November 26, 1984
SILENCE IS GOLDEN THE UNPARALLELED WINNING RECORD OF K.C. JONES SPEAKS LOUDER THAN HIS WORDS
A soft-spoken man in a profession dominated by blowhards, K.C. Jones never has developed a knack for self-promotion. He's not particularly quotable, rarely gets thrown out of games, and doesn't make moves or comments that bring attention to himself or his coaching. He has, in fact, done little to publicly discourage the widespead notion that the multitalented Celtics could be adequately coached by your mailman.
Jones coaches the way he played - quietly, unselfishly, without headlines.
The results are the same. He wins.
An argument can be made that Jones is the winningest person in the history of basketball. He won two NCAA championships, an Olympic gold medal, eight NBA championships in a nine-year career, and directed the 1983-84 Celtics to a championship in his first year at the wheel. He has been a part of the second- longest winning streak in NCAA history (San Francisco won 56 straight), and the longest streak in NBA history (Jones was an assistant coach when LA won 33 straight in 1972).
He has an extra pair of NBA championship rings from his years as an assistant coach, and in his three-year stint as head coach in Washington, the Bullets won more games than any NBA team. His only losing season in the last 20 years was when he was head coach of the ABA's San Diego Conquistadors, but he still took his team to the playoffs.
The 1984-85 Celtics are 11-1 as they prepare to meet the Dallas Mavericks in Reunion Arena tomorrow night. Boston's 135-124 victory over the Kansas City Kings Saturday raised Jones' Celtic coaching mark to 73-21 (.777) and put his lifetime NBA head-coaching record at 228-112 (.671).
Despite all of the above, Jones is always overlooked when fans and media start throwing the credit around. He's noticed his lack of notice.
"It's always been a prevalent thought that when a team is very talented, you can just drop anybody in there and they can do the coaching," Jones says. "I just leave it alone. The people who want to think that way already have their answer. If I get into thinking about it, it takes my mind off the club . . . Does it bother me that I don't get the recognition? No, as long as these guys win games. That's my reward and that what will keep me on the job."
Does Jones think any other coach could get as much out of these Celtics as he does?
"I doubt it," he answers.
There is evidence that Jones may be the perfect man for this Boston team. He's a communicator on a team with players that often face problems with playing time. He does not overreact and provides a light touch - important elements with a veteran team. He's also an ex-player (which players love), and an ex-Celtic (which Red Auerbach loves). He is not threatened by Celtic tradition because his fiber is woven into the flags he coaches under.
Bill Fitch could never cope with the flags, and had trouble coping with his veteran Celtics in his final days. Fitch and Jones were never tight. Jones describes working under Fitch as "almost impossible," because, "I was just being kept on the other side of the fence."
However, Jones admits that Fitch's system came in handy for a while.
"When Red named me coach it was like sitting on the edge of a cliff with the side cracking," Jones recalls. "I didn't have a system then, so the best approach was to go with Bill's system. During the course of the year, new things were added and some things were dropped. We gradually moved into another approach. If we had stayed the same, we never would have made it to the semifinals."
Shedding his vest of humility for a moment, Jones adds, "I'm awfully smart at the game of pro basketball. I've spent a lot of time in it as a player and a coach. My record is a combination of myself and my players. I could be a genius at the game and try to get that points across to the world, but I prefer having my players come across as geniuses."
While Hubie Brown drowns in statistics, and Fitch smolders in front of big- screen television sets, Jones says, "My approach is my personality. I could be out of character and be goose-stepping by being a vociferous disciplinarian. It works for people with that kind of personality, but it doesn't work for me. Mine is a subtle, quiet approach, with the same results.
"Communication is basic. It's most important because you only have five players on the court at a time, which means there are seven on the bench. You have to be able to communicate with each other for the team thing."
Jones sees a clear distinction between winners and losers.
"Confidence is a must," he says. "You've got to take care of the fundamentals first. When you've got talent and an approach of unselfishness, you start moving up and all of the sudden you're running over teams. It's communication, unselfishness, understanding and determination not to lose."
Guard Danny Ainge has been a starter and a sub for both Fitch and Jones. Without mentioning his difficult initiation under Fitch, Ainge says, "K.C. just makes it fun to play. There's enough pressure out there without having to face more pressure knowing the coach is going to yank you out and yell at you if you make a mistake. At this stage of the game everybody knows when they screw up.
"K.C. is just a great guy. Last year was frustrating for me personally, but having K.C. as coach made it a lot easier to handle."
Jones' efforts have been rewarded, but man does not live on championship rings alone. In addition to being underappreciated and underpublicized, Jones makes about half as much money as Billy Cunningham, Pat Riley and some of the big-name coaches in the league.
"Yeah, I'd like to be making as much," he says. "Cunningham and (Gene) Shue make the big dough, but they've been around for a long time. I know that I would not have a coaching job had it not been for Red Auerbach. "What I'm making now is not as much as other coaches, but I'm happy to be here."
For how long? "Three more years after this one," he says. "There's a saying that you mellow with age. I'm in my 50s and I'd like to be able to relax when I'm 55 and get into something else."
Jones is under contract through the 1985-86 season.
No comments:
Post a Comment