It’s Borrego’s team for now, but Skiles may have interest
Yes, Scott Skiles is interested in becoming head coach of the Magic after the season. A longtime acquaintance of Skiles’ told me that the former franchise favorite who now lives in Mount Dora would listen.
After stops at Phoenix, Chicago and Milwaukee, Chucky has experience. He would bring the tough, no-nonsense intangibles the Magic might need to take the next step.
I mean, who better to take over this defensivechallenged team than the sawed-off point guard who once threw a punch at Shaq in practice?
Actually, this is a column about James Borrego, not Skiles. James might as well get used to it. He will probably have to hear Skiles’ name and a lot of other names of coaches over the next few months.
Borrego, 37, was named the Magic’s interim head coach on Thursday after the club fired Jacque Vaughn.
During the news conference to discuss Vaughn’s exit, GM Rob Hennigan was asked what he wanted from the next coach … with Borrego sitting in the audience.
Hennigan immediately acknowledged that Borrego is “our coach.” He said Borrego has the front office’s full support, and that Hennigan wouldn’t be commenting on “the coaching situation.”
Hennigan was asked if Borrego would be in the running to remain in the head-coaching chair after the season. “Absolutely,” Hennigan said.
Borrego might have to finish 30-0 to have a realistic shot. He is probably just keeping the seat warm as the Magic will — and should — comb the league looking for a proven commodity. Like Skiles.
An Albuquerque native, Borrego is sharp, a listener and quick with a quip. At 6-foot-4, he played forward at San Diego, joking that he was not a threat “vertically.”
James just doesn’t have to distinguish himself as a head coach. He has to separate himself from Vaughn as another ex-San Antonio Spurs assistant in Orlando from the Gregg Popovich coaching tree.
He can do that by improving the Magic’s defense — something that became a punch line under Vaughn. And he can distance himself from Jacque by beating teams in Orlando’s weight class — something that Vaughn didn’t do and was his undoing.
Borrego had no designs on joining an NBA bench. While he was “chasing college jobs,” Borrego got the big break of his career in the gruff Popovich’s video room while Vaughn was a Spurs point guard.
“That forever changed my life,” he said of landing with the Spurs. “It was like getting your master’s degree at Harvard. Pop didn’t even know my name for a halfyear.”
Borrego made it to Pop’s bench and while he moved on to become an assistant at New Orleans, Vaughn reached Pop’s bench as an assistant.
Vaughn brought Borrego with him to Orlando in 2012.
As fate would have it, Borrego was sitting by Vaughn on the bench Wednesday night in San Antonio, where they first got to know each other, the friends facing their old Spurs team in what turned out to be Jacque’s last game as Magic coach.
Not surprisingly, Borrego was visibly upset when talking about Vaughn. He admitted he was choked up after hearing the news Thursday from Hennigan that Vaughn had been fired and he had the job.
“Tough day … emotional day,” Borrego said.
Before answering questions, he said, “I want to thank Jacque for the opportunity he gave me. He could have chose anybody [to be his assistant] and he chose me. We bonded.”
Borrego will make his debut Friday night against the Los Angeles Lakers. His only head-coaching experience has been two five-day stints as a summer league coach for the Pelicans and the Magic.
He honestly doesn’t know what it will be like. “I’ll tell you when it’s over,” he said.
Another coach likely will be sitting in his seat next season. He might even hear the names of the candidates who might be replacing him.
For now, though, the floor belongs to James Borrego.