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Blazers offer Iavaroni job
A source says the Phoenix assistant will accept Portland's coaching post as early as today, a move team officials deny
Friday, June 17, 2005
JASON QUICK
Marc Iavaroni will become the next Trail Blazers coach, The Oregonian has learned, after the team offered the Phoenix Suns assistant the position late Thursday.
Iavaroni, 48, will accept the job as early as today, a source close to the talks said, exactly one week after he was interviewed for the first time at the Chicago pre-draft camp.
Blazers general manager John Nash insisted late Thursday that the job has not been offered to anybody. Earlier Thursday, owner Paul Allen said the team possibly would wait until after the June 28 draft -- where the Blazers have the third pick of the first round -- to hire a coach.
Iavaroni has spent the past three seasons as an assistant with the Suns. He has a reputation for specializing in coaching centers and forwards, and has spent much of his career as a player and coach learning under Hall of Fame coach Pete Newell.
However, Iavaroni said last week that he is well schooled in all facets of the game -- from offense to defense and from guards to centers -- after coaching under Mike Fratello in Cleveland (1997-99) and Pat Riley in Miami (1999-2002).
"You have to have the whole package," Iavaroni said last week. "I think I have been in diverse system, and I'm confident in what I have been exposed to, what I think works and how flexible you have to be."
The move will be welcomed by Blazers forward Zach Randolph, who on Thursday said he liked Iavaroni after being coached by him last summer in Las Vegas at Tim Grgurich's Big Man Camp.
The move also is expected to win the favor of Grgurich, a Blazers assistant with one year remaining on his contract who has threatened to leave the team. Grgurich is beloved by the Blazers players and is credited with much of the development of the team's young players such as Travis Outlaw.
Allen watched -- along with Nash and the rest of the team's upper management -- as the Blazers evaluated Nate Robinson, Rashad McCants and
Martell Webster during a pre-draft workout Thursday afternoon.
And, judging by their comments, they might have found a player worthy of the third pick.
Webster, a 6-foot-7, 233-pound prep star from Seattle, was described as having an NBA-type body, a solid perimeter game, the ability to create his own shot, and something Nash wasn't expecting to see.
"What we learned today is that Martell Webster is capable of defending (shooting guards) at a very high level," Nash said. "(His) defense was very good and his ability to dribble the ball against pressure -- he can dribble the ball low to the floor -- was very impressive.
"He certainly is under consideration at three (selection)."
Nash was encouraged by what he saw Thursday.
"These guys really competed. This was a terrific workout," he said. "There were a lot of shots made in this gym, during this workout."
The 5-foot-9, 180-pound Robinson created a stir at the 2004 pre-draft camp with his quickness, jumping ability and nearly unstoppable ability to penetrate. Robinson withdrew from the draft last season and the junior helped himself (career-high 16.4 points and 4.5 assists a game) by leading the Washington Huskies to a strong run in the NCAA Tournament.
"He's going to be an Earl Boykins-type, a momentum changer in this league," Nash said.
Robinson's explosive dunks were an almost-weekly highlight last season. Robinson, who played one season (2002) as a defensive back for the Huskies football team as a freshman, is stronger than Boykins, but his height is seen as a liability, particularly on defense. His height and questions about whether he can effectively run an offense at point guard probably will drop him to the second round of the draft.
"I've been playing basketball since I was 10 years old and everybody has been taller than me," Robinson said. "By me being short, I think it's an advantage for me. I play hard, no matter what. It's kind of awkward for guys to guard me, because I'm smaller. With me guarding bigger guys, I've been doing it all my life, so I know how to do it."
McCants, a member of North Carolina's national championship team last season, can score in a variety of ways. The 6-4, 207-pound junior shooting guard finished his Atlantic Coast Conference season eighth in scoring (16 points a game), seventh in field goal percentage (48.9 percent) and fourth in three-point shooting (42.3 percent). McCants' perimeter shooting should be a plus and the longer three-point line shouldn't be a problem for him. He isn't afraid to drive to the basket and get to the foul line and his mid-range game is underrated.
Notes:
Illinois guard Deron Williams declined an invitation to the workout. "He was unwilling to go against Nate Robinson," Nash said. Three players (Williams, Chris Paul and Gerald Green) have declined workout invitations with the Blazers.
Jason Quick: 503-221-4372; [email protected] Geoffrey C. Arnold of The Oregonian staff contributed to this report.
Blazers offer Iavaroni job
A source says the Phoenix assistant will accept Portland's coaching post as early as today, a move team officials deny
Friday, June 17, 2005
JASON QUICK
Marc Iavaroni will become the next Trail Blazers coach, The Oregonian has learned, after the team offered the Phoenix Suns assistant the position late Thursday.
Iavaroni, 48, will accept the job as early as today, a source close to the talks said, exactly one week after he was interviewed for the first time at the Chicago pre-draft camp.
Blazers general manager John Nash insisted late Thursday that the job has not been offered to anybody. Earlier Thursday, owner Paul Allen said the team possibly would wait until after the June 28 draft -- where the Blazers have the third pick of the first round -- to hire a coach.
Iavaroni has spent the past three seasons as an assistant with the Suns. He has a reputation for specializing in coaching centers and forwards, and has spent much of his career as a player and coach learning under Hall of Fame coach Pete Newell.
However, Iavaroni said last week that he is well schooled in all facets of the game -- from offense to defense and from guards to centers -- after coaching under Mike Fratello in Cleveland (1997-99) and Pat Riley in Miami (1999-2002).
"You have to have the whole package," Iavaroni said last week. "I think I have been in diverse system, and I'm confident in what I have been exposed to, what I think works and how flexible you have to be."
The move will be welcomed by Blazers forward Zach Randolph, who on Thursday said he liked Iavaroni after being coached by him last summer in Las Vegas at Tim Grgurich's Big Man Camp.
The move also is expected to win the favor of Grgurich, a Blazers assistant with one year remaining on his contract who has threatened to leave the team. Grgurich is beloved by the Blazers players and is credited with much of the development of the team's young players such as Travis Outlaw.
Allen watched -- along with Nash and the rest of the team's upper management -- as the Blazers evaluated Nate Robinson, Rashad McCants and
Martell Webster during a pre-draft workout Thursday afternoon.
And, judging by their comments, they might have found a player worthy of the third pick.
Webster, a 6-foot-7, 233-pound prep star from Seattle, was described as having an NBA-type body, a solid perimeter game, the ability to create his own shot, and something Nash wasn't expecting to see.
"What we learned today is that Martell Webster is capable of defending (shooting guards) at a very high level," Nash said. "(His) defense was very good and his ability to dribble the ball against pressure -- he can dribble the ball low to the floor -- was very impressive.
"He certainly is under consideration at three (selection)."
Nash was encouraged by what he saw Thursday.
"These guys really competed. This was a terrific workout," he said. "There were a lot of shots made in this gym, during this workout."
The 5-foot-9, 180-pound Robinson created a stir at the 2004 pre-draft camp with his quickness, jumping ability and nearly unstoppable ability to penetrate. Robinson withdrew from the draft last season and the junior helped himself (career-high 16.4 points and 4.5 assists a game) by leading the Washington Huskies to a strong run in the NCAA Tournament.
"He's going to be an Earl Boykins-type, a momentum changer in this league," Nash said.
Robinson's explosive dunks were an almost-weekly highlight last season. Robinson, who played one season (2002) as a defensive back for the Huskies football team as a freshman, is stronger than Boykins, but his height is seen as a liability, particularly on defense. His height and questions about whether he can effectively run an offense at point guard probably will drop him to the second round of the draft.
"I've been playing basketball since I was 10 years old and everybody has been taller than me," Robinson said. "By me being short, I think it's an advantage for me. I play hard, no matter what. It's kind of awkward for guys to guard me, because I'm smaller. With me guarding bigger guys, I've been doing it all my life, so I know how to do it."
McCants, a member of North Carolina's national championship team last season, can score in a variety of ways. The 6-4, 207-pound junior shooting guard finished his Atlantic Coast Conference season eighth in scoring (16 points a game), seventh in field goal percentage (48.9 percent) and fourth in three-point shooting (42.3 percent). McCants' perimeter shooting should be a plus and the longer three-point line shouldn't be a problem for him. He isn't afraid to drive to the basket and get to the foul line and his mid-range game is underrated.
Notes:
Illinois guard Deron Williams declined an invitation to the workout. "He was unwilling to go against Nate Robinson," Nash said. Three players (Williams, Chris Paul and Gerald Green) have declined workout invitations with the Blazers.
Jason Quick: 503-221-4372; [email protected] Geoffrey C. Arnold of The Oregonian staff contributed to this report.
