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Olympic Notes: Ivey, Deng, Embiid, Fernandez

August 3rd, 2024 at 8:02pm CST by Arthur Hill

South Sudan’s remarkable run to the Olympics ended Saturday with a loss to Serbia, but the small nation plans to be a power on the international basketball scene for years to come, writes Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe. South Sudan gained its independence 11 years ago and didn’t participate in its first AfroBasket tournament until 2021. It earned a spot in last year’s FIBA World Cup, where it qualified for the Olympics by finishing 17th, the highest of any African country.

The most significant names in building South Sudanese basketball are former NBA players Luol Deng, who financed and oversaw the creation of the team, and Royal Ivey, who serves as head coach. Ivey, an assistant with the Rockets, compares the experience, which included a victory over Puerto Rico in the team’s Olympic debut, to being in a movie.

“A lot of hard work, togetherness, commitment from the president to bring these guys together,” he said. “There were a lot of years where we weren’t productive. [Three] years ago, we were at AfroBasket. I didn’t have the same amount of talent. I was able to conjugate all this talent and now we’re rolling. We’ve got a style of play and it’s been fun.”

Ivey admits that building a competitive program hasn’t been easy given the limitations in South Sudan. There are no indoor basketball courts in the country, so his team had to train in Rwanda, which meant long plane rides and flight delays, but the experience brought the team closer.

“These guys are brothers. It’s a band of brothers,” Ivey said. “It’s a togetherness. They play cards together. They play dominoes together. We eat together. It’s communal. Guys love each other. When guys are doing wrong, we hold guys accountable. That’s what real team is. And that’s what real family is. That’s what family looks like, South Sudan.”

There’s more from Paris:

Deng was incensed after Saturday’s loss, pointing to a disparity in foul calls that resulted in a 31-6 free throw advantage for Serbia, relays Sam Amick of The Athletic. Deng also objected to the fact that there’s only one referee from Africa among the Olympics’ 30-person officiating crew. “I don’t know why there (are) no African referees in the Olympics,” he said. “It’s 2024. I don’t know what’s the reason for that. You can say whatever you want to say, but if we’re representing the continent then we’ve got to be representing it fully.”
Joel Embiid has been getting booed throughout the Olympics because he opted to play for Team USA rather than France, but he explained to reporters, including Joe Vardon of The Athletic, that familiarity with his American teammates played an important role in his choice. “It was a tough decision, but it is all about comfort level, and like I said, I’ve known these guys (Team USA players) for a long time and I just felt more comfortable than on the other side (France),” Embiid said. “There was some concern with the other side. Comfort level was huge. I always say I’m going to be where I’m wanted and these guys wanted me.”
Canadian head coach Jordi Fernandez talked to Marc J. Spears of Andscape about the experience of trying to bring the country its first Olympic basketball medal. “The support has been unbelievable and these guys deserve it,” Fernandez said. “The program needs it. All I can say is thanks because we’ve been very supported by the country. And basketball now is one of the fastest growing pro sports in Canada.”

Olympic Notes: Embiid, Ivey, Jones, Tatum

July 28th, 2024 at 3:13pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Seven-time All-Star Sixers center Joel Embiid had a major decision to make ahead of his 2024 Olympics debut. The big man was born in Cameroon, holds French citizenship, and of course had the option to make a stacked Team USA even more loaded, writes Mike Sielski of The Philadelphia Inquirer.

“Having a family here and living here half of my life… it made sense,” Embiid explained to reporters while Team USA prepared for the Olympics in Las Vegas.

Former Sixers head coach Brett Brown told Sielski that he sometimes talked to Embiid about the Olympics during his time in Philadelphia and thought the star center might want a chance to display his greatness by going up against the U.S. on an international stage.

“Then all of a sudden, you could feel like the U.S. having a chance to be an option,” Brown said. “Previously, I did not think that. I think what’s happened over time is that he well and truly sees himself as the United States being his home.”

There’s more from the Olympics:

After beating Puerto Rico 90-79 for the first Olympic victory in his country’s history, South Sudan head coach Royal Ivey has been reveling in the moment, per Aris Barkas of Eurohoops. “This is a movie, my life is a movie right now,” Ivey said. “Being in the Olympics, and getting our first win, I’m proud of my players, one through 12, everybody contributed. This is so, so real, I couldn’t experience anything better than this. And I’m so thankful for the opportunity, I thank you all, and I thank my coaching staff, [South Sudan Basketball Federation president] Luol Deng, everyone.” Ivey is currently a Rockets assistant coach.
South Sudan point guard Carlik Jones powered the club to its victory over Puerto Rico, notching 19 points, seven rebounds, and six assists, Barkas writes in another piece. During the team’s Olympics opening-night presentation, Sudan’s national anthem was played instead of South Sudan’s. South Sudan separated from Sudan as its own country in 2011. “I’ll say it added more fuel to the fire,” Jones said. “I feel like a lot of people don’t think we belong. A lot of people think that we don’t deserve to be here. But if you ask me, I think we have every right to be here. And, you know, we’re confident. We’re confident in the team. We’re confident in what we’ve done so far. And we just know we’ve got to keep going.”
During Team USA’s 110-84 victory over Team Serbia in its first game of the Paris Olympics, head coach Steve Kerr did not play All-NBA Celtics power forward Jayson Tatum for a single second. Tatum confirmed to Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe that he was not injured or sick (Twitter link). Speaking post-game, Kerr explained his decision to make Tatum a healthy scratch, per Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe. “It’s really hard in a 40-minute game to play more than 10 guys,” Kerr said. All-NBA Suns power forward Kevin Durant, who had missed all five of Team USA’s exhibition games with a calf injury, returned to the lineup and seemingly absorbed Tatum’s minutes off the bench. He scored 23 points while shooting 8-of-9 from the floor across a scant 17 minutes. “With Kevin coming back, I just went to the combinations that I felt made the most sense,” Kerr added. “It seems crazy. I thought I was crazy when I looked at everything and determined these are the lineups I wanted to get to.”

Olympics Notes: Team USA’s Near Upset, Ivey, South Sudan, Embiid

July 20th, 2024 at 10:53pm CST by Arthur Hill

It was only an exhibition game, but South Sudan had an opportunity to pull off the greatest upset in international basketball history Saturday in London, writes Brian Windhorst of ESPN. Team USA needed a driving layup by LeBron James with eight seconds remaining and a crucial defensive stop to escape with a 101-100 victory.

It marked the first real taste of adversity for a U.S. team that’s heavily favored to win the gold medal in France. South Sudan built its lead as high as 16 points as the Americans’ offense looked badly out of sync for most of the first half.

“I did not do a great job preparing our team, I think we did not focus enough on what they’re capable of and that’s on me,” head coach Steve Kerr said.“They played a wonderful game and the ending was good for us just to feel that. To feel what it’s going to be like in Paris and Lille. … A good reminder that when we play against teams, it’s the biggest game of their lives and we have to expect everyone to play like that.”

Kerr shook things up by using a completely different lineup to start the second half. That sparked a comeback that featured a 23-5 run covering the late third and early fourth quarters, but South Sudan still grabbed a late lead on a three-pointer by JT Thor that set up James’ heroics.

“I think the whole team was embarrassed at halftime to be totally outplayed and down 14,” Kerr said. “And I don’t think [James] was real thrilled about me not starting him in the third quarter. But I thought that next group that we put out there really did a good job defensively. And I looked down a couple of times and I can see LeBron chomping at the bit to be out on the floor as soon as he got out there and he went to work, so he was brilliant.”

There’s more Olympics news to pass along:

Rockets assistant Royal Ivey, who serves as head coach for South Sudan, believes the experience will help his team in the Olympics even though it didn’t quite get the victory, Windhorst adds. In addition to Thor, South Sudan was led by 2022/23 G League Player of the Year Carlik Jones, who posted a triple-double with 15 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists, and Marial Shayok, a second-round pick by the Sixers in 2019, who had 24 points. “We want to take the momentum, the mindset, the tenaciousness that we had [to the Olympics],” Ivey said. “We didn’t flinch.”
South Sudan is already a remarkable story by reaching the Olympics in only its 13th year as a nation, notes Danielle Lerner of The Houston Chronicle. Former NBA star Luol Deng, who serves as president of the country’s basketball federation, personally funded the program and picked Ivey to serve as head coach in 2021. The Bright Stars qualified for the Olympics with their performance in last year’s FIBA World Cup.
In an episode of The Interview podcast, Joel Embiid explained that his decision to join Team USA was influenced by pressure from France (hat tip to HoopsHype). “It didn’t help that, you know, France that put an ultimatum on, you know, when the decision had to be made,” Embiid said.

Brian Keefe Top Candidate For Wizards’ Coaching Job?

May 10th, 2024 at 12:26pm CST by Rory Maher

The Wizards are expected to start interviewing candidates for their head coaching vacancy within the next few days, a team source told Josh Robbins of The Athletic.

Brian Keefe, who finished out the 2023/24 season as interim head coach, is viewed by sources from three rival teams as the top candidate for the job, they told Robbins.

Robbins’ sources also speculated that the Wizards might be eyeing Heat assistant Chris Quinn, Rockets assistant Royal Ivey, and Mavericks assistant Sean Sweeney as potential candidates.

Washington’s coaching search has been very quiet since the regular season concluded. Multiple staff members were reportedly let go three weeks ago, but the Wizards retained Keefe and assistant coach David Vanterpool.

Multiple reports have stated Keefe will be in the running for the permanent job despite compiling a 8-31 record in his 39 games. He has a “strong player-development background,” Robbins writes, and players were very supportive of Keefe when the season ended. Jordan Poole, for instance, performed much better after Keefe decided to bring him off the bench to be a primary ball-handler and play-maker, Robbins notes.

“I can really only just really speak on the stuff that B.K. has brought since he’s been here, and I think he’s been really good for our young team: the detail-orientedness that he brings, the structure that he brings,” Poole said after the regular season ended. “He loves the game, and that’s something that goes a really long way, especially at the highest level. And he’s willing and very genuine and authentic about putting our team (and) putting guys in positions to be successful and play to their strengths and really unlocking them because he cares about them as individuals. He’s done a really good job.”

Ott, Stackhouse, Ivey To Interview For Hornets Job

April 14th, 2024 at 8:13pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Hornets have added Lakers assistant Jordan Ott and former Vanderbilt coach Jerry Stackhouse to their list of head coaching candidates, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski tweets.

Ott has been with the Lakers since Darvin Ham brought him in as an assistant in September 2022. He was previously on the Nets’ staff.

Stackhouse was hired by the Commodores in 2019 and fired last month. The former All-Star guard has also been an assistant with the Raptors and Grizzlies and was also the head coach of the G League 905 Raptors.

Rockets assistant Royal Ivey will also be interviewed, according to the Houston Chronicle’s Jonathan Feigen. Ivey was also a Nets assistant for three seasons before joining coach Ime Udoka with the Rockets this season. Ivey has also been an assistant with the Thunder and Knicks.

Denver’s David Adelman, Boston’s Charles Lee, Sacramento’s Jordi Fernandez, the Clippers’ Jay Larranaga, Phoenix’s Kevin Young and Kings G League coach Lindsey Harding have also been identified as candidates to be interviewed for Charlotte’s position. Steve Clifford announced prior to the end of the season that he’d be stepping down.

Southwest Notes: Green, Ivey, Wemby, Popovich, Pelicans

April 3rd, 2024 at 1:30pm CST by Luke Adams

Early-morning workouts and late-night phone calls with assistant coach Royal Ivey have been a factor in Jalen Green breakout this season, according to the Rockets guard, but Ivey is happy to give all the credit to Green, per Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle (subscription required).

“It’s all kudos to Jalen,” Ivey said. “I’m just empowering him and encouraging him. He’s doing the work. At the end of the day, that’s a credit to his resiliency, his determination. And not being in that situation before, facing adversity, sitting down at the end of games, not being in (the game) in defensive possessions, he took that personally. This is the result of that.”

Green’s play earlier in the season was up and down, but he has been one of the league’s top scorers in recent weeks, averaging 28.0 points and 3.9 assists on .479/.394/.798 shooting in his past 17 games. Ivey said the former No. 2 overall pick has had the ball in his hands more lately and has looked more comfortable reading defenses and being aggressive.

“I can say his decision-making is A-1, making the right reads,” Ivey said. “And the finishing, it’s been (about) concentration, not looking for fouls. He’s so athletic, if he gets to his launchpad, good things happen. He’s working with his finishing every day. He’s been more assertive to get to that rim. I just think it’s confidence. It goes back to his mindset. That’s everything.”

Here’s more from around the Southwest:

Spurs star rookie Victor Wembanyama admitted he was a bit surprised to be hit with a $25K fine for throwing the game ball into the stands at the end of last Friday’s win over New York, calling it “funny,” according to Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News. “When I threw the ball, I thought, ‘Yeah, I remember players being fined for this,'” Wembanyama said. “But they always threw it in a bad way. I threw it to please somebody. It’s not like I was trying to hurt anybody.”
Warriors head coach Steve Kerr doesn’t expect long-tenured Spurs coach Gregg Popovich to call it a career anytime soon, as Orsborn relays. “He was supposed to have retired five years ago, so why would we predict he is going to retire any time soon?” Kerr said when asked if he expects Popovich to fulfill the five-year contract he signed in 2023. “He is still going strong and still doing a great job and loving his work, so I can see it.”
Pelicans head coach Willie Green is still figuring out how to distribute minutes at center as the postseason nears, writes Christian Clark of NOLA.com. The team has gone back and forth between Jonas Valanciunas and Larry Nance Jr. at the five for much of the season, depending on the matchup. However, Green has also experimented with other options, including using Zion Williamson in that role for the last five minutes of Monday’s game vs. Phoenix, Clark notes.
Green was critical of his defense after it allowed Devin Booker to score 52 points in New Orleans for a second time this season on Monday. “Quite frankly, we were soft guarding him,” the Pelicans‘ head coach said after the game, per William Guillory of The Athletic. “We just had a soft mentality.”

Southwest Notes: Doncic, Lively, Graham, Ivey

December 26th, 2023 at 7:47am CST by Luke Adams

Mavericks guard Luka Doncic surpassed the 10,000-point mark for his career on Monday night, doing so in the fewest games of any NBA player since Michael Jordan, writes Tim MacMahon of ESPN. Doncic reached the milestone in style, putting up an eye-popping 50 points, 15 assists, six rebounds, four steals, and three blocks in a victory over Phoenix.

“Always, when this kind [of] award comes with a win, it’s even more fun,” Doncic said. “It was a tough road game, and we won. So, outside of the 10K and 50 points, we won the game. So, I’m really happy.”

As MacMahon details, Doncic’s 358 games to score 10,000 points are tied with Bob McAdoo for the seventh-fewest in league history. The only players who reached five digits in career scoring faster were Jordan, Elgin Baylor, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Oscar Robertson, and George Gervin.

“I have never been on a team where someone is scoring the ball like this at such a high rate and also getting his teammates involved and making sure that everybody feels comfortable on the floor,” said Doncic’s teammate Derrick Jones, who is in his eighth NBA season. “It’s incredible. It’s amazing. I have never seen this before.”

Here’s more from around the Southwest:

Following Monday’s win, the Mavericks are now 17-7 with rookie center Dereck Lively active and 1-5 when he doesn’t play. Head coach Jason Kidd said on Monday that the team had missed Lively during his recent injury absence, while Doncic admitted that he didn’t expect the rookie to play such an important role so soon, per Eddie Sefko of Mavs.com. “Obviously, I knew he was going to be great, but the way he’s performed since the first game has been amazing,” Doncic said. “I didn’t expect this impact of him. He’s been playing like he’s been in the league 10 years already. I’m really proud of this guy. He works on his game and he listens to me.”
Spurs guard Devonte’ Graham has barely played at all this season, logging just 60 total minutes in six appearances. However, head coach Gregg Popovich praised the way Graham has handled being out of the rotation, referring to him as “one of the most respected guys on the team,” according to Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News, who takes a look at how the guard’s upbringing helped him deal with adversity.
Former NBA guard Royal Ivey, a New York native, played his college ball for the Texas Longhorns, but was never on a Southwest team during his 10 seasons as an NBA player. Now back in Texas as an assistant coach with the Rockets, Ivey spoke to Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle about returning to the state he refers to as a “second home” and explained how he got into coaching after his playing days ended.

Rockets Announce Coaching Staff For 2023/24

July 3rd, 2023 at 3:46pm CST by Rory Maher

New head coach Ime Udoka officially announced his coaching staff for the 2023/24 season, the Rockets announced in a press release.

Ben Sullivan, Royal Ivey, Garrett Jackson, Tiago Splitter, Cam Hodges and Mike Moser will be Udoka’s assistants, per the team. Sullivan, Ivey, Jackson, Splitter and Moser were all previously reported additions (or in Splitter’s case, nearing a deal). That makes Hodges the only real new hire, based on reporting we’ve seen.

All six coaches have ties to Udoka. According to the Rockets, Sullivan got his NBA start as an assistant video coordinator after Udoka recommended him to the Spurs. Udoka was an assistant coach in San Antonio at the time. Sullivan has been an assistant with the Hawks, Bucks and Celtics over the past several seasons, including under Udoka in Boston in 2021/22.

Ivey, a 10-year NBA veteran as a player, has made previous coaching stops with Oklahoma City, New York and Brooklyn. He was a Nets assistant for the past three seasons, including alongside Udoka in ’20/21.

Jackson and Moser were player enhancement coaches for the Celtics. Jackson was with Boston for the past two seasons, while Moser was there for one. Udoka was suspended for all of last season by Boston after an affair with a team staffer, but he likely hired Moser even though they only worked together for a short period.

Splitter, another former NBA player, was Udoka’s teammate on the Spurs in ’10/11 and coached alongside him in Brooklyn in ’20/21. He has been an assistant with the Nets for the past four years.

Hodges got his NBA start with the Spurs as a player development assistant and worked with Udoka in both San Antonio and Philadelphia. He has been a coaching associate with the Clippers since 2020, according to Houston’s release.

Southwest Notes: Udoka, Ivey, Spurs, Mavericks

May 18th, 2023 at 10:59am CST by Arthur Hill

Ime Udoka understands that the Rockets hired him as their head coach to help the team become competitive again. In an interview with Kelly Iko of The Athletic, Udoka talks about how Houston can take the next step in its development, going from a team of highly rated prospects to a cohesive unit capable of contending for a playoff spot.

Udoka discusses the possibility of using Jalen Green and Jabari Smith in setups similar to what he did with Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown in Boston. He also repeats a message that he emphasized at his introductory press conference — youth won’t be an excuse for failure.

“I want guys that can catch on quickly but also adapt to what we’re trying to do,” Udoka said. “I’m not gonna hold anything back defensively or schematically because we’re a young group, that’d be going against what I’m saying. I want guys to get up to speed quickly, have smart, cerebral players that can do a lot of different things.”

The Rockets will have nearly $60MM in cap space to try to improve their roster this summer, and there have been persistent rumors that James Harden is interested in returning. Udoka said he expects the front office to target free agents who will mix well with the young core already on hand.

“You want to add veterans that aren’t just a voice only, you want them to be out there, play and push the guys,” he said. “But, as I’ve said, regardless of free agency and the draft, we still have a group of guys we want to grow, and we’re looking for internal growth. More so than necessarily looking for an outside guy to try to save the day.”

There’s more from the Southwest Division:

Nets assistant Royal Ivey will join the Rockets‘ coaching staff, tweets Tim MacMahon of ESPN. Ivey is the first assistant coach to be added since Udoka was hired last month.
The Spurs are reaping the financial benefits of winning the draft lottery, writes David Rumsey of Front Office Sports. San Antonio fans are thrilled at the prospect of adding Victor Wembanyama, and team employees worked well past midnight Tuesday to handle new season ticket requests.
The Mavericks are ready to make a “meaningful overhaul” to their roster after missing the playoffs, team sources tell Fred Katz and Tim Cato of The Athletic. Dallas was relieved to keep its first-round pick, which will be 10th overall, in Tuesday’s lottery. The pick remains top-10 protected for the next two years, leaving Dallas with only its 2027 first-rounder to use as a trade asset. The Mavericks were one number away from moving up to fourth in the draft, according to Callie Caplan of The Dallas Morning News.

Coaching Rumors: Rivers, Sixers, Rockets, Nets, Vogel, More

May 16th, 2023 at 10:04am CST by Luke Adams

As the Sixers enter the offseason, there’s a sense that James Harden‘s and Doc Rivers‘ futures are linked, ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne explained during an appearance on NBA Today (podcast link). The star guard will become a free agent if he declines his 2023/24 player option, while the head coach finds himself on the hot seat after another second-round playoff exit for Philadelphia.

“James Harden can become a free agent, which means you have to decide if you want to give him a four-year contract. Do you want to lock this in for the next four years?” Shelburne said (hat tip to RealGM). “That decision, from what I understand talking to people around the (Sixers), also now becomes tied to the decision about Doc Rivers. Because James Harden was not all that supportive of Doc Rivers in his press conference (on Sunday). I think behind the scenes, from what I’m told, one person said, ‘It would be hard for me to see James wanting to come back and play for Doc again.’

“This is going to be a situation where those two decisions are linked. As we go forward into this offseason and you have another second round exit, you have to decide if you want to lock in your future around (Joel Embiid and Harden). And then, if you’re doing that, what does that mean for Doc Rivers? Because the decisions seem to be linked.”

Michael Scotto of HoopsHype spoke to a handful of NBA executives and scouts at this week’s draft combine to get an idea of which head coaching candidates the Sixers might look at if they do decide to move on from Rivers.

Multiple execs identified Nick Nurse as a logical fit, according to Scotto, who says there’s also been a sense for some time that Mike D’Antoni would be an option due to his longtime relationship with Philadelphia president of basketball operations Daryl Morey. A couple sources named Monty Williams as a possible target too, but he’s drawing interest from multiple teams and may have a more favorable opportunity available, Scotto notes.

Here are a few more coaching-related notes and rumors from around the NBA:

As the Rockets look to fill Ime Udoka‘s coaching staff, it’s worth keeping an eye on Celtics assistants Aaron Miles and Ben Sullivan and Nets assistant Royal Ivey as potential targets, league sources tell Scotto.
The Nets are hiring Jay Hernandez as an assistant coach, according to Scotto. Hernandez worked in recent years as an assistant in Charlotte and was previously a member of Jacque Vaughn‘s staff in Orlando.
Will Weaver, a former NBA assistant who is currently coaching Paris Basketball, has drawn interest from multiple NBA teams this offseason, including the Nets and Raptors, reports Scotto.
If veteran coach Frank Vogel doesn’t get a head coaching opportunity this spring, he’ll be a popular target for teams seeking an experienced assistant. He has received interest from the Mavericks, according to Scotto, who adds that Vogel and Stephen Silas could be targets for the Celtics.