Great article on Muss......man I am gonna miss him

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NBA's youngest coach talks of high goals for Warriors

Musselman plots all-out, 82-game attack

By Vittorio Tafur

STAFF WRITER

OAKLAND -- Before his press conference Friday, new Golden State Warriors coach Eric Musselman sat down with Jason Richardson, the team's bright young star.

"One thing the Golden State Warriors will do is play hard," Musselman told Richardson, trying to get a quick read on the other players on the team. "We will play hard for 48 minutes a night, give a maximum effort for 82 games. Can we do that?"

Richardson smiled, remembering how bad team chemistry was last year and how on some nights players took only a handful of warm-up shots before the game.

"It will be tough," he answered, "but I guess we can do it."

That answer was not good enough for Musselman.

"Do we have five guys, do we at least have five guys who will always play hard?"

Richardson nodded yes.

"OK," Musselman said, "then we will definitely play with energy and enthusiasm for 48 minutes for 82 games."

It's a start, Warriors fans.

Golden State officially introduced Musselman

as their coach and it was "a big day," according to team chief operating officer Robert Rowell. Musselman, 37, becomes the NBA's youngest head coach and gives Golden State its latest new lease on life. Musselman is young, energetic and optimistic, and the fact he is the fifth coach here in five seasons didn't concern him at all.

"Not whatsoever," he said. "I understand what the coaching world is all about. I understand there is enormous pressure, and I am ready for it."

That being said, Musselman will be given a chance to grow in his first NBA head-coaching job and serve the three years on his contract. There are six Warriors 22 or younger, and Musselman will have a little longer job security than Brian Winters or Dave Cowens, the past two head coaches.

General manager Garry St. Jean didn't want to address whether the Warriors were operating under a patient, three-year rebuilding plan with Musselman.

"You can dwell on the past and the five coaches in five years," he said. "I am not going to. Eric has a multiyear contract, and he is going to have a chance to grow with the young players. ... You'll be hard-pressed to find somebody with a better attitude or more energy than Eric has. His enthusiasm is infectious and our young team needs that."

Musselman, the son of former Minnesota and Cleveland coach Bill Musselman, was an assistant with Atlanta the past two seasons. The former Continental Basketball Association coach is fired up to be leading a team that hasn't made the playoffs or posted a winning record since 1994.

"You look at this roster, and it's a really exciting place to coach, especially for someone getting his first opportunity," Musselman said. "I thought this was the premier job available, and it's a really good fit for a young coach."

Musselman was attracted to the team's young talent, including Richardson and Mike Dunleavy, the third overall draft pick last month.

"(Our shooting problem) gets solved pretty quickly with Dunleavy," Musselman said. "We have a very young nucleus and we will spend 75 percent of our time working on defense. When we scrimmage, we will only scrimmage for five minutes because that's when games are won or lost in the NBA, in the last five minutes."

Musselman learned how to coach from his late father, and his many stops in basketball's minor leagues.

"When other kids were watching cartoons, I was watching game tape," he said. "I'm a different coach than my father, but I do have that same competitive fire. Basketball is my life. When 28 other coaches are sleeping, I can guarantee you that I'll be working."

He's the latest CBA coach to move from the former top developmental league to head coach in the NBA, following Phil Jackson, George Karl and Flip Saunders, who was hired by Musselman when he was the GM of the Rapid City Thrillers.

Winters, who was 13-46 after replacing Cowens last season, has been asked to stay on with the organization in a scouting capacity. He said he will take a few weeks to decide. Winters is under contract for one more season and will forfeit his salary if he doesn't accept the Warriors' offer.

Musselman said he plans to keep Mark Osowski and Phil Hubbard as assistant coaches and hasn't met with Clifford Ray yet.

Meanwhile, former player and executive director of community relations Otis Smith is joining St. Jean and assistant general manager Gary Fitzsimmons in basketball operations. Smith, in addition to his other duties last season, served as a mentor to rookies Richardson, Gilbert Arenas and Troy Murphy.

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[Gray Mule]

He lost his job as coach but is still under contract. He

was offered the job as scout with the team. If he doesn't

take the job, he will not recieve his paycheck.

Ho-rah! This is as it should be. If you are under contract,

then you should have to work for the orginization in order

to recieve payment for the balance of your contract.

When the former head coach of the Hawks left to coach the

Rafters, the Hawks continued to pay his salary but recieved

nothing in return for their money. I said at the time, he

should stay with the Hawks in some capacity or forefit

his pay check for the balance of his contract. Why should

a team be forced to pay a coach (Or any other employee,

for that matter) and recieve nothing for their money?

If the Rafters wanted to pick up the contract for Wilkins,

then fine, they get him and his services. No problem.

They pay him the balance of his Hawks contract or

replace it with a new one of their own. If not, he stays

with the Hawks as a scout, or some other position.

We lost a very good coach and he will be missed. There

is an old country saying, "You never miss the water until

the well goes dry!" We'll see, but I think that he will be

hard to replace.

Gray Mule