Disciple of Discipline : Coach Bill Fitch Has Reputation as a Tough Rebuilder, and That May Be Put to Test With Clippers

"I had nobody to share that razor strap with. I was an only child. There's many a day I would have loved to have had a brother to blame something on."

Fitch, 60, has applied the lessons of his youth.

A stern disciplinarian who motivates through intimidation, he has become the NBA's fifth-winningest coach, having compiled a record of 844-878 in 21 seasons.

"A lot of times I've had great players that I didn't expect to like me and some of them became great players because they didn't like me and I wouldn't let them like me," Fitch said.

Still, he is revered by some of his former players.

"Bill Fitch saved my life," said John Lucas, coach of the Philadelphia 76ers.

He credits Fitch with helping him recover from a cocaine addiction. Fitch cut Lucas from the Houston Rockets in 1984 because of Lucas' drug problem and re-signed him after Lucas had finished rehab in 1985.

"He wouldn't allow me to continue to play when other people wanted me to continue to play basketball when my drug use was up," Lucas said. "He said, 'No more, John. I don't care what anybody else says, I'm not going to let you play anymore.'

"To this day I'm grateful to him. He taught me more as a coach about life and living life on life's terms than anybody I've dealt with before. I had some of my best years with him and I didn't do it with points, I did it with knowledge of the game."

Although some regard Fitch's methods as archaic and maintain that the game has passed him by, he coached the Boston Celtics to the 1981 NBA championship and the Rockets to the 1986 NBA finals.

"He's a very good teacher," said Celtic President Red Auerbach, who hired Fitch. "He's a disciplinarian. That's his big asset."

Atlanta Coach Lenny Wilkens, who played for Fitch in Cleveland, agreed.

"I don't think anybody is more prepared than Bill Fitch," Wilkens said. "I've played for a lot of coaches and seen a lot of guys work, but I don't know that anyone prepares as much or as diligently as he does."

But has he changed with the times?

"Over the years, I didn't see him change his style to really accommodate the change in the players in the league," said Fitch's daughter, Lisa, associate women's basketball coach at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio.

And Fitch, who rejuvenated mediocre NBA teams in Cleveland, Boston, Houston and New Jersey, faces what may be his biggest challenge yet, rebuilding the Clippers, who had the NBA's seventh-worst record last season.

Fitch will be quite a contrast to easygoing Bob Weiss, who was fired with two years left on a three-year contract.

Fitch plans to bar reporters from the first three days of training camp, which may feel like boot camp--"Anybody who's in shape can go through my camps, but God help 'em if they're not"--so that the players can concentrate.

"Fitch is a bottom-line kind of guy," Clipper captain Gary Grant said. "We need someone to come in and say, 'This is the way it's going to be. Period.' He'll do that."

Hired by the Clippers after a 73-day search, Fitch signed a four-year contract last month.

"He has the kind of credibility in turning teams around we need here," General Manager Elgin Baylor said. "He's a hard worker, a disciplinarian. Someone the players will respect."

The Clippers, who made the playoffs twice under former coach Larry Brown, will be starting over under Fitch, who has twice been named the NBA's coach of the year.

He has a lot of holes to fill before the season opener Nov. 4 against the Portland Trail Blazers in Yokohama, Japan.

All-Star forward Dominique Wilkins, the Clippers' leading scorer last season, signed an $11-million, three-year contract with the Celtics last month and disgruntled guard Mark Jackson was traded to the Indiana Pacers for guard Pooh Richardson, forward Malik Sealy and rookie forward Eric Piatkowski.

The Clippers could also lose free-agent guard Ron Harper, their second-leading scorer. They are still hoping to re-sign him, however.

But the Clippers' bleak outlook doesn't scare Fitch, the ninth coach the club has had since moving here in 1984.

"This isn't scary," Fitch said. "Scary is being the first outsider coach in Boston. Scary is worrying if you'll live up to the Celtic family. Scary is being the first coach in Cleveland, losing your first 15 games and wondering if you'll ever win."

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Fitch thought he would never coach again after resigning under pressure from the New Jersey Nets after the 1992 season.

"I had a good ride," Fitch said. "But I thought I'd had enough."

Although Fitch led the woeful Nets to their first playoff berth in five seasons, he openly feuded with management after guard Kenny Anderson was drafted over his objections. Minority owner Joe Taub responded by trying to replace Fitch with Jim Valvano in midseason.

And the Net players openly revolted against Fitch.