Question

This coach benched Riccardo Pittis and led a young Antonio Davis and Sasha Djordjevic to a cup win in his first coaching role. A book by Jack McCallum chronicles a season in which, despite early-season microfracture surgery for his star big man, this coach still made the Western Conference Finals by playing Kurt Thomas and moving Boris Diaw to center. This coach (-5[1])narrowly (-5[1])missed out on his first NBA finals appearance after his team missed (*) 27 consecutive threes. Playing Russell Westbrook at center and installing an isolation-heavy (-5[1])offense for Chris Paul and James Harden (10[1])were two of the stylistic innovations this coach made while running the late 2010s Rockets. For 10 points, what Italian-American coached Amar'e Stoudemire and Steve Nash on the “Seven Seconds or Less” 2000s Suns? ■END■ (10[2])

ANSWER: Mike D'Antoni [or Michael Andrew D'Antoni] (The first sentence refers to D'Antoni's FIBA Korać Cup win with Olimpia Milano.)
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= Average correct buzz position

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Buzzes

PlayerTeamOpponentBuzz PositionValue
Emmett LaurieRutgers DiasporaMaryland B+61-5
Jonathan ShaufThe Perfection of Wisdom in 8,000 NegsGlass Onyen: A Knives Out Mystery62-5
Jim FanFan-tastic Negs and Where to Find ThemMaryland A86-5
Caleb KendrickMaryland AFan-tastic Negs and Where to Find Them9310
Grant PeetGlass Onyen: A Knives Out MysteryThe Perfection of Wisdom in 8,000 Negs12810
Jonathan MaginMaryland B+Rutgers Diaspora12810

Summary

2023 BHSU @ Northwestern02/25/2023Y633%17%67%68.00
2023 BHSU @ Maryland03/11/2023Y3100%0%100%116.33
2023 BHSU @ Berkeley03/18/2023Y3100%0%33%92.67
2023 BHSU @ Yale04/08/2023Y367%33%33%67.50
2023 BHSU @ Waterloo04/15/2023Y3100%33%33%73.33