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NEW ORLEANS -- Monty Williams took his first NBA head coaching job with the Hornets at a time when the franchise was defined by uncertainty. Star players were looking to leave and no one knew who the next owner would be, or even if the team would remain in New Orleans long term. Williams kept his focus on coaching, and has been rewarded with a four-year extension running through the 2015-16 season. "The problems we have in the NBA are really good problems to have," Williams said in a phone interview with The Associated Press on Sunday, the day the club announced his extension. "I would have loved to have all the ducks in a row and all the other good things everybody else had in their organizations, but that just wasnt my reality and at the same time my job hadnt changed and my players needed me to be focused on my job." The new deal comes as the 40-year-old Williams heads into the final year of the first head coaching contract he signed in 2010. The Hornets didnt release contract terms. Williams confirmed the length of the extension, but declined to discuss his pay other than to say, "Its more than I deserve." Williams took the Hornets to the playoffs his first season with a 46-36 record. Last season, the club went 21-45 after trading star Chris Paul to the Los Angeles Clippers in a deal that helped New Orleans build for the future with the acquisition of 23-year-old shooting guard Eric Gordon and an additional first-round draft choice. The Hornets then won the NBAs draft lottery, selected Kentucky star Anthony Davis first overall and added Dukes Austin Rivers with the 10th pick. This off-season, the Hornets have traded to acquire forward Ryan Anderson from Orlando and centre Robin Lopez from Phoenix. "The Hornets have a promising future and an exciting young nucleus," said Hornets executive vice-president Mickey Loomis. "It is our opinion that Monty is the perfect coach to develop and lead this group of talent going forward." Loomis, also the general manager of the New Orleans Saints, was placed in his oversight position with the Hornets after Saints owner Tom Benson bought the basketball team from the NBA, ending a period of ownership uncertainty that had made it difficult for Hornets general manager Dell Demps to acquire or keep established players in free agency. Forward David West cited the lack of a long-term owner as a factor in his decision to leave New Orleans for Indiana in free agency last year. Williams said Loomis initiated the extension talks. "When he did that I kind of felt like when the older guys used to pick me to play on their team," Williams said. "It just made me feel like theyre putting a lot of trust in me. Mr. Benson has told everybody that hes confident in our ability as a coaching staff. I just felt really good about that." Williams came to the Hornets after five seasons as the assistant coach in Portland under then-head coach Nate McMillan. Williams played in the NBA for 10 years after the New York Knicks made the former Notre Dame standout a first-round pick in 1994. His playing career also included stints with the San Antonio Spurs, Denver Nuggets, Orlando Magic and Philadelphia 76ers. The Hornets hired Williams when the club was up for sale by founder George Shinn. During his first season, the NBA stepped in to buy the club in hopes of stabilizing club finances and orchestrating a deal with a new, permanent owner committed to keeping the team in Louisiana long-term. At the time, Williams peers would often say they felt sorry for him having to start his head coaching career amid such instability, but Williams never complained, saying he felt lucky to be getting paid well to do something he loved. His players routinely professed their admiration for Williams approach and always seemed to play hard for him. Even as the end of last season approached, with the Hornets well out of the playoff hunt, they finished with eight victories in their final 13 games. It was around that time that Benson agreed to buy the Hornets for $338 million and also agreed to a lease extension through 2024 at the New Orleans Arena. Soon after, Benson and Loomis said they planned to retain Williams. "We could not be any happier to have someone of Montys quality ---- both professionally and personally ---- involved in the resurgence of this franchise," Benson said. The Hornets have begun moving corporate offices into a newly renovated building that also houses the Saints headquarters and Benson is looking into building a new practice facility on that campus. After two challenging seasons, Williams is now looking at a future that includes stable, deep-pocketed ownership, an infusion of new talent, facility upgrades and enhanced job security. "For me to say thats not good for the organization or the team would be a lot of fake humility on my part. I think its great for all involved and shows Mr. Benson and Mickey have a vision for the organization thats bigger than all of us," Williams said. "Weve had some really good things happen ... yet we havent won anything, so that is where my reality remains. I want to win. All the stuff that were getting is a bonus." Cheap Jerseys China . He held his composure and the Brewers hung on, too. Aramis Ramirez drove in two runs in his return to Wrigley Field, Ryan Braun got booed relentlessly and Milwaukee walked off with a 7-5 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Monday night. Cheap Jerseys Wholesale . There was no looking back. No heartfelt apologies given. No need for a detailed autopsy of Dwyane Wades ugly sideline exchange with coach Eric Spoelstra in Game 3. http://www.dancewithmeusa.com/hot.html .C. -- Furniture Row Racing will field its own pit crew next season. TORONTO -- Kevin Croswell made an impressive return to the National Lacrosse League on Saturday night. The Washington Stealth announced on Thursday that theyd signed the 26-year-old free agent from Peterborough, Ont., to sub for injured goaltender Tyler Richards, he participated in his first practice with his new teammates Saturday morning, and then he went out and played a starring role in a 14-9 victory over the Toronto Rock. "I got thrown right in there and I guess theres no better way to do it than get right in there and get it done," said Croswell, who claimed not to feel rusty in his first regular-season NLL start since last spring. "You just go in there and do your thing." Washington held quarter leads of 3-1, 7-4 and 10-7 and outshot Toronto 57-49. Jeff Zywicki, Dean Hill, Eric Martin and Lewis Ratcliff scored two each and Athan Iannucci, Brett Bucktooth, Cliff Smith, Mike Grimes, Justin Salt and Curtis Hodgson got one each for Washington, 2-6. Stephan Leblanc scored four goals and Garrett Billings, Josh Sanderson, Stephen Hoar, Ryan Sharp and Bill Greer one each for the Rock, who slipped to 4-4 in front of an Air Canada Centre crowd of 10,530. Toronto retained a share of first place in the East Division because Philadelphia also is at 4-4 after losing 11-8 at home to Rochester. Sharp and Croswell are former teammates so the Rock defenceman was well aware of Croswells attributes. "He practices hard and plays hard," said Sharp. "He studies the game. "Hes been around. He was in Minnesota with me for four years. He studied Nick Patterson and when he got in there he played well, and he played well tonight." Both teams were missing all-star forwards -- Washingtons Rhys Duch and Torontos Colin Doyle -- but the return of Zywicki to the Stealth lineup after being out since Jan. 19 gave his team a big lift. "It was awesome to be back and I felt great," said Zywicki. "It feels even better now that we got the win. "I thought I played pretty well but the big thing was that the team played a lot better than weve played all year." The two goals he scored from the edge of the crease to the right of the Toronto net were trademark Zywicki effort from extremely difficult angles. "Ive been doing those for a long time," he said. "When youre not the biggest guy out there, youve got to find different ways to score. Those tough angle ones, I work on them in practice." Zywicki wasnt the only Washington returning to action. The return of Kyle Sorensen and Chris McElroy strengthened the back end. "The defence played solid," said Croswell. "They allowed me some good looks on outside shots." This looked more like the team that barely lost the Champions Cup final, 8-7, in Toronto last May than the injury-riddled one that fell to 1-6 after a lopsided loss to Minnesota last weekend. "We finally feel as if were on the right track," said defenceman Jeff Moleski. "Our goal tonight was to outwork them and outsmart them and I think we did that. "Weve made a few changes lately and decided to get back to basic lacrosse. Thats whhat we did tonight.dddddddddddd. We outran them and outhustled them." It was the second game with head coach Chris Hall behind the bench following his treatments for throat cancer. "We got some stops, finally, in goal," said Hall. "Croswell was outstanding -- great early to get us rolling. "Sorensen was back to lead the defence and to bring us some motivation and grit and, of course, it was special to see Zywicki back. Those three made a big difference for us." Duch is probable for next weekends game in Denver against West leader Colorado, said Hall. That reality and the win over the Rock has Stealth confidence at a seasons high. "Maybe we can climb out of the hole were in and get back in it," he said. "Weve got some goaltending, weve got some leadership back, Zywicki was big up front and weve injected some youthful energy in Justin Salt, so theres absolutely something for us to build on." Toronto coach Troy Cordingley says Doyles bruised shoulder should be better by next weekend, which should allow him to suit up for a home game against Philadelphia. That positive development helps offset some of the negativity of yet another home loss. "We had a team come into our rink that was 1-6 and I dont think we took them lightly," said Cordingley. "They played more like the team that went to the final the final the last two years. "We started slowly. We couldnt keep up. They dominated. We have to find that drive, that passion, that is going to get us over this inconsistency -- play one good game and take two off type of thing." Matt Roik started in goal for the Rock but was replaced by Pat Campbell when Washington went ahead 9-4 in the third quarter. "We got outworked by a hungry team," said Rock defenceman Bruce Codd. "I dont know why we didnt come out and match their intensity. We knew they were going to be hungry but we came out flat and got behind and never had the lead at any point in the game. It was just a disappointing effort." The next game is key to Torontos hope of finishing first in the East. Toronto and Philadelphia split two previous meetings so the third and final one will give the winner the tiebreaker should the two clubs end the 16-game schedule tied. "We have confidence in our guys," said Cordingley. "We just need to find that fire that is going to motivate us to play consistent lacrosse like we have for the last two years. Guys should be ready off the young guys in our lineup. I thought they Jesse Gamble, Scotty Johnston and Damon Edwards were our best players tonight. Those kids played hard." NOTES: Washington outshot Toronto 57-50 . . . Bob Snider won 19 of the 27 faceoffs he took for the Stealth . . . Toronto was 1-for-4 and Washington 0-for-3 on power plays . . . Besides Doyle, Toronto also deleted D Phil Sanderson and D Glen Bryan . . . Besides Duch, Washington scratched F Brett Hickey and D Kyle Ross . . . D Drew Petkoff has gone on injured reserve with what the Rock describe as an upper body injury. Johnston took his place and fought Smith in the second quarter of his first NLL game. ' ' '