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King's notes: Musselman's survey says Artest is coach's dream
By Joe Davidson - Bee Staff Writer
Published 12:00 am PDT Friday, October 13, 2006
DALLAS -- Eric Musselman is as thorough and detailed an NBA coach as you'll find. He'll study a player or a play right down to the last detail.
When he accepted the Kings' post this summer, Musselman used every resource handy to research Ron Artest the player and Ron Artest the personality. He came away all the more intrigued. No one had a bad thing to say.
With exhibition games underway and the season opener in Minnesota looming, Musselman suddenly finds himself steering the Ron-Ron bandwagon.
"After one week, he's one of my favorite players I've ever been around," Musselman said. "He practices harder than anyone I've been around. You cannot get him off the floor. He addressed the team before shootaround ended (Thursday).
"As far as a coach, you want a guy who can compete, and he does that. The other night he stayed after practice an hour and a half extra -- after we had done two-a-days. He loves to play the game. ... I love coaching him."
Musselman said he spoke at length this summer with coaching pal Mike Brown, the Cleveland Cavaliers' coach. Brown was an Indiana Pacers assistant when Artest was with that franchise.
"I asked Mike, 'If you're walking into this job, would you be excited about Ron?' And he said, 'Yes, Eric. You're going to love him, and you're going to get along with him well,' " Musselman said.
"We're off to as good a start a coach and a player can be. It's only seven days in. I'm not naïve to think that means the same thing will be said in April, but right now, he's been phenomenal."
Musselman surprised the forward last week by playing a track on his soon-to-be released rap CD at the end of practice.
Any evaluation on that tune, coach?
"I'm not a good judge of rap," Musselman said, laughing.
KT gets the nod -- Musselman explained the other day that it's not always wise to announce a starter too early when players are competing neck-and-neck.
He recalled his early days as coach of the the Golden State Warriors, when he named Bob Sura the starting point guard over Gilbert Arenas for a preseason opener. It was more to reward Sura for his years of NBA service, though the coach knew Arenas was the better prospect.
During the game-day shootaround, Sura got hurt, so Arenas wound up the starter.
"I learned my lesson," Musselman said, laughing.
Musselman started Kenny Thomas over Shareef Abdur-Rahim at power forward Thursday against Dallas -- and Thomas didn't get hurt. Thomas started alongside Artest, Brad Miller, Kevin Martin and Mike Bibby.
"Kenny had a really good training camp," Musselman said, adding that he'll still change the lineups. "We're not set in stone that's our starting lineup for opening night in Minnesota."
Said Thomas: "I felt like I had a good camp. I didn't shoot a lot of jump shots, but I did the stuff I needed to do like run the floor and rebound."
Abdur-Rahim said what matters most now "is winning."
http://www.sacbee.com/351/story/38945.html
By Joe Davidson - Bee Staff Writer
Published 12:00 am PDT Friday, October 13, 2006
DALLAS -- Eric Musselman is as thorough and detailed an NBA coach as you'll find. He'll study a player or a play right down to the last detail.
When he accepted the Kings' post this summer, Musselman used every resource handy to research Ron Artest the player and Ron Artest the personality. He came away all the more intrigued. No one had a bad thing to say.
With exhibition games underway and the season opener in Minnesota looming, Musselman suddenly finds himself steering the Ron-Ron bandwagon.
"After one week, he's one of my favorite players I've ever been around," Musselman said. "He practices harder than anyone I've been around. You cannot get him off the floor. He addressed the team before shootaround ended (Thursday).
"As far as a coach, you want a guy who can compete, and he does that. The other night he stayed after practice an hour and a half extra -- after we had done two-a-days. He loves to play the game. ... I love coaching him."
Musselman said he spoke at length this summer with coaching pal Mike Brown, the Cleveland Cavaliers' coach. Brown was an Indiana Pacers assistant when Artest was with that franchise.
"I asked Mike, 'If you're walking into this job, would you be excited about Ron?' And he said, 'Yes, Eric. You're going to love him, and you're going to get along with him well,' " Musselman said.
"We're off to as good a start a coach and a player can be. It's only seven days in. I'm not naïve to think that means the same thing will be said in April, but right now, he's been phenomenal."
Musselman surprised the forward last week by playing a track on his soon-to-be released rap CD at the end of practice.
Any evaluation on that tune, coach?
"I'm not a good judge of rap," Musselman said, laughing.
KT gets the nod -- Musselman explained the other day that it's not always wise to announce a starter too early when players are competing neck-and-neck.
He recalled his early days as coach of the the Golden State Warriors, when he named Bob Sura the starting point guard over Gilbert Arenas for a preseason opener. It was more to reward Sura for his years of NBA service, though the coach knew Arenas was the better prospect.
During the game-day shootaround, Sura got hurt, so Arenas wound up the starter.
"I learned my lesson," Musselman said, laughing.
Musselman started Kenny Thomas over Shareef Abdur-Rahim at power forward Thursday against Dallas -- and Thomas didn't get hurt. Thomas started alongside Artest, Brad Miller, Kevin Martin and Mike Bibby.
"Kenny had a really good training camp," Musselman said, adding that he'll still change the lineups. "We're not set in stone that's our starting lineup for opening night in Minnesota."
Said Thomas: "I felt like I had a good camp. I didn't shoot a lot of jump shots, but I did the stuff I needed to do like run the floor and rebound."
Abdur-Rahim said what matters most now "is winning."
http://www.sacbee.com/351/story/38945.html
