It seems to have been a lifetime of challenges, taken on and mostly defeated, by Paul Douglas “Doug” Collins.
Illinois State was one of the few colleges that even looked at the beanpole kid from Downstate Benton who didn’t start until his senior year in high school, and he went from there to the No. 1 overall pick in the NBA draft.
The worst NBA team of all time, the 9-73 Philadelphia 76ers of 1972-73, drafted him, and four years later they were in the NBA Finals with Collins, who would become a four-time All-Star.
He took on a 30-win Bulls team, and later a 28-win Detroit Pistons team. Two seasons later each had won at least 50 games.
“I’ve never started in a place where people were dying to get there,” said Collins, the coach who will bring his Washington Wizards to the United Center to play the Bulls on Saturday.
Nothing was harder than those years in the early 1990s, after Collins was fired and replaced by Phil Jackson. The Bulls team Collins believed he had developed and groomed became an NBA dynasty.
“I’ve had my heart broken,” Collins acknowledged.
It broke every day during those years. But the same qualities that drive Collins–passion, pride, confidence and character–wouldn’t let him run. Collins never has run away from anything, and neither do his teams.
“I’ve fought and scratched and clawed for everything my entire life,” said the son of a small-town Illinois sheriff. “I’ve been knocked down. The toughest was the Chicago experience. It was the first time I was fired, told I was not needed. It was a tough pill to swallow. When that happens, you start examining yourself, asking, `Why don’t they need me anymore?’
“It was a tough time for me. But I’m proud my family and I stayed in Chicago. We lived through the championships. We didn’t run from anything. And from that you grow. I try to grow every day.”
Saturday’s big story is Jordan returning to play against the Bulls in another uniform. But a curious subplot is Collins coaching against the Bulls with a team that’s better than the Bulls. That’s a first.
And it’s better because Collins is the coach.
As well as the Wizards are playing–and keep in mind that Jordan is playing at nowhere near the level he ever did with the Bulls–Collins surely has established himself not only as one of the league’s great coaches, but as one of its elite turnaround experts, in the company of the peripatetic Larry Brown of Philadelphia.
There are few guarantees in pro sports. One is if you hire Brown or Collins as your coach, your team will improve.
Collins’ teams, because of his demanding nature, play hard and play defense. Although offensively challenged–Jordan is the team’s only double-figure scorer with Richard Hamilton injured–the Wizards are in the top five in fewest points allowed and among the league leaders in fewest turnovers.
“It’s my job to find out what their strengths are,” Collins said.
It really is the secret to coaching, and few do it better than Collins.
But there is the “other” side to Collins–the demands and passion that lead to anger and rage, the drive that few of his players can match.
“Sometimes I care too much,” Collins conceded, and that near-fanaticism has led to premature endings in Chicago and Detroit.
He says it has been different this time and that he has tried. Perhaps it’s turning 50, no longer so boyish-looking, his hips and back degenerating from his playing career. Perhaps it’s having Jordan again as a player and something of a peer this time, his kids out in the world and successful, another chance to do it the right way.
When the team opened 2-9, he remained firm and resolute. No extra-long hours watching film or driving the players.
“I read something that typifies me,” Collins said. “It said: `Don’t ever offer me any guarantees. Just give me a chance.’
“That’s the way I’ve always tried to do it.”
Collins is on the way to picking up his first coach-of-the-year award as the Wizards, despite a four-game losing streak, need just one more victory to reach last season’s total.
“I’ve had more fun. I have a great coaching staff and I love being with these players; they’re receptive, the practices are good,” Collins said. “I’ve never before had players come to me and say, `Thanks for being here.’ It’s amazing.
“And Michael is a friend. It’s the ultimate sign of respect for him to ask me to come and be with him. I’ll be forever grateful. It’s interesting how life can go full circle. I hope I’ve grown through the years. I hope all the things I’ve learned will help me.”
