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Rick Adelman | Head Coach
College - Loyola Marymount '68
Rick Adelman, who twice coached the Portland Trail Blazers to berths in
the NBA Finals and later coached the Golden State Warriors, returned to
the NBA after a season's absence on Sept. 17, 1998, when the Sacramento
Kings hired him as the franchise's 19th head coach. In his fifth season
at the helm of the Kings, he has molded the team into one of the NBA's
most exciting teams, leading the league in scoring and making the playoffs
every year since his hiring.
Adelman brings a record of 544-361 into the 2002-03 season, a winning
percentage of .601 and in the playoffs his teams have posted a 53-50 record.
He reached the 300-win mark in 468 games, the seventh-fastest in NBA history.
Only Pat Riley (416), Phil Jackson (419), Billy Cunningham (430), K.C.
Jones (434), Larry Costello (445) and John Kundla (452) reached that plateau
in fewer games.
Adelman, who first came to the league as a 6-2 guard in 1968, spent 14
years in the Trail Blazers organization, including three as a player (1970-73),
five as an assistant coach (1983-89) and six as the team's head coach
(1989-94). He compiled a 291-154 record as a head coach and took the Blazers
to the NBA Finals in 1990 and 1992. He coached Golden State for two seasons,
1995-96 and 1996-97.
Adelman, who attended Loyola Marymount, was selected by the then-San Diego
Rockets in the seventh round of the 1968 NBA Draft, the 79th overall player
picked. He spent two seasons as a reserve in San Diego, where his teammates
included Elvin Hayes and Pat Riley. Adelman was taken by Portland in the
1970 NBA Expansion Draft and was made the first team captain in Blazers
history.
He averaged 10.1 points, 4.6 assists and 27.7 minutes in three seasons
with Portland before being traded to the Chicago Bulls. He served stints
with the Bulls, the New Orleans Jazz and the Kansas City-Omaha Kings before
retiring in 1975 with career averages of 7.7 points, 3.5 assists and 22.6
minutes per game in seven NBA seasons.
Adelman began his coaching career at Chemeketa Community College in Salem,
Ore. From 1977 to 1983, Chemeketa went 141-39 and won or shared in three
Oregon community college championships and one regional title. He rejoined
the Trail Blazers in 1983 as an assistant to Jack Ramsay and served as
an assistant coach until Feb. 19, 1989, when he replaced Mike Schuler
as head coach.
In 1989-90, his first full season at the helm, Adelman guided the Blazers
to a 59-23 record and a trip to the NBA Finals, where they lost to the
Detroit Pistons in five games. The following year, Portland went 63-19
and won the Pacific Division title before bowing to the Lakers in the
Western Conference Finals, and Adelman finished second in balloting for
NBA Coach of the Year award.
In 1991-92, Portland went 57-25, won its second straight Pacific Division
title and advanced to the NBA Finals for the second time in three years,
this time losing in six games to Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls.
On Nov. 22, 1992, Adelman recorded his 200th victory in the 288th game
of his career. At the time, no coach in league history had reached the
200-win plateau in fewer games. Adelman left Portland after the 1993-94
season, departing as the second-winningest coach in franchise history
behind Ramsay.
The Warriors posted a 36-46 record under Adelman in 1995-96, but did reduce
their points allowed from 111.1 ppg to 103.1 ppg, the fewest for the franchise
in 20 years. In addition, the 1995-96 Warriors outrebounded their opponents
3,458 to 3,406, only the second time in 14 seasons Golden State had enjoyed
a season-long edge off the boards. After another losing season (30-52)
in 1996-97, however, Adelman was replaced by P.J. Carlesimo.
At Sacramento, Adelman utilized the talents of veteran forward Chris Webber
and rookie point guard Jason Williams and turned the Kings into the highest-scoring
team in the league, going from 93.1 points per game in 1997-98 to 100.2
ppg in 1998-99, even though the league average dipped from 95.6 ppg to
91.6 ppg. The Kings posted a 27-23 record in the lockout-shortened season,
their first winning mark since 1982-83, when the franchise was still in
Kansas City. They stretched Utah to five games before bowing in the first
round of the playoffs.
The Kings increased their scoring to a league-leading 104.9 ppg in 1999-2000,
compiling a 44-38 record. It marked the first time in two decades that
the team had posted consecutive winning seasons, since going 48-34 in
1978-79 and 47-35 in 1979-80. Once again Sacramento was ousted in the
first round of the playoffs in five games, by the eventual champion Los
Angeles Lakers and in the 2001-02 season in the Western Conference Finals
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CAREER COACHING
REGULAR SEASON POST SEASON
YEAR TEAM WINS LOSSES PCT WINS LOSSES PCT
1988 Portland 14 21 .400 0 3 .000
1989 Portland 59 23 .720 12 9 .571
1990 Portland 63 19 .768 9 7 .563
1991 Portland 57 25 .695 13 8 .619
1992 Portland 51 31 .622 1 3 .250
1993 Portland 47 35 .573 1 3 .250
1995 Golden State 36 46 .439 0 0 .000
1996 Golden State 30 52 .366 0 0 .000
1998 Sacramento 27 23 .540 2 3 .400
1999 Sacramento 44 38 .537 2 3 .400
2000 Sacramento 55 27 .671 3 5 .375
2001 Sacramento 61 21 .744 10 6 .625
2002 Sacramento 59 23 .720 7 5 .583
2003 Sacramento 55 27 .671 2 0 1.000
TOTALS 658 411 .616 62 55 .530
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