Ettore Messina sexy enough, Ailene?

Because I'm bringing sexy back.  For those of you expecting more of those pictures I put up in the drat pre-lotto threads last night, I'm sorry to dissapoint you guys.  But hopefully this is better.

I'm talking about Ettore Messina. This guy:

Messina fits almost none of Petrie's categories since he has never coached in the NBA.  He's the current coach of CSKA Moskow and has led them to two Euroleague Championships. He almost did it again this year, but Moskow fell to Panathanaikos of Greece. This does not include two EuroLeague titles he's won with another team, and 4 Italian League titles as well as 3 Russian League titles.  The man knows how to succeed.

In 2002 Messina switched Italian teams to coach Benetton Treviso. The guy he was replacing? Mike D'Antoni. You might have heard of him.  Messina surpassed D'Antoni in the following year, winning the League Title and taking Treviso to the EuroLeague Final, where they lost to Barcelona.

Here's why I think Messina would make a great coach for the Kings.  Messina believes that one of the most important things for success is the development of young players and talent.  Take this interview quote for instance, where he is talking about how smaller Italian clubs aren't able to succeed because in tough economic times the first thing they do is cut their budget in development and try to focus on winning with proven players

With the exception of very few clubs like Siena, Roma, Milano, we don’t have the economic strength and a system in place to develop young players…The first thing less economically fortunate Italian clubs cut out of the budget is the program of developing young players. Very few clubs managed to continue to invest money in the teachers and the recruiting of young players.

Last time I checked, the Kings had plenty of young talent that needed developing, and in the NBA, Messina would have plenty of time to develop it.

Messina has succeeded wherever he's been. Whether it's been Italy or Russia.  That shows just how much this man knows about playing the game. Yes the rules in the NBA are different.  But this guy isn't stupid. He'll figure it out.

To end, here's a video of Messina at a coaching clinic. Hopefully it gives you an idea of his style.

My favorite quote from the video?

"I still believe that the improvement of our game, goes through the improvement of our individual game.  It does not go through the tactics, it goes through the individuals.  If our players become better players, individually, it will be much easier for us to play better basketball.

You just complicate the game if you use strategy to cover a single weakness.  That strategy can cover the weakness for maybe 2-3 games, but when you find a better team, no matter what your strategy is, they will be better than you.

So I think its worth it to invest time in improving the player, and the players will never forget you are telling them something that is making them better players. They will never forget. "

This man is a coach. A teacher. Just what our team needs. Discuss.