New Orleans Hornets Pick Monty Williams as Head Coach Chris Paul thrilled
The New Orleans Hornets made their first move of the off season when they announced that Monty Williams will be their Head Coach for the 2010 – 2011 NBA Season.
The 38-year old Williams was one of the two frontrunners for the Hornets coaching job but the other contender Tom Thibodeau landed with the Bulls. The Portland Trail Blazers assistant coach will have his first head coaching job and will be the youngest Coach in the NBA right now.
“The Hornets have a first-class organization and team; this is the perfect opportunity for me. I am very excited to get started in New Orleans.” Monty Williams said.
The new Head Coach of the Hornets was formally introduced by General Manager Jeff Bower to the public Tuesday night in a press conference held in New Orleans.
When he was introduced, Williams admitted that he had recalled all the things he had to go through, both as a player and an assistant coach. He also shared that the Boston Celtics Champion coach Doc Rivers told him before that he will be a head coach someday. Williams played for the Orlando Magic which was then coached by Doc Rivers.
"Doc Rivers kind of told me I'd be a head coach one day. I just kind of looked at him like he was nuts. It wasn't a part of my thinking at the time." Williams said.
"I told him he was going to coach someday because I told him I was about to cut him soon as a player. But no, I'm very happy for him. He'll be a very, very good coach." Doc Rivers said before Game 3 of the Finals against the Lakers.
Williams feels that the Hornets are very capable of improving their performance last season. The team missed the playoffs for the first time in three years after finishing the regular season with a 37-45 record. He feels very confident about the team because he has a very good point guard in Chris Paul, who can make the game a lot easier.
"In Portland, we were always trying to get a good point guard, and then we got Andre Miller last year and I realized how much easier the game can be when you have an elite point guard running your team," Williams said, who also added that he’s intrigued with Darren Collison’s potential.
The youngest head coach in the NBA plans to bring an up-tempo style of offense to his team because he has a lot of tools to make that kind of offense successful. He also reiterated that defense will still be the key to their success next season, especially inside the paint.
"I feel like David and Emeka Okafor got a lot of flak for giving up a lot of paint points and post points this year. I don't think all of that is on their shoulders. I think our guards and wings have to help them hold the paint down," he said.
Hornets General Manager Jeff Bower, who coached the Hornets after firing Byron Scott early in the season, said that he made sure that he’ll get the best available head coach for his team. He’s very confident that Williams is the man because he was impressed with how Williams handled Portland’s summer league teams in the past off-seasons.
“We feel like we succeeded with that objective and now that we have Monty on board, we can concentrate on helping him thrive by continuing to do whatever it takes to make this team better,” he said.
Hornets superstar point guard Chris Paul was also thrilled when he heard the news regarding their new Head Coach. Paul was very vocal to the public about his frustrations when the Hornets fired his mentor Byron Scott. “He is one of the great young coaches in this league. I am really excited to be along in his first head coaching journey. He is a perfect fit for our team.” Paul said.
Tags: