Squadron's Ryan Pannone's Path to the Pros, Pelicans Coaching Philosophies

Exclusive interview with Birmingham Squadron head coach Ryan Pannone regarding his path to the pros and how the organization has been paired his passion for team building with the New Orleans Pelicans philosophy under Willie Green.

The intense passion of Birmingham Squadron Head Coach Ryan Pannone has been paired with the New Orleans Pelicans philosophy under Willie Green. Pannone's developmental background and yearning for a team setting fit perfectly with this Birmingham Squadron roster. 

The investment by ownership is paying off, just look at the stats from Jose Alvarado, Trey Murphy III, and Jaxson Hayes. Pannone was kind enough to share a bit more on what it's like in Birmingham and how he got there.

Pannone landed on coaching as a profession because he simply “loves basketball.” As for his journey to a lead chair in the G-League, he earned his stripes, paid his dues, and insistently credits his wife for her patient motivation through the journey.

“I was a high school assistant then a high school head coach until I was 25. A few things happened in my career at that time. I became a manager at South Florida. I'd gone to college, I didn't go to college right out of high school at 18. And I started working with David Thorpe who was working with NBA players full-time throughout the season. We were doing pre-draft with NBA players, helping international players from when I was 20 to 25. I was the high school coach and I was working for Coach Thorpe traveling with players to work with him in the offseason. Then I got the opportunity to be an assistant at Wallace State Community College under coach John Meeks for $600 a month,” Pannone said.

It wasn’t much to launch an international professional basketball career but it helped he’d met his wife, who Pannone would credit often, as she was “teaching at the high school and I was coaching. From there, she was up on spring break and watching House Hunters International. She then asked if I’d ever considered coaching oversea. She had an interest in living abroad so I reached out to every American coach that I could, making calls and trying to connect on social media with anyone coaching internationally.”

Pannone went from China to Germany, Jerusalem, and Slovakia before landing back in the United States. Amid the pandemic, Pannone realized something about his career when he came back from China. 

"David Thorpe had six NBA players (Kevin Martin, Corey Brewer, Ed Davis, Nick Calathes, Omri Casspi and Gal Mekel) and asked me if I’d stay and just work with them full-time through the season. So that was the first year I wasn't a part of a team. Player development has always been a big passion of mine but I did not realize how much I missed being part of a team.”

As for how he is communicating with the Pelicans coaching staff and the Squadron roster in this inaugural Birmingham season, Pannone stated, “the mindset is of trying to get to the core principles in and focusing on what we wanted to work on. A lot of the players, we tried to bring experienced players (like Zylan Cheatham, Gary Clark), some that have played in Europe. We’ve had meetings to show the analytics and the numbers behind how we wanted to play. In practice, we built off everything we showed on video on the type of system and style of play that we want to have.”

The practice schedule of a G-League roster is a bit more grueling than the NBA routine. NBA guys get 82-games to be seen. G-Leaguers might only get to shine in practice when other scouts visit.

Mar 20, 2022; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; New Orleans Pelicans guard Jose Alvarado (15) reacts after the Pelicans defeated the Atlanta Hawks at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

Pannone explains, “We had two-a-day practices to start the season. It was pretty much every day. It was a combination of working on cardio... but then also really learning what our system was. So with two practices a day, we had one practice more focused on building out our system and then the second practice being able to execute our system while playing, getting the cardio in...The system and certain terminology, the base of the basketball philosophy is from the Pelicans. Fortunately Coach Green allows us to have some freedom within the system and philosophy. It's kind of a hybrid of some of my core beliefs, along with what the Pelicans system is.”

The spark plug of the season has been Jose Alvardo. Alvarado, an undrafted free agent, was coached up in Birmingham by Coach Pannone. Alvarado went through those practices after shining in Summer League games. The no-days-off grind kept him ready for his big moment on the NBA stage. 

He ran with it and it’s something every coach loves to see, their former players achieving their dreams. The same goes for first-round picks who make trips down to knock off the rust. Pannone is trusted with those dreams, both developmentally and when deciding on rotations, but it is something he embraces.

“It's great...the whole reason why I was hired was because of that development and when you get the opportunity to do it, it's obviously very fun. Then when you see the success that guys are having it's a really cool experience. Fortunately, the guys that we've had have been really good to work with. Some players come down to the G-League and all they care about is trying to score 40 or 50 points. Jose, Jaxson Hayes, Trey Murphy, Naji Marshal, came down and they just wanted to win. We haven't lost a game with an assignment player, with those kinds of guys assigned to the Squadron. Their mentality was to come down and win while developing, which is key,” Pannone reflected.

With only a few months in the season left, Pannone is “looking forward to continuing to see our guys develop. To have the opportunity for some of our staff, some of our assistant coaches to have the opportunity to move up to the NBA." 

The goal of the league is to watch players develop, become more valuable assets, and further their careers whether it's in the NBA or internationally. 

The most challenging thing in the way to sustained development is going to be continued continuous roster flux with COVID. You know, just your roster changes between call-ups, COVID, assignments, and so being able to manage people, being able to manage the roster situations as players roles continuously change throughout the season.”

That grounded yet focused approach is why the intense passion of Coach Ryan Pannone fits perfectly with the New Orleans Pelicans philosophy. His developmental background and yearning for a team setting fit with this Birmingham Squadron roster. 

That foundation gives fans every reason to expect to see more great things from Coach Pannone, this Birmingham Squadron team, and the players sent up the NBA.

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