Doc Rivers lost a couple members of his bench staff this offseason, including Lawrence Frank and Roy Rogers (also Darren Erman, though I admit I'd never heard of him before he left and I don't think he was on the bench). So there were a couple of open spots in those ultra padded seats next to Doc and the players. Tucked in the hoopla over Larry Brown dropping subtle as a sledgehammer hints that he'd like the head coaching gig, it was mentioned that the Celtics might just promote Mike Longabardi. Well, today that happened. (via the Celtics press release:)
The Boston Celtics announced today that Mike Longabardi has been promoted to a bench assistant coach.
"I'm looking forward to adding Mike to our bench. He has been in the fold the last four years and he's more than ready for the next step," said Doc Rivers, Celtics Head Coach.
Please feel free to join me in a communal chin scratch as we all wonder ...who? For the answer, we go to the Internet! (well, another part of the Internet).
So what about Longabardi? The 38-year-old's resume as a coach includes seven years as an assistant at Pfeiffer University, Adelphi University, Lafayette College and Towson University before landing a job as assistant video coordinator with the Rockets. He spent four seasons there, the final two in the role of assistant coach/video coordinator, before coming to Boston. The Brooklyn native earned the nickname "Mr. Defense" during his college playing days at Newberry College (he later transferred and graduated from Frostburg State University).
Ahh, that clears it up. Sounds like he's a guy that ran the videos and maybe coached in practices and camps. All signs point to him being a hard worker and deserving of the shot, so I'm happy for him.
I do not think that he's going to end up being the Lead Assistant, replacing Frank. But it is encouraging that a defensive specialist is getting a promotion. Good for him. Hope it all works out.