Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, July 7, 1995 TAG: 9507070051
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NEW YORK LENGTH: Medium
Coaching the New York Knicks, Nelson said, was an opportunity too good to pass up, even though he had planned to take a year off from coaching following his wrenching half-season with the Warriors.
``This was the right job for me,'' he said at a news conference to announce his appointment, which had been expected for days. ``It was going to have to be a special job for me to come back.''
In February, Nelson was forced to resign as the Warriors' coach and general manager, ending a three-month ordeal in which a feud with Chris Webber forced Nelson to trade the 1994 rookie of the year to Washington. Following the trade in November, Nelson contracted viral pneumonia, his team's losses mounted and All-Star guard Latrell Sprewell sulked.
His health still poor and his relationship with his players damaged, Nelson stepped down just after the All-Star break. Nelson went to Maui to lick his wounds, but when Pat Riley quit the Knicks on June 15, Nelson picked up the phone and called one of his former players, New York general manager Ernie Grunfeld.
``I thought I would resurface somewhere,'' Nelson said. ``When it came up, it was the No. 1 priority for me.''
Nelson, 55, signed a multiyear deal that reportedly will pay him almost $2 million a year, and his pay could rise with division titles and coaching honors.
Nelson's career record is 815-604, putting him behind only Lenny Wilkens, Red Auerbach, Jack Ramsay, Dick Motta and Bill Fitch in NBA coaching victories.
Nelson brings a resume that includes a record three coach-of-the-year awards, a 1994 world championship with Dream Team II and seven division titles in 61/2 seasons with the Warriors and 10-plus with the Milwaukee Bucks. But the five NBA championship rings he owns all came when he was playing for the Boston Celtics.
``What burns inside of me is, I've done almost everything there is to do in coaching and playing, but I've never won a title as a coach,'' he said. ``That burns inside of me. That's something I want to do before I hang up my coaching sneakers. I think I have that opportunity here.''
But the team Nelson inherits is getting older, not better. And expectations are always high in the nation's largest media market.
Even though the Knicks won 55 games in 1994-95, Patrick Ewing will be 33 when next season starts. Derek Harper will be 34, Charles Oakley 31, and John Starks and Charles Smith 30.
And New York, which won three division titles under Riley and advanced to Game 7 of the NBA Finals in 1994, plays in a division with the Orlando Magic, which won the Atlantic last season and went to the Finals.
Nelson's teams at Golden State played an up-tempo, high-scoring game, not exactly the Knicks' style under Riley. New York averaged just over 98 points a game the past two seasons.
But Nelson was confident the Knicks can open things up a bit.
``Anybody can run in the open court,'' he said. ``If I make some changes, I'd like to score a little more and play a faster tempo. Every player I've ever had, regardless of their speed or their size, has enjoyed the running game. I think we have to do that and get easy baskets.''
The prospect of coaching Ewing is especially tantalizing to Nelson, whose centers at Golden State and Milwaukee included such underachievers as Manute Bol, Ralph Sampson and Alton Lister.
``I've never had the opportunity to coach a big man,'' he said. ``I'm really happy about that. If he's not the top center in the league physically, he's right up there with anybody you want to talk about.''
Keywords:
BASKETBALL
by CNB