Mullin Looks Forward to Playing in New York

What is with the West Coast anyway?

First the Dodgers are lured to faraway Los Angeles from fabled Ebbets Field much to the chagrin of the Brooklyn faithful. Then the Golden State Warriors select St. John’s guard Chris Mullin--born, bred and revered in Brooklyn--in the NBA draft and transport him to the land of white wine, meditation and “let’s have lunch.”

Well, take heart Brooklyn. Those sports powers in the West may have been able to take the Dodgers and Mullin away from Brooklyn, but they haven’t been able to take Brooklyn away from either.

Mullin, currently the leading rookie guard in the All-Star balloting, has the same gym rat style that once graced the playgrounds of Brooklyn and the backcourt of St. John’s University.

“I haven’t changed the way I look at or approach the game of basketball,” the rookie said. “I still enjoy the game and just feel lucky to be out here.”

However, Mullin does admit that the tough NBA travel schedule has forced him to abandon his gym rat ways.

“When I first got here I used to head over to the gym after practice and shoot around some more,” he said. “But with the travel and everything, I just haven’t been able to get back to the gym after practice.”

The loss of the extra practice time does not seem to have had an adverse effect on Mullin’s play. The former UPI Collegiate Player of the Year is averaging near 14.0 points a game.

All would seem to indicate a smooth transition from college to the professional level. But Mullin is the first to say that that isn’t the case.

“It has been a variety of things,” he said of the challenges of his first season. “It changes from night to night. Different teams present different problems so you just have to be prepared.

“What I try to do is dwell on the positive. If I have a bad night, I try to go out the next night and improve and play better.”

One of the areas where the learning journey has been most difficult is the adjustment to the faster pro guards and the demands of constant man-to-man defense.

“It’s been kinda difficult adjusting to the faster guards,” he said. “But it is a learning experience and that is the way I look at it.”

Mullin said he is looking forward to playing in front of the “home crowd” again at Madison Square Garden Tuesday.

“It’s going to be nice to play back at the Garden in front of my family and friends,” he said. “But I can’t lose sight of what I’m there for--to beat the Knicks.”

The Knicks game is one of five to be played by the Warriors in a seven-day period. Mullin said life on the road has been one of the more difficult aspects of this season.

“The road trips are kinda tough, especially if you’re not winning,” he said. “When you’re losing they can create a snowball effect. Hopefully, we can put a couple game together and get off to a better start in the second half.”

The Warriors have historically been a poor January team. In fact, until a victory over Indiana on Jan. 13, Golden State had been 0-for-January over the last two years.

The team’s poor performance this season has led to rumors that Coach John Bach may be replaced. A number of players, including starting center J.B. Carroll, have also called for Bach’s ousting in published reports.

However, Mullin has chosen a simple way to avoid the controversy.

“To tell you the truth I don’t read the paper,” he said. “The only reason I read it at home was because it was delivered to our house. I don’t have it delivered here. The only time I pick one up is if we are going on a long flight.”

It would be too simple to credit Mullin’s “see no evil, hear no evil and speak no evil” approach for his knack of avoiding controversy. He also has his feet solidly planted on the ground.

Take for example his attitude toward the fact that he is outdrawing both Carroll and hardworking forward Purvis Short in the All-Star balloting.

“I’m surprised by the number of votes I’ve gotten,” he said. “But if I did make the All-Star team I would rather send them (Carroll and Short) because they deserve it. I don’t know if that’s possible, but that is what I would like to do.”

Mullin said the credit for his attitude belongs to his upbringing.

“My family is semilarge,” he said. “Everybody got their piece of the cake. I’ve discovered that things work best if you deal with them in that way.”