http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/story/14283656p-15091329c.html
Passion joined by perspective
New Kings coach Eric Musselman attempts to strike a balance
By Sam Amick -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 12:01 am PDT Sunday, July 30, 2006
"Defeat is worse than death, because you have to live with defeat." -- The late Bill Musselman
Eric Musselman is in relaxation mode, which is a good start in and of itself.
If his reputation precedes him -- and it does -- that's a gear many weren't sure he had, a shift from the persona of the 5-foot-7 fireball coach known for his fervor and sometimes friction-causing ways.
He is stretched out on a lounge chair, shirt off and smile on as he sunbathes poolside at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas earlier this month. Musselman's two sons, 10-year-old Michael and 5-year-old Matthew, play in the water with his new Kings coaching staff, the immediate family and the extended one getting along famously during this break from summer-league action.
"There's nothing like competing, but you've got to let it go when you've got to let it go," he said. "I think, as a competitor, everyone has different levels of will to win."
And by name alone, for those who don't know, the Musselman level is something altogether different.
"Defeat is worse than death, because you have to live with defeat" was a motivational message gone wrong, the outlook of Eric's late father, coach Bill Musselman, that hung inside the University of Minnesota men's locker room on a January night in 1972. That's when intensity went too far, when a bench-clearing brawl between his Gophers and Ohio State was perhaps the worst of its kind in college basketball history, and largely blamed on a man who was known as much for his legendary passion as he was for his five Continental Basketball Association titles.
But mostly, his approach produced wins, a 589-421 record in a 25-year career that included college, the CBA, American Basketball Association, Western Basketball Association and three-plus seasons as an NBA head coach in Cleveland and Minnesota.
The son also built his own name in the CBA, becoming the youngest head coach in the league's history at 23 en route to dominating the minor leagues and eventually earning NBA credentials.
"I don't know if I've ever seen anyone with the intensity of his father," said former coach Chuck Daly, whose Detroit Pistons teams won titles in 1989 and 1990 and who guided the Olympic gold-medal-winning Dream Team in 1992. "(The Musselmans) are a little bit like the Woods family -- Tiger was raised to be a golfer, and Eric was raised to be a coach."
The kid who grew up in Cleveland and Minnesota with a round-the-clock basketball influence is now 41, an NBA head coach for the second time two years after his firing at Golden State raised so many questions about his style.
"Maybe they (coaches) should never be fired. Maybe you should do a lot of research before you hire a guy, then you hire the right guy. And when things don't go well, you look somewhere other than him." -- Eric Musselman, San Francisco Chronicle, March 21, 2004.
They didn't look elsewhere.
In April 2004, the Warriors replaced the man who hired Musselman, promoting franchise hero Chris Mullin to the post formerly held by Garry St. Jean. And when the time came to consider the future that appeared so bright, they looked directly at the coach.
Musselman had gained his first head-coaching job after stops as an assistant in Minnesota, Orlando and Atlanta. He wowed Warriors owner Chris Cohan and chief operating officer Robert Rowell in the interview process, beating out finalists Brian Winters and Eddie Jordan on the same platform on which he became the Kings' coach -- passion and preparation.
In Year No. 1, Golden State improved by 17 games and Musselman was a runner-up in Coach of the Year voting to San Antonio's Gregg Popovich. All was well. Year 2 saw the Warriors' roster depleted by trades and free agency. Future All-Stars Gilbert Arenas and Antawn Jamison were gone, with veteran point guard Earl Boykins.
Still, the Warriors went 37-45, winning more games than they've won in the two individual seasons since as their playoff drought has been extended to 12 years.
"When you try to change the culture, it's not easy," Musselman said when he was introduced as the Kings' coach in June. "This culture here has been set up. It's a winning culture. I went into a situation (with the Warriors) where things had to change, and sometimes with change, there is resistance. You have to keep pushing, you have to keep prodding. I mean, if your son is a straight 'D' student for 10 years, you're not going to change him to a 'B' or 'C' student with a new teacher."
But while Musselman's tough tactics improved results on the floor, the locker-room flareups never helped his case. With so many players lost to free agency and trades, he lost some of the remaining talent in a much more dangerous way as his rotations and methods were questioned.
There were one-practice protests from Arenas and then-first-round draft pick Mike Dunleavy, and mysterious game absences from Danny Fortson for "personal reasons" or "the flu."
And there was, of course, center Erick Dampier referring to his coach as "Musselhead" to reporters after a loss to Minnesota in which the two argued over whether to double-team Kevin Garnett (Musselman challenged Dampier to handle the duty alone). There was a reported argument with Dunleavy, the Mullin favorite telling Musselman he was no fan of his coaching ways. It was also reported that Mullin wasn't fond of how Musselman used Dunleavy and, in the next season, rookie draft pick Mickael Pietrus. Mullin and Dunleavy could not be reached for comment.
Yet many players who once seemed to despise Musselman now swear by him, perhaps because of the lesser talked-about effect of his tenure. Arenas, Dampier and Jamison, among others, had some of their finest years under Musselman and landed huge contracts after leaving Golden State. Musselman was fired with one year left on his three-year contract.
"What happened at Golden State? He brought a team up, did what it took, and we won (17) more games than the year before with the same group," said Arenas, the two-time All-Star Washington guard. "That should speak for itself."
Arenas' first impression wasn't so flattering. On the first day of training camp, Musselman told him that Bobby Sura was going to be the opening-game starter. Musselman was, as Arenas learned, telling a white lie to motivate him into having a good camp.
"I was like, Uh, uh, not on my watch," Arenas said. "But he got me going. He reminds me of an Avery Johnson (Dallas) type of coach. He's fiery. He's going to push you. He's a player's coach, and you rarely find that in this league."
Months after Dampier's name-calling, he became the first player to invite Musselman to his house. With some Warriors teammates, they had a catfish dinner courtesy of Dampier's mother and sisters that showed Musselman the importance of player-coach bonding.
"That was a point in time where there was pressure, and I felt we should have won the (Minnesota) game," said Dampier, who is now with Dallas. "It was (said) just out of frustration. If I could go back and do it over, I never would've said that.
"Eric gave me the opportunity that no other coach has given me, the opportunity to show the real Erick Dampier. He's a player's coach, even though he's never played in this league."
Passion joined by perspective
New Kings coach Eric Musselman attempts to strike a balance
By Sam Amick -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 12:01 am PDT Sunday, July 30, 2006
"Defeat is worse than death, because you have to live with defeat." -- The late Bill Musselman
Eric Musselman is in relaxation mode, which is a good start in and of itself.
If his reputation precedes him -- and it does -- that's a gear many weren't sure he had, a shift from the persona of the 5-foot-7 fireball coach known for his fervor and sometimes friction-causing ways.
He is stretched out on a lounge chair, shirt off and smile on as he sunbathes poolside at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas earlier this month. Musselman's two sons, 10-year-old Michael and 5-year-old Matthew, play in the water with his new Kings coaching staff, the immediate family and the extended one getting along famously during this break from summer-league action.
"There's nothing like competing, but you've got to let it go when you've got to let it go," he said. "I think, as a competitor, everyone has different levels of will to win."
And by name alone, for those who don't know, the Musselman level is something altogether different.
"Defeat is worse than death, because you have to live with defeat" was a motivational message gone wrong, the outlook of Eric's late father, coach Bill Musselman, that hung inside the University of Minnesota men's locker room on a January night in 1972. That's when intensity went too far, when a bench-clearing brawl between his Gophers and Ohio State was perhaps the worst of its kind in college basketball history, and largely blamed on a man who was known as much for his legendary passion as he was for his five Continental Basketball Association titles.
But mostly, his approach produced wins, a 589-421 record in a 25-year career that included college, the CBA, American Basketball Association, Western Basketball Association and three-plus seasons as an NBA head coach in Cleveland and Minnesota.
The son also built his own name in the CBA, becoming the youngest head coach in the league's history at 23 en route to dominating the minor leagues and eventually earning NBA credentials.
"I don't know if I've ever seen anyone with the intensity of his father," said former coach Chuck Daly, whose Detroit Pistons teams won titles in 1989 and 1990 and who guided the Olympic gold-medal-winning Dream Team in 1992. "(The Musselmans) are a little bit like the Woods family -- Tiger was raised to be a golfer, and Eric was raised to be a coach."
The kid who grew up in Cleveland and Minnesota with a round-the-clock basketball influence is now 41, an NBA head coach for the second time two years after his firing at Golden State raised so many questions about his style.
"Maybe they (coaches) should never be fired. Maybe you should do a lot of research before you hire a guy, then you hire the right guy. And when things don't go well, you look somewhere other than him." -- Eric Musselman, San Francisco Chronicle, March 21, 2004.
They didn't look elsewhere.
In April 2004, the Warriors replaced the man who hired Musselman, promoting franchise hero Chris Mullin to the post formerly held by Garry St. Jean. And when the time came to consider the future that appeared so bright, they looked directly at the coach.
Musselman had gained his first head-coaching job after stops as an assistant in Minnesota, Orlando and Atlanta. He wowed Warriors owner Chris Cohan and chief operating officer Robert Rowell in the interview process, beating out finalists Brian Winters and Eddie Jordan on the same platform on which he became the Kings' coach -- passion and preparation.
In Year No. 1, Golden State improved by 17 games and Musselman was a runner-up in Coach of the Year voting to San Antonio's Gregg Popovich. All was well. Year 2 saw the Warriors' roster depleted by trades and free agency. Future All-Stars Gilbert Arenas and Antawn Jamison were gone, with veteran point guard Earl Boykins.
Still, the Warriors went 37-45, winning more games than they've won in the two individual seasons since as their playoff drought has been extended to 12 years.
"When you try to change the culture, it's not easy," Musselman said when he was introduced as the Kings' coach in June. "This culture here has been set up. It's a winning culture. I went into a situation (with the Warriors) where things had to change, and sometimes with change, there is resistance. You have to keep pushing, you have to keep prodding. I mean, if your son is a straight 'D' student for 10 years, you're not going to change him to a 'B' or 'C' student with a new teacher."
But while Musselman's tough tactics improved results on the floor, the locker-room flareups never helped his case. With so many players lost to free agency and trades, he lost some of the remaining talent in a much more dangerous way as his rotations and methods were questioned.
There were one-practice protests from Arenas and then-first-round draft pick Mike Dunleavy, and mysterious game absences from Danny Fortson for "personal reasons" or "the flu."
And there was, of course, center Erick Dampier referring to his coach as "Musselhead" to reporters after a loss to Minnesota in which the two argued over whether to double-team Kevin Garnett (Musselman challenged Dampier to handle the duty alone). There was a reported argument with Dunleavy, the Mullin favorite telling Musselman he was no fan of his coaching ways. It was also reported that Mullin wasn't fond of how Musselman used Dunleavy and, in the next season, rookie draft pick Mickael Pietrus. Mullin and Dunleavy could not be reached for comment.
Yet many players who once seemed to despise Musselman now swear by him, perhaps because of the lesser talked-about effect of his tenure. Arenas, Dampier and Jamison, among others, had some of their finest years under Musselman and landed huge contracts after leaving Golden State. Musselman was fired with one year left on his three-year contract.
"What happened at Golden State? He brought a team up, did what it took, and we won (17) more games than the year before with the same group," said Arenas, the two-time All-Star Washington guard. "That should speak for itself."
Arenas' first impression wasn't so flattering. On the first day of training camp, Musselman told him that Bobby Sura was going to be the opening-game starter. Musselman was, as Arenas learned, telling a white lie to motivate him into having a good camp.
"I was like, Uh, uh, not on my watch," Arenas said. "But he got me going. He reminds me of an Avery Johnson (Dallas) type of coach. He's fiery. He's going to push you. He's a player's coach, and you rarely find that in this league."
Months after Dampier's name-calling, he became the first player to invite Musselman to his house. With some Warriors teammates, they had a catfish dinner courtesy of Dampier's mother and sisters that showed Musselman the importance of player-coach bonding.
"That was a point in time where there was pressure, and I felt we should have won the (Minnesota) game," said Dampier, who is now with Dallas. "It was (said) just out of frustration. If I could go back and do it over, I never would've said that.
"Eric gave me the opportunity that no other coach has given me, the opportunity to show the real Erick Dampier. He's a player's coach, even though he's never played in this league."
