PRUNTY’S WEIRD WAY WITH WORDS

GB coach Joe Prunty seems like a very reasonable and considered man. Yet some of the things he said during his latest news conference more than raised an eyebrow or two.
The first faux-pas came when he was asked about the difficulties of juggling his role with the Brooklyn Nets – where he is an assistant coach – and the GB national team.

“My primary responsibility lies with the Brooklyn Nets,” he said.

Wow.

Don’t get me wrong – that is totally true, and totally understandable. But is it really what you say to a room full of British media? I don’t think so.

But it was when I asked him about next month’s British Basketball funding decision that I really got a surprise. I  likened it to a ‘black cloud’ hanging over everything they’re trying to do. His response: “What does a black cloud do? Brings rain. What does rain do? Helps things grow. So maybe a negative isn’t so negative. Maybe we should be thankful that we’ve had what we’ve had.”

REALLY??

Is the GB national team coach really suggesting that a funding cut could be a good thing?

And the whole ‘we should be thankful that we’ve had what we’ve had’ talk didn’t strike me as the mentality of a winner either. He expanded on that:

“We’ve been extremely appreciative of the funding we’ve been able to get to this point. There are people that work extremely hard…and, you know, if things don’t work out then what’s the next step? What I look at is how fortunate we are to be where we are and have the support that we’ve had.”

I agree that everyone is extremely grateful for the funding that has transformed the national team over the last 7 years or so. But that doesn’t mean it’s OK if the ride ends here.

I know he was trying to be positive. I get that. But am I the only one who thinks these aren’t the type of noises the national team head coach should be making in public?