Iavaroni In

It's been a while since I posted. I've still been following Grizzlies news from my favorite sources (Here, here, and here), but I have been trying not to think too much about the Grizzlies other than that.

The only news is that Marc Iavaroni is returning as coach. That's not a bad move. Still, I don't understand why many other media personalities (eg Geoff Calkins and Chris Vernon, both of whom do great work) continually berated Michael Heisley for not fully supporting Iavaroni.

I understand that coaches need the respect of their players, and if there's a perception that Iavaroni's job is vulnerable that respect may be undermined. However, I think Iavaroni's performance did more to undermine respect. It's not like Iavaroni did a stand up job, and Heisley should be on his knees in praise.

Nobody can fault Heisley from questioning whether to bring Iavaroni back. I appreciate that Heisley didn't throw full support behind Iavaroni while he reviewed his performance. In my mind, that demonstrates that Heisley is the straight shooter he always says that he is. If he'd brought in Larry Brown after supporting Iavaroni, everyone would have called him a liar.

What's disconcerting to me are reports that Heisley hadn't made a decision until he spoke with Iavaroni, but then agreed that Iavaroni would return during the meeting. If I was in his position and I had doubts about whether to bring back Iavaroni, I wouldn't have taken a day or two to consider the meeting. You never make the decision during the meeting.

In the full body of mistakes that Heisley has been building of the years, this is quite small. What's really important here is that my prediction - that Iavaroni will be judged on the first 2 months of next season - still may be right.