KingKong
Starter
BY TIM KAWAKAMI
San Jose Mercury News
Eric Musselman, former Golden State Warriors and new Sacramento Kings coach, sounds exactly the same and also 20 times better than he used to, and if you think that's impossible, well, just listen to him.
You want energy? Musselman, reached at his new office earlier this week, still hummed with the relentless, kinetic mojo that made him the Warriors' most talented fired coach since Don Nelson.
"I'm looking forward to any game right now," Musselman said when I asked if he's eager to coach against the Warriors next season, and I could literally hear crashes and slams from his end of the phone line as he said it.
You want maturity? Musselman readily acknowledged that he begins his new gig many levels wiser after his trouble-shooting and at-times testy two-season Warriors tenure (July 2002 through May 2004), when he was hired by Garry St. Jean then eventually dismissed by Chris Mullin.
There were complicated political lessons to be learned from his time in Warriorland, for both the young coach and the dizzy franchise, beyond Musselman's 75-89 record.
Though the Warriors obviously remain dazed under Musselman's replacement, Mike Montgomery (68-96 in two seasons), I think Musselman is prepared to do bounteous things in Sacramento.
Learned Lesson No. 1: Spend more time connecting with your players, which will yield long-term benefits as opposed to the cold war he lost to Mike Dunleavy, Jason Richardson and Troy Murphy.
Musselman agrees that he obsessed on X's and O's and mental discipline in his first NBA job, didn't build bridges to Mullin's favored trio, and it cost him.
"The last few days I've looked back and analyzed who I've been close to post-Warriors," Musselman said, mentioning Gilbert Arenas, Earl Boykins, Speedy Claxton, Brian Cardinal and Erick Dampier from his Warriors days.
"When I got this job, those guys all called or sent congratulations. That made me think: Why was I close to those guys? What was the bond I had with them? It was probably because I reached out to all of them, somehow, early on. You know, for Gilbert I got to know his dad....It was different things . . .
"And now, with this job, I'm trying to reach out to the guys and make sure I can develop those kinds of bonds. They're important."
It's no coincidence, I might add, that everyone on Musselman's list quickly became an ex-Warrior and that Dunleavy, Murphy and Richardson, at least for a few more weeks, remain major Warriors pieces.
Musselman said he expects no major crisis with perennial problem child Ron Artest, whose win-or-go-nuts mindset is hardly new to Musselman.
"I can't wait to coach him," Musselman said. "The guys that really compete and are hard-nosed guys, I've always formed a pretty good bond with. Look at Gilbert: If I can be on the same wavelength as him, in a competitive way, I think I'll be in pretty good shape with Ron."
Learned Lesson No. 2: Don't agitate the rising new power, which is exactly what Musselman did as Warriors coach when he suggested to Mullin that Mullin's intense pre-practice personal workouts with Murphy and Dunleavy, among others, were disrupting Musselman's own instructions and drills.
Hiring Musselman was one of St. Jean's last major decisions as general manager; meanwhile, Mullin was being groomed for the top spot and Musselman wasn't sure what to think and to whom to direct his loyalty.
"I think that he did a great job working them out," Musselman said of Mullin, "so any idea that I didn't want him working with them, that's completely false.
"Now, because he was so good working with them, was there a time that maybe I felt some guys would be better off working with him after practice rather than before? Yes, that is true."
Musselman certainly doesn't have those kinds of problems in Sacramento, where Geoff Petrie hired him with strong backing from the Maloof family.
"I really feel a bond already," Musselman said of his relationship with Petrie. "We flew to Orlando" for last week's pre-draft camp, "and we're changing seats so we can sit together. And we did the same thing on the way back."
In Orlando, Musselman said he made sure to tell Mullin "there were no hard feelings," and added that he understands the decision Mullin had to make.
"You know, Saint was my GM," Musselman said. "And Chris was in the office. I think a lot of people expected that he would be the general manager, that he was being groomed for that job. But the guy I worked under was Saint.
"When Mully took over, we all knew that new management was going to choose his own guy . . . .I wouldn't want to get to Sacramento, then not be able to hire my own staff. That's just like a G.M. being able to hire his own coach."
But Mullin followed up Musselman with Montgomery and two more losing seasons. Musselman followed up the Warriors with assistant stints in Orlando and Memphis, then by landing with the Kings, where, I'm guessing, he will be exactly the same as he was.
And better than ever. Can the Warriors say the same thing in his absence?
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/sports/14811166.htm
San Jose Mercury News
Eric Musselman, former Golden State Warriors and new Sacramento Kings coach, sounds exactly the same and also 20 times better than he used to, and if you think that's impossible, well, just listen to him.
You want energy? Musselman, reached at his new office earlier this week, still hummed with the relentless, kinetic mojo that made him the Warriors' most talented fired coach since Don Nelson.
"I'm looking forward to any game right now," Musselman said when I asked if he's eager to coach against the Warriors next season, and I could literally hear crashes and slams from his end of the phone line as he said it.
You want maturity? Musselman readily acknowledged that he begins his new gig many levels wiser after his trouble-shooting and at-times testy two-season Warriors tenure (July 2002 through May 2004), when he was hired by Garry St. Jean then eventually dismissed by Chris Mullin.
There were complicated political lessons to be learned from his time in Warriorland, for both the young coach and the dizzy franchise, beyond Musselman's 75-89 record.
Though the Warriors obviously remain dazed under Musselman's replacement, Mike Montgomery (68-96 in two seasons), I think Musselman is prepared to do bounteous things in Sacramento.
Learned Lesson No. 1: Spend more time connecting with your players, which will yield long-term benefits as opposed to the cold war he lost to Mike Dunleavy, Jason Richardson and Troy Murphy.
Musselman agrees that he obsessed on X's and O's and mental discipline in his first NBA job, didn't build bridges to Mullin's favored trio, and it cost him.
"The last few days I've looked back and analyzed who I've been close to post-Warriors," Musselman said, mentioning Gilbert Arenas, Earl Boykins, Speedy Claxton, Brian Cardinal and Erick Dampier from his Warriors days.
"When I got this job, those guys all called or sent congratulations. That made me think: Why was I close to those guys? What was the bond I had with them? It was probably because I reached out to all of them, somehow, early on. You know, for Gilbert I got to know his dad....It was different things . . .
"And now, with this job, I'm trying to reach out to the guys and make sure I can develop those kinds of bonds. They're important."
It's no coincidence, I might add, that everyone on Musselman's list quickly became an ex-Warrior and that Dunleavy, Murphy and Richardson, at least for a few more weeks, remain major Warriors pieces.
Musselman said he expects no major crisis with perennial problem child Ron Artest, whose win-or-go-nuts mindset is hardly new to Musselman.
"I can't wait to coach him," Musselman said. "The guys that really compete and are hard-nosed guys, I've always formed a pretty good bond with. Look at Gilbert: If I can be on the same wavelength as him, in a competitive way, I think I'll be in pretty good shape with Ron."
Learned Lesson No. 2: Don't agitate the rising new power, which is exactly what Musselman did as Warriors coach when he suggested to Mullin that Mullin's intense pre-practice personal workouts with Murphy and Dunleavy, among others, were disrupting Musselman's own instructions and drills.
Hiring Musselman was one of St. Jean's last major decisions as general manager; meanwhile, Mullin was being groomed for the top spot and Musselman wasn't sure what to think and to whom to direct his loyalty.
"I think that he did a great job working them out," Musselman said of Mullin, "so any idea that I didn't want him working with them, that's completely false.
"Now, because he was so good working with them, was there a time that maybe I felt some guys would be better off working with him after practice rather than before? Yes, that is true."
Musselman certainly doesn't have those kinds of problems in Sacramento, where Geoff Petrie hired him with strong backing from the Maloof family.
"I really feel a bond already," Musselman said of his relationship with Petrie. "We flew to Orlando" for last week's pre-draft camp, "and we're changing seats so we can sit together. And we did the same thing on the way back."
In Orlando, Musselman said he made sure to tell Mullin "there were no hard feelings," and added that he understands the decision Mullin had to make.
"You know, Saint was my GM," Musselman said. "And Chris was in the office. I think a lot of people expected that he would be the general manager, that he was being groomed for that job. But the guy I worked under was Saint.
"When Mully took over, we all knew that new management was going to choose his own guy . . . .I wouldn't want to get to Sacramento, then not be able to hire my own staff. That's just like a G.M. being able to hire his own coach."
But Mullin followed up Musselman with Montgomery and two more losing seasons. Musselman followed up the Warriors with assistant stints in Orlando and Memphis, then by landing with the Kings, where, I'm guessing, he will be exactly the same as he was.
And better than ever. Can the Warriors say the same thing in his absence?
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/sports/14811166.htm
