THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, June 6, 1995 TAG: 9506060553
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C6 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JIM DUCIBELLA, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 58 lines
Sidney Lowe was like everyone else. The day a couple of months ago when the Houston Rockets announced that they'd traded power forward Otis Thorpe to Portland for aging guard Clyde Drexler, he wondered if the Rockets hadn't blown their chances for back-to-back NBA titles.
``I wondered why they'd split (center Hakeem) Olajuwon and Thorpe,'' Lowe, an assistant coach with the Cleveland Cavaliers, said Sunday night from the Airport Hilton and the William Fuller/Chesapeake Care celebrity auction. ``It seemed like any rebound Hakeem didn't get, Otis did. They put a lot of pressure on Hakeem.
``Looking back on it now, you've got to give a lot of credit to their management. They saw where they were going to have problems with (suspended guard) Vernon Maxwell. They knew with no Maxwell and no Drexler, it was going to be awfully tough for them. Drexler gave them the flexibility they needed in the backcourt, but I don't know if I would have had the guts to make that trade.''
Lowe thinks there's no stopping Houston in its quest for a second consecutive NBA championship, mainly because there's no stopping Olajuwon.
``He's got to be the top center of his generation, and I think after these playoffs, he might move up ahead of some of the other greats,'' Lowe said. ``I can only compare him to those I've seen play, but he's already got to go up there with Kareem (Abdul-Jabbar), Willis Reed, Bob Lanier and (Bill) Walton.''
Lowe never got the opportunity to coach anyone near Olajuwon's talent during 18 months of hell as head coach of the Minnesota Timberwolves. About the closest he came to instructing a thoroughbred was Christian Laettner, the former Duke star many lump among the game's spoiled brats.
``People thought Christian and I didn't get along, but that wasn't true,'' Lowe said. ``They heard a lot of his cursing and yelling and assumed it was directed at me. Most or all of the time, it was directed at someone who had been on the floor with him, which hurts the ballclub if it happens consistently.
``Christian always played hard for us, but he could have been more together with his teammates.''
Lowe thinks there's one player coming out of college this year who will be a throwback to the old all-business ballplayers he admires - Joe Smith.
``He's a great player, a relentless worker, and I don't think there's any doubt he'll be the first player picked,'' Lowe says of the Norfolk native. ``The most important thing that will make him good? He's a great kid. His willingness to work and his desire to do nothing but go about his business, those are what will make him a great one.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Sidney Lowe says there's no stopping Houston star center Hakeem
Olajuwon.
by CNB