Jack Ramsay

Jack Ramsay, whose team was winless this season, resigned Thursday as coach of the Indiana Pacers, saying the enjoyment was gone. "I didn't like the direction the team was taking, and it wasn't enjoyable anymore," said Ramsay, who has coached a record 1,647 games and was 0-7 this season. The decision by Ramsay, 63, in his 21st season, was announced as the Pacers prepared to leave Phoenix for tonight's game against the Clippers.

Wayman Tisdale said the score in Indiana's 144-135 victory over the Dallas Mavericks Tuesday night was a surprise, and the second-year forward credited Pacers Coach Jack Ramsay with the victory. "We knew we would have to work hard because Dallas is tough at home," Tisdale said. "But we were ready and determined to win. They made a lot of runs at us, but we didn't fold, and Coach Ramsay called some very strategic timeouts.

Paul Westhead is back teaching college English. Jack McKinney is working as a scout for the Kansas City Kings. And now Jim Lynam is holed up in his Manhattan Beach home, watching the waves and wondering about his future. All three of Jack Ramsay's proteges, supposedly astute basketball technicians who were tutored by Ramsay at St. Joseph's University, have been eliminated from National Basketball Assn. coaching jobs.

Jack Ramsay, the NBA's second-winningest coach, has become a master of making something from nothing on a basketball court. In his 18 NBA seasons, more than any other active coach, Ramsay has turned weaklings into winners at Philadelphia, Buffalo and Portland. But this season, the 61-year-old fitness enthusiast takes on his greatest coaching challenge yet--the Indiana Pacers. "It's rebuilding in a sense," Ramsay said of the franchise.

The outcome in Game 6 of the Timberwolves-Lakers series was not in doubt. This became clear about 30 minutes after Game 5, when Laker Coach Phil Jackson met with reporters. "I feel bad for Flip [Saunders]," Jackson said. "I know what he's going through, when a team finds it impossible to make anything click." Game, set, match. When Saunders & Co.

Reporting from Boston -- Give the replay an '80's sitcom laugh track, some Benny Hill-style music, and play it back in fast forward. That would liven up the clip of coaching brilliance Doc Rivers exhibited Sunday late in his Celtics' Game 2 win over the Lakers in the NBA Finals -- and make everyone laugh at Rivers almost as hard as his players did. It occurred with the Celtics seconds away from an eight-second backcourt violation with 1:26...

You could almost say it was another predictable loss for the Clippers here Friday night. Doing the honor, or dishonor, this time were the Indiana Pacers by a 116-106 score. For the record, it was the 10th straight loss for the Clippers, the 22nd in the last 23 games and the 10th straight road loss. For more bad news, consider that this was the first game in a 7-game, 11-day trip--the road, of course, being where the Clippers are 1-11.

Dr. Jack Ramsay, ESPN radio announcer and a respected former NBA coach, can visualize a defense the New Jersey Nets could use against Shaquille O'Neal. It involves the zone the Nets employed so well against the Boston Celtics, the zone that shut down Paul Pierce--the player who had boldly predicted the Nets had no one who could stop him--in two crucial fourth quarters. It involves fronting and backing O'Neal.

More immediate concerns occupy Rick Adelman's thoughts these days than his interim status as coach of the Portland Trail Blazers. Instead, his concern is how to prevent his team from being a victim of another Laker onslaught today in Game 2 of the National Basketball Assn. Western Conference quarterfinals in the Forum. But, still Adelman wonders whether he will lose that interim qualifier or simply lose his job if and when the Trail Blazers are ousted from the playoffs. A strong showing today (12:30, Channel 2)

Chuck Daly, the Hall of Fame basketball coach who led the Detroit Pistons to back-to-back NBA titles and the U.S. Dream Team to an Olympic gold medal, died Saturday in Jupiter, Fla. He was 78. Retired since 1999, Daly was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer two months ago. In his honor, NBA coaches have worn "CD" pins during the postseason. "Chuck did much more than coach basketball games," NBA Commissioner David Stern said in a statement.