Kings notes: 'Coachie' is still involved in the gamePete Carril, let go last year, pays a return visit to Arco.
<H1>By Sam Amick - Bee Staff Writer
</H1>samick@sacbee.
Sacbee / Sacramento Kingscom.
Pete Carril came out with his trademark gait, the waddle that was one of the many "Coachie" nuances remembered by so many.
And when the former Kings assistant first hit the Arco Arena floor, the man who was equal parts sage and hoops scientist in his 10 years with the organization was embraced by all. Players, coaches, fans and media greeted the man who would have been fine if he had never left.
But although Carril wasn't retained after former coach Rick Adelman was fired, he said he has managed to keep plenty of hoops in his daily diet. Carril lives four miles from the Princeton campus where he became a coaching legend, and his virtual lifetime pass with the program means he's free to drop in to observe and advise at his will. Otherwise, Carril said he was open to taking an NBA assistant job but one never opened.
"I guess nobody liked me," he said with a laugh. "I thought maybe I could hook up with Philly, but they had to make a change, and they didn't do it. In a way, I'm glad."
Glad because it's not a bad life away from the daily grind of the pro game. Carril has held basketball clinics all over the globe, from coaching at the University of Madrid in Spain to sessions closer to home in New York and New Jersey. He arrived in town Thursday, staying with Kings basketball president Geoff Petrie, and will leave on Thursday.
No one was happier to see Carril than Kevin Martin, the third-year shooting guard who was the last in a long line of young players to gain greatly from Carril's tutelage. And as if Carril never left, he had plenty to say about Martin's game and the Kings as a whole.
"He'd better start hustling," Carril said of Martin. "He'd better get his (butt) in gear. They all better get their (butts) in gear, right?"
Oh, Wells -- It was fitting, really.
Bonzi Wells -- who made the ill-fated decision to turn down two free-agent offers from the Kings last summer, the last one worth five years and $38.5 million -- was not with his Houston Rockets team because of the flu. It has been an ongoing story line with Wells this season. He entered training camp out of shape and has played in 11 games since.
Wells, who fired his agent, William Phillips, after eventually signing with Houston for one year and $2.2 million, told the Houston Chronicle on Friday that he did, in fact, want to return to Sacramento.
"I didn't get a chance (to go back)," he said. "It was just a miscommunication between my agent and (Kings) management. They never communicated with me. I wanted to stay there. I wanted ... to be there for a long time. I ended up getting the short end of the stick. I think about it every day. I miss being in Sacramento."
ack East, but one never opened.
<H1>By Sam Amick - Bee Staff Writer
</H1>samick@sacbee.
Sacbee / Sacramento Kingscom.
Pete Carril came out with his trademark gait, the waddle that was one of the many "Coachie" nuances remembered by so many.
And when the former Kings assistant first hit the Arco Arena floor, the man who was equal parts sage and hoops scientist in his 10 years with the organization was embraced by all. Players, coaches, fans and media greeted the man who would have been fine if he had never left.
But although Carril wasn't retained after former coach Rick Adelman was fired, he said he has managed to keep plenty of hoops in his daily diet. Carril lives four miles from the Princeton campus where he became a coaching legend, and his virtual lifetime pass with the program means he's free to drop in to observe and advise at his will. Otherwise, Carril said he was open to taking an NBA assistant job but one never opened.
"I guess nobody liked me," he said with a laugh. "I thought maybe I could hook up with Philly, but they had to make a change, and they didn't do it. In a way, I'm glad."
Glad because it's not a bad life away from the daily grind of the pro game. Carril has held basketball clinics all over the globe, from coaching at the University of Madrid in Spain to sessions closer to home in New York and New Jersey. He arrived in town Thursday, staying with Kings basketball president Geoff Petrie, and will leave on Thursday.
No one was happier to see Carril than Kevin Martin, the third-year shooting guard who was the last in a long line of young players to gain greatly from Carril's tutelage. And as if Carril never left, he had plenty to say about Martin's game and the Kings as a whole.
"He'd better start hustling," Carril said of Martin. "He'd better get his (butt) in gear. They all better get their (butts) in gear, right?"
Oh, Wells -- It was fitting, really.
Bonzi Wells -- who made the ill-fated decision to turn down two free-agent offers from the Kings last summer, the last one worth five years and $38.5 million -- was not with his Houston Rockets team because of the flu. It has been an ongoing story line with Wells this season. He entered training camp out of shape and has played in 11 games since.
Wells, who fired his agent, William Phillips, after eventually signing with Houston for one year and $2.2 million, told the Houston Chronicle on Friday that he did, in fact, want to return to Sacramento.
"I didn't get a chance (to go back)," he said. "It was just a miscommunication between my agent and (Kings) management. They never communicated with me. I wanted to stay there. I wanted ... to be there for a long time. I ended up getting the short end of the stick. I think about it every day. I miss being in Sacramento."
ack East, but one never opened.
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