Utah Jazz finalize coaching staff: “Come Igor, there is work to do!”

The Utah Jazz announced late this evening that Igor Kokoskov, Zach Guthrie, and Lamar Skeeter have been promoted; furthermore, the team has finalized their coaching staff for the 2016-2017 season.

Via their Press Release:

The Utah Jazz announced today that, following several promotions, the team has finalized head coach Quin Snyder’s coaching staff for the 2016-17 season.

Assistant coach Igor Kokoskov (kuh-KOSH-kov) has been promoted, and will move to the front of the bench. Now entering his second season with the Jazz and 16th as an NBA assistant, Kokoskov’s previous experience includes stints with the Orlando Magic, Cleveland Cavaliers, Phoenix Suns, Detroit Pistons and Los Angeles Clippers. He reached the Conference Finals six times with Detroit, advancing to two NBA Finals appearances, and captured an NBA title in 2004.

He previously served as an assistant under Coach Snyder at the University of Missouri, becoming the first European coach to hold a full-time position with an NCAA Division I-A school. A native of Belgrade, Serbia, Kokoskov also currently serves as the head coach of the Slovenian National Team after spending the previous eight years as coach of the national team for the Republic of Georgia.

The Utah Jazz, NBA.com, 2016

This is cool, because Coach Koko has a lot of experience and has earned his spot on the bench — much like what Quin Snyder had done the years previously with the Atlanta Hawks.

As for Guthrie and Skeeter, the Jazz wrote:

Zach Guthrie has been elevated to assistant coach/basketball strategy after joining the staff as manager of basketball strategy/technology prior to the 2015-16 season. Guthrie arrived to Utah after spending three years with the Orlando Magic as their manager of advanced scouting. Prior to that, he spent two seasons with the San Antonio Spurs, ascending to the role of assistant video coordinator.

Guthrie got his start as a basketball operations intern with the (then) Austin Toros of the NBA Development League in 2007, where he worked closely under Coach Snyder, then the Toros’ head coach. The San Antonio native graduated from the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas with a bachelor’s degree in business.

Lamar Skeeter was also promoted to assistant coach/player development after spending the past two seasons as a player development/video analyst.

Skeeter joined the Jazz in 2014 after a season serving as the player development/video intern for the Atlanta Hawks. Prior to that he spent one season as the basketball operations intern for the Canton Charge of the NBA D-League for current Jazz assistant coach Alex Jensen. Skeeter also spent one season as a graduate assistant at his alma mater Walsh University, in North Canton, Ohio, where the Dayton, Ohio, native earned both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in business management and competed for the school’s Division III basketball team.

The Utah Jazz, NBA.com, 2016

So all things considered it looks like Head coach Quin Snyder will be assisted by Alex Jensen, Antonio Lang, Johnnie Bryant, Mike Wells, and Igor Kokosko — with Jeff Watkinson, Zach Guthrie, and Lamar Skeeter behind them.

One name not on the list is former Utah Flash head coach and last man standing from the Tyrone Corbin era, Brad Jones (also an in-law relative of Jerry Sloan).

Russ Isabella-USA TODAY Sports

H/T to Aaron Falk for pointing this out:

The alleged talk around the water cooler suggests that Jones did not want to be demoted, so he left. And he was likely asked to take a demotion because of Igor’s promotion. And Igor was up for a promotion, or HE was going to leave. Or at least that’s what Becka told Ashleigh who saw Sarah K talk with Sarah R at the mall last night, when Ryan’s older sister Jodi was working at that new salad place in the food court.

I wish Brad all the best. And I am excited to see what this coaching staff can do. You know, it’s not a coaching staff that found homes for Jeff Hornacek, Earl Watson, Mehmet Okur, or Karl Malone . . . but we can’t have everything we want.