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Jerry West goes old school

by Chad Ford

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Also Below: Cavs feud heating up | Spree to the rescue? | Random Game Notes | Peep Show

Jerry West isn't trying to just win a few basketball games. A first-ever playoff berth for the Grizzlies isn't the goal. An NBA championship someday would be nice, but does Jerry really need more rings?

Tuesday's revelation that West had replaced coach Sidney Lowe with Hubie Brown exposed what he's really up to.

West is fighting for the soul of basketball.

Break out the Chuck Taylors. The short shorts. The set shot.

Dump the no look passes. The cross over dribbles. The tomahawk dunks.

West has always been old school. Now he's dragging his players, kicking and screaming, into the time warp with him.

Lowe was the nice guy. The players' coach. He'd been there. Done that. He felt their pain.

Brown? He used to walk five miles, uphill, in the snow, to the arena. Both ways. And he was grateful.

"Someone once said that Hubie Brown burned his bridges before him," Sports Illustrated's Bruce Newman wrote in his 1983 profile. "That speaks volumes about the effect Brown's personality has on people.

"Brown makes little effort to conceal his contempt for the other 22 head coaches in the National Basketball Association, and yet he is plainly wounded by their disdain for him.

"He tells his players he doesn't want them to love, and doesn't care if they like him, but then expects them to play harder for him than they have played for any coach in their lives . . ."

Jason Williams

Point Guard

Memphis Grizzlies

Profile

2002-2003 SEASON STATISTICS

GM PPG RPG APG FG% FT%

8 10.8 2.4 7.5 .393 .750

Somewhere Jason Williams is banging his head against a locker, wondering what he's gotten himself and his teammates into. The woeful Grizzlies needed strong medicine. West prescribed castor oil.

The good book on Brown reads as follows. A great teacher, a master of X's and O's, a defensive tactician and a tough disciplinarian. The other book explains why he hasn't coached in 15 years. His conservative style just won't fly in the NBA, he let the game pass him by and he can't relate to young players. If Lowe, who was genuinely liked by all, lost his players, how is Brown going to fare?

Butch Carter, who played for Brown, describes the experience this way: "Playing for him was different. He thought of all players as dogs. Well, at least 98 percent of them."

"I've just been laughing for the last 15 minutes wondering if he's lost his mind," Louisville coach Rick Pitino, an assistant to Brown with the Knicks, told the Memphis Commercial Appeal. But, it doesn't surprise me. And I think he's great for you guys, meaning the media and the players. He's a very colorful person. And nobody in basketball knows more than he does. He's a human encyclopedia."

Reaction around the league to Brown's hire was mixed on Tuesday. The only thing anyone could agree on was this. If West would've given them 100 guesses at who his new coach was going to be, no one would've had guessed Brown.

"It will be either a huge success or a monumental disaster," one league executive told Insider. "Hubie has so much passion and so much to teach those guys. But will they listen? It's tough enough to get them to practice. Hubie will insist his team plays the right way. That's going to be a foreign concept to just about everyone on this team not named Battier or Gooden."

Why did West pull the trigger so quickly on Lowe?

A Grizzlies source told Insider that he was worried about his young talent becoming corrupted. Pau Gasol, Drew Gooden, Shane Battier and Gordan Giricek are the future of this team. All four players have come from fundamentally sound programs and are known for their basketball knowledge. West saw something in their performances the last week that alarmed him. To varying degrees, all four players were regressing in areas. The team was giving up and West needed to make a radical change before he lost his core.

Brown's first order of business will be to map out roles for this team. Lowe struggled, to a large degree, finding an identity for this team. The mix between veterans like Wesley Person, Lorenzen Wright and Williams and young players like Gooden, Battier and Giricek wasn't going smoothly. Lowe would often get frustrated with his young players, especially Giricek, and bench them for long stretches. No one understood his role on the team, which often led to frustration.

While Brown will be given the autonomy to coach the team as he sees fit, West will be in his ear. He wants Gooden and Giricek developed now. He needs Brown to figure out whether Stromile Swift is worth keeping. And most important, he needs someone who can control Williams. Ironically, the thinking last summer, when the Grizzlies traded for Williams, was that Lowe was an ideal coach for the wayward point guard. Lowe was going to unshackle Williams and get him back to doing what he does best. It didn't work and you can bet the Brown will have a different approach — Hubie's way or the end of the bench.

The other thing Brown will be asked to do immediately is teach the Grizzlies how to play defense. They are giving up a league-high 104 points per game. Defense is mostly effort and Brown will demand his players give it every night.

"They'd better bring their work clothes," West said. "If they don't, they won't play for him."

Is Brown, at 69, up to the challenge?

"I've worked with Hubie a lot," ESPN analyst Bill Walton told the Commercial Appeal. "He's very much calmed down from his last coaching [job]. He's mellowed."

Pitino wouldn't put it quite that way.

"He knows the NBA has changed, knows the young person has changed," Pitino said. "But when Hubie gets into coaching, he'll be the same Hubie Brown. There will be a line in the sand."

Jerry wouldn't have it any other way.

In with the old: Brown leaves TV for Griz

Don Wade / Memphis Commercial Appeal

The Grizzlies' players voted with their actions

Geoff Calkins / Memphis Commercial Appeal

Coaching change doesn't surprise most Grizzlies

Ronald Tillery / Memphis Commercial Appeal

Cavs feud heating up

Ricky Davis

Guard-Forward

Cleveland Cavaliers

Profile

2002-2003 SEASON STATISTICS

GM PPG RPG APG FG% FT%

8 20.8 3.1 3.2 .433 .742

Now that Sidney Lowe is the first official coaching casualty of the season, it's time to turn our eyes to Cleveland, where coach John Lucas is trying to snuff out a growing controversy among his players.

Veterans such as Ricky Davis and Tyrone Hill have been openly critical of the play of point guards Bimbo Coles and Milt Palacio. Hill went so far as to claim that the Cavs would be a playoff team if they had a real point point guard. Lucas made an effort to squash any controversy on Monday.

"Those are the kind of comments you make at the back of the bus, not the kinds of comments you make publicly," Lucas said. "This is the first time Tyrone has ever had this kind of a [leadership] role. He's in a role now where what he says counts."

However, things turned for the worse about six minutes in Tuesday's game when Davis and Coles got into a verbal altercation on the court. Lucas quickly replaced Davis with Palacio. Before walking off the floor, Davis looked surprised by pointing at his chest, while asking Lucas if he meant to take him out.

After coming out of the game, Davis put on his warmup outfit and didn't join the Cavaliers in the huddle during timeouts. According to the AP, assistant coach Keith Smart gave a few disgusted glances toward Davis. Davis failed to participate in the halftime shootaround and did not return for the second half.

"I just wanted to go another way," Lucas told the Cleveland Plain Dealer. "When the game got out of hand, it gave us an opportunity to play and look at some of our young guys. . . .We're going to struggle. I've got to make sure I do my job and get my team under control."

Davis, the team's leading scorer, was upset this summer when the Cavs decided to match the Timberwolves' six-year offer sheet. While he appeared to smooth things over with the team in camp, his latest outbursts have put Lucas in a tough position.

Lucas claims Davis will be back for the next game. The message has been sent. But deep down, Lucas knows that Davis is right. General manager Jim Paxson has refused Lucas' request for a veteran point guard. Davis, Hill and other Cavs veterans are used to having Andre Miller feed them the ball. With Miller gone and Coles and Palacio, career backups, running the show, the drop-off in easy baskets, especially in transition, has everyone a little surly.

Think trading in your Benz for a Ford Fiesta.

Cavs never get off bench

Branson Wright / Cleveland Plain Dealer

Things don't get any easier for Cavs after loss to Pacers

Branson Wright / Cleveland Plain Dealer

Spree to the rescue?

Knicks fans will go wild. Scott Layden will pace the floor nervously. Bob Whitsitt and Bryan Colangelo will be watching closely. And the New York media will be waiting to blow it all to smithereens.

Latrell Sprewell is back, cleared to play Saturday versus the Sixers in the Garden.

"I'm pretty sure he'll play. I'd be pretty disappointed if he's unable to play," said coach Don Chaney, who was noncommittal about whether Sprewell would immediately retake his role as a starter. "I'll make that decision once I've seen him practice as few times. If his timing's not right, he'll come off the bench."

Does it really matter?

The Knicks were torn apart Tuesday night at the hands of the decrepit Jazz. The chorus of boos will turn to cheers when Spree takes the floor. But if the Knicks don't start winning, Spree's presence won't be enough to stem the angry mob.

They'll have to play better than they did Tuesday night.

"I'm one of the first ones to say that I and this team are using the injuries [as an excuse]," Houston told the Newark Star Ledger. "I can't speak for everybody, but I used the injury as an excuse. And you can't do that. You have to play the game no matter what. We weren't focused, we weren't sharp, we weren't alert. Mentally, we weren't ready to play."

"I'm disappointed in the guys that were healthy," Chaney said. "I'm disappointed they didn't move it up to a different level in terms of being aggressive. We let them shoot 50-plus percent. That means we're not aggressive defensively at all. That's not satisfactory whatsoever. And it doesn't matter whether you're hurt or not. We had enough healthy bodies out there to be able to defend."

Sprewell Expected to Return Saturday

Greg Logan / Newsday

Knicks roll over and hand victory to Jazz

Dave D'Alessandro / Newark Star-Ledger

Random Game Notes

Arvydas Sabonis

Center

Portland Trail Blazers

Profile

2002-2003 SEASON STATISTICS

GM PPG RPG APG FG% FT%

6 6.5 5.0 2.2 .571 .700

You want an early season epic matchup? How about Tuesday night's battle in the paint between Arvydas Sabonis and Yao Ming? It just doesn't get any better than that.

Talk about a human freak show. It might as well have been Godzilla versus Rodan. In both cases you just know some sort of funky radiation figures into the explanation. The Rockets could have billed this as "The Human Bobble Head" vs. "The Giant Walking Stick".

Now that's must see TV. Sabonis finished with 12 points, five rebounds and one assist. Yao managed seven points, four rebounds and two assists. But that wasn't the whole picture. Yao, proving he isn't as slow as we all think, pump faked and blew by Sabonis for an easy basket in the third quarter. If Yao can get by Sabonis, is there any stopping him?

"He is a good player," Sabonis said of Yao. "But good players need time to learn. He needs to be here to learn against the best players in the world."

Yao returned the favor.

"Gold will always shine," Yao told the Houston Chronicle. "That's how I'd like to describe Sabonis."

Coach Rudy Tomjanovich sees a lot of Sabonis in Yao.

"He is going to be a player just like that," Tomjanovich said of Yao. " ... It's going to take just getting used to the NBA and really the personnel."

Steve Francis

Guard

Houston Rockets

Profile

2002-2003 SEASON STATISTICS

GM PPG RPG APG FG% FT%

6 30.3 8.0 5.5 .516 .818

Speaking of the Rockets, Steve Francis has taken his game to another level this season. He's taking games over in the fourth quarter, increased his scoring average by almost 10 points a game and is showing a mental toughness that should get him on the MVP radar screen if the Rockets keep winning.

Francis proved again Tuesday night that he can play through pain. Francis bounced back after crashing hard to the court in the third quarter. But he would not let the Rockets lose, scoring their last 14 points to will them to an 86-83 win over Portland.

"It says a [censored] of a lot about him," Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich said. "We know that about him. We know the guy is a warrior. There was no doubt in my mind — if he could walk, he would play. He came out last year with the headaches and all those problems and gutted out a lot of games."

The Wizards found out just how tough it is to guard the Sonics in late-game situations. Michael Jordan drew the Wizards within two with seconds left in the game, but the team had no clue how to guard the Sonics. Pick your poison. Do you double Gary Payton? What about Rashard Lewis, who had just gone off for a season-high 37 points? Someone has to get in the face of Vladimir Radmanovic, another lethal sharpshooter. And then there's Brent Barry, who's shooting a staggering 57 percent from beyond the arc. Payton started with the ball, then dished to Lewis. When the defense ran out on Rashard, he slipped it to a wide open Barry who drained the three.

The Sonics are going to struggle all season with their interior defense, but good luck trying to defend them with the game on the line.

Sabonis a Trail Blazer in multiple ways to Yao

John Lopez / Houston Chronicle

Bruised, battered guard carries Rockets to win

Jonathan Feigen / Houston Chronicle

Sonics soar behind Lewis

Frank Hughes / Tacoma News Tribune

Peep Show

Bulls, Bucks: George Karl is the latest coach to question why the Bulls continue to cling to the triangle offense. During an interview Tuesday on WSCR-AM, Karl was asked which he feared more: the Bulls' triangle offense or their up-tempo running attack. "Their running," Karl replied. Jay Williams is the latest in a long line of Bulls players to feel the same way. "The game's a lot easier when you have guys running up and down the court in sprints," Williams told the Chicago Sun Times. "In the past, we had games where we were jogging or trotting up the court to get into our set triangle. It's hard to get assists when you're in that triangle because the ball's really not in your hands. I would have games where I had two or three assists and four turnovers, and I would be like, 'What's wrong with me?' But it's a system that's really not meant for me to come down and create."

Warriors: Coach Eric Musselman believes that Eric Dampier is poised for a breakout season. "I've liked him since I've been here," Musselman told the San Francisco Chronicle, "and I don't know why." Dampier's lack of consistency and constant injury problems have caused him problems in the past. This year he seems to have put both concerns behind him. "He's at a point in his career where he's ready to emerge," Musselman said. "Hopefully, he can keep this momentum building upward."

Jazz: DeShawn Stevenson was the most surprised person in Madison Square Garden when he discovered he was no longer in the starting lineup Tuesday night. "Nobody talked about it. Nobody said anything," Stevenson told the Salt Lake Tribune. Calbert Cheaney got the start over Stevenson, whose been struggling on the defensive end. "Calbert's been getting a little more comfortable," coach Jerry Sloan said. "He runs the floor defensively and does some things that are important."

Clippers: Quentin Richardson landed on the injured list Tuesday with a sore right knee. "What he needs to do is rest it and we'll see if that's" the answer, coach Alvin Gentry told the L.A. Times. With Richardson out, Gentry will use Marko Jaric and Keyon Dooling to spell Eric Piatkowski. "I'm not worried about getting scoring off our bench," Gentry said, when asked about altering his normal rotation against Miami. "Marko played great defense. Keyon played great defense."

Celtics: Kedrick Brown, who sprained his right ankle Oct. 10, was activated off the injured list Tuesday but is being eased back into things. He could return to full practice Thursday and be available for brief duty against Dallas Friday or at Milwaukee Saturday. But his most likely return will be against New Jersey next Wednesday. "He will suit up [tonight] but will not play under any circumstances," coach Jim O'Brien told the Boston Globe. "We want to get him back into the routine."

Sonics: The team got some good news on the injury front. Center Vitaly Potapenko was cleared by his Boston doctor to begin practicing again. "It's pretty good news," Potapenko told the Tacoma News Tribune. "I was trying to be patient, but I was happy with the result. So I can start working out with the team." GM Sund said Potapenko will not be permitted to compete in a game until he is 100 percent, something that Potapenko said he hopes will occur before the end of the month. "It's hard to say, but hopefully it won't take longer than two weeks," Potapenko said. "But I am just going to take it slow, see how I feel the next day, maybe do more after that. But hopefully it won't take too long."

Nuggets: GM Kiki Vandeweghe is asking Nuggets players to train under the same martial arts instructor he did while playing in the NBA. Though the sessions are optional for veterans, most have participated on several occasions. The sessions are mandatory for Denver's younger players. "I think what he teaches can make you 20 to 30 percent quicker because your agility and balance is so much better and you're so much looser and your movements are so much more fluid," Vandeweghe told the Rocky Mountain News. "It also teaches you how to absorb contact and stay on balance and focus in the heat of the battle."

Bucks' Karl sides with Jay on the triangle

Roman Modrowski / Chicago Sun-Times

Consistent praise a Dampier goal

Brad Weinstein / San Francisco Chronicle

Stevenson Surprised Not to Be in Starting Lineup

Phil Miller / Salt Lake Tribune

Richardson Will Rest

Elliott Teaford / Los Angeles Times

Brown back - sort of

Frank Dell'Apa / Boston Globe

Potapenko's knee improves

Frank Hughes / Tacoma News Tribune

Expert lays down martial law for Nuggets

Chris Tomasson / Rocky Mountain News

[Blunt91]

Looks like the Grizzlies are in the same boat we were in last year with players not knowing their roles on the team. BTW everyone thinks Emanuel Davis is a bad Backup but it could be worser we could have Bimbo Coles or Milt Palacio.LOL!