It's highly unlikely America's poet laureate Robert Frost was much of a basketball fan, but he may very well had someone like ex-Dragon David Joerger in mind when he talked of a 'path less traveled.'
Make no mistake, it's a quantum leap from the Dragon backcourt and the back lots of minor league basketball to the ultimate stage of the National Basketball Association, but when the 2008-09 season unfolded in October, there was Joerger, 34, perched on the bench of the Memphis Grizzlies, a certified member of the NBA coaching fraternity at last.
Well seasoned by years of minor league experience, Joerger's coaching ship came in big time when he was offered an assistant post by new Grizzlies' head coach Marc Iavaroni.
“The lights are pretty bright and the arenas are good-sized, but it's still basketball,” said Joerger. “We had worked pretty hard and scrapped around for 10 years in the minors. We were in the CBA for five years and in the NBA Development League for one year. We had learned a lot, but still, it's quite an opportunity to be here.”
A bigger stage requires more sophisticated, and classier, props.
“There are so many more resources available---video is a big part of it, more coaches, everything is analyzed. With 82 games it seems like you're playing every other night,” Joerger said. “Some of it is comparable to the minor leagues and the bus rides, but in this league, you're going on charter flights and staying in five-star hotels. Still, the games don't relent, they just keep on coming.”
The professional upgrade aside, Joerger is well aware building working relationships with some of the world's greatest athletes is a must.
“One of my strengths has been my ability to get along with people, especially the players," Joerger said. “Players are players, no matter where you are. It may be a little different with guaranteed contracts and the amount of money, but it's still basketball, and at the end of the day, they want to play and play as many minutes as possible. They want to see themselves develop, and if I can help them develop, that will help me.”
His first season on the Grizzlies' bench also marks his first job in the NBA, and when he joined Memphis he brought one of the most successful minor league basketball coaching portfolios to his new post. He became just the sixth head coach in NBA Development League history to join the NBA coaching ranks.
Joerger served as head coach of the 2006-07 NBA Development League Champion Dakota Wizards. The title was a fifth with Joerger's fingerprints on it, including an IBA title and three CBA championships. He also collected two CBA Coach of the Year awards and a posted a 232-117 record as a head coach.
While most pursuing a coaching position choose the prep or collegiate mainstream, Joerger followed his own lodestar. “In college you can be a graduate assistant, third assistant, even the ninth assistant and (maybe) by the time you're 45 you have a chance to be a head coach. I just kept working, kept hustling and coaching in different leagues. Networking is a huge part of this business, and I was fortunate to work a couple of summer leagues with the Cleveland Cavaliers and San Antonio Spurs. It's all about building relationships, and I was fortunate enough to get this job with Marc Ivaronni.”
After finishing his playing career at Moorhead State in 1996-97, Joerger got his start as fledging general manager of the Dakota Wizards of the IBA. He received his first sideline opportunity as assistant coach during the 1997-98 season.
“It was an opportunity to be coaching right away,” said Joerger. “You don't have a ton of assistants in the minor leagues, so you feel like you're doing more coaching. I thought if things went really, really well I would have a chance to be a head coach at some level a lot quicker going that route.”
After three years as number one assistant, Joerger was tapped to replace Duane Ticknor as head coach and led the Wizards to their first championship during the 2000-01 season.
“I was the general manager and assistant coach there for three years and 26 when I got the head job,” said Joerger. “We were in the IBA at that time. You don't have a lot of assistants.”
“It's all about the players, and I had a good rapport with the players and made sure I had their respect. The basketball part about it I didn't doubt. We won the championship and switched leagues, going to the CBA. That was a big jump for us, without having to move and all that stuff.”
In 2001-02 the Wizards moved into a new league and Joerger guided the team to another title, winning the 2001-02 CBA championship. Joerger added a third title in four years when the Wizards defeated the Idaho Stampede to win the 2003-04 CBA Championship.
During the summer of 2004, Joerger moved to Sioux Falls, So. Dak. as head coach and piloted the Skyforce to the CBA title, his fourth minor league crown and more than minor league-turned-NBA head coaches Flip Saunders, Eric Musselman, Phil Jackson and George Karl combined. Another testament to Joerger's excellent teaching skills of the game are the 18 NBA call-ups in the past four years.
A two-sport standout at Staples High School and Academic All-State selection, Joerger was saluted as basketball MVP of the Mid-State Conference as a senior and claimed a state tennis title as well. The addiction to basketball started early on.
“My dad (Joe) was a coach, and we were always talking basketball,” said Joerger.
Joerger arrived at MSUM in 1995 after at stop at Concordia College and became a fixture in the Dragon backcourt for two years for coach Dave Schellhase, a national scoring champ at Purdue and a NBA alum of the Chicago Bulls. Joerger averaged 6.0 ppg as a senior and ranked second in the NSIC in both assists, 4.8, and steals, 2.2. He was also voted an honorary captain by his fellow Dragons.
“I had an opportunity to play with some great players, like (Brett) Beeson and (Greg) Duke, and coach Schellhase let us find a lot of things on our own,” said Joerger. “I was really trying to think about the game and how to get those guys the basketball. We had a good group of guys that loved to play as much as I did. We talked about it all the time and those things will stick with me. It was a fun group of guys for somebody like me who couldn't get enough of the game.”
Beeson, a national scoring champ and the NCAA II Player of the Year at MSU Moorhead in 1995-96, is now in his 12th season in professional basketball abroad, and he's not surprised by Joerger's ascension in the hardscrabble coaching profession.
“I recall him being a very cerebral player who was always in total control,” said Beeson. “He was a pass-first type of point guard who also possessed a very effective jump shot and an uncanny awareness of when to unleash it. He was a deadly free throw shooter. He was a delight to be around in the locker room as well because he always stayed so positive and up-beat. Personally, I have a lot to thank him for as his court vision, awareness, and decision-making skills helped me lead the nation in scoring my senior year.”
“In 1998 he asked me to come to Staples to lend him a hand with his summer basketball camp, and we watched game one of the NBA Finals together. I was surprised when I saw David and his father diagram plays, offensive sets, and possible defensive adjustments throughout the game. I thought I was a student of the game, but these guys took it to another level, and I knew right then just how serious he was about coaching. For me, the question was not if he would make the NBA, but when. He always had a great understanding of basketball, and along with his passion for the game and desire to be the best, has allowed him to achieve overwhelming success at the coaching level.”
Joerger and his wife Kara are parents of daughters Alli, 5, and Kiana, 2, and he admits the NBA can be stressful on families. “From October 15 to April 15 we're gone a lot, so you really learn to cherish your time in the off-season.”
Is a head coaching post a future possibility? “Hopefully you keep advancing, and ultimately, being the head coach is the goal. Let's just keep pushing and see what we can do,” Joerger said.
Ah, the path less traveled might 'make all the difference.”
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