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<!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>By James Anderson</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END--><br>
<!--EZCODE LINK START--><a href="http://www.shoutoutsports.com/Hubie%20Brown%20Is%20Proving%20A%20Coach%20Can%20Make%20A%20Difference.htm" target="top">ShoutOutSports.com</a><!--EZCODE LINK END--> <br>
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Jerry West had a lot of people questioning his sanity when he selected 69-year old coach Hubie Brown to become the coach of the Memphis Grizzlies. Brown was supposed to be the wrong man in today’s age of spoiled rich players in the NBA. Jerry West is once again proving he may be an even bigger genius as a general manager than he was as great a player in the NBA.<br>
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I have to admit that I was one of those people that wrinkled my face up when I heard Hubie Brown was the new coach of Memphis. I think I’ve become one of those fans that have come to accept the fact that players run the league now, rather than the owners, general managers, and coaches. The word was Brown has been out of the game for 15 years and was just hanging out on the sidelines criticizing every move made, so how would he be able to coach a team in this day and age. He can’t identify with young players in basketball today was the knock.<br>
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Just when the choice of Brown looked like a stupid move, a funny thing happened on the way to the Pyramid. Everyone forgot Jerry West was the general manager and he did what most teams won’t. West truly gave Hubie Brown a serious non-lip service vote of confidence. He intended on letting Brown, a great teaching coach, have free reign to do what he saw fit to get the attention of a young team used to losing. Hubie Brown took over the Grizzlies when they were 0-8 and looking like they had absolutely no hope again this season of being a respectable team. They lost five more straight games before finally winning, but the team seemed to understand how this operation would be run. The Grizzlies are now 6-6 since that 0-13 start.<br>
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Brown has let his players know that every spot would be competed for and no more free rides would be the standard on this team. No one is playing a lot more than 30 minutes a game since Brown took over. It’s standard procedure for coaches to exempt certain players from many of the rules the team has established, but not Brown. He wants to find out which players can actually play on this team and league. You’re not going to be in the league a long time if you can’t play for Memphis. Drew Gooden was wondering why he wasn’t playing more, while Gordan Giricek was running around the court without a clue what he was doing and Stromile Swift is playing for his NBA life to prove he belongs. Not many coaches are willing to make an entire team earn their keep in this league, but that takes the complete confidence of your management to give you that confidence on your part.<br>
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I sit and watch everyone speak about coaches in terms of genius and great all the time. Phil Jackson, Larry Brown, Red Auerbach, Doc Rivers, Mike Krzyzewski, John Wooden, Bobby Knight, and many others. Many of these coaches like Phil Jackson and Red Auerbach in pro ball have always had great players to carry their teams, while the college coaches just re-load on McDonald’s High School All-Americans. Rarely did these coaches have inferior talent and experience to show us what they could do as an x’s and o’s guy. It’s much easier to get your point across and have it translate into physical success when you have stars on your team to execute those plans and their leadership.<br>
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Hubie Brown has talented players in Pau Gasol, Mr. Streaky Jason Williams, Drew Gooden, and many players that have had a level of success in the league. What he doesn’t have is anyone that’s been there for a serious playoff run or carried his club at some point or another. Memphis playing .500 ball over a 12 game stretch is what I call greatness in a coach because he’s proving that he can stand on a sideline and lead his team when there’s no superstars to carry them in bad times. Brown is doing something that’s so difficult in this league and that’s make the guys out there hungry to remain in the league and not take it for granted they’re supposed to make millions and not care whether they win or lose.<br>
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I give the team of Jerry West and Hubie Brown the ultimate respect because they’re doing their jobs and running a team like it’s supposed to. Everyone kept assuming Brown couldn’t relate to today’s young players, but that logic has always been wrong. The players need to relate to their coach to be able to play and survive in this league. That’s a novel thought that players are being held accountable for their play and attitudes to remain in this league instead of the coach taking the blame for what they were given to work with. Admittedly Sidney Lowe hasn’t proven he can coach at the NBA level with his dismal career record, so a lot of this has to be attributed to Brown’s coaching.<br>
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Almost all sports are about reacting to the current trends and maybe the Memphis Grizzlies have started a new trend in sports of hiring guys that can teach rather than the same old losing retreads and college coaches just for the sake of change. Brown may have been out of the pro game for 15 years, but he was still giving clinics and being involved in games even as a reporter. He was watching what was going on and obviously Memphis was the perfect situation for him in that his guys needed to prove themselves and had so much room to grow as players.<br>
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Hubie Brown has proved that a coach can do more than just prepare his team before games and then sit in his chair with his legs crossed and watch his stars try to carry them to victories. A coach can inspire his team to realize that making the NBA doesn’t mean the end of the road has been reached and a lot of hard work is required to remain there and then win games. I’m being taught that teams need to take control again and do what they think is right rather than just doing what everyone else does and watch your players disrespect coaches and then still play. It’s a privilege to play in the NBA not a right. Old man Hubie, you have gotten my attention and respect, maybe the rest of the league is taking notice also.<br>
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I shouted out now you shout back and tell me if there’s another coach doing as fine a job as Hubie Brown is with a franchise used to losing? I think the NBA would become even greater if every team took this attitude with their clubs and made everyone give 100% every night and take their roles seriously as a player, but I’m just an observer that’s writing about this stuff rather than actually coaching these guys, so what do I know? Shoutoutsports is the place where everyone has a say and gets to shout it out.<br>
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