Conference call

Sporting News, The, March 4, 2002

Bob Knight, Texas Tech

During an Oklahoma-Texas Tech game January 26, a player was replaced for ineffective play. After he returned to the bench, he was chewed out by his coach, who punctuated his displeasure by emphatically grabbing the player's leg.

On the other bench sat Bob Knight, who was rather peacefully watching his Red Raiders avenge an earlier blowout loss to Kelvin Sampson's Sooners.

Knight's hiring has been almost letter-perfect for Tech. As expected, he has created immediate buzz in a program with a shallow basketball tradition: United Spirit Arena has been brimming; TV cameras have been prevalent.

Much less expected, the Red Raiders (20-6 and No. 14 in the Ratings Percentage Index) have been winning big, and save for a minor flare-up in Houston with a Compaq Arena employee, Knight hasn't caused anyone in Tech's athletic department to blush.

Knight's persona creates passionate factions, but his supreme coaching ability should be something people can agree upon. His team lacks depth (Andre Emmett, Andy Ellis and Kasib Powell average 33-plus minutes), but those three are all averaging 15-plus points in Knight's motion offense, which lets them free-lance and go to their strengths.

Those are individual numbers, though. What Knight probably prefers is this selfless stat: Though lacking an established point guard, the Red Raiders average 19.2 assists, second in the Big 12.

Paul Westphal, Pepperdine

From his office window in Malibu, Calif., Paul Westphal can gaze out at the glorious blue of the Pacific Ocean. And the view that these Waves have under their first-year coach--13-1 in the West Coast Conference, tied atop the league standings with power Gonzaga and certainly headed for the NCAA Tournament--isn't too shabby, either.

The wins the Waves (20-7) have piled up, including early season upsets over Southern California and UCLA, have made the Westphal hiring a win-win.

Pepperdine made a beeline toward Westphal after Jan van Breda Kolff departed for St. Bonaventure because Westphal, a former USC star, had a strong name in the area. The move gave Westphal the chance to coach his son Michael, a Wave walk-on, and he also got to refurbish his image after a stint with the Seattle SuperSonics ended distastefully, particularly the spats with Gary Payton.

Not only should Pepperdine make the tournament, it also could do damage to higher-seeded teams. Ten players average double-figure minutes, and it is a group that has drawn raves for its athleticism. Though van Breda Kolff left behind a sound foundation, three of the team's top four scorers (Jimmy Miggins, Terrance Johnson and Devin Montgomery) are newcomers, just like their coach.

It has been a picturesque Pepperdine season. And what's on the horizon doesn't look half bad.