I have to say I loved the guy. A lot of people bag on him, but I do not think the Warriors would have had these 2 good seasons without him. Face it fellas, he is not a Phil Jackson or Larry Brown, but we could do A LOT worse! The Warriors instantly became a respectable team when Mussleman took over. Granted, some of the debocles recently have shaken my confidence in him. 2 points in a fourth quarter is all on the players, but why did he not put in someone who could score more like Cardinal. He is a perfect player to halt a scoreless run with his ability to draw a foul. So my vote is I give Muss a 3.5/5. 1 being a sub 20 win season and 5 being NBA championship.
I would probably give him a 3. I have liked him from the beginning but I do disagree with a lot of his decisions. Lets face it, the Warriors have been injured all season and you can't blame the coach for this. On the other hand, they are still a very good team IMO and he does not get the most out of the players he does have. I believe this team should atleast be at .500, even with these injuries. They have been in many games but have lost due to poor half court offense and poor personel decisions. I'm not giving up on him yet. He wants to win and works hard at it, I'll give him his props for that.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Rudeezy:</div><div class="quote_post">I would probably give him a 3. I have liked him from the beginning but I do disagree with a lot of his decisions. Lets face it, the Warriors have been injured all season and you can't blame the coach for this. On the other hand, they are still a very good team IMO and he does not get the most out of the players he does have. I believe this team should atleast be at .500, even with these injuries. They have been in many games but have lost due to poor half court offense and poor personel decisions. I'm not giving up on him yet. He wants to win and works hard at it, I'll give him his props for that.</div> Yes. I also think he sticks with his vets, sometimes too much. I mean, how long will he be satisfied with Dunleavy's weak play when Cardinal is playing like a MONSTER! Has he finally realized that Speedy is a pretty good point guard and has strung along a more than a few good games. He evidentally is not a fluke. NVE is too old to be starting. I was disgusted when I watched the Warriors play in Denver last game and NVE was just pounding the ball down low but could not score on 4'9" Boykins. It did not work the last 5 TIMES DOWN THE COURT! Why would it work now? The offense just went stagnant. NVE needs to come in mid way through the 4th quarter and push the ball to his teammates. When they dont do anything, go ahead and take your lefty floater, or your open 3 pointer.
When NVE is in the game the Warriors just stand around and wait for him to do something "spectaculor". When Claxton is in the game people are moving w/o the ball and are trying to run the offense. This is why I like to see Nick and Claxton both in at the same time. Claxton can get us into our offense and Nick can look for his shot and not at the expense of the other players.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Rudeezy:</div><div class="quote_post">When NVE is in the game the Warriors just stand around and wait for him to do something "spectaculor". When Claxton is in the game people are moving w/o the ball and are trying to run the offense. This is why I like to see Nick and Claxton both in at the same time. Claxton can get us into our offense and Nick can look for his shot and not at the expense of the other players.</div> Good point. I think the Warriors have tried that in the past and I believe it worked out pretty well a few times. Small ball, heh.
The thing I don't like about Musselman is there are no plays written for players that they readily use. If they say Calbert Cheaney is so hot with his mid-range jumper why not set a play that would allow him to be set and isolated from his man? Or what about Jrich on that one 20 foot spot he likes to take the ball to? Or what about Dunleavy/Robinson 3 pointer from the baseline. Also I hate the fact that too much of the play late in the 4th is centered around Cliff Robinson being the big man in the middle. It should be Dampier or Foyle or somebody that can rebound the ball and get extra posessions and provide a low post game and draw double teams. Then finally, it has to be either Robinson or Cardinal in the game. Robinson I don't want taking the shot unless he's wide open and Cardinal just overpasses the ball. I think Cardinal scoring 30 points last night should be an automatic green light to shoot the damn thing. He's afraid to miss because he doesn't want to lose his job or something. I mean tear up his contract and make him sign a new multimillion one if that's what he's worried about.
After watching the Warriors go through the Carlisimo/Twardzik era, then the St. Jean/Cowens era, Musselman is a godsend. Did anybody see what the Warriors did last year with that squad? It was one of the best coaching jobs I have seen in the past 30 years. Somehow, he got Jamison to play hard, Dampier to play hard, Arenas to pass a little (anybody remember him now?) and Boykins to dominate the 4th quarter. The Warriors have got to lock this guy up long term and commit to him to show the players that Musselman is not going anywhere. Unfortunately, there are grumblings that Mullin wants his own man. I love Mully but getting rid of Musselman is wrong. The only guys I'd rather have right now are Jackson and Nellie, yes Nellie. Please Mully, keep Muss.
That was last year though with an entirely different team. This is why I don't like Musselman. 1.) He has no answer if his open offense isn't working and refuses to change the matchups if it isn't working. (This has contributed in several close losses that should have been wins easily. This may be debatable to some). 2.) He made excuses about player fatigue in the Toronto Game and he covers up the fact he has no game plan in the 4th. A predictable open offensive of cutting and passing won't cut it. Going perimeter all the time won't cut it. 3.) He leaves out Dampier (our "all-star") even when he has fewer than 4 fouls out of the game when we need putbacks, rebounding and defense. He is also one of the team's best post defenders and also prevents anyone from driving down the lane. Also when Dampier is in foul trouble he doesn't go with Foyle who can block shots and rebound. Cliff Robinson is not a center! 4.) He continues to put in injured veterans like Calbert Cheaney or Nick Van Exel when Pietrus or Claxton could be easily more effective on the defensive and scoring end. 5.) Anytime the warriors go against a smaller ball club, they go small as well. Which is easier? Going perimeter all the time or getting your big guys open for a close range bucket? 6.) He left out Dunleavy, Cardinal (when they had hot hands) on several occasions out of the 4th in favor of Calbert Cheaney who is absolutely lousy. And continued to go with Cheaney despite his forcing midrange shots and not getting the rest of the offensive involved! 7.) He is lousy at coaching against the zone. Only because of NVE's injury was Musselman forced to use Claxton who is able to attack the zone and get to the line (Even though I am annoyed with some of his turnovers and over-dribbling at least he pushes the ball/plays defense, regains posessions, even blocks other guards). 8.) Musselman is only respected now for past accomplishments. He has a deep bench this year which has saved the warriors in the midst of all their injuries and he doesn't used it to win games. I'm betting any other coach in the western division would have closed out the games with this warriors bench and he couldn't because he is too damn stubborn.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting custodianrules2:</div><div class="quote_post">That was last year though with an entirely different team. This is why I don't like Musselman. 8.) Musselman is only respected now for past accomplishments. He has a deep bench this year which has saved the warriors in the midst of all their injuries and he doesn't used it to win games. </div> This is about the only thing I did not agree with you on. And here is why. If you are going to say that this team is so deep and that is why they are this good. I will counter that argument with this team is deep, but there is no real star on this team and that is why they are not better than they are right now. Granted, they should have won about 5-6 games that were blown, or could have come out with, but Mussleman does not have much to work with here. If you look at just about every team in the West that has a better record than the Warriors, they have at least 1 star. If we just had one star, or if our "stars" (Jrich, Dunleavy, NVE) would play the way they should we would be alot better than we are right now. If you notice, when JRich is hot the Warriors win.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Warriorfansnc93:</div><div class="quote_post">This is about the only thing I did not agree with you on. And here is why. If you are going to say that this team is so deep and that is why they are this good. I will counter that argument with this team is deep, but there is no real star on this team and that is why they are not better than they are right now. Granted, they should have won about 5-6 games that were blown, or could have come out with, but Mussleman does not have much to work with here. If you look at just about every team in the West that has a better record than the Warriors, they have at least 1 star. If we just had one star, or if our "stars" (Jrich, Dunleavy, NVE) would play the way they should we would be alot better than we are right now. If you notice, when JRich is hot the Warriors win.</div> If you're talking about stars and go to guys, why does Musselman leave out the guys he praises most for his toughness in the middle? Also, even if we don't have a true nba star, you have to put the guys that make everyone else around them better in the game. Guys like Dampier (gets offensive boards/ gets defensive boards/blocks shots, posts up, is a decent free thrower if he puts his mind to it, can score some) Guys like Cardinal (passes well, grabs loose balls, keeps opposting defense honest by sinking shots, drives a little, is a good passer, gets you to the line) Speedy Claxton (pushes the ball and collapses the zone, pressures the ballhandler, gets steals and forces turnovers, gets to the foul line, creates for others using his speed) Those above guys have the best consistency for what they do well every game and I've been watching. I like Crob but they need to make a choice who is hot as a guard: Dunleavy, Jrich, or Cheaney? You pick any two of the three on the floor with Cardinal and Robinson as the front court, NOBODY REBOUNDS. And Cardinal is not a good one on one defender or a post defender, but he does one thing well that can turn the tide of the game. Anticipate and TAKE CHARGES. The refs are starting to give him the benefit of the doubt more recently. Probably because he's talked about more.
