Friday, June 21, 1996

Jim Cleamons wades into new job with Mavericks

By JAIME ARON
Associated Press

DALLAS - Jim Cleamons spent his first full day as coach of the Dallas Mavericks trying to get comfortable with the fact that, finally, he was the team's coach.

"To be honest, I haven't had time to realize it. It hasn't yet sunk in," he said Thursday.

Cleamons' confusion is understandable. He was hired May 31 but left town almost immediately to get back to his other job as assistant coach of the NBA champion Chicago Bulls.

Once the Bulls wrapped up their title Sunday night, Cleamons barely had time to wash the celebratory champagne out of his hair before heading to Texas. He arrived Wednesday and immediately went to work analyzing tape of draft picks with player personnel director Keith Grant.

Cleamons spent a few minutes with prospective pick Lorenzen Wright and planned to visit Thursday with Kerry Kittles. Antoine Walker was expected to drop by today. John Wallace and Samaki Walker also have been to Dallas, while scouts went to Starkville, Miss., to check out Erick Dampier.

Which of those big guys Dallas takes with the No. 6 pick in Wednesday's draft could be up to Cleamons, a notion he likes.

"Now, rather than being the assistant making suggestions, I'm the head coach with major input," said Cleamons, adding that no decision will be made without a consensus among himself, Grant and the scouts.

"Keith is the man right now," Cleamons said. "He's done an outstanding job holding down the fort. His input is going to be monumental."

Cleamons took the job knowing his team needed inside muscle for rebounding.

"If we can't rebound, we won't play the way I want to," he said. "Any time you have an asset like Jason Kidd, you should run the floor and fill the lanes around him. To do so, you have to be able to play defense and rebound."

Cleamons already has spoken with Kidd and several other players about how he plans to run the team. He's told them to expect to work together more than ever before, even if it means some personal sacrifices.

"That is the attitude needed to be successful," Cleamons said. "Any time you try and do things in this sport, as an individual, you're basically just wasting time and energy. That is what I'm trying to make the focal point. ...

"There has to be a willingness to work and get the job done. They can't be satisfied with what they've done. They should be a little upset. If they do that, they'll be refocused to doing their job."

If anyone doubts Cleamons, he can show them proof that those concepts work. He was with the Bulls for their run of four championships in the past six years and, as a player, he was part of the 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers who won a title following their then-record 69-win regular season.

"I don't want to rub their nose in the Chicago Bulls," he said. "But I will understand what it takes to get the job done. I'm going to use it as an example without always referring to the Bulls.

"I realize these are the Dallas Mavericks and there is talent here. Now, what we have to find out, is how to be the best Dallas Mavericks and not the next Chicago Bulls."