Musselman is the front runner, so says the bee!

Finally a little positive news, maybe the Maloofs hear all the negativness and came back to reality to see Whis may not be the one but maybe so who knows.
 
Would it be a fair assumption to say that if Musselman is hired theb Bonzi won't be back? Musselman was more than likely on Fratello's side seeing as he was brought back after the season was over. His relationship is probably pretty rocky with Bonzi. But maybe not, maybe they do have a good relationship. :confused:
 
Unclebuck said:
Kings fans should be beyond excited. If it is Mus, you will have the next great coach.

I'm not too happy, I wanted him coaching the Pacers.
at this point i think we're beyond happy if it's anyone but Whisenant.
 
shaka zulu said:
The negative on musselman is that he is not a Good players coach his x and o expertise is way ahead of his relations with players and his feel for the game. Mussleman can break down how defense is supposed to be played, he understands every offensive set, but he doesn't have too much feel for the game,sorta of like fratello and the little dude in new jersey.
rofl.gif



Anyway as long as it's not Whisenant I'm fine. Musselman sounds pretty good to me if he blew Geoff away in the interview IMO. I'd still like Elie but I doubt that happens.
 
This would be great, still would put Elie for #1, but I like Musselman well too. Plus, it would not be Whisenant and all the rumors would be for nothing. :)
 
I only hope this is how it unfolds.

Biggest downside, besides the obvious risk of not first being a "players coach", is that VF's virtually certain proclamation of Whis would turn out to be incorrect. ;)
 
I would prefer Elie, because Mussleman has butted heads with alot of the players on Golden State. But I think Mussleman would be much better than W.
 
VF Cred

I'm still sold on her credibility. I think she was right... for a long time. But things change... sometimes overnight, and that seems to be the case here.

With that said, this isn't over until I see the Maloofs, Petrie and a new head coach sitting in front of the Kings banner at a news conference at the practice facility.
 
I don't think there'd be problems with Bonzi/Musselman, I never read there being problems between them, plus it's been a year and a half since that garbage with Fratello/Bonzi that he didn't deserve. Musselman wasn't making the decision of the minutes.

Really though, you can't assume anything there because there isn't any evidence of it (from what I've gathered).
 
Grant just reported on 1140 that Musselman got called for a second interview and that the process seems to have "slowed" down for more introspection.
 
G_M said:
Grant just reported on 1140 that Musselman got called for a second interview and that the process seems to have "slowed" down for more introspection.


So wait what exactly does that mean? I hope we didn't jynx it!
 
Not to rain on the parade, but there are still assistant coaching vacancies to be filled. If this nightmare really comes all the way to fruition, could it be that they are now trying to sell Musselman on an assistant spot? Or am I being paranoid?:D
Maybe Musselmans Power Point presentation really blew them out of the water (mmm, graphics!) and they changed their mind.
 
SacKings384 said:
I would prefer Elie, because Mussleman has butted heads with alot of the players on Golden State. But I think Mussleman would be much better than W.

One counterargument is that we do not know that Elie wouldn't "butt heads" even more than Musselman. Being a coach is like being a parent, while being an assistant coach is like being a grandparent or uncle. Players normally love the assistant coaches, since they do not control the minutes or discipline players often, if at all. Being an assistant coach is very important for learning the intricacies of the NBA season, Xs and Os, and other similar lessons; however, it is not a very good indication of a person's ability to effectively manage player disagreements.

Example: Byron Scott - He was absolutely loved by the Kings players as an assistant. I can't ever remember a player saying anything bad about him. They all gave him great reviews. However, he was fired from his first position in New Jersey, because a he butted heads with a number of players, including Jason Kidd.
 
Here is an article I enjoyed reading about Musselman




http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/print?id=1514658&type=page2Story

Not another brick in the wall

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Charley Rosen
Page 2 columnist


"The most important part of any season in any sport is the first five minutes of the first practice session."
--Paul Brown, coach of the Cleveland Browns


Before taking over the Warriors, Eric Musselman learned his trade in the CBA.

Ever since rookie Golden State head coach Eric Musselman can remember, professional basketball was always his frame of reference. Instead of learning his ABC's, he was taught Xs and Os. Mathematics dealt with too small 2s, 4s playing the 5 spot, seven-footers, and the 50 series. His geography lessons emphasized places like San Diego, Richmond, Reno, Cleveland, Minneapolis, Tampa Bay, Rapid City and Rochester -- the various franchises in the various leagues in which his father coached. And his study of hoops history made him acutely aware of Roy Rubin's egregious faux pas.

"The first time I met with my team," says Musselman, "I only talked about defense. Not dress codes, or curfews, or fines, or what would and would not be allowed in the locker rooms. Just defense. I told them that 75 percent of what we'd do in training camp would be geared toward defense. It was a speech that I'd been preparing for about 25 years."

Eric's primary teacher and inspiration was his father, Bill, who coached a total of 11 seasons of college ball (Ashland and Minnesota), one each in the ABA and WBA, five in the CBA, and four in the NBA. "When I was in junior high school," Eric says, "I was a ball boy for whichever team my dad was coaching. Later, when he coached in Cleveland, I was in the locker room for his pregame, halftime and postgame talks. On weekends and holidays, I traveled with the Cavaliers on the road. By no means was I merely a fan or a casual observer. Basketball was my life."

Bill Musselman died of a heart attack just about two years ago, and never enjoyed the satisfaction of seeing his son become a head coach in the NBA. "I was hired by Golden State," says Eric, "because the team had so many young players. Chris Cohan, the owner, and Garry St. Jean, the general manager, wanted to hire a young coach so that the players and the coach could grow together. In every way, it's been a terrific opportunity for me, and I certainly appreciate how fortunate I am. Chris and Garry have also told me that they're not necessarily looking for a quick fix, but are more interested in getting good results three years from now."

While management's three-year plan greatly lessens the pressure on Musselman, the rookie coach also remembers one of his father's lessons: "Dad used to say that the results of every game are recorded in either one of two columns. The column on the left is always right, and the column on the right is always wrong."

Eric has also employed some of his father's unusual strategems to help fashion his own coaching style. "During every preseason game," says Eric, "I diagrammed a brand-new play during every timeout. This was to find out how quickly the players could pick up adjustments on the run. Also to force them to pay attention in the huddles. But by the time the regular season got started, I had run out of plays! This was something that never could have happened to my dad."

During training camp, Eric also exercised his CBA-inspired flexibility when he experimented with the Warriors' game plan: "Would we play up-tempo, or would we take the air out of the ball? It was a basic question. A matter of team identity. Eventually I decided that we had to run to win."


Musselman has had to deal with playing-time complaints, like those from Gilbert Arenas.

With his opening monologue a success, and his team's identity forged in preseason, Musselman faced another crisis when the Warriors lost six of their first seven games. To gain his players' respect, a rookie coach must demonstrate a highly competitive nature, as well as a firm focus and belief in his own strategies -- especially when the spit hits the fan. "Throughout that early stretch," says Musselman, "I never changed my approach. Shoot-arounds, game preparation, all of our daily routines remained constant. So far this season, we're the only team in the league that's had the same starting five for every single game."

Now that the season is in full-swing, and the Warriors are one of the NBA's surprise teams (having already accumulated three more wins than last season's total of 21), Musselman continues to incorporate several of his father's favorite ploys: "Just like my dad used to do, I add a new play for every team we play. 'Toronto,' or 'Houston,' or whatever. It's just another way to grab the players' attention. And if the play works, we'll keep it in our playbook. If it doesn't, we'll throw it out."

Musselman also makes sure to involve his assistant coaches. "We run stations in practice," he says, "and they're responsible for doing a lot of teaching. Again, this is something that my dad always promoted."


Musselman also listened to his father's advice for getting along with referees. While of the opinion that the NBA's refs do a "good job," Musselman estimates that their calls are only 75 percent accurate. (According to Ed Rush, the supervisor of officials, game tapes prove that refs are actually 93 percent accurate. But how to measure the calls they should make, but don't?) "Like my dad said, don't ride them unless you know they're wrong, and then ride them hard."

After being among the CBA's annual leaders in technical fouls, Eric has been tagged with only a pair this season. "Those two Ts had more to do with me and my team," says Musselman, "than with me and the refs. If one of my guys goes hard to the hoop and doesn't get any calls, then I've got to let my players know that I'm behind them. Actually, I don't have much to say to the refs, especially the veterans. And if some of them treat me like a rookie, well, I am a rookie."

The biggest adjustment between being an NBA assistant and head coach is the never-ending attention of the media. "Assistants are practically anonymous," says Musselman, "while head coaches are always in the spotlight. Here's another area where my CBA background has been helpful. Whether it's a sportswriter from Rockford, Illinois, or a TV journalist from Los Angeles, these people are good at what they do, so it's no use trying to trick them. At the same time, you have to step back, be careful how you phrase things, and avoid saying anything that's too revealing.

"What I try to do is to consciously cool myself down after a ballgame. To let my normal game-time emotionalism subside before I talk to the media. And I also make an effort to make myself available to everybody all of the time. Sure, it's a burden and it cuts into my private time, but it's also part of my job."

Over the course of the longest season in professional sports, Musselman is not afraid to take chances. "It was just before Christmas," he says, "when it became apparent that even though we were very athletic, we weren't moving the ball well enough. So after losing a tough ballgame in Sacramento, I decided to institute an open-motion passing game. This is basically an unstructured offense, which gives the players an unusual degree of freedom. I don't harp on when or from where their shots are taken, or even who takes them, so they get away with shots that other coaches wouldn't tolerate. There is a kicker in the deal, though, and it has to do with me and my coaching staff maintaining a very tight grip on everything that happens at the defensive end. So far, the players have accepted the responsibility without abusing it."

After a recent loss in Minnesota, however, Eric Dampier took exception to Musselman's game plan. Calling his coach "Mussel-head," Dampier mostly complained about his own lack of playing time. In recent weeks, Gilbert Arenas and Jason Richardson have voiced the same complaint. But coaches have to shrug off this kind of criticism, because it really isn't personal. The operative formula is simple: Less daylight eventually equals lower stats equals less salary, fewer endorsements and uglier girlfriends.

And Musselman remembers another pertinent anecdote from his CBA daze: Jeff Sanders, a center for the Albany Patrroons, was playing over 46 minutes per game. Nevertheless, Sanders moaned to the local media that his coach was "messing with my career" by not providing enough game-time. The moral is that players always want to play more than they're playing, and that they all have a bloated opinion of their own value.

Apportioning the available PT is a difficult juggling act for every NBA coach, yet Musselman can identify other problems that are specific to the Warriors. "We're one of the best offensive rebounding teams in the league," he notes, "and we usually let everybody go to the glass -- including our point guard, Gilbert Arenas. The problem for us is finding a balance between battling for second shots and getting back on defense. What I think I'm going to do is this: Continue to send the two big men. Keep whichever guard is farthest from the basket at home. And let the small forward read Arenas. If Arenas goes, then the small forward also rotates back. If Arenas decides to back off, then the small forward's free to attack the glass. We'll see how this works out."

Musselman has only a vague roadmap for his team. "In the past," he says, "almost every other team in the league circled their games against Golden State and counted them as sure wins. The Hawks were a bad team when I was an assistant in Atlanta, but we did the same thing. So the Warriors' most immediate goal is to gain the respect of the NBA's players, coaches, general managers, referees and media by always playing hard. Our next step is to consistently win at home. This means to beat the teams we're supposed to beat, and also beat a couple of teams that are supposed to be better than us. After that, we have to strive to play at least .500 ball on the road."

And what of Eric Musselman's personal goals? "When's our next game? That's as far into the future as I can look. It sounds like a cliché, but all cliches have the ring of truth in them."

Eric Musselman is determined to make the most of a difficult apprenticeship, and was fortunate to have had a loving, knowledgeable teacher. Yet despite his modest ambitions, the education of the junior half of the NBA's only father-son parley won't be truly complete until he earns a post-graduate postseason degree.

Charley Rosen, a former coach in the Continental Basketball Association, has been intimately involved with basketball for the better part of five decades -- as a writer, a player, a coach and a passionate fan. Rosen's books include "More Than a Game," "The Cockroach Basketball League," "The Wizard of Odds: How Jack Molinas Almost Destroyed the Game of Basketball," "Scandals of '51: How the Gamblers Almost Killed College Basketball" and "The House of Moses All-Stars: A Novel."
 
Well this is encouraging. At this point, I would be happy with anyone but Whisenant.

Musselman is probably the most experienced in terms of coaching out of the 3 candidates. He is a defensive minded coach who has a great basketball brain. The only problem is the alleged "temper" issues where he can lose his players. Elie is intriguing but his lack of head coaching experience at NBA level might be his short coming. If Elie was a family friend of the Maloofs he would probably be an odds on favourite.

As long we don't hire Whisenant, I would be happy. Of the 3, I would probably prefer Elie, then Musselman. Definetly don't want coach Whis.
 
Oh man this is great news!! Musselman is a underrated coach. He led the warriors to one of the best seasons in 30 years and also has a lot of coaching experience. Very confident coach and i think he could really succeed with this team.
 
wow22 said:
I heard rick adelman is available ..

Yeah, but they are looking for a "defensive" coach. Muss, hmmm, I don't know. I loved what he did in Golden State and he really got the rug pulled out from under him there. He also fits the criteria. I wouldn't mind it. I am actually pretty cool with any of the 3 remaining candidates, they are all defensive minded coaches.

As for Bonzi and Muss, as Kings113 said, I don't recall any bad blood between the two specifically.
 
Mussellman did not play arenas until the last 20 games of the rookie season, and he averaged 20 points during that stretch (my numbers might be wrong).
He was widely regarded as a veterans' coach on a young team, unwilling to play young guns.
He didnt preach defense first on the Warriors team - they were run and gun and crash boards through athleticism...
 
Yikes, if Rosen supports him, then I'm pretty sure we should not just as a matter of principle. ;)

Some negatives: it would be nice if he did something that wasn't because his dad did it or he learned it in the CBA. Also would be nice if he paid a little more attention when his team's biggest stars are complaining about minutes. Also note -- miutes were traditionally what set off Bonzi in the past.
 
Arenas wasn't a star yet, he was a second round pick who broke out in his second year which is why GS lost him (they couldn't exceed the cap to resign him). I don't think coaching a young team where the mindset is to grow the players as a team is the same as coming into a situation where the roles are largely defined and management is just looking for a change in direction. Golden State had a lot of players they invested high draft picks on at the time and they were trying to find where everyone fit in not make a serious playoff run.
 
wow22 said:
Mussellman did not play arenas until the last 20 games of the rookie season, and he averaged 20 points during that stretch (my numbers might be wrong).
He was widely regarded as a veterans' coach on a young team, unwilling to play young guns.
He didnt preach defense first on the Warriors team - they were run and gun and crash boards through athleticism...

Arenas was a rookie R2 pick, and they were trying to make a playoff run supposedly.

GS didn't have the personnel then to support his defensive-mind. We do and will.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=230212018

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=230311009
 
And now, it seems Musselman is going to be the "favored son" in the media. Jim Crandall just teased his upcoming sports segment on Fox40 with a video clip of Musselman and the voice over, "Do you know who this man is? If you're a Kings fan you might be getting to know him real well..."
 
VF21 said:
And now, it seems Musselman is going to be the "favored son" in the media. Jim Crandall just teased his upcoming sports segment on Fox40 with a video clip of Musselman and the voice over, "Do you know who this man is? If you're a Kings fan you might be getting to know him real well..."
Eric brings the best out of not only star players, but also your blue-collar types like no other. Look what he did for Brian Cardinal and Adonal Foyle...they got HUGE contracts right after Eric left...he brings out the 'overachiever' in his players.
 
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