Month: August 2014

Detroit Pistons Head Coach and President of Basketball Operations Stan Van Gundy announced Thursday that the team has named Tim Hardaway and Malik Allen as assistant coaches, Jeff Nix as assistant general manager and Quentin Richardson as director of player development. The club also added Jon Ishop as Director of Sports Medicine and Anthony Harvey as strength and conditioning coach.

“We are pleased to announce the addition of some quality people to our coaching and basketball operations staffs and the Detroit Pistons Organization,” Van Gundy said. “These are all highly-qualified individuals who bring a wide range of experience and will all play very important roles in helping to shape our vision.”

Hardaway enters his first season as an assistant coach with the Pistons. A 13-year NBA veteran, he averaged 17.7 points, 8.2 assists, 3.3 rebounds and 1.7 steals in 867 career games with Golden State, Miami, Dallas, Denver and Indiana. A five-time NBA All-Star, Hardaway also earned All-NBA honors five times (First Team once, Second Team three times and Third Team once). Drafted 14th overall by the Warriors in the 1989 NBA Draft, he was selected to the NBA All-Rookie First Team in 1989-90 and was a member of the USA Men’s Senior National Team which captured the gold medal at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia. Hardaway played collegiately at the University of Texas at El Paso and was named the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) Player of the Year in 1989.

Allen enters his first season as an assistant coach after a 10-plus year playing career in the NBA with Miami, Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas, New Jersey, Milwaukee, Denver and Orlando. He averaged 4.9 points, 2.8 rebounds and 15.2 minutes in 478 career games and last played for the Orlando Magic during the 2010-11 season. A native of Medford, NJ, Allen played four seasons at Villanova University, averaging 9.0 points and 5.7 rebounds in 125 career games.

Richardson enters his first year as director of player development. A 13-year NBA veteran, Richardson was the 18th overall pick of the 2000 NBA Draft by the Los Angeles Clippers. In 783 career games, he averaged 10.3 points, 4.7 rebounds and 1.5 assists with the Clippers, Suns, Knicks, Heat and Magic. He averaged a career-high 17.2 points, 6.4 rebounds and 2.1 assists in 2003-04 with the Clippers. A native of Chicago, IL, Richardson played two seasons at DePaul University where he averaged 17.9 points and 10.2 rebounds per game. As a freshman, he was elected both the Conference USA Player of the Year, and Freshman of the Year.

Nix brings a wealth of basketball experience both at the professional and collegiate levels. He spent 15 years in the New York Knicks organization serving as assistant coach (1992-2000), assistant general manager (2000-2005) and director of scouting (2005-2007). He was a key member of the Knicks front office staff when the team won two Eastern Conference titles in 1994 and 1999. Nix spent the last two-plus seasons as director of basketball operations for the Wake Forest University Men’s basketball team. He’s held assistant coaching positions with Canisius College, St. Francis University, Loyola College, Xavier University and University of Notre Dame. Nix played basketball at Canisius College and graduated with a B.S. in Business Administration and a Master’s in Sports Administration.

Ishop comes to the Pistons from the New Orleans Pelicans where he spent the last four seasons as director of sports medicine/head athletic trainer. With the Pelicans, Ishop oversaw healthcare, prevention and rehabilitation of injuries and daily training room operations. Prior to the Pelicans, Ishop served as an assistant athletic trainer with the NFL’s Houston Texans for eight seasons. A certified athletic trainer, he is also a National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM) Performance Enhancement Specialist, Graston Technique Certified, a kinesiotape practitioner and a licensed massage therapist. Ishop received his Bachelor of Science degree in kinesiology from the University of Texas at Austin and his master’s degree in sports administration from the University of Houston.

Harvey spent the last two seasons as an assistant strength and conditioning coach with the Orlando Magic. Previously, he worked at Florida A&M University from 2005-12 serving as a senior personal trainer, interim director of strength and conditioning and finally as an assistant strength and conditioning coach. Harvey earned his BS in Health Science Pre-Physical Therapy at Florida A&M.

The club also announced that Arnie Kander will remain as the team’s physical therapist, overseeing injury prevention and recovery, while Mike Abdenour will serve in a newly created administrative role as Director of Team Operations.