Compendium Of Mark Jackson Commentary – Brian Scalabrine Reassignment

Here’s a compendium of the fallout from Golden State Warriors head coach Mark Jackson‘s reassignment of former assistant coach Brian Scalabrine…

Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chronicle:

After Saturday’s loss to San Antonio, Jackson met with his assistants for more than 30 minutes before finally making his way to the postgame news conference. At that time, he said the group was just “talking basketball.”
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By Tuesday, he said, he could not wait any longer to demote Scalabrine, but he didn’t elaborate on why he felt the urgency.
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Scalabrine is greatly respected in the organization, so the decision-makers didn’t want to lose him. Scalabrine was on the 2008 NBA championship team in Boston, where Joe Lacob was a minority owner, and Warriors general manager Bob Myers was Scalabrine’s agent for the first 10 of his 11 NBA seasons.
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League sources say Jackson is very insecure about his assistants getting credit. He doesn’t allow them to speak on the record to print media, and Scalabrine did not respond to requests from The Chronicle for a comment.
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“For them to make a move like this – this late in the year and with what they’re trying to accomplish – it’s a very bad look,” a league source said.

Other than this, I do not recall any other yellow flags leading up to Scalabrine’s dismissal. Scalabrine was often working with Festus Ezeli on his rehab.

Simmons also writes:

Sacramento head coach Michael Malone, who was Jackson’s lead assistant the past two seasons, denied a report that he and Jackson went weeks without talking during their tenure.
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“Did Mark and I have great relationship? No. There was definitely some friction, but for him to say that we went weeks without speaking is crazy,” Malone said in a phone interview. “We spoke every day. We worked through it, and he eventually realized that I wasn’t out there self-promoting.”

Diamond Leung of the Bay Area News Group:

Jackson stressed that he made the decision himself and indicated that the decision couldn’t wait any longer. He said he had the support of the ownership group and front office and explained to his team why the staff change was made for an assistant he still referred to as “Scal.”

Monte Poole of CSN Bay Area:

it’s not dysfunctional, as indicated in a Tuesday morning Yahoo Sports report. Dysfunctional is what the Oakland Raiders were during those flailing, final years under the late Al Davis. Dysfunctional is what the New York Knicks have been this season.
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Dysfunctional is what the Warriors were before Chris Cohan sold the team to Joe Lacob and Peter Guber, who in turn summoned legendary hoops mystic Jerry West while hiring general manager Bob Myers and Jackson.
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What the Warriors are today is quite functional – they’ve been better since the All-Star break (13-5) than before (31-22) – but increasingly strident and anxious. The new expectations – the product of Lacob, Guber, Myers, Jackson and an improved roster – are high enough to work nerves and play on emotions.

Poole also went on-the-air to say that the demotion could be a trust issue and also wrote:

Jackson clearly believes in the one-voice concept. One voice is fine, if it’s consistent.
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In this instance, it is not.
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There is more to this story, and it will come. But this smells suspiciously like a case of the head coach not trusting one of his assistants.
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There could be other explanations, but a philosophical difference between Jackson and Scalabrine does not add up. Certainly not if Jackson was being honest in what he said not so long ago.

Marcus Thompson of the Bay Area News Group:

From a basketball perspective, Mark Jackson’s demoting assistant coach Brian Scalabrine has the impact of a first-quarter, three-seconds violation. If the Warriors’ chances were pinned on the No. 4 assistant, they were doomed anyway.
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But in the big picture, this latest incident isn’t good for Jackson. At least not for his future as the Warriors’ coach.
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Alone, who cares? But throw in past issues with former assistant Michael Malone that are now surfacing. Throw in co-owner Joe Lacob’s public expression of disappointment with this season. Throw in this team’s propensity for the disappointing loss, leaving a fan base with heartburn.
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It all comes across as a regime falling apart. It creates a perception that Jackson is losing control.
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The worst part? That perception might not even be reality. But it can become — maybe has become — reality, which is why this is not good. The Warriors could end up losing a good young coach based on appearances.

Ray Ratto for CSN Bay Area:

…the Warriors are heading into the postseason (if it can maintain its two-game lead on Memphis and Dallas and 2½-game wedge on Phoenix) at a time when its head coach is both embattled and battling back. In a world where all things are called distractions, this is actually one because it has been created from within – the place where all distraction truly begin.
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So we await further developments. The Warriors have three more days until their next game, at home against Memphis. Neither Lacob, general manager Bob Myers nor Jackson have yet spoken, and the silence veritably screams.
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But if the Warriors become undone at this moment, it will be an acknowledgement that history, good and bad, is never too far away.

Sarah Todd of SFBay.ca:

But Jackson also contradicted himself, saying that though there were “differences in philosophy,” the Warriors were on the right path:
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“With any job and any staff there’s going to be differences in philosophies. At the end of the day, whoever is in charge makes the decision. That’s the way you go, and we are united, whether right, wrong or indifferent.”

Steve Berman of BayAreaSportsGuy.com:

Things are so unsteady for Jackson — a coach who’s poised to take a Warriors team to the postseason in consecutive years for the first time in 22 years — that it’s hard to imagine he’d survive a first round exit. At this rate, anything short of an appearance in the Western Conference Finals may not be enough.

And, finally, the report earlier this season on Jackson’s support of Jason Kidd‘s dismissal of assistant Lawrence Frank:

…“There’s no difference of opinions with my staff and I. They give suggestions. Some I go with. Some I don’t. But at the end of the day it’s my decision and we are united in whichever way we decide to go. If you have a problem with that, you should not be my assistant coach. That’s the way I feel about it.
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“I’m not saying that happened here but wherever it happens, it shouldn’t take place. So just disappointed in the way it was handled and how much credit is given to a head coach and how much fault is given. It’s a no-lose situation if I get credit when we win. But when we lose, Jason can’t coach a lick. He’s a Hall of Fame basketball player. He’s an All-time great. He’s going to be a heck of a basketball coach.”
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“I cannot speak about Jason Kidd and Lawrence Frank because I do not know it,” said Jackson, who said he still speaks with Kidd. “But everybody has to know who is in charge, and that’s the head coach. He’s the guy calling the shots. I’ve never seen any of the Pips trying to lead. That’s Gladys’ role. Let Gladys be Gladys.”
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Kidd called Jackson “my role model.”
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“He’s gone from playing to being a head coach and being a very good head coach,” said Kidd. “I’ve talked to him throughout the season. …Hopefully I can become a coach like him.”

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Compendium Of Mark Jackson Commentary – Brian Scalabrine Reassignment