Seriously! Like 10 years ago! It's amazing that NBA teams just re-hire and re-hire the same guys over and over, and wonder why they don't go anywhere.
I get the two mixed up all the time (not being sarcastic). The only way I figured out which was the new coach was by googling the name. I thought it was Westhead.
Paul Westphal played for Phoenix for like, forever, didn't he? Edit: No, he didn't, but he was a coach there forever under Cotton Fitzsimmons, and also head coach for a while.
The Kings should play a pretty entertaining brand of ball now. All offense, no defense whatsoever. Still a loser though.
Well, Westphal should bond with Spencer Hawes. Wonder if he'll bring in Rush Limbaugh as a motivational speaker, like he did with the Suns. Wow - I heard Petrie liked to bring in "pet" coaches, but this is surprising. Westphal looked REALLY bad when he tried coaching the Sonics. He should be out of the league. The only reason to hire him is because he'll do exactly what Petrie wants.
I met Paul a couple years ago. His son plays in the Entertainment League. He was a nice guy. I'll always remember him for his quote after the Suns went down 0-2 to the Lakers in the first round in 1993: “The next game is over there Tuesday. We’re going to win that,” Westphal said. “Then the next one is Thursday. We’ll win there, too. Then we’re going to come home next Sunday and win that one, and everyone will say what a great series it was.”
The dude's got a career coaching record of 267-159 and a playoffs record of 27-22. He never had a sub-.500 record in any season that he finished. He definitely deserved another chance in the NBA. Ed O.