ultima ma molto bella intervista prima dell inizio della stagione del Bee a coach Musselman
Molding a team, sensing a family
Kings' attitude, support gratify their new coach
After months of preparation, Eric Musselman will take the court tonight at Minnesota for his first regular-season game as the Kings' coach.
If nothing else, the past month leading to tonight's tipoff will help him endure the 82-game schedule.
There have been battles for roster and starting positions, an injury to starting point guard Mike Bibby and Musselman's arrest on suspicion of driving under the influence.
Before his arrest last month, he inundated the team with "core values" on defending, on somehow masking the team weakness of rebounding, of spacing on offense and keeping things lively and spirited in practice.
In two interviews with Bee staff writer Joe Davidson, Musselman talked about the aftermath of his DUI arrest, how much Bibby has improved on defense, what he learned from his Golden State Warriors coaching tenure, the notion of coaching burnout and the legacy of his late father, Bill.
Q: How touched were you when your entire team stood behind you, on the players' own accord, during your news conference to address the DUI arrest?
A: In sports, everyone talks of a team like a family, and the time you find out who your true family is is when you're going through a tough time. Just the fact that they were willing to do that was nice. I was shocked. I had already addressed the team and was headed over (to the news conference), and Mike Bibby yelled out, 'We're coming with you.' It made it easier knowing they were there. Ron (Artest) called me that morning. Mike did. Kenny (Thomas) called several times. It was very nice.
Q: How relieved were you to get back to work?
A: The thing that was really comforting was getting back to practices, getting back to the job.
Q: Any gauge yet of how good the Kings can be?
A: Not really. ... The attitudes have been phenomenal. That we do know.
Q: Can Brad Miller and Bibby become better defenders, and have you seen progress?
A: It's been real interesting. What we've done after (exhibition) games, if we see a scout that one of us is friendly with, we try to pick their brain, like self-scouting: What'd you think of our team? Holes? Strengths, weaknesses. Personally, I have talked to four scouts, and they said Bibby's defense is the best they've ever seen him play in this league. Mike is making a conscious effort to defend. He has shown the ability to put pressure on the ball. He's playing defense with some excitement. He's not just kind of doing it. He's doing it with passion, and Brad has made an effort to (contest shots, too).
Q: You made it a real point of emphasis about reaching your players, using words, written material, anything. How has it worked?
A: That's one area that's important. With this group, it's a short time frame since I've been with them. But I really like them. These shoes (pointing to his feet). Mike called me down to his room (during a road trip to Phoenix). He had boxes of shoes. I've never had a player give me shoes. He got our whole staff shoes. To me, that's a nice gesture. To me, it's a group of guys, for whatever reason, that wants to communicate. A guy had a bad practice (recently), and he apologized to me. Never had that happen before.
Q: You have everyone's attention on this roster, it seems. How critical is that?
A: The first (exhibition game) in Dallas, it was a good barometer of how they paid attention. All the coaches were kind of stunned at how they executed plays they'd never seen before, and asking questions. And then (at the next practice), we went through defensive coverages. Mike and Brad wanted to play some things differently, and the exchange was pretty neat. We listened. As a head coach or an assistant coach, that type of exchange sometimes never happens through 82 games.
Q: Is your staff too young? Can you see that argument? There isn't an old sage on your bench.
A: I've worked with guys who were 40 or 50 years old, and they had never been a head coach at any level. Well, one unique thing about our staff is a lot of guys have been head at some level, and when you're calling your own timeout, it's a whole different ballgame. So, if people want to look at experience, they should look at us and add up how many timeouts have been called over the years. To me, it's game experience. I look at our staff as being a lot more seasoned than many of the staffs I've been with, although if you look at our team photo, we're pretty young.
Q: What did you learn from your Warriors experience, and are you a better coach now because of it?
A: The Memphis thing (as an assistant the past two seasons) was great, sitting in an assistant chair with the ability to see things that I like and didn't like. And more importantly, during the Memphis time, I got real close to players and was a sounding board for defensive schemes that they liked, practice drills they liked and didn't like. Just listening to them, communicating with them was important. I learned from that. I felt a lot less pressure to coach and more to communicate.
Q: Still, was the Warriors firing a blow to your pride and ego?
A: It was two good years. I'm young, and they went out on a limb to hire me. Even when I was let go, I still felt like I was given a great opportunity. I felt lucky. Garry St. Jean was the GM. He and I still have a great relationship. I still pick up the phone and laugh with him. I called Troy Murphy to see how his nose is.
Q: Are you too driven? Do you pour yourself in too deep to this job?
A: No. We have a lot of fun at practice that people don't see. Playing Ron (Artest's) music at practice, the fun drills. (A recent) function with the Maloofs at the Palms was a whole different atmosphere. But during the course of a two-hour game, there's total focus. That's the only thing, the most important thing for two hours.
Q: Have you changed in that regard, where you have sprinkled in more fun?
A: In the CBA (Continental Basketball Association), the coaches and players had a lot of fun. In Golden State, I was so focused on X's and O's more than other things. But it changed at Memphis. I started to feel close to a core group of guys.
Q: You talked the other day about how your two young sons help balance you and how good they are for you. How so?
A: Even in practice, they walk in, and I gave them a high-five. It was good for me, just relaxed me from practice for 30 seconds and puts everything in perspective. They're really the most important thing to me. This is a job. To me, the more my kids are around, the more relaxed and calm I am.
Q: How often do you think about your dad (who died in 2000 at age 59 after being diagnosed with bone cancer)?
A: Every day. We sat at lunch and told stories, and I think of him. Every day, especially when dilemmas occur, whether guys are unhappy with playing time, and it's not always thinking of what he did, but what he should have done. I talked to Jason Hart on the plane the other day, about the state of the point guard position. It wasn't going to be an easy talk, wasn't going to be anything he wanted to hear. But I said, 'Hey, I'm going to let you know where it is, so you and I don't have a problem.' The biggest thing is my dad was closest to players one through six, and players nine, 10, 11, 12, he didn't really worry about them. I've adapted that it's important to know nine, 10, 11 and 12. It's also important to know one, two, three.
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