Matt Nielsen Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Olympic Notes: Durant, Embiid, Australia, Ingles, Mills, Canada

August 6th, 2024 at 7:58pm CST by Tristan Tucker

Kevin Durant became the highest scorer in USA Basketball history during Team USA’s 122-87 quarterfinal win over Brazil on Tuesday, surpassing Lisa Leslie‘s 488 career points, The Athletic’s Joe Vardon observes. Durant finished with 11 points against Brazil and is trying to become the first men’s player ever to win four gold medals.

“I mean, that’s Captain America status,” teammate Devin Booker said of Durant (Twitter link via NJ.com’s Adam Zagoria). “I feel like he has every record, every Olympic record, now we have to get him his fourth gold.”

We have more from the Olympics:

Joel Embiid had his best game of the Olympics against Brazil, scoring 14 points and seven rebounds. In the same Athletic article, Vardon notes that Embiid rolled his ankle and was held out of the second half. Given that the U.S. was already up big, Embiid being held out seems mostly precautionary. Bam Adebayo started the second half in his place.
Australia’s 2024 Olympics ended on a turnover and now the Boomers are entering a new era filled with unknowns and looming decisions, ESPN’s Olgun Uluc writes. The team will likely continue to pass the torch to its younger players, including Dyson Daniels and Jack McVeigh, who emerged this summer as key pieces, while it seems likely that Joe Ingles and Patty Mills have played in their last Olympics. We wrote more earlier on Tuesday about what could have been Mills’ final game this summer. “It was up to us to get him that ultimate goal of a gold medal,” teammate Josh Giddey said of Mills, per The Athletic’s David Aldridge. “Whether it’s his last or not, he’s poured so much into this program. His legacy will never, ever be forgotten within this country and this tournament. You talk about FIBA Patty — one of the greatest to ever do it in these types of tournaments. We’re very, very lucky to play with him. I am, as well.“
Other issues Australia needs to address in the coming years include mending relationships with players and determining the next coach, Uluc writes. Uluc points to Matisse Thybulle, who was cut from the Olympic team but could help down the line. Other players the team should be welcoming with open arms include youngsters Johnny Furphy, Rocco Zikarsky, Alex Toohey and Tyrese Proctor, Uluc writes. With Brian Goorjian out as head coach, Australia may turn to assistant Matt Nielsen.
Canada national team and Nets head coach Jordi Fernandez took the blame for his country’s loss in the quarterfinals loss to France, per Eurohoops.net. “I will always support my players. Personally, I put this one on me because I should have helped them better,” Fernandez said. “Better with two ball handlers. Better with getting better shots. Better with playing with better pace. And I couldn’t find a way. It starts with me, then we’ll come back strong.” It’s a disappointing loss for a Canadian team that brought back the majority of the same squad who won bronze in the World Cup a year ago but also added Jamal Murray and Andrew Nembhard, among others. Eric Koreen of The Athletic writes that the team’s inexperience on the international stage was on full display in its loss to France.

Southwest Notes: Grizzlies, Culver, Cash, Nielsen

September 11th, 2021 at 6:40pm CST by Arthur Hill

No team has been more active this summer than the Grizzlies, who have made six trades and have a reported seventh deal looming with the Celtics, but the moves have mainly been to cut salary and collect future assets rather than to provide any immediate on-court benefit, writes Evan Barnes of The Memphis Commercial Appeal.

Four of the players Memphis has acquired have already been traded or waived, assuming Juan Hernangomez gets shipped to Boston, Barnes notes. He adds that Daniel Oturu, who was part of a deal with the Clippers, is unlikely to remain on the roster when the season starts.

Barnes points out that the deals didn’t address the Grizzlies’ most pressing needs, which are three-point shooting and scoring off the bench. Starters Jonas Valanciunas and Grayson Allen were traded away, and Barnes sees their likely replacements, Steven Adams and Ziaire Williams, as a step down.

There’s more from the Southwest Division:

Even if Jarrett Culver earns a roster spot with the Grizzlies after two disappointing seasons in Minnesota, it figures to be a short-term arrangement, Barnes adds in the same story. Memphis has a November 1 deadline to pick up Culver’s $8.1MM option for 2022/23, and Barnes doesn’t expect the team to make that commitment so early in the season.
Former WNBA star Swin Cash talked about her front office role with the Pelicans during an interview with Alexa Philippou of The Hartford Courant. “Coming in, the biggest thing was (executive vice president of basketball operations David Griffin) let me know because of what I was bringing, he really needed me to be that person, that glue, that can see what we need, can get in front of it, can build it and understanding the player’s perspective, understanding the front office perspective,” Cash said. “And so that’s how I kind of approach my day. I wear multiple hats, but I’m never too far away from decisions that are being made within our organization and having a seat at that table and being able to contribute in a very organic way.”
Matt Nielsen is the latest young coach who should benefit from being on Gregg Popovich’s staff, observes Mike Finger of The San Antonio Express News. Nielsen, who is replacing Will Hardy, continues the Spurs‘ preference for hiring inexperienced coaches whenever they have an opening.

Spurs Notes: Bates-Diop, Roster Crunch, Nielsen, Offseason

September 9th, 2021 at 12:50pm CST by Rory Maher

Keita Bates-Diop, who recently re-signed with the Spurs, received a two-year contract worth the veteran’s minimum, with only the first year guaranteed, per Keith Smith of Spotrac (Twitter link).

Bates-Diop told Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News (via Twitter) that he’s looking forward to the competition of training camp and expects that it won’t be easy to make the final 15-man roster, although his salary being fully guaranteed for the upcoming season is an indication the team likes him. Still, since San Antonio now has 17 players on guaranteed contracts, the situation is worth monitoring.

There’s more from San Antonio:

The Spurs announced in a press release that Matt Nielsen has been named an assistant coach for the team after serving as the head coach of their G League affiliate, the Austin Spurs, last season. Nielsen, a native of Australia, had a lengthy playing career in the NBL and then later in Europe prior to becoming a coach. He served as an assistant coach for the Australian National Team at the Tokyo Olympics this summer, where the Boomers won the bronze medal.
Zach Harper of The Athletic provided a thorough breakdown of the Spurs’ offseason, including a grade of their roster moves. Harper posits that San Antonio is officially in rebuilding mode and got significantly worse on the wing with the sign-and-trade of DeMar DeRozan to Chicago. DeRozan had one of the best and most efficient seasons of his career last year, and losing him leaves the team without a clear All-Star caliber player.
Harper notes that the onus will be on the team’s young core of Dejounte Murray, Keldon Johnson, Derrick White, Lonnie Walker IV, and Devin Vassell to show significant growth in order to make the play-in tournament again. He thinks selecting Joshua Primo 12th overall in the draft was a reach, as no other teams rated him as highly as the Spurs.
Harper did like team’s acquisition of Thaddeus Young, considering him a clear upgrade over the departed Rudy Gay and Trey Lyles. He also thinks that Doug McDermott will help with perimeter shooting and scoring.

Southwest Notes: Pelicans, Allen, Mavericks, Nielsen

February 28th, 2021 at 8:59pm CST by JD Shaw

Pelicans head coach Stan Van Gundy believes his team is too dependent on its offense, Jim Eichenhofer writes for NBA.com. New Orleans dropped a 117-114 game to the Spurs on Saturday, allowing San Antonio to shoot 48% from the field and 37.5% from three-point range.

“That’s the problem, when you have to shoot the ball well to win,” Van Gundy said. “That’s going to be a problem. Guys are going to have bad nights shooting the ball. You’ve got to be able to win games where you don’t shoot well, and right now we can’t. We’re totally dependent on our offense to win games, and that’s not going to take you very far.”

The Pelicans own the second-worst defensive rating in the league at 116.1, trailing only the Kings. The team owns a 14-19 record largely because of its lackluster defense and has lost seven of its last 10 games.

There’s more from the Southwest Division:

Grizzlies guard Grayson Allen has entered the league’s concussion protocol, Evan Barnes of the Memphis Commercial Appeal writes. Allen suffered the injury during the team’s game against the Clippers on Friday. The 25-year-old has averaged 9.3 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game this season, starting in eight of the club’s last nine games.
The Mavericks‘ 2018 draft class has never looked better, Callie Caplan of the Dallas Morning News writes. Luka Doncic (pick No. 3) and Jalen Brunson (No. 33) have gradually improved since entering the league almost three years ago. “He’s a great player,” Doncic said of Brunson. “It’s easy to have chemistry like that.”
Austin Spurs coach Matt Nielsen is bringing out the best of his team this season, Tom Orsborn of the San Antonio Express-News writes. Nielsen has coached the club to a 8-4 record thus far in the G League bubble. “I love him as a coach,” Spurs guard Tre Jones said of Nielsen. “As a person, he is a really good guy, easy to get along with and talk to on a day-to-day basis. As a coach, he is super encouraging…He is always on our side.”

Texas Notes: Walker, Austin Spurs, Assistant Coaches

November 12th, 2020 at 6:41pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Spurs guard Lonnie Walker IV has new representation. Rich Paul and Lucas Newton of Klutch Sports are Walker’s new agents, according to Zach Lowe of ESPN (Twitter link). Klutch also represents Walker’s teammates Dejounte Murray and Trey Lyles.

Walker remains on his rookie contract with the Spurs. He will become eligible for a rookie scale extension in 2021 and – if he doesn’t sign a new deal early – would reach restricted free agency in 2022.

There’s more from the Lone Star State:

The Spurs‘ G League affiliate, the Austin Spurs, have promoted assistant Matt Nielsen to head coach, and named former assistant general manager Tyler Self the new GM, according to a team press release.
The Rockets continue to remake their personnel beyond the hardwood. New head coach Stephen Silas has added Magic player development coach Rick Higgins, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link), and former Sydney Kings head coach Will Weaver, per Marc Stein of the New York Times (Twitter link).
Per a team press release, the Spurs have promoted Mitch Johnson to fill Tim Duncan‘s role on Gregg Popovich‘s bench and have also named Darius Songalia an assistant coach. Duncan, a Hall of Fame power forward and five-time champion with the club, will return to his more informal player development duties with the team for 2020/21.