<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Eric Musselman, former Golden State Warriors and new Sacramento Kings coach, sounds exactly the same and also 20 times better than he used to, and if you think that's impossible, well, just listen to him. You want energy? Musselman, reached at his new office earlier this week, still hummed with the relentless, kinetic mojo that made him the Warriors' most talented fired coach since Don Nelson. "I'm looking forward to any game right now," Musselman said when I asked if he's eager to coach against the Warriors next season, and I could literally hear crashes and slams from his end of the phone line as he said it. You want maturity? Musselman readily acknowledged that he begins his new gig many levels wiser after his trouble-shooting and at-times testy two-season Warriors tenure (July 2002 through May 2004), when he was hired by Garry St. Jean then eventually dismissed by Chris Mullin. There were complicated political lessons to be learned from his time in Warriorland, for both the young coach and the dizzy franchise, beyond Musselman's 75-89 record. Though the Warriors obviously remain dazed under Musselman's replacement, Mike Montgomery (68-96 in two seasons), I think Musselman is prepared to do bounteous things in Sacramento. Learned Lesson No. 1: Spend more time connecting with your players, which will yield long-term benefits as opposed to the cold war he lost to Mike Dunleavy, Jason Richardson and Troy Murphy. Musselman agrees that he obsessed on X's and O's and mental discipline in his first NBA job, didn't build bridges to Mullin's favored trio, and it cost him. "The last few days I've looked back and analyzed who I've been close to post-Warriors," Musselman said, mentioning Gilbert Arenas, Earl Boykins, Speedy Claxton, Brian Cardinal and Erick Dampier from his Warriors days. more... </div> http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctime...rs/14811166.htm
I'm glad Muss spoke out. He actually did have a system of x's and o's, but he didn't use it because the rookie-arse players at the time didn't want to play it or they didn't understand it. That's bullcrap by our players and unacceptable. All this idiot stuff the players don't want to buckle down on like set plays, defense, and the like is what got the Warriors killed, not the coaches. I blame the players for that. 4th quarter meltdowns, guys not moving their feet and waiting around, guys not calling out plays or following the plays. I've played organized basketball on a fairly low level, but c'mon even I know and everyone knows a team is going to lose if they don't get organized and start finding ways to win together, rather than just trying to pad their stats and make up plays as they go along and then not play defense. Plus, losing Dampier + Clif Robinson as center and power forward was the icing on the cake especially when bringing in a rookie coach used to having smart big men that can catch and score near the rim. We got this bozo Foyle who can't even catch and can't score to keep opposing defenses honest and we got a outside shooting power forward who cannot defend a lick to stop guys from entering the paint. Even as a perimeter defender you can't stay in front of everyone, but freakin' Murphy never even bothers to wrap a guy up or challenge a shot. Nobody is afraid of our interior presence. Sorry to bring this up for the millionth time, but I was wrong for ever scapegoating coaches in the past. It's these players that are assembled and their pure lack of fundamentals and approach to the game. Sure they are talented in some ways individually, but not the kind that wins together as a team. They have to learn set plays and find some playmakers and big guys that will carry it out and not be such blackholes when they receive the ball... Can't have guys that don't dribble the ball, can't shoot, or they only pass once and then take the shot because their mind can't process the available options on the floor to make the extra pass to. Murphy's "What Offense?" indeed. Learn the fundamentals of the team game, Warriors.
It's up to the coaches to get teams ready to play and to play with desire though, I keep bringing up if Avery Johnson was our coach, don't you think we'd have a much, much better record? I'm not only faulting Monty, he's a good coach, but in the NBA you can't just be a good coach, you need to command respect from your players and get the most out of them. It just never seems like Monty has never had the players back, I can't stand the fact that at times when the refs were bending us over and shoving it in that Monty rarely got T'd up, and it was never at the right time. Muss came in confident, changed the culture, made Damp, Gil, Cardinal and Boykins a ton of cash, but he hit his peak, just like Skiles in Phoenix, those kind of guys really help at first, but then kinda drain the whole organization. Monty came in overwhelmed and hasn't gotten over it, plus there seems to be no accountability on the team by anyone. I'm just glad we didn't lose Mario, because he'll command respect and demand more from players. It's all about desire and the players just don't seem to play hard enough or do the things necessary to win, it just seems like they are content making a lot of money, living in a great area and just showing up.
