In preparation for his second year as head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, Randy Pfund decided to do a little reading.
“I got this book, `Substitution Patterns and How to Call Timeouts,’ by Chick Hearn,” Pfund joked after a particularly spirited practice last month at the University of Hawaii in Honolulu.
That the affable Pfund can laugh at himself no doubt is one reason he was asked back after a trying first season in which the Lakers struggled to their first losing record in 17 years.
Despite owner Jerry Buss’ statements in an interview with the Daily News in which he said Pfund’s job was never in true jeopardy, that doesn’t mean he and General Manager Jerry West weren’t deeply, deeply concerned.
As Pfund alluded, his coaching decisions were second-guessed almost as fast as he made them. They were regular grist for the talk shows, and on-air criticism by Hearn, the longtime Lakers announcer, only magnified Pfund’s perceived negatives. Buss at one point asked Magic Johnson if he would like to coach the team, only fueling further speculation that Pfund’s firing was imminent.
Why? Perhaps more than anything, West and Buss worried that Pfund was not decisive. He couldn’t make up his mind about whom to play or what the style of play should be. And in general, he didn’t establish himself as the right man for the job.
In the end, though, the two Jerrys decided to give the former assistant to previous Lakers coaches Pat Riley and Mike Dunleavy a second chance. Maybe the team’s gritty first-round playoff performance against the Phoenix Suns saved his job. Maybe Pfund just simply found himself in a situation unlike many others.
“Frankly, Randy wasn’t dealt a very good hand last year,” West said. “We think we’re a pretty stable franchise. Since young players have to grow, coaches also have to grow.”
And so the 41-year-old Pfund enters his second season in charge of the Lakers, a year older and, if he expects to continue in his current position, a year wiser.
“Was I indecisive?” Pfund asked. “You could always make the case for someone who’s in their first year having to feel his way through parts of it. I think I’m honest enough to say I’m sure there were times last year where I could have been more decisive.
“But when you’re not winning, you have to keep searching for ways to win. I’m not comfortable when things are not going well just sitting back and saying, `Well, that’s the team that I have.’
“And in my defense, there were some things that John Wooden would have struggled with, with the roster and the people we had last year.”
Touching on some of the lowlights, Pfund had to deal with the re-retirement of Magic Johnson four days before the start of the season, thus wasting an entire training camp and exhibition season; with the horrendous start by seven-time All-Star James Worthy; with the midseason trade of Sam Perkins; with the sticky dilemma of choosing between fading veteran Byron Scott or emerging rookie Anthony Peeler at shooting guard.
This year promises to be different. The departures of Perkins, Scott and A.C. Green, plus Worthy’s new role coming off the bench, will make it easier for Pfund to play and develop the young guys. Youngsters Peeler, Doug Christie, George Lynch and Nick Van Exel-all expected to play significant roles this season-have never had any other NBA coach, which should give Pfund the opportunity to mold the club the way he wants.
“That should make it a little bit more my team, having four of our nine top players being guys who have their pro experience under my coaching,” Pfund said.
“It also will allow me to be a little more forceful with those guys, younger guys who you feel are under your system. You know them. You’re developing them. I think those guys probably you can ride a little bit more than maybe more veteran-type guys.”
This year Pfund was ready to establish himself from the get-go. One week into training camp, he has already impressed his players with his command of practice and a more confident demeanor.
“I can see where last year he was experimenting with things. This year he knows more what he wants to do,” said Worthy, the captain and the lone holdover from the championship years-not counting Kurt Rambis, who made the club after five seasons playing elsewhere.
“And that goes along with having gone through it a year,” Worthy continued. “There’s not going to be any time wasted with nonsense. He’s doing what he knows he needs to do and not experimenting as much.”
Last year in camp, Pfund deferred to the veterans more, particularly Magic. Practices tended to be light, and commands were requested more than demanded. This year, Pfund is getting in players’ faces. He’s barking orders louder and more forcefully than at this time a year ago.
“After last season,” Vlade Divac said, “Randy asked me how he coached. I told him that for me personally, I need somebody who’s going to yell at me, push me. And he realized that. And this camp was much harder than last year.”
Pfund understood that the transition from assistant to head coach is filled with potential pitfalls, and he knew he would have to walk a fine line, particularly with those players he had known for years.
“The worst thing you can be is someone who moves from, `Randy who is a pretty good guy’ to `Randy the head coach who’s the heavy,’ ” Pfund said. “That, to me, would have been a huger problem than a Randy Pfund who may have been looked at as being not quite as decisive as he should have been.
“So in that case,” he added with a laugh, “maybe not being decisive was the best thing.”
Pfund analyzed and agonized over every decision last season. Perhaps the most difficult was what to do with Scott and Peeler. Scott was no longer the player he once was, but Peeler was a rookie and rookies make mistakes.
Pfund wound up keeping Scott in the starting lineup. However, the final month of the regular season came down to a case of the coach giving the bulk of the playing time to whomever was playing better during their individual stints. It ended up frustrating both players, not knowing how many minutes they would get from game to game.
“I really understood. I didn’t have any choice but to understand,” Peeler said. “But I think he did a good job of bringing me in slowly. There were some tough times, but it was good because I had people supporting me-like my family-really letting me know that (Pfund) was doing a good job not letting me play the whole time because they said it would be better for me in the future.
“That’s why I accepted it so much.”
This season, both Peeler and Pfund will be expected to be better. The rookie mistakes of ’92-93 won’t be as easily accepted by management and certainly not by the fans who saw the Lakers go 39-43 overall and 20-21 at the Forum last year.
