Brooks given a chance to lead Oklahoma City

By JERRY ZGODA, Star Tribune

Last update: November 29, 2008 - 9:30 AM

OKLAHOMA CITY - The little backup guard formerly known as Scottie Brooks never doubted he'd someday get his chance to be a NBA head coach. He just never imagined it would come this quickly, three weeks into this young season.

A week ago last Friday night, the Oklahoma City Thunder fired P.J. Carlesimo after a home loss to New Orleans and a 1-12 season start and it summoned Brooks, a Thunder assistant coach, to lead the team for the rest of the season.

"It's nothing you can prepare yourself for," said Brooks, a Timberwolves point guard for the franchise's second and third seasons long ago. "You don't go into the season thinking this is the year I'm going to get a head job. After the season, that's what you're hoping for. P.J. gave me a great opportunity, bringing me here. But he understands as well as anybody in this league that it's part of the business.

"You have to move on and keep doing what you think is best for your team. I'm looking forward to the opportunity I've been given."

The Thunder, now 0-4 in Brooks' first week on the job, on Friday lost its 14th consecutive game, its 16th in 17 games this season.The team's one and only victory was a comeback victory over the Wolves at Ford Center on Nov. 2.

Brooks is one of a half-dozen former Timberwolves who played for the late Bill Musselman, the team's original coach, and then went on to become coaches: Sam Mitchell is Toronto's head coach. Tyrone Corbin is a Utah assistant. Sidney Lowe coaches North Carolina State. Tod Murphy is an assistant at Cal-Irvine. Doug West is an assistant at Villanova. Tony Campbell is a high school coach in New York.

Brooks, Mitchell, Lowe, Murphy and Campbell all played for Musselman in the Continental Basketball Association.

"It's very common that backup players or guys who play in the minor leagues become coaches," Brooks said.

"They have to think the game differently," he said. "And a lot of it is, we didn't make the money the stars made. If you're a star and you have passion, you can be a coach.

"But it takes a lot of time and a lot of effort. Just because you can score on anybody in this league doesn't mean you can coach a team."

Etc.

• Wolves coach Randy Wittman said before Friday's game that guard Rashad McCants, back Wednesday after three games away because of a back injury, was ready and able to play. But he never did, as Wittman instead went to a shortened bench that called more heavily upon Craig Smith, Corey Brewer, Sebastian Telfair and Kevin Love. Smith joined the starters on the floor to begin the second half, replacing center Jason Collins against a small Thunder lineup that played Jeff Green at power forward and Nick Collison at center.

• Kevin McHale, Wolves vice president of basketball operations, accompanied the team on a road trip for the first time this regular season, and on a holiday weekend no less.

• Two NBA head coaches -- first Carlesimo, then Washington's Eddie Jordan -- were fired in the last week. "Hey, that's our business," Wittman said. "All of us know that. We get into it because we love doing what we're doing, and that's all you can do. Sometimes it's unfortunate things don't work out the way you hope they do and you've got to continue to move on."