Hornets coach Williams puts focus on basketball, not chaos
NEW ORLEANS — Even though the New Orleans Hornets and coach Monty Williams planned for the possibility of not having future future Hall of Fame guard Chris Paul this season, there were times during the whole trade ordeal when everything resembled more soap opera and theatre of the absurd than basketball.
Every day there were rumors about potential deals involving Paul plastered all over the television and Internet. And it just wasn’t Paul leaving the team. Because almost every player on the Hornets roster was fair game, some players didn’t know if they were coming or going.
But even in the midst of the chaos Williams never panicked or looked stressed or defeated. He simply went about his business coaching the players that he had on the roster and making sure that their minds were focused on basketball.
And now that Paul is officially out of town and a member of the Los Angeles Clippers, Williams has won even more respect from the people around him because of the mental toughness and attention to details he showed during the trade confusion.
“(Coach Williams) handled the situation like a true head coach would,” Hornets guard Jarrett Jack said. “He kept us focused on the task at hand, which is getting better every time we step on the floor.”
Hornets’ General Manager Dell Demps said Williams had a tremendous attitude during the Paul trade situation and his devotion to the team and his players never changed.
“I was out there in practice (one day), and he was getting into drills and making plays,” Demps said. “Monty is great. He’s a fighter. He’s tough. He’s smart, intelligent and prepared. Monty is a team guy. He understands what’s going on.”
When asked if he was an optimist during the trade situation, Williams said he was a “realist.”
“I think if you have the things that we have in this business you have an opportunity to succeed, I don’t care what the situation is,” he said. “I don’t believe in excuses, and it probably drives my wife and my kids crazy, but we live in a tough world and the NBA is not part of it.”
Even though he was losing his best player and a friend in Paul, Williams refused to see his job as anything other than a blessing.
“From that standpoint I think the glass is always half full in the NBA due to the amount of money that I get paid to coach and to be around the quality of people that I’m around every day,” he said.
“I just think the circumstances I’ve been dealt here and in my life, I don’t have a lot to complain about.”
This was the first time that Williams dealt with the trade of a player of Paul’s caliber as a coach, but he was able to survive the test because of the wisdom he learned from his nine seasons as a player in the NBA.
Williams said one of the things he learned a long time ago in the NBA was that stuff changes and people have to deal with the things in the present.
“We’ve always talked about not worrying about later on,” he said.
Williams also believes in not worrying about things that he can’t control, and making sure his team does the same.
One of the first things he did when the Paul trade rumors were circulating was to have a team meeting. He also made sure to keep the trade situation out of team talk during practices.
“I told the guys this is not your problem,” Williams said. “Those guys want somebody to put them in a situation to succeed, and that’s my promise from day one.”
And Williams plans to do everything he can to keep his word.
Since the trade of Paul and the addition of guard Eric Gordon, center Chris Kaman and forward Al-Farouq Aminu, the Hornets have been scrambling to refine their lineup and player rotations in time for the season opener on Monday at Phoenix.
It’s made for some learning experiences in practices and a lot of scrambling in less than a two-week time span.
Still, despite the hard work they have been doing and plan on doing in the future, they know entire process for everything to gel could take months.
But regardless of how long it takes, Williams plans to be prepared and make sure his team is prepared as well.
And Jack, who played in Portland while Williams was an assistant coach under Coach Nate McMillan, knows his coach won’t let the pressure of the task of solidifying the Hornets roster on the fly get the best of him.
After all, Jack things Williams was rock solid during the Chris Paul trade situation.
“I know what he expects out of his players, and I know what he expects out of me on an everyday basis, and that’s just to come in here and work hard, because that’s the one thing you can come in and constantly control every day and the other stuff will take care of itself,” Jack said.