Milwaukee Bucks: Ettore Messina to be interviewed for head coach job
By Adam McGee
The Milwaukee Bucks will interview San Antonio Spurs assistant Ettore Messina in the coming days as their coaching search continues to expand.
While David Fizdale’s appointment as New York Knicks head coach on Thursday took one of the names off the reported list of Milwaukee Bucks head coaching candidates, a new name has emerged on Friday morning in his place.
According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Bucks will interview San Antonio Spurs assistant coach Ettore Messina in the coming days, along with the previously reported Steve Clifford and Monty Williams.
The Milwaukee Bucks will interview San Antonio assistant Ettore Messina, former Charlotte coach Steve Clifford and former New Orleans coach Monty Williams in next several days, league sources tell ESPN. Bucks may meet with as many as 10 candidates in first round of interviews.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) May 4, 2018
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Messina finished the season as acting head coach for San Antonio as Gregg Popovich took some time away from the team following the death of his wife.
Messina has been an assistant with the Spurs since 2014, but his greatest accomplishments came prior to his move to the NBA. The 58-year-old is the second most successful coach in EuroLeague history, having won four championships between his time with Virtus Bologna and CSKA Moscow.
As a result, Messina has long been one of the most respected coaches in world basketball. Known for his fiery personality and a disciplinarian’s approach, combined with the post-heavy style he employed most successfully in Europe, there’s reason to question whether he’s a perfect fit for a young Milwaukee team.
Outside of Messina, the most significant detail of Wojnarowski’s report is the number of candidates the Bucks are prepared to interview.
Having promised an extensive coaching search, it seems as if ownership and management are determined to deliver on that front.
With the potential for up to 10 candidates to be interviewed in the first round of talks, Mike Budenholzer, Steve Clifford, Monty Williams, David Blatt, Ettore Messina and Joe Prunty make up for just over half of the potential interviewees on that front.
Whether the remaining candidates come from the pool of available head coaches, highly-respected assistants or college head coaches remains to be seen.
Next: Milwaukee Bucks: What’s excitement got to do with coaching candidates?
From what we know so far, the Bucks seem to be committed to experienced candidates, though. Messina acts as the exception in terms of NBA head coaching experience, although with immense experience heading up staffs at the highest level around the world even that seems immaterial.