Is Paul Westphal Too Sensitive For The Kings Job?
June 12, 2009 – 11:15 am by Jimmy Shapiro
I never ever thought Paul Westphal would get another job as a head coach in the NBA. I vividly remember my days as a morning show producer at KJR in Seattle when Paul Westphal was the coach. He stepped into a very difficult situation with a team that loved its former Coach George Karl and was a veteran laden team that didn’t want to change their style at all. He also had to deal with the very difficult time during the lockout and Vin Baker’s tremendous weight gain which ultimately led to his firing after less than two seasons.
I remember Paul as a really nice man that was entirely too sensitive to be a head coach in the NBA. I’ll never forget the time he called the station (on his own) after the hosts and callers were torching the team for it’s poor play. Westphal called in and I answered the phone. People that work in sports radio know that most coaches and many players listen to the station (even if they say otherwise), but it’s rare that they call unsolicited. I was shocked when it was him and he truly sounded like his dog had just died and he was going to cry. I really felt bad for the guy, but also knew that a man that responsive to criticism shouldn’t be coaching professional athletes. It’s not like the Seattle media is Philly, New York, or Chicago.
Westphal tooled around in college hoops for a number of years at Pepperdine and then got back in the NBA as an assistant in Dallas and then became their executive VP of basketball operations. Almost ten years after his firing and at the age of 58, Westphal was hired by the Kings and is now the lowest paid coach in the whole NBA. I’ve read he wasn’t their first choice (see Kurt Rambis) and I’m sure his price tag was the main reason he got the job. Maybe years away from an NBA bench and coaching a young team will be a better situation for him.
Westphal joined KHTK to discuss his new gig with the Kings.
What he knows about the Kings:
“I watched them pretty much this year intently. Anytime if you’re a coach out of work and it’s apparent that a team is struggling a little bit and might be making a change, you watch them a little bit more. I watched a lot of the Kings’ games, particularly when I was a candidate for the job. I delved in and learning as much as I could. I think there are several players on the team that can be a part of a winning team. Things just need to be reshuffled a little bit, some pieces need to be added and fortunately we’re in a good position to have a chance to add some good pieces.”
On his reputation for being an offensive guru:
“I’ve had some teams that could really score and scoring doesn’t win games by itself. You’ve got to stop the other team, you’ve got to be good defensively in order to get out on the fast break, you’ve got to be a good rebounding team in order to have the kind of offensive team to interchange people. I’m glad to at least admit that I haven’t messed up teams with players that can score too bad. I like to get up and down. I get nervous when the score is 72-71 in the 4th quarter, I like a little bit more of a gap.”
On players transitioning into the NBA:
“Those college guys are more mature than a lot of guys that come in the NBA. I’m kidding to some extent but think about it – a lot of NBA players, if they’re really good and good enough to leave school early, they’re less mature than the college kids that you’re coaching. If you’re coaching someone that’s a redshirt senior or junior, they’re mature than a lot of these guys that go into the NBA. Not only that but you have to fight the temptation that comes with a lot of these young players coming in with a bunch of money in their pocket.”
Listen to Paul Westphal on KHTK in Sacramento with Grant and Mike
Tags: NBA, Paul Westphal, Sacramento Kings, Sacreamento Kings hire Paul Westphal as head coach
