You know, Nate Tibbets is kind of a pimp. He's young, a first year coach that took his D-League team, the Sioux Falls Skyforce to the playoffs, and now, he's working for the Timberwolves as an assistant coach for the Summer League. Tibbets is a sharp guy with a bright future, and this is a great opportunity for him to build some bridges to the NBA-level and scout some guys for next year. Best part is this signals a great move by Timberwolves management to develop a relationship with Tibbets. The biggest impediment to the D-League is coaches not trusting D-League staff to handle the players they assign. By building a relationship, this means Wittman et al will have more confidence in sending players down when they need it. Good times all around!
The Rio Grande Valley Vipers finally have a coache, to fill their vacancye created when their last coache diched theme. Now if they can just finde a generale managere to find them playerse and lead the staffe, they'd be sete. (Look, I live in Texas. I don't mind, and even like the bicultural attitude towards Mexicano words and culture. But when the league pronounces it gr-and, and not gran-de, it's going to irk me a bit that the "e" just sits there, mocking me.)
I've made it kind of obvious, I think Sam Vincent got screwed in Charlotte. But it looks like he's coming back to what got him to the NBA in the first place, the D-League. In Charlotte, he got very little roster support, had a series of bad breaks, and could never land a marquee free agent. In Reno, he'll be with an expansion franchise, and will have the Kings as one of his affiliates, who, given their D-League history, will completely ignore his phone calls. So hey, maybe it won't be a big change for him after all.