There seems to be a pattern developing here: Players start tuning out veteran, successful NBA coach. They complain of out-of-date, complex offenses and lack of communication. See Dick Motta, Bill Fitch and Del Harris. Coach, generally not as much at fault as his players, gets fired or kicked upstairs
(it`s still coming, Bill.).
Join the club, K.C. Jones.
The Seattle SuperSonics sent the third-winningest coach in NBA history
(.683 percentage) fishing last week with 3 1/2 years (at about $500,000 per year) left on his contract.
”He came in and we were mesmerized by all his rings. He`s a legend,”
acknowledged Seattle General Manager Bob Whitsitt. ”But it wasn`t the right staff, and now we have to make the right move.”
There was something to that staff remark, even if Whitsitt desperately is trying to save his own job.
Jones, who had winners in Washington and Boston, always had tough, no-nonsense assistants with him-Bernie Bickerstaff in Washington and Jimmy Rodgers and Chris Ford in Boston-to keep the pressure on the players and offset his low-key style.
Jones is one of the most likable men around the NBA, a dignified gentleman who used to entertain friends by playing and singing in piano bars on the road.
His style was perfect for the Celtics after the manic Fitch and fit well with veterans such as Wes Unseld, Phil Chenier and Elvin Hayes in Washington. But Seattle was a kiddie zoo with the seemingly comatose Derrick McKey, coach killer Benoit Benjamin, immature Gary Payton and angry veterans Ricky Pierce and Eddie Johnson.
So Jones, 59, was doomed with the Sonics. The players complained openly of his meticulous offense that focused on Benjamin.
”That`s an offense from another era,” said one player. ”Today, you have to be aggressive and trap on defense. We went to an old-fashioned offense for Ben, and that wasted all the talent of the athletes on this team.”
There are some unmistakable trends. NBA coaching is becoming a young man`s game. A coach has to be a psychologist as well as a master strategist with a sense of daring and elan to go with a calming influence.
But perhaps the most telling quote from the Jones departure came from Johnson.
”A coach has to step in and have control,” he said. ”There are different kinds of coaches. A disciplinarian wears on players after a few years, but here there was no discipline.”
And you wonder why coaches don`t hang around to get pensions?
A saint for Sonics: Credit the SuperSonics for this. Mike Fratello was in Seattle Thursday broadcasting for the Clippers, and Whitsitt didn`t even talk to him about the position. That just shows they may be serious about a turnaround even though Fratello still is rumored to be a strong candidate, along with former Bulls coach Doug Collins.
The hottest early prospect is Golden State assistant Garry St. Jean.
”He`s probably the hottest name among the assistants,” said Warriors coach Don Nelson, who gave the Sonics permission to talk with St. Jean. ”I`ve reconciled myself to losing him.”
Cavs looking to deal: Charles Barkley keeps trying to get himself traded, and now the Mavericks have talked to the 76ers. It was Magic Johnson who called Barkley and asked if he would like to play with the Lakers. The Lakers are offering James Worthy, and while a deal for Barkley seems unlikely for now, they are ready to deal Worthy.
Also, now that the Cavaliers were thumped by the Bulls, they may be more interested in making a move. There have been regular rumors of a deal with Dallas for Rodney McCray and Rolando Blackman to fill the Cavaliers` weak small forward and shooting guard spots. But the Cavaliers, after trading Kevin Johnson and with Mark Price coming off surgery, are reluctant to deal Terrell Brandon, whom the Mavericks desire.
Before Boston traded Brian Shaw to Miami, the talk was that he would make his way to the Lakers, who originally tried to draft him. Speculation was for a deal for A.C. Green, but the Lakers would love to move Elden Campbell to the power forward-starved Heat.
It didn`t help Shaw`s future in Boston, by the way, when management began talking openly about how he undercut Larry Bird in practice to presumably innocently cause the injury that has kept Bird off the court lately.
Davis rules: The Heat may have let go of its best power forward prospect. Terry Davis, signed by Dallas as a free agent last summer, is averaging 10 rebounds a game after getting 40 in three games last week. The Heat decided to go with Alec Kessler, who has been a bust.
”I knew I was better than him,” Davis said, ”and I know I`m better now. (Then-coach Ron) Rothstein knew it, and he wanted to play me, but he couldn`t make the call because his job was on the line. (Kessler) should have gone off to grad school.”
Revenge for Rodgers: Up in Minneapolis, the Timberwolves continue to listen to offers for Pooh Richardson, with the stumbling Pacers ready to deal. And many around the NBA were thrilled for Jimmy Rodgers when his lowly Timberwolves defeated the Celtics twice in one week. And not just because Rodgers coached the Celtics.
The Celtics` bonehead owner, Alan Cohen, told the Boston Globe recently he wanted to fire Rodgers after one season, but was persuaded to keep him for another-after which he fired Rodgers-because Bird missed Rodgers` first season with injuries.
”Jimmy had trouble facing the pressures of being head coach in Boston,” Cohen said.
This also was the guy who prevented Rodgers from taking the Knicks` head coaching job in 1987 because he felt the Knicks didn`t offer enough compensation. It`s an unwritten rule in sports you always let an assistant leave for a head coaching job.
Celtics haters also might be interested in a new book, ”Selling of the Green,” by New York writers Harvey Araton and Filip Bondy, which reportedly depicts Red Auerbach as a credit-grabbing hog rather than a visionary and the Celtics organization as sort of a mini-Ku Klux Klan.
Knicks make moves: Credit the Knicks with some clever salary-cap manipulations that could lead to a major deal. They`re now under the cap after buyouts that will make Kiki Vandeweghe and Xavier McDaniel free agents after the season.
They don`t want Vandeweghe back, but they will come to an agreement with McDaniel, averaging 21.3 points in the last 13 games and starting to become more aggressive on offense while insisting he has lost none of his anger despite a lack of confrontations this season.
”I don`t get into fights anymore,” McDaniel said, ”because people know if they act like they want to fight me, they have to fight me. People say `X` has matured a lot. That`s not it. Everybody else has gotten wise, and that`s the key.”
Rockets soaring: One of the Bulls` more entertaining matchups of the season in the Stadium should be next Saturday with the Houston Rockets, who swept them last season. Otis Thorpe is having an All-Star year, racking up a triple double last week-a rarity for a power forward-with 16 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists. Also shining is Vernon Maxwell, whom coach Don Chaney likens to Michael Jordan.
”He`s no Jordan,” Chaney admits, ”but I see a lot of Jordan-type aggressiveness in him, lulling defenses with the dribble and then blowing by people to the basket and dunking over them. That`s vintage Jordan.”
As for Maxwell, called ”Mad Max” for good reason, he predicts the Rockets will be soaring into the All-Star break.
”If we take care of Utah (on the road), then we`ll win them all
(remaining games),” he said. ”We have Phoenix`s number on the road, and we have Chicago`s number on the road. All we have to worry about is Utah. We`re ready to get a long streak going.”
Around the league: Dee Brown is back practicing with Boston after October knee surgery. . . . Dikembe Mutombo, the West`s leading All-Star Game vote-getter at center, got a lesson from Hakeem Olajuwon and David Robinson in losses last week. They combined to average 23.5 points and nine rebounds while holding Mutombo to 11 points and seven rebounds. . . . The Nuggets are now the league`s only team that never charters flights. . . . Magic Johnson remains on the Lakers` injured list. Why? One reason could be most of his endorsement contracts are contingent on him being on the active roster.
