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It looks like next year Messina could be coming over to be an assistant coach. I like the move, get him over here early so he can get accustomed to the NBA. If Avery doesn't work out he could step right in and have some NBA experience. His over seas resume is very impressive with multiple championships.

The link is from Netsdaily

http://www.netsdaily.com/2011/3/7/2034875/former-cska-head-coach-messina-in-line-for-nets-assistants-job

I'm not so sure I believe it. For all the talk about Prokhorov bringing over his people I don't think the current front office has any of "his people" outside of Pavlova.

http://www.nba.com/nets/news/staff_directory.html

I don't know much about Messina, I'm sure he's a good coach, but I have to believe it would be a huge risk considering the learning curve that will surely exist in the culture shock of any league compared to the NBA.

^^ Is there a limit on how many coaches a team can have? I mean realistically he could just be added to the squad we have without changing much. Prok would foot the extra money to bring him over for a leaning experience. He's going to have zero pressure on him and he's just going to have to do what he does best coach. Not like Avery would give up any power anyway.

I LOVE the potential hire, but we have to give him some authority. He can't just be "another" assistant, as we may have too many of those already ("But Ettore, the lead assistant scout tape coach in training is a prestigious position..."). If you'll recall, he was on my list of about 6 guys that I would have been happy if we had hired to be the HEAD coach. Messina might well be the best coach in Europe; the fact that he is even willing to entertain the idea of being an assistant here is a great sign.

IF we get him, I'd want him to orchestrate the offense. Avery is great at demanding defensive excellence, but when the reward is lame offensive sets that yield few results, our team doesn't always show the effort necessary on D. Tell the guys, "do what Coahc Johnson tells you to do on D, and you get to run Ettore's sets on O", and you'd have a LOT more guys willing to go the extra mile to shore up our "defense-ciencies". Plus, a more star-friendly offense would help attract some of the BIG names we're going after...

Lets dust this old thread off for a sec. NetsDaily is reporting again that Nets and Messina are in talks. Looks like this is going to happen.

I don't know how Avery is going to take it but he better watch his ass since we know Prok loves Messina.