Kevin Pelton, SUPERSONICS.COM | July 5, 2007
The Seattle SuperSonics took another crucial step in remaking their franchise under new General Manager Sam Presti Thursday, when Presti introduced P.J. Carlesimo as the 15th head coach in franchise history. Presti and Carlesimo, who worked together in San Antonio the past five seasons as the Spurs won three NBA Championships, bring similar visions of how to build a team that is successful for the long run.
Those visions start with defense.
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"I look forward to building a team that's going to make the people of Seattle very proud of the Sonics, as they have been over the years."
Terrence Vaccaro/NBAE/Getty
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"I look forward to helping Sam," said Carlesimo at a press conference introducing him as head coach, "sharing his vision and building a team that's going to be successful in the long term: A team that's going to play very hard, a team that's going to defend, a team that's going to play together and a team that's going to make the people of Seattle very proud of the Sonics, as they have been over the years."
During five full seasons as a head coach in Portland and Golden State, Carlesimo's teams finished in the NBA's top 10 in terms of Defensive Rating four times. The Sonics last finished in the league's upper third in defense in 1997-98.
"I believe and I know that the day that a college program or an NBA team hires P.J. Carlesimo to be their head coach, they get better defensively that day," said Presti. "Throughout the process, P.J.'s philosophy defensively, his belief in that philosophy and his ability to coach and teach that philosophy were things that were heavily factored into what it is that we're going to do in terms of building an identity at the defensive end of the floor."
There was more to the decision than defense, however. After selecting Kevin Durant No. 2 overall and sending veteran guard Ray Allen to Boston for the rights to No. 5 pick Jeff Green in a multi-player deal on the night of the NBA Draft, the Sonics have a youthful roster with eight players under the age of 25. As a result, the ability to mold young players became a key criterion for the new head coach. That fits Carlesimo, who before coming to the NBA spent 19 years as a head coach at the NCAA level. That includes a successful 12-year run at Seton Hall capped by an appearance in the NCAA Championship Game in 1989 at the Kingdome in Seattle.
"I personally believe that what we need for our program right now is a teacher," said Presti. "Someone that can teach the game at a high level and can communicate the game at a high level. P.J.'s background at the collegiate level, his background in the NBA and, obviously, his background with winning most recently at San Antonio were huge impacts. I've witnessed first-hand his ability to teach the game."
"It's basically what I've done for most of my career," added Carlesimo. "For 23 years, I was in college - I think 19 as a head coach - where I coached mostly young guys from 17 to 22 years of age. That's what I've done my entire life - recruit them, coach them and hopefully help develop them and in some cases prepare them to go on to the NBA."
Because of Presti's history with Carlesimo in San Antonio, there was a natural assumption at the time Presti was hired that Carlesimo would be an obvious choice for the vacant head coach position. However, Presti and Professional Basketball Club, LLC Chairman Clayton Bennett went through the interview process with what Presti described as a "blank canvas." The process was thorough, but Carlesimo proved to be the right fit.
"At the end of the day," explained Presti, "we just came to the conclusion that P.J.'s philosophies are very much aligned with what we want to do here."
Carlesimo's philosophy was shaped in part by his five years as an assistant to Gregg Popovich in San Antonio. After his last stint as a head coach, in Golden State, ended with Carlesimo unable to bring the team out of the lottery (nor were five subsequent coaches before the Warriors finally returned to the playoffs last season), he spent three years working as a broadcaster before joining the Spurs coaching staff.
Like Presti before him, Carlesimo profusely thanked Popovich, Spurs GM R.C. Buford and Chairman Peter Holt, the rest of the staff in San Antonio as well as the players, saying, "I wouldn't be here if not for them."
It was only natural, given the time he spent with the Spurs, that Carlesimo was asked how he has changed since his days in Golden State.
"I think I've evolved," answered Carlesimo. "I don't know that I've changed all that much. Next year will be my 35th year in coaching, 23 in college and it will be number 12 in the NBA. I think a coach evolves from day to day, from week to week. I think I learned an awful lot from Pop. I think a lot of my beliefs were reinforced by Pop and the other coaches and players in San Antonio and the way they operate.
"Having said that, I'm still who I am and I think that when you get outside your own persona, that's not a good thing. You need to learn from mistakes, you need to learn from your past experiences. In the same way that we ask players to improve, coaches need to improve too. Hopefully I'm a much better coach than I was eight years ago when I last sat in the seat I'm sitting in now. You're constantly evolving, you're constantly learning, and hopefully you're getting better all the time."
During his first couple of years out of the league, Carlesimo wondered if he would get another chance to be a head coach, but it wasn't something he obsessed about. As his time in San Antonio went on and he began to sense that another head coaching position could be a possibility (he was reportedly a finalist for the Minnesota job two years ago), Carlesimo felt the attraction of running his own team.
"When you've been a head coach and you've been an assistant coach," he explained, "it's night and day."
Carlesimo had little time to reflect on his new position. After the press conference, he was due to fly to Las Vegas, where the Sonics will begin play in the NBA Summer League with the professional debuts of rookies Durant and Green tomorrow afternoon against Dallas. Still, his excitement about being a part of the new Sonics, with a new GM and new coach overseeing a roster that has been injected with youthful talent and potential, was clear.
"I think it's unusual in the NBA when you have a singular vision in place and you're going to build things a certain way and you're going to do it for the long haul," said Carlesimo. "I'm looking forward to working for and with Sam. I think if you look at a franchise like a Utah or a San Antonio or Miami where there's been a singular vision in place for a while and you stay with that singular vision, success is going to come."
Press Conference Audio (Part 1)
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