On Paul Westphal's Phoenix Success

There is no problem being critical of Westphal, but I would caution against labeling him a saboteur or inept head coach at any stage. Some notes: It’s saying something that former “malcontents” like Barkley openly endorse him, and applaud both his ethic and personality. The PHX ownership at the time of his hire was very solidly aligned with Fitzsimmons, and while it is easy to say Cotton got the trigger finger over anger at his style, it’s just as easy to say there was a large bit of jealousy over the job he did compared to Cotton in the role. And his departure from the game to date has as much to do with personal choice as it did with job offerings. In fact, Cuban was considering him for a short time following Johnson’s departure before hiring Carlisle as head coach. And his time in Pepperdine was chosen to spend more time with his son, and stay on the West Coast.

But fitting with the title, let’s discuss Seattle. George Karl cast a long shadow there, but what was left in his wake was a complete mismatch of contracts, veterans, and rookies, and a bubbling cauldron that any coach would have been saddled with. Owens was played partly due to Hawkins lying about an injury, if I recall correctly, and Payton and Baker missed no chance to flame the fire and take advantage of Westphal’s calm personality. The one player from that era that Westphal seemed to have a noticeable impact on was Rashard Lewis, and it’s worth noting that he with Mason are currently the only players from that roster still in the league. It is also worth noting what Baker and Payton achieved after they left Seattle, with only Payton having any semblance of success on a loaded MIA team in which he played a secondary role. Karl left the team before the over-inflated egos of these two began to saddle the ship, and Westphal was a poor, dreadful personality match.

I will not speak to his time at Pepperdine, as I have no idea of what his barometer was or the circumstances of his role, but I find it interesting some briefly endorsed the idea of Pitino (great college success, marginal NBA record) and Messina (unproven NBA style and credentials, immense Euroleague success) yet so quickly dismiss Wesphal (mediocre college record, marked NBA success). If I’m hiring a coach for an NBA team, I would elevate the importance of NBA success, but that’s just me.

In the end, I am pulling for Westphal, Messina, or Rambis, if for no other reason than I feel they could bring a nice philosophy to a young team and a good rapport with Petrie. And on a young team, one cannot underscore the importance of ringing endorsements from public NBA legends like Barkley and KJ. I don’t see Baker or Payton getting many interviews or solicitation for their views on coaches these days, and there is good reason.

In the end, Petrie is in charge and will trust his instincts. But we could just as easily been pointing at the “disaster” Rick Adelman left in Oakland in 1998. The point is, this is a personality driven sport, and the right match is essential for sustained success. The alchemy between bitter, whiny vets and Westphal in SEA was terrible, but the match worked in PHX. Having a guy who coached a variety of egos and superstars and is soft-spoken but experienced can’t be a bad fit on a green team like ours, and we could do worse. This is a 17 win team, guys. It has to be developed- long term, I think he could be a solid pick.

First let me get the necessary disclosures out in the open. Although I am not currently a Kings fan I am a huge Westphal fan. So I want everyone to know that upfront. Also I can tell that you all love your team. You should be putting Westphal under the microscope that’s what makes all of you great fans, you care!!

I intended to comment on the post by Clipper Steve titled "My take on Paul Westphal" which after reading decided that he should have titled it "One Lucky Accident" Unfortunately after spending a few hours on it when I went to post it I deleted the whole thing. GRRRR!!!

Reading Clipper Steve’s one could only conclude that Westphal’s success with the Suns was the result of "one lucky accident" after another. Whether that lucky accident was a talented team, Cotton Fitzsimmons or the arrival of Charles Barkley Westphals success happened in spite of his bad coaching. I mean all Westphal did was "roll the ball out on the floor" sit back and watch the game. Lo and behold after his first year he set an NBA record for wins by a rookie coach (62) and took the Suns to the NBA finals. He followed that up with a 56 win season and then a 59 win season all by doing nothing but "rolling the ball out on the floor". Just one lucky accident after another.

Someone obviously woke up to Westphal"s shenanigans and fired him in his 4th season when he had to coach a depleted team with only eight players because of injuries. Anyway the preceding account is what Clipper Steve would have you believe.

 What Clipper Steve fails to address is that if Westphal’s success with the Suns was just one lucky accident after another a good coach, one that does not "just roll the ball on the floor" should do really well especially if that coach was the architect of Westphals "lucky accidents"

After Fitzsimmons took over he was very confident that once everyone healed up and after he was able to take them through a training camp really good things would happen. Unfortunately a coach who would not just "roll the ball on the floor" but actually coach and take the Suns to the promised land started the season 0 for 9 and Cotton was quickly relieved of his duties. Danny Ainge took over and promptly went 0 for 13 before winning a single game. Yet in spite of this Clipper Steve would have you believe that Westphal couldn’t coach and his success was just "one lucky accident" Lets get real. BTW why would a Clippers fan give a hoot about Westphal anyway after all he is not a candidate for the Clippers job?

OK enough about Clipper Steve.

Lets talk about Cottons criticism of Westphal for a moment. In the coaching profession there are certain boundaries that should never be crossed. One of them is for a coach to interview for a job before a coach is fired. Another one is what Cotton did which is to criticize a coach of a team you work for on air. Although these lines are crossed from time to time those doing it are considered by the coaching world to be inherently unethical.

Much to do has been made of Cottons criticism of his protégé Westphal. What no one seems to grasp is that what Cotton did was highly unethical given that he was the obvious candidate to replace Westphal. Many seem to be taking Fitzsimmons criticism as a cause of concern about Westphals coaching ability when it really was all about Fitzsimmons undermining his protégé so that he could get his job back. I know that sounds harsh but that’s what happened.

I don’t know who this Kevin Salvidori person is but he is wired in and nailed it when he said "The PHX ownership at the time of his hire was very solidly aligned with Fitzsimmons, and while it is easy to say Cotton got the trigger finger over anger at his style, it’s just as easy to say there was a large bit of jealousy over the job he did compared to Cotton in the role"

I know this to be true because at the time of Westphals tenure I was very close to the situation.

Kevin also nails the situation Westphal encountered in Seattle. The two top players Baker and Payton were very good friends and both of them to put it mildly were highly dysfunctional and they fed off of each other. The result was chaos. Payton is and was a thug and although a great talent a poison in the locker room. Baker suffered from severe bouts of depression and had a significant substance abuse problem. On top of that Seattle was for all practical purposes rebuilding the team but they did not want this to be known by their fan base. In spite of this Westphal managed to get them into the playoffs

Kevin is also right about the Westphal’s and Lewis. Lewis came to Seattle right out of high school and the Westphals as a family committed to doing everything they could to protect and nurture that young man. Ironically Westphal probably did his best coaching in Seattle but no one thinks that because of what happened.

As for Pepperdine I don’t know enough to comment although I do know that things got very complicated.

However Westphal does have a record in the NBA and it is quite impressive. As a player he was a five time NBA All Star. He was involved in the two games many think were the two greatest games ever in NBA history. One as a player and one as a coach.

The triple overtime win by the Celtics over the Suns was as a player. In that game Westphal displayed his coaching acumen when trailing by one point with only seconds to go he knowingly called a time out even though Phoenix had no timeouts. It sounds like a crazy thing to do however Westphal knew that the by doing so Boston would only get to shoot a technical and worst case Phoenix would get the ball back and have enough time to tie the game and that is what exactly happened. Because of Westphal the NBA changed that particular rule the following year.

The second game Westphal was a coach. That was game five of the NBA finals when Phoenix beat Chicago in triple overtime on the Bulls home court.

As a coach he has taken his teams to several Western Conference finals and one NBA final. He has coached in 49 playoff games and has 551% overall winning percentage. That is quite an impressive NBA resume.

Some are concerned about Westphals absence from the NBA. That would be a concern except he hasn’t been absent. After Pepperdine he was a TV analyst for the Clippers as well as the Lakers. He was a finalist for the Celtics job but Ainge decided to go with Doc Rivers. He was an assistant to Avery Johnson and still works for the Dallas Mavericks as their Executive Vice president of Basketball Operations.

Some of you make out Westphal as if this guy is some kind of second class coach when compared to other hot names out there. Its as if he is some washed up old dude who can barely walk. This man can coach with the best of them and has the record to back it up.

 Listen, obviously I would like to see Westphal back coaching in the NBA, I make no bones about that. My purpose here is to hopefully address some legitimate concerns Kings fans are expressing about him.

I also see that some are questioning Kevin Salvidori’s motives so I guess you will do the same with me. I do not work in the NBA. I am not related to Paul Westphal. I have never coached and I already have a job. I am just a big Paul Westphal fan.

 As I stated in my opening I can tell by perusing this blog that all of you love your team and want the best coach you can get. You should be putting all the potential candidates under the microscope and Westphal should be no exception. Kudos to all of you for doing so. Whatever happens I wish you all the best going forward.

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