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Jensen: A familiar face and a good fit at La Salle

It's easy to forget how long it's been. Matt Brady was a familiar face around here for a lot of years, a hoops star at Paul VI, a top assistant at St. Joseph's. For the last dozen years Brady was away, a head coach at Marist and James Madison. He's won plenty of games, 212 over those dozen years, coached in the 2013 NCAA tournament.

It's easy to forget how long it's been. Matt Brady was a familiar face around here for a lot of years, a hoops star at Paul VI, a top assistant at St. Joseph's. For the last dozen years Brady was away, a head coach at Marist and James Madison. He's won plenty of games, 212 over those dozen years, coached in the 2013 NCAA tournament.

He's back, at La Salle as John Giannini's assistant.

You ask Giannini, what does Brady bring to the table? You might raise an eyebrow at the answer.

"We've got one of the two top coaches in the league on our staff," Giannini said.

He was talking about as an X's and O's tactician/technician. Davidson head coach Bob McKillop was the other name Giannini mentioned, making clear he wasn't slighting other coaches, including himself. The Atlantic Ten has never lost its reputation for top-level coaching.

"I've learned an incredible amount," Giannini said. "All of us at this level are good coaches. Some people just see the game a little bit better, see things a little differently."

Once labeled as a shooting coach - not such a bad label - Brady has been given wide latitude to work on La Salle's overall offense.

"And he's a defensive coach," Giannini said of the guy still third on Siena's all-time assist list, class of '87. "The only time he gets irritated with me is when I tell him how good he is offensively. He says, 'You know, John, we did hold people to 39 percent from the field on defense, too.' . . . He can coach the game."

This season, there are some talented offensive players to work with at La Salle. The Explorers have hit stride lately, now 10-5 overall and 4-1 in the A-10 going into Thursday's game with Davidson.

"There were some other things going on that were pretty cool but just not the right time and place, a little farther away," Brady said. "It would have been a little more challenging family-wise. This was the first one I felt really good about, in large part because of Coach G."

Sitting out entirely didn't interest him too much, either.

"You can be out of this business quick," Brady said. "That carousel spins, and if you don't have a job, you can be out of a job. So I felt really good about this whole thing."

Asked about how much responsibility Giannini has given him, Brady said, "I think a lot actually, particularly offensively. He leans on me in a lot of ways during practice. I wouldn't know this, but everybody has told me this, he's let me have the floor a lot during practice. I'm grateful for that."

Switching over one seat hasn't been hard, Brady said. There are a lot more responsibilities as a head coach. Brady talks about just trying to add value.

"He doesn't coach for attention or the trappings of a head coach," Giannini said. "He just loves the gym and loves teaching and loves the game."

"I think he knows I'm not going to overstep my bounds," Brady said. "I kind of know my place."

A good place by all accounts, for all concerned.

mjensen@phillynews.com

@jensenoffcampus