#VINNY DEL NEGRO SERIES#

The 2013 series with the Grizzlies was especially damning as the Grizzlies seemed to figure the Clippers game plan out, running away with the series in four straight, relatively sizable victories.ĭel Negro put a lot of trust and responsibility in his point guards, allowing them to call plays and direct the pace and flow of the game, perhaps to a fault. He isn’t known as an X’s and O’s coach and received heavy criticism from media and fans alike for his perceived ineptitude in game planning in playoff series. Both Derrick Rose and Blake Griffin won rookie of the year awards playing for Del Negro. He’s earned a reputation as a player developer. He was known as something of a motivator, perhaps a trait he learned from his former coach and one of the best motivators of all time, Jim Valvano. Del Negro’s contract was not renewed.ĭel Negro’s team’s always played hard. The victory parade was cut short, however, when the Clippers lost four straight games in the first round to the Memphis Grizzlies after holding a 2-0 series lead. Perhaps equally as importantly, the Clippers swept their season series with the Los Angeles Lakers, the first time they had done so since moving to L.A. The following season, the Clippers set a franchise record with 56 wins, including a 17-game winning streak en route to their first ever Pacific division title. The team won 40 games and advanced to the second round of the playoffs for just the 2 nd time since the franchise moved to Los Angeles. The team added Chris Paul the following offseason and Lob City was born. Del Negro coached the team to 32 wins behind rookie of the year, Blake Griffin. In July of 2010, the Los Angeles Clippers came calling and offered him a chance to coach another young team with promising talent. Del Negro was fired shortly after the season ended.ĭel Negro wasn’t unemployed for long. The following season the Bulls fell to the Miami Heat in five games. In his first season as coach, the Bulls took the Boston Celtics to seven exciting games in one of the great, under rated playoff series of the last half decade. In both seasons with the Bulls, Del Negro led the team to a 41-41 record and trips to the NBA playoffs. In 2008, he was given his first shot at coaching when he was hired by the Chicago Bulls to be their head coach. He bounced around the league for a few years after that before retiring in 2001.Īfter retirement, Del Negro worked in media before joining the Phoenix Suns front office in 2006 as director of player personnel and was later promoted to assistant general manager. After two seasons in Italy he returned to the NBA, this time joining the San Antonio Spurs where he spent six seasons between 1992-98.

He won a championship for Benetton in 1992 while scoring over 25 points per game. He played two seasons for the Sacramento Kings before going overseas to play for Benetton Treviso in the Italian league. Vinny Del Negro played for the legendary coach Jim Valvano at North Carolina State in the mid 1980’s. Click here to read all of Adam's coaching pieces

Vinny del negro