Warriors fire Eric Musselman

[Bored 0]

By Andy Katz

ESPN.com

 

The Golden State Warriors fired head coach Eric Musselman on Wednesday night and have targeted Stanford coach Mike Montgomery as his replacement, league sources told ESPN.com on Wednesday.

 

"It's been a great two years. The players have played their hearts out," Musselman told the AP in a cell phone interview Wednesday night. "The organization's headed in great direction. ... I got an opportunity of a lifetime and will always be grateful to the Warriors for that."

 

A source close to Montgomery, 57, confirmed for ESPN.com that there are ongoing negotiations between Montgomery's representatives and the Warriors on a four-year, multimillion-dollar deal. The Associated Press is reporting that Montgomery has told his Stanford players that he has accepted the job.

 

Musselman, 39, told the AP that he learned his fate at 7:15 p.m. PT from Warriors' executive vice president of basketball operations Chris Mullin. Reached earlier in the evening in Florida by ESPN.com, Musselman said that he hadn't talked to Mullin in two weeks and that Mullin had been noncommittal on his and his staff's status.

 

Musselman, who had one year remaining on his contract, went 75-89 in two seasons with the Warriors, his first NBA head coaching job. He finished second in the league's Coach of the Year voting in 2002-03 after guiding Golden State to a 38-44 record.

 

Musselman told ESPN.com that hiring Montgomery would make sense since, to his knowledge, the Warriors hadn't been talking to anyone within the NBA about replacing him. It would be a bold hire for Mullin, given the relative lack of success for coaches making the jump from college to the NBA; however, Montgomery is regarded as one of the college game's foremost X's-and-O's men.

 

Sources told ESPN.com that Stanford athletic director Ted Leland was called out of a Pac-10 properties meeting in Los Angeles and left abruptly, saying he had to return to campus to deal with pressing issues. Calls to Stanford were not returned Wednesday. Stanford's coaches, including Montgomery, were instructing players individually Wednesday on campus.

 

Montgomery is one of the most successful active college basketball coaches and is coming off a remarkable season, during which the Cardinal went 30-2 and earned a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament before losing to Alabama in the second round. The Cardinal won 26 straight before losing their regular-season finale at Washington.

 

Montgomery, who is under contract at Stanford through the 2007-08 season, is 393-167 in 18 seasons on the Farm and 547-244 overall.

 

He was honored in April with the John Wooden "Legends of Coaching" Lifetime Achievement Award at the Wooden Award banquet in Los Angeles; he was choked up and humbled upon accepting the award from Wooden.

 

Montgomery coached NBA players when he was an assistant with the 2002 World Championship team that did not medal in Indianapolis. Considered one of the sharpest coaching minds in the business, Montgomery has been increasingly hardened by the defection of his players to the NBA. The Cardinal lost Jason Collins, Curtis Borchardt, Casey Jacobsen, and now it appears Josh Childress, early to the NBA in the last three years.

 

If Montgomery takes the Warriors job, he would be trying to change a recent trend of college coaches -- namely Tim Floyd, Lon Kruger, John Calipari and Rick Pitino -- who left prominent Division I jobs and failed in the NBA.

 

Nonetheless, Mullin wanted to make a splash with this hire. Montgomery is well respected in the Bay Area and would not have to move if he accepts the job.

 

If Montgomery indeed leaves the Cardinal, then Stanford's job becomes one of the most attractive openings in the country. With or without Childress, the Cardinal are expected to compete with Arizona for the Pac-10 title.

 

Nevada coach Trent Johnson, a former Stanford assistant who just signed an extension with the Wolf Pack, would be a candidate. So, too, would Gonzaga coach Mark Few, who has looked at the Stanford job as one of Division I's most coveted positions. Rice coach Willis Wilson, also a former Stanford assistant, likely would be in the mix, too.

 

The Stanford job likely would attract some of the top names in the business who have a history of working with academically rich, highly skilled basketball players. The Cardinal's recruiting pool is consistently considered one of the smallest in the country for a high-major program.

 

Andy Katz is a senior writer for ESPN.com. Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

Being a Warrior and Stanford fan I don't like this move for either team. Musselman did the best he could with what he had. The Warriors are just flat out a bad team and have been terribly run for years. Did they really think they were going to make the playoffs this year? Any team with a coaching vacancy should immediately be contacting him.

 

As for Montgomery it's sad to see him leave Stanford and it's tough imagine him not coaching at that school. Second round choking aside, he has done an incredible job. That program was going no where before he took it over and hadn't made the tournament in over 40 years. Now it is expected that they make the tournament every year and contend for the Pac-10 title. Good for him getting this opportunity but how often does hiring a college coach for an NBA team work?

[Vern Gagne 0]

This better not be a ploy to get more from Stanford on Montgomery's part.

[Ripper 0]

The Warriors didn't have a bad team. THey had probably the most injuries of any squad in the league this year. Eric is still paying for not play Mike Dunlevey JR. his rookie year sez I.

[kkktookmybabyaway 0]

Didn't the Warriors play decent until around mid-season or so? I seem to remember them around .500 for a while, but I don't follow the NBA all that much during the regular season?...

[Ripper 0]

They did alright, but once they lost Foyle, Murphy, Van Excel, Pietrus, Claxton and Dunlevey all for some period of time, you can't expect the team to win.

[Bored 0]

CBS Sportsline says it's a done deal.

 

http://cbs.sportsline.com/nba/story/7343331

[OldSchoolWrestling 0]

All the stories I've read said Mullin and Musselman never saw eye to eye so it was pretty much expected. I personally liked Musselman as he reminded me of when Gruden took over the Raiders. I also remember hearing that he wasn't a players's coach, which in this day and age means they'll play for themselves once things start going bad.

[DangerousDamon 0]

if Golden State was healthy they would have been contending for a playoff spot somewhere up there with Houston and Denver. They were still competitive in an absolutely brutal Conference. I don't think Musselman should have been fired because he doesn't play Pietrus and Dunleavy. He shouldn't because I think Dunleavy is not that great and Pietrus is raw. Troy Murphy is a stud though and will get better if he can stay healthy

[Guest Crazy Dan]

Too many injuries and the poor trade of Jamison for Van Exel hurt the Warriors this season. Also because they drafted Arenas in the 2nd round, they could only sign him for two years. And after his two year contract was up, and because of poor over-bloated contracts that they signed with many players, all the Warriors could offer Arenas was 4.5 million for one year with the promise of a much richer contract the following season when they would have cap space. Arenas decided to take the money and run to the Wizards. So the Warriors lost their go to player. And Van Exel panned out, as he was injured most of the year. I would have rather had Jamison, who at least would get you points and stay relatively healthy. I think that this trade did not work out good for either the Warriors or Mavs, who I am sure missed Van Exel's big play ability against Sacramento this year.

 

But there were some positives: the Warriors got rid of Fortson's ridculous contract, which frees up cap space. Cliff Robinson proved to be a great pick up as he played very solid defense on many star players and drained threes, Dampier was vastly improved and played like an All Star, Speedy Claxton proved that he might be a solid starter at point, or at least a solid backup who gives you energy off the bench and provide quickness which drives other guards crazy (Just ask Gary Payton), and with so many draft day blunders in the past, the Warriors actually may have finally gotten a steal in Pietrus, who after sitting most of the season on the bench, finally got to play with all the injuries. And when he did he showed that he has some skills. He not only could play defense, but he actually can play some offense as well. And if this keeps up, the Warriors have a potential star in the making. Becuase he was the main reason the Warriors played good in the final part of the season.

 

But too much went wrong for the Warriors (story of this franchise life it seems), but Musselman coached them through the tough times, and they finished with almost the same amount of wins as last year. He got that team to play hard each and every night, even when their games became meaningless. Musselman is an old school type coach. He pushes his players. And this could explain why many of his players all disliked him with a passion. Which is a shame, becuase before Musselman, the Warriors were known for always not playing hard and not caring. Musselman helped turn the franchise around, so at least you knew they were going to give it their all regardless of situation. Shame that Musselman never had a fully healthy team, becuase I feel the Warriors would have been in that hunt for a spot, something that has not happened in a very long time, the Warriors were fun to watch again.

 

But due to Musselman's lack of unpopularity amoung his players, Chris Mullin decided to go with another coach. And I am suprised that he chose Montgomary. I am skepticle about this hiring. You know how some coaches should stay in college, I am thinking that Montgomary is a great college coach, who had a great thing going at Stanford. I thought he was going to be the West Coast version of Coach K. But I guess he thinks he can have success at the Pro Level. I just see this not working out, which is a shame, because Musselman did such a good job with the hand he was dealt. He got the Warriors to play like a real team and gave them respectability. Montgomary is a good coach though, and maybe that will transfer to success in the Pros. But there is a whole history of college coaches going to the Pros, and failing badly. ESPN ran down a list of some coaches who failed at coaching in the Pros, I hope the Montgomary is not one of them. Of coures, it also hinges on what players Mullin can bring in, now that all the big contracts that had hindered the Warriors are now off their books. And I am hoping for another good draft pick. (I am still bitter that when the Warriors had the third pick, they got to take Dunleavy, and the following season, Carmelo is the third pick, life is sometimes so unfair).

 

So I will not pass judgement for a season or two. That would be the fair thing to do. I like Montgomary, so I will be pulling for him to help bring the Warriors to the playoffs for the first time in more than a decade. And now that the Warriors have cap space, maybe they can actually sign a good player or two. And I do think Dampier is gone (if he is smart, he goes to the East, where he can become one of the better Centers). But I do hope the Warriors keep Adonal. With Adonal, all the Warriors need is a Center who can get you production for 24 minutes, because Adonal is one of those players who plays hard and makes a great compliment to your other Center. He forms one head of a two headed center. And plus he is one of the more unique players in the NBA, and fits in perfectly on the Warriors. And one last note on him, believe it or not, he is very intelligent and speaks English better than most people from the US. Not bad from someone who grew up on a tiny Carribean Island.

 

The Warriors are at an interesting cross roads right now. They are taking a chance with Monty, and they will lose Dampier as well. I know Monty has a knack of getting the most out of players who aren't as talented as other players, so that might be a good thing, especially with the Warriors. The thing about the Warriors is this. They have a team filled with roll players, but no real star. Gilbert Arenas was on his way to becoming a star on the Warriors, but he left for riches in Washington. And yet they still won about 37 games. I like that Mullin is now running things, and I am hoping that he can first bring in an actual All-Star through free agency. And where ever their draft pick is this year, I hope Mullin is able to draft the best player available, regardless of team need. I have always felt that with a star, the Warriors would be a playoff team due to being a team filled with good roll players. The Warriors might be on the right path, but it could all fall down and go boom in a milli second. And whoever they draft, please don't be either A) 7-0 soft European Center who weighs less than I do (210), B) Roll player from Duke, who also happens to be white, tall, skinny, and looks like he is about 12 years old. C) Any player that might even look like he might have "Chris Washburn" written all over him. If they avoid A-C, then the Warriors might actually might be building towards respectability. But once again, I see the Warriors missing the playoffs, but if Monty can get them to play hard each night, then I will not complain.

[The Czech Republic 0]

Actually, with the Kings and Lakers possibly doing some rebuilding after the playoffs, especially if L.A. loses to the T-Wolves, then I think Golden State has the door wide open for them to contend in a smaller, five-team Pacific Division, where they should finish third ahead of the Suns and Clippers, at the very least. The ball is in their court. Ha ha ha.