Coaching Staff Finalized

[Fresno King]

http://www.nba.com/kings/news/kings_add_rex_kalamian.html

SACRAMENTO, CA, Wednesday, August 29, 2007 --- The The Sacramento Kings today added Rex Kalamian to their coaching staff as an assistant coach, it was announced by Kings' President of Basketball Operations Geoff Petrie.
"Rex brings a lot of experience to the job," said Petrie. "Reggie intervied a lot of people and felt he would be the best fit for the remaining vacancy on his staff. We all look forward to working with him and the contribution he can make."
Kalamian, who spent the past two seasons as an assistant coach with the Minnesota Timberwolves, enters his first season with the Kings and 15th year overall in the NBA. He served as an assistant coach for player development for the Denver Nuggets in 2004-05.
"I think Rex really does round out a very good coaching staff," explained Kings' Head Coach Reggie Theus. "I think it's as important to blend experience with personalities, and we have a good blend of both with this coaching staff. I'm very excited because I got to know Rex when he was working with the Clippers and I was doing television in Los Angeles. So there was some familiarity there with him."
Prior to joining the staff in Denver, Kalamian served as a West Coast scout for the Philadelphia 76ers in 2003-04. Additionally, he spent 11 seasons with the Los Angeles Clippers.
Kalamian began his career with the Clippers as an assistant to the scouting department in 1992 before being promoted to video coach in 1994. In addition to his many responsibilities on the bench, Kalamian prepared scouting reports on upcoming opponents for coaches and players, as well as breaking down individual player performance.
"I'm very excited," said Kalamian. "This is a first-class organization, from the ownership in the Maloofs to Geoff Petrie and on down. I think we have a strong coaching staff and a roster with a lot of talent. I'm excited about some of the established players here as well as the newer guys coming in. It should be an exciting year."
Prior to joining the Clippers, he was an assistant coach for his former team at East Los Angeles College for two seasons. Kalamian led the South Coast Conference in three-point field goal percentage during the 1988-89 season. He also was named First Team All-San Gabriel Valley in 1985 and 1986 while attending Mark Keppel High School in Alhambra, Calif.
Kalamian graduated from Cal Poly Pomona in 1993 with a bachelor’s degree in business management.

 

[Bricklayer]

So we skipped the wise old head assistant coach as well. We are like batting 1.000 this offseason.

 

[BRad1055]

I think this is the wise old assistant. The guy has been in coaching since what 92. That is old and wise to me lol.

 

[BigSong]

Rex who? i was under the impression that the old guy would of had some head coaching under his belt, not the video guy for the clips way back when. yeesh, where's Bubba.

 

[Bricklayer]

I think this is the wise old assistant. The guy has been in coaching since what 92. That is old and wise to me lol.

Check the resume -- far from being a head coach, this guy sounds like he's sumehow managed to get stalled at being get the doughnuts guy for 15 years.

Think as it turns out Kenny Natt is the closest thing we ever got to wise old head coach guy, and he has no head coach experience either. He's T.R. Dunn. Its amazing. This is Muss staff #2.

 

[pdxKingsFan]

This is Muss staff #2.

I'm not convinced its not worse at this point, but they certainly aren't learning their lessons from last season or sticking to their new stories along the way. At least my expectations are low so I don't have to worry about being disappointed unless Kenny Thomas and Brad Miller start every game.

 

[JoMama]

Reggie was on Grant's show this afternoon cooing sweet nothings about Rex and the rest of his coaching staff. He and Grant did say that Brad Miller was "working hard" this offseason and was embarrassed by his last season and a half. I'm hoping they meant Brad was lifting weights at regular intervals and was reporting to camp with some real bulk and not those flabby, pasty-white, mid-life arms.

 

[Bricklayer]

Reggie was on Grant's show this afternoon cooing sweet nothings about Rex and the rest of his coaching staff.

As was Muss last year.

Its exactly the same phenomena. Except that Muss actually had some NBA coaching experience himself, so you at least hoped he might be able to overcome the lack of it amongst his assistants. Reggie has some sitcom coaching experience though, so we're good.


Kenny Natt = T.R. Dunn -- 40-something longtime NBA 2nd tier assistant
Chuck Person = Scott Brooks -- younger NBA assistant/former player/wannanbe future head coach
Randy Brown = Brendan O'Connor
Rex Kalamian = Mark Hughes
Jason Hamm = Jason Hamm

 

[fnordius]

Kenny Natt = T.R. Dunn -- 40-something longtime NBA 2nd tier assistant
Chuck Person = Scott Brooks -- younger NBA assistant/wannanbe future head coach
Randy Brown = Brendan O'Connor
Rex Kalamian = Mark Hughes
Jason Hamm = Jason Hamm

Well, we're in great shape when it comes to video coaching. Rex is a former video coach, so is Jason Hamm, and Bubba Burrage has been promoted from video coordinator to advance scout/assistant coach. So we may suck, but you can be sure that it will be documented with top notch camera work.

 

[ParniValjak]

Yawn!

This off-season has been such a disappointment!

 

[HndsmCelt]

Yup another snore inspiring group of leaders. Of course I have never seen New Coach Guy as anything other than a stop gap assinment to give the apearance of "doing something" and bringing in a fan favorite rah-rah guy to keep butts in seats while the managment (such that it is) continues to keep an eye open for the right guy during this Pre-rebuild time. (It would apear that they are waiting untill Bibby's, Miller's, SAR's, KT's and Artest's contracts expire to do anything)

 

[Fresno King]

We have tons of potentual, all the team needed was a good coach. And Theus seems to be it...Unless I'm terribly wrong

I obviously hope you aren't terribly wrong!

 

[pdxKingsFan]

Am I the only one excited about the next season?

I guess it depends on what you mean by that. I'm excited about the season because I love basketball. But if "excited about the season" means that I expect this team to win more than 30 games then no, I'm not "excited".

 

[Circa_1985_Fan]

"I'm very excited," said Kalamian. "...and a roster with a lot of talent. I'm excited about some of the established players here as well as the newer guys coming in. It should be an exciting year."

Wow, what the heck is he watching? Us...talented and exciting this year??

 

[Fresno King]

Its amazing. This is Muss staff #2.

I politely disagree. This is far from Muss staff #2. Theus, Brown, Person and Natt all played in the league. Brown won championships. Person spent a lot of his career in the playoffs.

Coaches that played in the league = automatic respect from the players.

On Musselman's staff, only Dunn and Brooks played in the league.

I think since the head man (Theus) played in the NBA for so long, he gets a much higher level of respect than Musselman. That filters down to the assistants. I think players trust a head coach with NBA experience to make solid assistant coaching decisions. Combine Musselman's horrible personality with the fact he never played in the league, you get a train wreck. This is entirely different, and a much better situation. You've read the quotes from the players. They go something like this: "He played in the league. He knows what we go through. He's been through the battles." That's automatic respect. And the guys will trust Theis more to make the right decisions, during a game, and with bringing in a coaching staff that will get the job done.

 

[Unclebuck]

The idea that just because a guy is a former player and for that reason he'll get respect from his players - that might last a day or two into training camp, but if the guy cannot coach the players will lose respect within 48 hours.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not suggesting that Theus cannot coach, but if he can't then the players will lose respect whether he is a former player or not

 

[Kingster]

This is a very significant. Everybody, including Theus, said he needed an experienced assistant to help him with his coaching duties. Well, he failed in getting one. It's not good for the team, it may not be good for Theus's credibility next year as a coach, and it's definitely not good for helping Theus deflect some of the criticism that will invariably come from media and fans next year. So far, I've seen and heard some worrisome things from Theus - (1) not realizing Miller was a high post center, pure and simple, (2) talking a lot about running (that's Pitino's style), but seemingly ignoring the fact that he has a pretty slow team by NBA standards, (3) not appearing to even ask Miller how the foot was when he visited him (I guess that wasn't important enough to factor into his future plans), and this. On the bright side, he does talk tough, which I like. He does seem willing to not tolerate any player that doesn't play hard, which I like. And he hasn't seemed to defer too much to the vets, although he did make some comment about "it's their team," referring to Bibby and Artest. There's no way yet to know if the tough talk will be backed by tough action. We'll see..............

 

[bibbinator]

The beatings will continue until morale improves.

This has been a depressing TDOS, with little to look forward to when it is over. We don't even have the KG fantasy to float around anymore.

 

[VF21]

The idea that just because a guy is a former player and for that reason he'll get respect from his players - that might last a day or two into training camp, but if the guy cannot coach the players will lose respect within 48 hours.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not suggesting that Theus cannot coach, but if he can't then the players will lose respect whether he is a former player or not

Theus is already working with some of the players. If you don't know Reggie Theus, I expect the skepticism. Having followed his career throughout his time as a King and since, I fully expect Reggie to earn and keep the respect of the players on the team. And it won't be JUST because he was a player, but he will be able to draw on his experiences to be able to communicate successfully with the players.

As far as the Coachie-type guy we were expecting/hoping for, not hiring one doesn't mean they didn't look. It's a lot easier to talk about doing some things than it is to actually do them.