Warriors coaching move a questionable one

By the time you read this, the Golden State Warriors will have reached an agreement with Stanford coach Mike Montgomery to become their new head coach.

Montgomery, who would replace the recently fired Eric Musselman, has spent his entire coaching career in the collegiate ranks, compiling a record of 547-244 during his time at Stanford and Montana. He's most notably known for putting Stanford basketball on the map, where he has coached for the last 18 years.

Terms of the deal are reportedly four years at $8 million, making him one of the higher paid coaches in the league.

My question is this... Of all the noteworthy candidates out on the market, why Montgomery? Make no mistake about it, he's an outstanding college coach.

Over the last decade, he has turned Stanford hoops in to a national power, and has built up Hall of Fame credentials.

Perhaps his most successful year was 2000, as he led the Cardinal to unprecedented heights, finishing the regular season ranked No. 1 overall, with a 29-1 record.

As I said, the man has credo that few can duplicate on the college level.

However, the road to the next level isn't always a smooth one. In fact, more often than not, collegiate success rarely leads to success in the Association.

It took San Antonio exactly 20 games to realize Jerry Tarkanian wasn't a NBA coach.

It took the Hawks three years, 69 wins, 129 losses and a .361 winning percentage to send Lon Kruger back to college with his tail tucked between his legs.

Then there was Tim Floyd... Considering this year's 40 win fiasco in New Orleans was actually a professional high for Floyd, you can get a rough idea of how well he coached in the Association.

Even Rick Pitino, who had a pretty successful run as Knick coach in the late 80s, couldn't get back in the groove.

In his four year run as Celtic coach, Pitino's resume included several draft disasters. After losing out on the Tim Duncan lottery, Boston passed on Tracy McGrady to select Chauncey Billups.

Not to disrespect Billups, who is quietly putting together a solid career, however McGrady at this point is a player who could have helped build the sagging Celtic franchise. Imagine a lineup consisting of McGrady and Paul Pierce. Enough to give you chills?? It certainly does wonders for me.

Making the selection even worse, Billups was traded after just 51 games in Beantown.

Pitino's run in free agency wasn't too much better, as he spent an astounding $47 million on center Travis Knight and Chris Mills.

Suffice to say, the crown jewel of college coaches was off the sidelines before long, only after a media meltdown of epic proportions.

Then there was the sad saga of former Seton Hall coach P.J. Carlesimo. Let's just put it this way, when his biggest splash as a coach is causing Latrell Sprewell to pretend his neck was a Promo Ball, you can pretty much sum up P.J's success on the sidelines.

Again, I respect Montgomery for his success on the college level, but I think that in this case, Chris Mullin's first major move as Warrior Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations was both a risky and a questionable one.

I can understand his desire to hire a marquee name, especially one that was a hero at nearby Stanford, however wins will put fans in the seats just as quickly as having a name coach will. Eventually, the romance period will wear off, and the Warriors will be stuck right back where they started from -- in the lottery looking in.

As for Eric Musselman, I have no doubts he will land back on his feet before long. He did far more in his two years than was expected of him.

His 75-89 record in Oakland may not be one that jumps out at you.

It's doubtful that his 37-45 mark this year will do wonders either. However, when taking in to consideration that the team was gutted of it's two best players in the post-season, then spent the majority of the regular season trucking talent back and forth between the IR and the hardwood, 37-45 is an oasis of what should have been.

Hopefully, he will be rewarded with another opportunity. He certainly deserves it.

Meanwhile, the mess in Golden State is now Montgomery's to bear.

Let me remind you that in the preceding post-season, the Warriors lost their two best players and more likely than not will again be forced to deal talent this post-season (Nick Van Exel and Erick Dampier).

Good luck breaking the losing trend of college coaches Mike. You're going to need it.