Sunday, September 25, 2005

Year 2: Monty Returns

The Mercury News writes about Monty's 2nd year coaching the Warriors.

It starts off nicely:
Mike Montgomery drops by the office of Golden State general manager Rod Higgins almost daily now just to see what's happening. Are there any trades in the works? Which players are on the Warriors' radar? What else is new?

Montgomery is clearly much more comfortable as an NBA head coach entering his second season in the league. He's ready to bring back winning to this playoff-starved organization, which hasn't reached in the postseason since 1994.

"I don't feel smarter," Montgomery said Wednesday. "I certainly have a much better grasp. It seems more normal to me now. We're way, way ahead from where we were a year ago."

But he doesn't sound too confident about making the playoffs:
"We're going to hear a lot about playoffs, and that's fair, but it's not a make or break thing," said Montgomery..."I would like to think we will be competitive in every game that we play. ... Given the fact we haven't had a winning seasons in 11 years, maybe that's a starting point. Maybe let's talk about winning more than we lose."
It would have been great to have him come out and say, "We're making the playoffs" but he seems satisfied to just finish above .500. And why does he have to bring up the past? Damn just rub it in our faces a little more. C'mon coach, don't be so soft, tell us we're making the playoffs or at least you believe we have the players to make the playoffs. You would think him winning so often at Stanford would make him sound a little more confident in winning in the NBA.

Am I wrong for thinking Monty should have come out and said that we're making the playoffs instead of just win more than we lose?


5 Comments:

At 10:53 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I followed Stanford's basketball program very closely during Mike Montgomery's tenure as coach. This is simply his style. He always downplayed how good his teams were at Stanford. Every interview he would say, "Oh golly, gosh we're just going to try to be competitive. Everyone other team is so good. We're just going to go out there and give it our darndest."

As a matter of fact, he tended to sound most pessimistic with some of his most talented Stanford teams. Each time Stanford was raked number one in the nation, Montgomery would make a point of stating that he didn't feel his team was the best.

You may perceive this as weakness and insecurity, but the truth is simply that he is not a braggard and he doesn't want to say or do anything that will bring any extra pressure on his players. That's how he's conducted himself as a coach for over twenty years. Coaching in the NBA is not going to change that.

 
At 1:18 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I agree totally, even if the chance of us making the playoffs is slim. When Baron came back there was talk about him bringing confidence back, and I think part of the problem was attitude from coaching staff and the organization. Still, our slogan is a "a great time out" and the games are like a circus with constant shit going on to distract you from how bad the team is. While, now that the team is actually good, let's show them the respect they deserve.

Also, I've heard the sportsbetting places have us tied for 9th best odds in the league to win the finals. So, just something to think about when you say we have a slim chance of making the playoffs.

 
At 8:56 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

monty won't be the coach by the end of the season.

 
At 1:24 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

i'll still be coaching the warriors for another 9 seasons and we'll be a perennial title contender starting in 3 years.

you'd rather have muusselman? he can be my assistant coach and get me my gatorade when i finish yelling at dumbleavy. please, get off muss's nuts. you'll be on mine soon enough. there's room for everyone. even room for yaosoft,overrated,dampierisbetterming.

 
At 8:58 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

shut up monty

 

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