Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, June 3, 1995 TAG: 9506060049
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: TORONTO LENGTH: Medium
To guide the Toronto Raptors through the difficult days of NBA expansion, the team's vice-president called on an old pal from his championship times.
Brendan Malone, an assistant who helped Thomas and the Detroit Pistons earn back-to-back NBA titles in the late 1980s, was named the first head coach in Raptors history Friday.
``He had the maturity and experience we were looking for,'' Thomas said. ``We wanted people who had won championships, people who could stand up in front of 12 guys in the locker room and not demand respect but command respect.''
Malone, who has been an assistant in the NBA since 1986 and worked with the Pistons from 1988 until last month, promised his team would not embarrass itself, even though its record might be embarrassing.
``I know it would be Pollyanna-ish of me to suggest we'll win the NBA title next year, but we will compete,'' he said.
``We will not be taking nights off. We will play hard for 48 minutes, 82 games a year. If the players don't, they won't play. I promise you that.''
Terms of the contract have yet to be worked out, Thomas and Malone said. However, team president John Bitove said the new coach would be ``well paid'' and Thomas said he didn't see Malone as just a quick fix.
``If we can surround him with the type of assistants we intend to find, this can be a long-term arrangement,'' said Thomas. ``I don't expect to change coaches in year two or year three. I expect this to be a long-term relationship.''
Thomas and Malone said they'd like to have three assistants on the staff but they've yet to start the interviews.
While he hasn't had a head coaching job since the University of Rhode Island in 1986, Malone said he doesn't doubt his abilities. He points to his association with coaches like Hubie Brown, Rick Pitino, Chuck Daly as an education ``by osmosis.''
``I worked with a lot of great coaches and coached a lot of great players and I've learned something from all of them,'' he said. ``In the back of my mind and in my heart, I knew I could be a head coach.
Keywords:
BASKETBALL
by CNB