(no subject)
Nov. 25th, 2004 10:29 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
yakk0dotorgBy Ronald Tillery
Contact
November 25, 2004
Griz coach Hubie Brown resigned Thursday, citing health issue. The 71-year-old retired and assistant coach Lionel Hollins was named interim head coach. Memphis plays at Minnesota tonight.
Brown joined the team on November 12, 2002 as the sixth head coach in team history. He coached the Grizzlies to an 83-85 (.494) record during his tenure. Last season, his first full season at the helm, Brown led the Grizzlies to one of the biggest turnarounds in NBA history. Under his command, the Grizzlies won 50 games, shattered almost every team record and earned the team's first-ever playoff berth. 
His 78-78 record through the 2003-04 season with the Grizzlies made him the only coach in team history to have a .500 record, becoming the winningest head coach in team history. After the outstanding 2003-04 season, Brown was named the NBA's Coach of the Year, winning the award for the second time in his 15-year NBA career.
Brown's coaching career spans 33 years, including 15 with the NBA, in which he led the New York Knicks to two playoff appearances during five seasons (1982-87), the Atlanta Hawks to three playoff appearances during five seasons (1976-81) and led the Kentucky Colonels to an ABA (American Basketball Association) Championship in 1975.
He also spent 15 years as a highly regarded teacher at coaching clinics and as an NBA broadcast analyst for three television networks, was nominated for a Sports Emmy in 1994 and 1999 and received the Curt Gowdy Electronic Media Award from the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2000.
Hollins takes over as the Grizzlies' interim head coach for the second time in his career. He first joined the Grizzlies as the lead assistant in Vancouver during the team's inaugural season in 1995-96. Hollins served that role for four and a half seasons before taking over as head coach midway through the 1999-00 NBA season.
Copyright 2004, commercialappeal.com - Memphis, TN. All Rights Reserved.