Developing Players
In an August 2011 interview on NBA.com, Musselman said that, as a coach, "you have to continually figure out a way to get your players better." According to Gerald Green, who played for Musselman with the D-League's Los Angeles D-Fenders in 2012, Musselman "did a hell of a job really motivating me, really pushing me every day in practice when I was with L.A. I have to give him credit .” Green said that Musselman "rode me about staying focused. Don’t take even a second off of any play. Don’t take any plays off. Don’t take practice for granted."
Like Green, Jeremy Lin has also credited Musselman with aiding his development. In February 2012, Lin said that when he played for Musselman in the D-League, "he gave me the opportunity to play through mistakes."
Gregory Echenique, who played for Musselman on the Venezuela National Team in 2011, said Musselman "had the most energy of any coach I've ever been around. He had a problem with his Achilles, and he would throw his crutches down and literally crawl to get after you. From the first day we met him to when we left him, his intensity never changed. It didn't matter who you were — he was in your face if he needed to be. At the same time, he was so positive. He always believed we could win. He was the guy that put the fire into us."
Kevin Martin (basketball), who played for Musselman with the Sacramento Kings in 2006-07, told NBA.com that Musselman helped him learn how to draw more fouls. According to Martin, Musselman "saw how teams were playing me and how they got up into me and told me to start absorbing that contact. He said I could score a lot more points in this league if I got to the free throw line. He put an emphasis on me night in night out with that part of the game. He was always pounding it into me and it paid off."
Read more about this topic: Eric Musselman
Famous quotes containing the words developing and/or players:
“Our children evaluate themselves based on the opinions we have of them. When we use harsh words, biting comments, and a sarcastic tone of voice, we plant the seeds of self-doubt in their developing minds.... Children who receive a steady diet of these types of messages end up feeling powerless, inadequate, and unimportant. They start to believe that they are bad, and that they can never do enough.”
—Stephanie Martson (20th century)
“The players have often mentioned it as an honour to Shakespeare, that in his writing, whatsoever he penned, he never blotted out [a] line. My answer hath been, Would he had blotted a thousand.”
—Ben Jonson (c. 15721637)