NEXT GAME
Preseason opener: Clippers at Blazers, 7 p.m. Tuesday
TV: none. Radio: FM 95.5
Online: www.columbian.com/blazers
It was like clockwork.
Every time Nate McMillan was about to receive a technical foul from an NBA official during the past few seasons in Portland, assistant coach Monty Williams was always right there to intercede.
Sometimes Williams saved McMillan from getting a “T.”
Sometimes he was too late.
But McMillan always knew Williams — now the head coach of the New Orleans Hornets — was not far behind to grab his arm or step in when McMillan got heated over a bad call or let an expletive fly in a ref’s direction.
Now the job apparently belongs to Bernie Bickerstaff.
“If he feels about to let loose, he’ll pull me in. He’s been in that position before,” said McMillan of Bickerstaff, the new Blazers assistant coach who ranks 36th on the NBA’s all-time wins list with 415 victories. “But he also has to recognize when to let me go.”
Bickerstaff, 66, really has been there before.
Getting after an official, running a team from the sidelines or front office, and earning the respect of his players is nothing new since Bickerstaff started his NBA coaching career in 1973 as an assistant with the then-Washington Bullets.
After helping Washington win an NBA championship in 1978, Bickerstaff held head coaching positions with Seattle, Denver, and Charlotte, while also becoming an executive with the Nuggets and Bobcats.
For the past two seasons, Bickerstaff has been an assistant coach with the Chicago Bulls and now reunites with McMillan from their four seasons together in Seattle.
Back then, McMillan was a young defensive guard out of North Carolina State and Bickerstaff was the Sonics defensive-minded head coach who was named the 1987 NBA Coach of the Year in Seattle.
It’s the exact experience McMillan wanted to add to his bench this season in Portland. Expect to see a Bickerstaff influence in the Blazers defensive and offensive game plan when the preseason gets under way Tuesday against the Los Angeles Clippers at the Rose Garden.
Chances are you already have.
“Some of the things we did when I played for him are the things that I do,” McMillan said of Bickerstaff.
“He was a coach that challenged you. Player’s coach — I really don’t understand that. He was a guy who challenged you to execute every single possession and every night. That was the bottom line. He was a no nonsense kind of guy and all about business because we are judged on winning and losing.”
McMillan maintains his new coaching staff — which includes Bickerstaff, Buck Williams, Bob Ociepka, Dean Cooper, and Hersey Hawkins — has an open forum to “work with all of the players and not put these guys in a category,” unlike seasons past where assistant coaches often worked with specific players in practice or during pregame workouts.
No doubt about it, these new school Blazers will learn some basketball lessons from the old school Bickerstaff.
McMillan already has.
“Whether you liked him or not, you respected him. I know I did.” McMillan explained of his old head coach.
“That’s all he was concerned about.”
