Okay fellas, place your bets... Now that the Spurs are out of the playoffs, how long do you think it will be before Mullin announces Elie as the new head coach of your Golden State Warriors? Mullin knows there is rampant speculation about the head coaching position, so there is no reason for him to keep quiet if he intended to keep Mussleman as the coach. My guess is that by Monday or Tuesday Mullin will announce Musselman's firing and give his short list of coaches, and they should have a new head coach by the end of the month.
I am fine about his just as long as it doesn't piss off the players. We keep Richardson, Dunleavy, Pietrus, and Claxton happy I"ll be fine. And we need to stick with the veteran leadership like Cliff Robinson and Nick Van Exel. Now i'm not a Dunleavy fan yet, but I think if he can bulk up and learn to stay in front of his man, and use his long arms he should be fine defensively. The problem is he gets knocked around like a ragdoll, he's not incredibly fast nor athletic, and he has to anticipate better when he's reaching in for the ball. Plus he needs to knock down those wide open shots more consistently like he was doing when his 3 point shooting was over 40 percent for a while and at the beginning of the season. He can be like Peja in terms of shooting with the courtvision of Andre Miller and better ballhandling than Antoine Walker (who is supposed to be a point forward) I think with Dunleavy's rebounding ability he should be a power forward but he's too skinny and not defensive enough. If he can get to 250 or 245 his post game will be something against smaller forwards.
Elie? Why don't the Warriors go with a coach who has had some coaching experience instead of these newcomers?
I believe it would be important for the Warriors to keep Musselman if they want to have the most success. If Dampier and/or Foyle leave, the team will be losing a lot, especially on defense. And unless if some miracles happen to the Warriors in the draft or by somehow getting a decent fill in for those two from free agency, it's hard to say that they will be very good talent-wise. This makes it even more crucial for Musselman to come back for several reasons. One he always seems to have very good team chemistry when he has been the head coach, Speedy Claxton said last year's locker room was very close to how good it was in San Antonio. And when you can't over-talent teams, chemistry is important. Another thing is that he gets his teams playing hard every game, which is even more important for teams that don't have the most talent as well. Also most of the current roster understands Musselman's coaching styles and it would finally give the Warriors the ability to start off the season playing well, instead of getting a new coach or a new roster every year which puts this team in a big hole quickly. And if Dampier does leave and there is not a player that could really fill in, I think Pietrus would be the better option to start over Dunleavy. If Dunleavy starts, then there would be too many defensive liabilities on the court-Dun, Murphy, JRich(Even though he's getting better), and possibly the center position-, especially when you don't have a Dampier behind you guarding the hoop. And I hope that the Warriors make a decision very soon now. Not only for the Warriors but for Musselman as well. But who knows, maybe i'm wrong and Elie or Higgins will pull off a Terry Porter.
I don't think there is a coach who could have gotten more wins out of the Warriors the last two years than Musselman. And I love how he gets the team to play hard every night, even late in the season. But for a team to go anywhere, there needs to be a solid foundation and that starts with the relationship between the GM and coach. If the players know the GM doesn't have the coach's back, then the coach has no authority with the players. If Mullin gives Musselman a vote of confidence and they start working together great. If Mullin doesn't have Musselman's back and Musselman doesn't play the guys Mullin wants him to (Murphy and Dunleavy) you're just asking for problems. The most important thing is that the Warriors have a owner who trusts his GM (which they now have) and a GM who works with his coach. If Mullin can't work with his coach, I don't care how good of a coach Musselman is, that situation just isn't going to work and its best for Mullin to go out and find a new coach.
Good point, wtwalker77. I'm still getting conflicting reports of how many coaching candidates there are. So far it looks like Elie or Higgins.
