Geoff Petrie Comments on Paul Westphal Interview
May 13, 2009 by Troy Hanson
Geoff Petrie and Joe and Gavin Maloof just completed a two-and-a-half hour interview with Paul Westphal regarding the Kings head coaching position. Here are some direct quotes from Geoff following the interview.
“Paul was very well prepared for the meeting today and extremely knowledgeable of our team as it currently exists and the team-building process we are undertaking. We talked extensively on his style of play on both ends of the court and he provided Xs and Os breakdown to support his theories. He has a wealth of experience in the NBA as a coach and player, having won 63% of his games as a head coach (267-159, .627) and posted winning records in both Phoenix and Seattle. He was closely involved with the renaissance of the Suns in the 1990’s, including a trip to the Finals in 1993. It was a very impressive interview overall.”
[...] Update: Troy Hanson of the Full Connect Kings blog has just released a 2nd quote from Geoff Petrie regarding the [...]
Who the hell is Paul Westphal?
he led the suns to an nba finals and had some winning moments with seatle hes a pretty good coach if you compare him to the other candidate eddie jordan
Paul Westphal is a very qualified coach with an impressive resume', but it seems as if the Kings' might be a liittle to young for what Westphal will probably want to do… If this was 2010 and we had more pieces in place then, I feel it would make more sense. The Kings' need to grow with someone who is familiar with the organiztion and who the players can trust. I would hate to see the Kings hire Westphal and have it not work out because of things he basically can't control, ala Eric Musselman.
For some reason, I just have a good feeling about this coach so far. I think he would bring some new, interesting ideas to the Sacramento team.
this is first time i've heard Paul Westphal's name mentioned this decade. Where did he go?
Joseph-
Thanks for the question. After coaching the Sonics he decided he wanted to coach his son at Pepperdine, where he ended up staying for six seasons. Then after a year of analyst work on TV, he was hired as an assistant coach by the Mavericks on Avery Johnson's staff. This past season he worked as the VP of Baskteball Operations with the Mavericks.
Troy
OMG!!!!!!!!!! Why did they let Koz go instead of that obnoxious Grant "Mr. Know-it-all" Napear? Koz is a lot more interesting to listen to and pairing him up with Jerry Reynolds would make a very entertaining tv team. He is a lot like Gary Gereald in the respect that he can make boring games seem exciting. I am gonna miss you, Koz. Good luck to you. Tamera
This seems like a good candidate. He's an experienced coach with a great resume and is widely respected in the NBA. The question I have is why haven't they considered interviewing Avery Johnson? He's a passionate coach who commands respect and demands that his players perform to their maximum capabilities. Whoever the coach is will have to come in and light a fire under the players and motivate them to perform.
Lets face it guys the Kings need a coach that can develop a young team and thats all. And if that process is successful then we go from there. Which will probably involve hiring another coach that can either get that team to the Playoffs or take the team deep into the Playoffs. Thats just how things work in the NBA, especially with the coaching candidates that are currently available. Its all about setting up your team for success, which often time involves changing coaches again.
The Kings would be stupid not to go with a proven winner like Westphal. I mean heck, they dumped Adelman and look what that got them. The Kings had a league worst season; Adelman is in that familiar position of battling the Lakers in the playoffs. At least HE stayed relevant…
Paul Westphal is winner, smart,relates to all types of players and is someone that the Kings could build with for years. He is a offensive minded coach who will get the best from his players.He is the ultimate competitor. The community of Sacramento will be better because of PW. KJ and Charles are in his corner and that is enough for me.
We really can't judge PW until we've gotten a chance to see what he can do, he might fail or he might over achieve with the Kings 'ONLY TIME WILL TELL" until then insted of knocking him we should support him until he gives us reason not to. One thing i will point out Kings are young but no one on current roster has a big ego problem, and that will go a long way.