Musselman faces scrutiny
The Kings' struggles raise questions about the coach's job security.
By Sam Amick - Bee Staff Writer
Last Updated 12:18 am PST Wednesday, January 31, 2007
As if he needed a reminder of the tenuous nature of his position, there were two waiting on the road.
First came Monday's trip to Memphis, where Kings coach Eric Musselman returned to his last working locale to see Tony Barone instead of Mike Fratello coaching the Grizzlies. Fratello was fired in late December.
And tonight at Minnesota, Musselman will shake hands with another interim coach, Randy Wittman, who replaced Dwane Casey after he was fired Jan. 23 despite a better-than-expected 20-20 record. It's also the team that in 1991 fired Musselman's father, Bill, the first coach in Timberwolves history.
Yet as the Kings' season has slipped from promising to hopeful to desperate in the wake of a 17-26 record -- with only Memphis and Seattle below them in the Western Conference -- their first-year coach has avoided the same fate.
As for how secure his status is for the immediate future, Kings basketball president Geoff Petrie would go no further than to say Musselman is the coach of the moment.
"It's the same thing I told you with (former Kings coach) Rick (Adelman) and every other coach: They're our coach until they're not our coach," Petrie said. "He's our coach right now, and we're doing everything we can to help him. What else can you say?"
Asked whether Musselman had been told he would be the coach at least until the end of the season, Petrie would not directly answer.
"When we hired him, we told him we were looking at the longer term," he said. "So let's see what we can do."
When Musselman boarded a plane out of Memphis last May bound for Las Vegas, he had a plan to dazzle in the interview for the Kings' job. He did just that, signing a three-year deal worth approximately $7 million.
Musselman's latest trip out of Memphis came after a 124-117 loss that typified so many of his team's problems, among them shoddy defense (an opponent's season-high 58.6 percent shooting) and late struggles (they led by 10 points entering the fourth quarter).
With the latest loss coming against a Grizzlies team with a league-low 12 victories and no signs of progress, the question of Musselman's status is being raised earlier than expected.
The Kings have lost 11 of their last 14. They have fallen against some of the worst squads (New York, New Orleans, Memphis and twice to Portland) in that stretch and, of particular concern to Petrie, lost close games. They are 6-9 in games decided by five points or fewer and 0-4 in overtime games.
"To win games consistently, we're going to have to start playing with a little more precision at both ends of the court, especially when the game's on the line," Petrie said. "It still comes down to superior team play and being able to execute what you need to do, especially at the times of the game in which it's critical. It's frustrating. That's for sure."
With the preseason goals including a playoff berth, the Kings are 4 1/2 games out of the eighth and final spot shared by Minnesota and the Los Angeles Clippers.
"I don't think that, at this point, we expected this, to be where we are today," Petrie said. "People draw a lot of parallels a lot of times between sports and life, and one thing that is pretty true about both of those is that sometimes they're both full of rude awakenings."
http://www.sacbee.com/100/story/116319.html
The Kings' struggles raise questions about the coach's job security.
By Sam Amick - Bee Staff Writer
Last Updated 12:18 am PST Wednesday, January 31, 2007
As if he needed a reminder of the tenuous nature of his position, there were two waiting on the road.
First came Monday's trip to Memphis, where Kings coach Eric Musselman returned to his last working locale to see Tony Barone instead of Mike Fratello coaching the Grizzlies. Fratello was fired in late December.
And tonight at Minnesota, Musselman will shake hands with another interim coach, Randy Wittman, who replaced Dwane Casey after he was fired Jan. 23 despite a better-than-expected 20-20 record. It's also the team that in 1991 fired Musselman's father, Bill, the first coach in Timberwolves history.
Yet as the Kings' season has slipped from promising to hopeful to desperate in the wake of a 17-26 record -- with only Memphis and Seattle below them in the Western Conference -- their first-year coach has avoided the same fate.
As for how secure his status is for the immediate future, Kings basketball president Geoff Petrie would go no further than to say Musselman is the coach of the moment.
"It's the same thing I told you with (former Kings coach) Rick (Adelman) and every other coach: They're our coach until they're not our coach," Petrie said. "He's our coach right now, and we're doing everything we can to help him. What else can you say?"
Asked whether Musselman had been told he would be the coach at least until the end of the season, Petrie would not directly answer.
"When we hired him, we told him we were looking at the longer term," he said. "So let's see what we can do."
When Musselman boarded a plane out of Memphis last May bound for Las Vegas, he had a plan to dazzle in the interview for the Kings' job. He did just that, signing a three-year deal worth approximately $7 million.
Musselman's latest trip out of Memphis came after a 124-117 loss that typified so many of his team's problems, among them shoddy defense (an opponent's season-high 58.6 percent shooting) and late struggles (they led by 10 points entering the fourth quarter).
With the latest loss coming against a Grizzlies team with a league-low 12 victories and no signs of progress, the question of Musselman's status is being raised earlier than expected.
The Kings have lost 11 of their last 14. They have fallen against some of the worst squads (New York, New Orleans, Memphis and twice to Portland) in that stretch and, of particular concern to Petrie, lost close games. They are 6-9 in games decided by five points or fewer and 0-4 in overtime games.
"To win games consistently, we're going to have to start playing with a little more precision at both ends of the court, especially when the game's on the line," Petrie said. "It still comes down to superior team play and being able to execute what you need to do, especially at the times of the game in which it's critical. It's frustrating. That's for sure."
With the preseason goals including a playoff berth, the Kings are 4 1/2 games out of the eighth and final spot shared by Minnesota and the Los Angeles Clippers.
"I don't think that, at this point, we expected this, to be where we are today," Petrie said. "People draw a lot of parallels a lot of times between sports and life, and one thing that is pretty true about both of those is that sometimes they're both full of rude awakenings."
http://www.sacbee.com/100/story/116319.html
