For the second time in a week, a legendary coach with a new job is visiting the Delta Center. But rather than the one who winces at the sight of a sportcoat, this guy will probably be wearing an Armani suit and Gucci shoes. It's the old clothes horse himself, Chuck Daly.
The Jazz play their second game in two weeks against the New Jersey Nets, Friday night at 7. Utah claimed the last encounter, beating the Nets 108-97 on Nov. 17 at Brendan Byrne Arena in New Jersey.Wednesday the Jazz met first-year NBA coach Jerry Tarkanian, a known opponent of silk shirts and tasseled shoes. That's not the case with Daly, who knows (and loves) a $75 hand-painted tie when he sees one.
And unlike Tarkanian, Daly has plenty of experience coaching on the NBA level. Daly was the longtime coach of the Detroit Pistons, taking them to the NBA Finals three times and winning twice. He skillfully built them into the original Bad Boys, intimidating, shoving and snarling their way to the top.
But the past two years things began to fracture in Detroit and Daly accepted the Nets job last May.
Perhaps Daly's most impressive accolade was being named coach of the U.S. Olympic basketball team. After earning the job, the rest was easy as the Americans rolled by every opponent on the way to the gold medal last summer. "Chuck Daly has the easiest job in the world," Phoenix's Charles Barkley told one reporter during the Tournament of the Americas. "You could coach us."
Daly laughs. "I was undefeated in the summer, as you know, with very bad personnel," he says. "Coaching won it."
Certainly coaching will have something to do with it if the Nets are a winner this year. Although they improved last season to 40-42 (from 26-56 the previous year), they are still in the planning stages of their rise from the ashes. Their 5-7 record has them trailing only Orlando and New York in the Eastern Conference.
Daly arrived in New Jersey amid much fanfare. After years of watching the Nets lose, New York area fans and press finally had their answer. He was the perfect counterpunch to the rival Knicks, who hired GQ cover boy Pat Riley before last season. It is now tit-for-tat, thread-for-thread, Brooks Bros. vs. Ralph Lauren for supremacy in the New York market. "Don't forget the tie," Daly reminds reporters when offering tips on how to dress. "You can't have that gap between the tie and belt."
Of course, Daly has a reputation for stylish coaching, as well. Hopes are high in New Jersey that the Nets have the man who can turn a team with decent talent into a contender. "Definitely," says New Jersey forward Derrick Coleman, "he is a fit."
Daly is equally enamored ofColeman, a player he says "has the talent to probably be in the top seven or eight players in the league.
"There isn't anything he can't do. He can run the floor, he handles the ball like a guard, he can shoot . . . But he's got to play enough games to obtain star status. He's got to play a lot of games successfully to get that kind of respect from players and the media during the course of the year."
Coleman, the team's most visible player, openly disagreed with last year's coach, Bill Fitch. But he is getting along fine with Daly, who has dealt with more than one highly publicized and temperamental star in his 10 years as an NBA head coach.
"To me he acts more like one of the players than the coach," continues Coleman. "He's kind of laid back. He cracks jokes and he's pretty loose. He's a relaxed kind of person."
Relaxed? This is a guy who somehow managed to worry that the Dream Team would find a way to mess up. "Well," continues Coleman, "he knows there's a time to be serious and a time to play. He mixes it all together."
Meanwhile, the Jazz must find a way to mix themselves all together after losing three of their first four home games. In past years a long home stand was great news. This year it's a severe storm warning. The Jazz play six of their next eight games at the Delta Center.
Says Jazz coach Jerry Sloan, "There's a lot of pressure to try to win every game at home. But we've just got to avoid playing not to lose."