Williams makes first public comments about Hornets
Monday, June 7, 2010
By: Jim Eichenhofer, Hornets.com
Over the weekend, New Orleans first-year head coach Monty Williams was interviewed by Portland radio station 95.5 FM, The Game, as well as the city’s daily newspaper, The Oregonian, regarding his brand-new job. It would seem perhaps too early for Williams to already have a complex understanding of the Hornets’ roster and needs, but he was quoted by Trail Blazers beat writer Jason Quick giving his initial impression of the team.“We will play hard,” Williams vowed in Sunday‘s edition of The Oregonian. “That will be our calling card. We don’t have enough talent to finesse our way to wins every night, so hard work is going to be our hallmark. We have arguably the best point guard in the league (in Chris Paul), and that’s going to help me. Chris and I will sit down and talk, because there’s no need for me to bring my X’s and O’s if it doesn’t fit with him.”During a 12-minute Saturday radio phone interview, Williams discussed some of the personal aspects of having his family move from Portland to New Orleans. Williams’ wife, Ingrid, is weeks away from giving birth to the couple’s fifth child.“First thing I have to do is find a doctor for my wife,” Williams said of his arrival in New Orleans. “She’s eight months pregnant. I’m going to head down as soon as everything’s finalized and get that taken care of, and find a church and a school for my kids.”During the same interview, the 38-year-old was asked about his philosophy and plans for how he will put his coaching staff together. Those topics undoubtedly will be addressed during Tuesday’s NOLA press conference, but this was Williams’ response on the air: “I have to trust management, as we do here (in Portland), that they’re going to put the players in place for us to succeed. I have to go down there and build trust between me and the players. I have to hire a staff that’s going to be the best for that team. It may not necessarily be the guys that I know, or the guys that think they may be getting a job. It has to be the guys that are going to do the job for that particular team. A lot of that is ahead of me.”