Cavs play with fire by hiring Fratello

Sporting News, The, Oct 11, 1993 by Tim Povtak

The Phoenix Suns signed A.C. Green. The Seattle SuperSonics added Kendall Gill. The Charlotte Hornets traded for Hersey Hawkins. The Golden State Warriors maneuvered to come out of the draft with Chris Webber.

Yet the one move that could cause the biggest spark as NBA teams open training camps this weekend didn't involve a player.

The addition of Coach Mike Frateno to Cleveland might just push the Cavaliers past the Chicago Bulls this season.

Although coaches don't normally make such a difference, the ingredients are present to make it happen. The Bulls, worn down by a third consecutive NBA title and a traumatic offseason for Michael Jordan, may be ripe for the taking.

The Cavs, who are coming off seasons of 57 and 54 victories, still are the league's most fundamentally sound, unselfish team, thanks to the coaching the past seven seasons of low-key Lenny Wilkens.

Fratello can add the intensity the Cavs have lacked. Under Wilkens, they had a wonderful motion offense but little emotion.

"(Fratello) has got so much energy, and that's what we're going to need from him to win a championship," guard Gerald Williams says. "His emotion is what we need."

Fratello, the feisty former coach of the Atlanta Rawks, has been itching to open camp. He hasn't slept well in a week.

Fratello spent the past three seasons as a television analyst, turning down several chances to return to the NBA. But the Cleveland offer was too good to refuse. This was not a rebuilding job. This was a contender that just needed a different voice. "It had to be a special situation for me to return, and this one was," he says. "The more they talked about it, the more I liked it."

Wilkens has moved into the coaching job in Atlanta once held by Fratello (324-250 from 1983 through '90). Fratello coached the Hawks to 50 victories for four consecutive seasons.

"I hope I'm a better coach now than I was then," Fratello says. "But only time will answer that. I think I've picked up some things in the past three years. It's not like I was away from the game. But you're judged by wins and losses, arid the success of your team."

Green with envy

Phoenix Suns President Jerry Colangelo showed again why he has won the Executive of the Year Award four times, including last season.

While many executives use salary-cap restrictions as an excuse for not changing the makeup of their teams, Colangelo keeps making big moves without flinching.

Last offseason, he added Charles Barkley after so many teams shied away. That brought the Suns the Western Conference title. Last week, he added Green, the league's most attractive free agent this summer. That should set up an interesting battle with the Sonics, who added Gill, for supremacy in the West.

Although the Suns were already over the S" cap, they convinced Green to take the slot ($1.9 minion) that was open after the Suns dumped Tom Chambers.

"We want a championship, and we want it now," Colangelo says.

No Magic in Toronto

The NBA is expanding to Toronto for the 1995-96 season, but it opted for an ownership group other than the one Magic Johnson had joined. Johnson's group clearly was not the strongest financially.

Watch for Johnson to join the group trying for a team in San Diego. The NBA is already plying an expansion to put a team in Mexico City.

Toronto win become the first team outside the United States since the 1946-47 Toronto Huskies. The franchise will play its first season in SkyDome while a basketball-only arena seating 22,000 is constructed.

Big Bulls

The Bulls will open training camp with key players on the sideline. Forward Scottie Pippen is coming off wrist and ankle surgery, and his participation will be limited early. Aging center Bill Cartwright probably will start the season on the injured list, leaving Scott Williams, Will Perdue and Stacey King to battle for the starting job.

The addition of versatile Toni Kukoc has the Bulls talking about using a lineup with Michael Jordan (6 feet 6) as the shortest player. Joining him will be Kukoc (6-11), Pippen (6-7), Horace Grant (6-10) and Williams (6-10).

Free throws

In training camp, the Boston Celtics will be reuniting Chris Corchiani and Rodney Monroe, the backcourt nicknamed "Fire and Ice" at North Carolina State. The Celtics have been so decimated that both have a chance of making the roster. ... The NBA goes back to court Tuesday in the Chris Dudley case, still trying to get a ruling against the one-year escape clauses that many teams are using in new contracts. ... The Warriors have lost guard Sarunas Marciulionis for the season to a knee injury. They had been trying to trade him for another big body.