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Ailene Voisin: The next move is all up to Petrie
By Ailene Voisin - Bee Columnist
Last Updated 12:13 am PDT Saturday, April 21, 2007
The right coach for the Kings? For the community that bleeds purple -- and needs a new arena?
Now we get to study Geoff Petrie's abilities with the paintbrush. The answer is all in the stroke, in whether the Kings' basketball president favors the sweeping, vivid expressiveness of a Van Gogh, or the more measured, subdued approach of a Vermeer.
Does he pursue Larry Brown or Lon Kruger?
But the job's on him, the job all his. Unlike a year ago, when Petrie hurriedly presented Eric Musselman as the compromise candidate to John Whisenant -- the then-Monarchs coach and personal favorite of the Maloofs -- he can proceed without the pressure of the ticking clock. He can compile his list during his upcoming two-week scouting trip to Europe, and upon his return, conduct so many interviews that he loses the hearing in his good ear. He can contact sources within the college ranks and the league -- and preferably look beyond his familiar Portland zip code -- and engage in the due diligence that was so lacking in the process that produced the overwhelmed Musselman.
He can be thorough and still be daring.
He can be diligent and still be bold.
But he needs to hit the lotto this time.
Brown is out there. Billy Donovan has been abandoned by his three stars in Florida. Reggie Theus remains intrigued by the NBA and his all-grown-up stomping grounds. Scotty Brooks, Brian Shaw, Kurt Rambis, Marc Iavaroni and any number of current assistants covet their first head-coaching opportunity. And if the league adheres to its annual offseason tradition of hirings and firings, at least one or more playoff-bound head coach will be seeking employment within the next few months.
"Choosing a coach is probably the hardest thing to do," Petrie acknowledged, thoughtfully. "With few exceptions, it's even more difficult when a team is in transition or not very good at all."
The Kings of Mike Bibby and Brad Miller and Ron Artest missed the postseason for the first time in nine years. You get the picture. Yet compounding the process is the fact that the special coaches -- and even the very good ones -- are seldom unemployed for long. Gregg Popovich, Pat Riley, Jerry Sloan and Phil Jackson can name their price tag and their place of residence. Jeff Van Gundy, George Karl, Scott Skiles, Mike D'Antoni and Avery Johnson also have jobs and relative job security.
Same for Don Nelson.
Hmmmmm.
Think Petrie wishes he had returned old Nellie's phone call a year ago? That the Golden State Warriors' coach had the stature and credibility to coax more out of Bibby, Miller and Artest? Or that Nelson would have been more willing to gamble and give a longer look to the youngsters?
Hey, it happens. It's all about talent, and almost as often, about time and place. Even the man on the logo messes up. The legendary Jerry West projected Mike Dunleavy as the next Pat Riley and once hired Randy Pfund.
Nelson. Riley. Jackson. Brown. Rick Adelman. All have been hired and fired (or not asked back), the length of their tenures varying by the circumstances.
There simply is no scientific formula for discovering the Next Great Coach. Reputations can be misleading. Stats can be manipulated. Pedigree can prove to be irrelevant. First impressions can be dead wrong.
Petrie and the Maloofs spent $7 million for Musselman's thick books and big energy, and all it bought them was a 33-49 regular-season record, an empty building in late April and seven months of locker room discord and off-court chaos. Musselman's fate undoubtedly was determined weeks, maybe even months ago.
"I was leaning that way," Petrie said, when asked whether he decided to make a change before his postseason meetings with players and coaches.
It would have taken an Act of Congress -- say, an outburst by matriarch Colleen Maloof -- for Musselman to survive for a second season. There was no leak within the organization. One look at Joe Maloof during a recent Kings loss spilled the goods. You could read Musselman's fate in the co-owner's limbs, never mind his lips: left elbow within inches of television announcers Grant Napear and Jerry Reynolds. Body angled away from the Kings' bench. Eyes averted from every Kings player and coach.
Now, the Maloofs are leaning heavily on Petrie, whose skillful maneuverings transformed the Kings in 1999, first when he offered a list of quality coaching candidates to ex-Kings owner Jim Thomas that included Skiles, Rambis, Rick Carlisle and Paul Silas and added Adelman only later, and later, with the trades and signings that altered a franchise.
It's Petrie's job. It's all his.
It's time for the lotto.
About the writer: Reach Ailene Voisin at (916) 321-1208 or avoisin@sacbee.com.
Ailene Voisin: The next move is all up to Petrie
By Ailene Voisin - Bee Columnist
Last Updated 12:13 am PDT Saturday, April 21, 2007
The right coach for the Kings? For the community that bleeds purple -- and needs a new arena?
Now we get to study Geoff Petrie's abilities with the paintbrush. The answer is all in the stroke, in whether the Kings' basketball president favors the sweeping, vivid expressiveness of a Van Gogh, or the more measured, subdued approach of a Vermeer.
Does he pursue Larry Brown or Lon Kruger?
But the job's on him, the job all his. Unlike a year ago, when Petrie hurriedly presented Eric Musselman as the compromise candidate to John Whisenant -- the then-Monarchs coach and personal favorite of the Maloofs -- he can proceed without the pressure of the ticking clock. He can compile his list during his upcoming two-week scouting trip to Europe, and upon his return, conduct so many interviews that he loses the hearing in his good ear. He can contact sources within the college ranks and the league -- and preferably look beyond his familiar Portland zip code -- and engage in the due diligence that was so lacking in the process that produced the overwhelmed Musselman.
He can be thorough and still be daring.
He can be diligent and still be bold.
But he needs to hit the lotto this time.
Brown is out there. Billy Donovan has been abandoned by his three stars in Florida. Reggie Theus remains intrigued by the NBA and his all-grown-up stomping grounds. Scotty Brooks, Brian Shaw, Kurt Rambis, Marc Iavaroni and any number of current assistants covet their first head-coaching opportunity. And if the league adheres to its annual offseason tradition of hirings and firings, at least one or more playoff-bound head coach will be seeking employment within the next few months.
"Choosing a coach is probably the hardest thing to do," Petrie acknowledged, thoughtfully. "With few exceptions, it's even more difficult when a team is in transition or not very good at all."
The Kings of Mike Bibby and Brad Miller and Ron Artest missed the postseason for the first time in nine years. You get the picture. Yet compounding the process is the fact that the special coaches -- and even the very good ones -- are seldom unemployed for long. Gregg Popovich, Pat Riley, Jerry Sloan and Phil Jackson can name their price tag and their place of residence. Jeff Van Gundy, George Karl, Scott Skiles, Mike D'Antoni and Avery Johnson also have jobs and relative job security.
Same for Don Nelson.
Hmmmmm.
Think Petrie wishes he had returned old Nellie's phone call a year ago? That the Golden State Warriors' coach had the stature and credibility to coax more out of Bibby, Miller and Artest? Or that Nelson would have been more willing to gamble and give a longer look to the youngsters?
Hey, it happens. It's all about talent, and almost as often, about time and place. Even the man on the logo messes up. The legendary Jerry West projected Mike Dunleavy as the next Pat Riley and once hired Randy Pfund.
Nelson. Riley. Jackson. Brown. Rick Adelman. All have been hired and fired (or not asked back), the length of their tenures varying by the circumstances.
There simply is no scientific formula for discovering the Next Great Coach. Reputations can be misleading. Stats can be manipulated. Pedigree can prove to be irrelevant. First impressions can be dead wrong.
Petrie and the Maloofs spent $7 million for Musselman's thick books and big energy, and all it bought them was a 33-49 regular-season record, an empty building in late April and seven months of locker room discord and off-court chaos. Musselman's fate undoubtedly was determined weeks, maybe even months ago.
"I was leaning that way," Petrie said, when asked whether he decided to make a change before his postseason meetings with players and coaches.
It would have taken an Act of Congress -- say, an outburst by matriarch Colleen Maloof -- for Musselman to survive for a second season. There was no leak within the organization. One look at Joe Maloof during a recent Kings loss spilled the goods. You could read Musselman's fate in the co-owner's limbs, never mind his lips: left elbow within inches of television announcers Grant Napear and Jerry Reynolds. Body angled away from the Kings' bench. Eyes averted from every Kings player and coach.
Now, the Maloofs are leaning heavily on Petrie, whose skillful maneuverings transformed the Kings in 1999, first when he offered a list of quality coaching candidates to ex-Kings owner Jim Thomas that included Skiles, Rambis, Rick Carlisle and Paul Silas and added Adelman only later, and later, with the trades and signings that altered a franchise.
It's Petrie's job. It's all his.
It's time for the lotto.
About the writer: Reach Ailene Voisin at (916) 321-1208 or avoisin@sacbee.com.
The article would have been just fine if she'd said the search should be very open and widespread.
