You will barely see Brian Scalabrine around the Warriors for now thanks to Mark Jackson. (USATSI)
During the early part of the season, the Brooklyn Nets had plenty of coaching drama when Jason Kidd reassigned assistant Lawrence Frank to doing daily reports and not being so heavily involved with the day-to-day coaching of the team. It eventually died down and the team worked out a lot of their issues on the court. The Golden State Warriors will now have to hope for the same, after Mark Jackson reportedly did something similar to Kidd.
Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports is reporting that Jackson forced the reassignment of assistant coach Brian Scalabrine, who is a favorite of management and ownership in the Warriors' organization. With Jackson as the coach, the Warriors are making sure he has control over his coaching staff as they try to turn a frustrating situation into a more functional one heading into the playoffs.
In what's become an increasingly dysfunctional atmosphere,Golden State Warriors coach Mark Jackson has forced a reassignment of assistant coach Brian Scalabrine, league sources told Yahoo Sports.
Ownership and management have been strong advocates of Scalabrine and his performance on the job, sources told Yahoo Sports. Nevertheless, Warriors officials decided that as long as Jackson is the head coach, he'll have control of his coaching staff.
It is immediately unclear what kind of a role the Warriors will transition Scalabrine, but management has no intention of letting him leave the organization, sources said.
Jackson has had plenty of issues with his assistant coaches since taking over the Warriors' job in 2011-12. While the team has had success in two of his three seasons as the coach, he's had frustrating relationships with Michael Malone, now the coach for the Sacramento Kings, among others. The latest issue with Scalabrine, and the fact that he's being kept around in the organization, looks like they may just be trying to make the best of an awkward situation until Jackson's contract is finished next season.
The Warriors were supposed to be title contenders this season, and while they're still quite good with a record of 44-27, they haven't shown the tangible improvement consistently to look worthy of some of the preseason hype bestowed upon them. There's still plenty of time to figure it out and make a run in the postseason, but you have to wonder how many more seasons of Jackson at the helm we'll see in the Bay Area.
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After long season with Suns Goran Dragic may not play in World Cup for Slovenia
Goran Dragic has taken on a heavy load for the Phoenix Suns this season — playing 34.7 minutes a night he has had to become the focal point of the team’s offense due to injuries around him. Dragic is averaging a career high 20.3 points a night, plus is dishing out 6 assists, and he had the highest usage percentage of his career at 24.6.
He’s understandably a little worn down.
He’s also a key part of the national team for Slovenia, which qualified for the FIBA World Cup this summer in Spain. Only the Olympics rivals the importance of this tournament.
But after his long season, Dragic may skip the summer trip to Spain and rest, he told Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic.
“Sometimes, it is too many games,” Dragic said. “I still have to sit down with my national team and talk with them about making a decision if I’m going to play or not. I’m thinking more toward not playing and trying to get my body some rest to be fresher for the next season.
“That is hard because, back home, all the people judge you that you have so much money and you’re a star and now you don’t want to play for the national team. That bothers me a little bit but those people don’t know how the season goes, how many games it is and being in a different hotel every night. I’m more on the plane than in my car.”
There are Americans taking the summer off as well — LeBron James being the biggest name. However, because the United States can roll out Kevin Durant and Kevin Love and a host of other elite players nobody really gets up in arms about it.
Slovenia isn’t quite so deep. They can roll out Beno Udrih (he hasn’t played for the Slovenian national team since 2006) and guys now out of the NBA such as Bostian Nachbar, but they don’t have the depth to make up for missing stars. They have Goran’s brother Zoran Dragic at the three, but after Goran at the point they often play Jaka Lakovic.
Which is to say Goran may get a lot of pressure back home and really be stuck between the “club or country” debate. Right now, he’s leaning club in that argument, but we will see.
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