The Motor City Cruise coaching staff received a slight shake-up with Steve Scalzi named as their new head coach
After leading the Detroit Pistons from the bench during the Summer League, assistant coach Steve Scalzi is going to transition to the G-League for the upcoming season as the new head coach for the Motor City Cruise.
The Cruise announced the move yesterday while also releasing the details of their full staff at the same time. Scalzi, who has worked closely with J.B. Bickerstaff over the last two seasons, has coached at the G-League level before when he was a part of the Oklahoma City Thunder’s organization. At that time, Scalzi was the point-man for the Tulsa 66ers, though he would later transition into scouting, film and player development roles with the Thunder in subsequent seasons.
“I’m extremely grateful for the opportunity to lead the Motor City Cruise and build on the success this program has established over its first five seasons,” Scalzi said. “The Cruise have already made a tremendous impact in the G League, including two playoff appearances and the first playoff victory in franchise history last season. I’m looking forward to continuing that momentum and helping our players and staff reach new levels of success.”
Last season, the Cruise were led by head coach Jamelle McMillan as the squad produced a 22-14 record in the regular season before making their playoff push. Eventually, the Cruise made it to the second round of the postseason before they were sent packing by the Osceola Magic, but McMillan was instrumental in helping the team improve from game one until their final playoff bout.
During his opening statement as new Cruise head coach, Scalzi made sure to commend McMillan for the work that he’d done with Motor City prior to this development. Scalzi pointed out that McMillan helped produce 10 NBA call-ups during his time with the Cruise, and most recently Daniss Jenkins made the leap to the Pistons on a full-time basis and was rewarded with the richest conversion deal in NBA history.
As for the upcoming season, Scalzi will have an opportunity to work closely with several players that he coached out in Las Vegas during the Summer League. Right now, Isaac Jones and rookie Ugonna Onyenso are both signed to two-way deals, and they featured prominently during the Pistons’ five-game Summer League stretch in July, so there is some familiarity there. The Pistons have one other player on a two-way contract— guard Elijah Harkless— but he was not part of the team’s Summer League roster.
As for the rest of Detroit’s Summer League outfit, Scalzi led the bunch to a 1-4 record during their five-game exhibition. Rookie point guard Ebuka Okorie started each of those five games, so it was a timely preview of the pace and physicality that the former Stanford point guard will face during his first season in the NBA. Scalzi made sure to give Okorie enough playing time to properly acclimate to the physical component of the game, and the ACC scoring leader responded by averaging nearly 20 points per game under Scalzi’s guidance.
Now leading the Motor City Cruise, Scalzi is going to look to continue establishing a winning culture within the organization, and they’ll be shooting for a return to the postseason right off the bat.
