28 May 2007

Irony Strikes: Iavaroni More Defensive than Offensive


Earlier this evening, I bought Jack McCallum's book Seven Seconds Or Less: My Season on the Bench with the Runnin' and Gunnin' Phoenix Suns in an attempt to gain more insight into the mind of Marc Iavaroni, the Suns assistant and potential next Magic head coach. The Suns have been the best offensive team in basketball over the past several seasons, which is why the scoring-challenged Magic so covet Iavaroni.

I sat down to read the book, but I made sure to read the section in the beginning that identifies the Suns' players, coaches, and staff. Here's what McCallum wrote about Iavaroni (emphasis mine):

MARC IAVARONI (I-VA-RO-NEE) - [Head Coach Mike] D'Antoni's lead assistant; handles defensive strategy; won one NBA title as a player; nobody works harder on film study but has a sense of humor.
So we're interested in this guy for offense, yet the reporter who spent an entire season with him and his team describes him as a defensive coach. I'm not really dismissing Iavaroni after reading a blurb in a book I haven't yet started, but is Stan Van Gundy still on the line?

One bit about Van Gundy before I sit down to read: Bethlehem Shoals of FreeDarko wrote this small piece for AOL , in which he writes "I can't stress enough, though, how amazing [Van Gundy] coaching the Magic would be." Since I gather that Iavaroni is the favorite candidate of most Magic fans, I thought I'd pass along a dissenting view.

Anyway, I'll have my thoughts on the book posted once I finish it.

3 comments:

Bethlehem Shoals said...

dude, i meant it would be amazing for riley/svg narrative tension. the idea that marc i. would turn howard into amare--the focus of the post--is preposterous

Ben Q. Rock said...

Shoals, I didn't mean to sound critical of you. Until I read your post, I hadn't heard anyone mention external factors in the Magic's coaching search, ie what hiring Coach X will do to Team Y/Our relationship to Team Y. In light of that, I linked to your article, in which, you expanded the focus of the situation, offering Magic fans a different perspective on the situation.

Jordan Geary said...

Very good purchase Ben. After reading that book, I had a big amount of respect for the work Marc Iavaroni and the guys did in Phoenix.

Glad to see a fellow blogger doing his homework. Keep up the great work man.