his affiliate teams' sets. He got the Flash to the finals two seasons ago, but they had no real big men going into the playoffs this past season and got eliminated in the first round in three games.
I'm curious to see the Toros this year. They have a new coach and will play in a way bigger arena. That's a lot of changes. There are also now new allocation rules that Spurs could use to improve the Toros.
New Toros Coach Brad Jones Integrating With Spurs Culture
By Matt Moore
Brad Jones has been head coach of the Austin Toros for less than a week. But that hasn't stopped the Spurs from giving him the full immersion treatment. Jones is in San Antonio this week for Spurs training camp, being just as involved as Quin Snyder was during his time here with the Toros. It's the Spurs way: the Austin affiliate Toros are not a separate test tube but rather an extension of the Spurs organization, and as such, the head coach is connected to the body that is the Spurs front office.
When I talk with Jones he apologizes for being a few minutes late for my call. Turns out new assistant general manager and head of the Toros Danny Ferry wanted to talk about a few more things with him. It's a clear sign that Ferry has elected to jump into his first job after leaving Cleveland with zeal, fitting right back in with the Spurs. Jones for one is pretty happy with his new boss.
"He's terrific, with his experience both as a player and as a front office personnel guy," Jones said. "He's great because he's got experience not just with the Spurs but with an outside look. Already he's given great direction and vision to accomplish things."
Jones sounds exactly like a guy who's trying to catch up with a system that's been in place for more than a decade, but also sounds excited about a new opportunity -- one he says he's coveted for years.
"I was spoiled with our relationship with the Jazz, how close we were. At the same time, I always felt that this was one of if not the best jobs in the D-League. As proactive as the Spurs have been in utilizing Austin, I was almost jealous that I didn't have what the Toros had."
Covet no longer, coach. Jones was hired this week after spending three seasons as head coach of the Utah Flash, with a D-League career record of 84-66. In Utah, Jones benefited from a similar relationship between the Jazz and Flash as the Spurs have with Utah, though the Jazz don't own the Flash outright. It was a relationship that Jones felt was imperative in wherever he landed next.
Now that he's in Austin, Jones is seeing firsthand how the Spurs see the Toros, a relationship in which Jones describes Austin as "a limb."
"They see the D-League/Toros as a great way to develop young players, that fit into their model of what they want. They're very proactive in going out and finding those guys. It's been interesting to see that process happening here. They're focused on identifying younger guys that they feel can develop into guys who can help the Spurs."
The Spurs culture is probably the most valuable part of the position as Toros head coach. Quin Snyder, now an assistant coach with the 76ers, told me that the defining characteristic in the Spurs organization is, surprisingly, open discussion. Ironic, considering the Spurs are considered to be one of the most protective teams in terms of media availability. That hush-hush approach apparently ends when the doors close, as Jones reflected that same feeling that all opinions are valued among the team's front office, even when they don't agree.
"It's interesting, that's one of the things they talked about," Jones said. "They're a very open group. They have a lot of group discussions. Not everyone sees eye to eye, but everyone's opinion is valued. The goal is to make the best decision and move forward. That definitely made me more excited. You're not just going to be a puppet, you're going to have a chance to bring input. "
With the Flash, a defining characteristic under Jones was that the team was prepared. They weren't always the most talented team, depending on the needs of the parent club in calling up assignment players, but they were ready to play every night, an approach that brought the Flash to the playoffs two out of Jones' three years. Jones says the Spurs take a similar approach to the Toros.
"They're very similar. They've already set a precedence for what they want me to go do. They're always prepared. They look like a team that plays basketball the right way. I learned a systematic approach in Utah and about being prepared. You can't control if the players make shots or not. But you can control if they're prepared. That's the Spurs."
Jones enters a different D-League from last season, along with a new team. The rule changes FanHouse reported on this week are something the coaches will have to adjust to. The overtime rule is one that Jones said could be beneficial. Players on assignment that are faced with foul trouble will now be more likely to see the ends of overtime games, which helps in their development in pressure situations. The goaltending rule? Well, that one he's a little more uneasy about, like just about everyone is.
"I'm not sure how that's going to play out. I think there are some ways it's going to be more exciting, some ways it'll be less exciting. It'll be interesting to see how it plays out. We're a research and development system for the league. There are some athletic guys in this league that are going to have some fun with it."
Jones is the new guy in town, but with the Spurs' organization behind him, the odds are in his favor to keep the Toros at the top of the D-League.
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