Sports 4 Dorks

For a lot of us, it’s going to take a while to stop calling
the guy "Scotty Brooks," because he’s
a coach now. The man deserves our respect, and for us to lose that extra
syllable.

Brooks
was a pretty underrated guard during his playing career. The UC-Irvine grad
didn’t have the foot speed to hang with opposing guards defensively, and he
could be turnover-prone, but the man nailed shots. Quite accurately. And he was
a much better passer than your typical shoot-first Steve Kerr/Daniel
Gibson-type.

But he was also smaller than Kerr and Gibson, and while
Brooks was listed at 5-11, he sure didn’t look it. So he was the typical third
guard, as evidenced by the way most people remember him: backing up Kenny Smith
and Sam Cassell during Houston’s
1994 championship run, and spelling Chris Childs and Charlie Ward on the 1997
Knicks.

Brooks actually started coaching as a head man, with the
wacky reformation of the ABA that took place earlier this decade, before moving
on to work as an assistant for the Denver Nuggets in 2003.

Considered one of
two potential usurpers hired by Kiki Vandeweghe (along with Michael Cooper)
that would be ready to take over should Jeff Bzdelik eventually fall short,
Brooks never got a head gig in Denver as Cooper ended up taking over. He moved
on to the Sacramento Kings in 2006, and then latched on with the Seattle
SuperSonics in 2007-08.

Seattle moved to Oklahoma City last spring,
P.J. Carlesimo never really was able to do much with the Thunder despite low
expectations, and here we are.

Brooks has worked under some interesting and accomplished
coaches, so it’s anyone’s guess as to whom he’ll emulate the most.

The new Thunder boss played for Dick Motta, Rudy
Tomjanovich, Jeff Van Gundy, Mike Fratello, Bill Musselman (and would eventual
work as an assistant under Musselman’s son, Eric,
in Sacramento), and Jim Lynam.