PAYING HIS DUES
New Grizzlies head coach Dave Joerger showed the look of a winner during his years coaching in the minor leagues.
“I’ll tell you what,” says the voice over the phone. “The Memphis Grizzlies sure got some new fans in North Dakota.” So there’s that, anyway. The Griz are going to be real big in the Flickertail State. Or the Peace Garden State. Or the Roughrider State. North Dakota evidently goes by all three.
But as the Grizzlies prepare to introduce Dave Joerger as their new coach Thursday morning, it seemed logical to talk to the guy who gave him his first job as a head coach.
“He was tremendous,” says the voice over the phone. “He was unbelievable, if you want to know the truth.”
The voice belongs to Bill Sorenson, former owner of the Da- kota Wizards. He hired Joerger back in 1997.
“We got his résumé,” said Sorenson. “Now, I went to Concordia College, which is in the same town in Minnesota as Moorhead State, where Dave went. So I was able to make some calls and check him out. But I have to tell you, I’ve been in a lot of businesses, but he might be the best hire I’ve ever made.”
Sorenson didn’t hire Joerger as a head coach, mind you. He hired him as everything else.
“What did he do?” said Soren- son. “What didn’t he do? He was general manager. He did sales. He did everything. He mopped floors.”
When your name is Jason Kidd, you might be able to step right into an NBA head coaching job. When your name is Dave Joerger, you have to pay your dues.
So Joerger did whatever the Wizards needed him to do, including serve as assistant coach. When the head coach left in 2000, Sorenson offered Joerger
the job.
“We really didn’t have any choice but to offer him the job because he was already doing everything else,” Sorenson said. “The only question I had was whether he should take it. I told him, that, too. I said, ‘You have to think about whether you should take it, because you’re young, and you have to get the respect of the players, and if you don’t win, it’s going to be hard for your career.’ ”
Joerger took the job. Almost instantly, a remarkable thing happened. The Wizards started to win big.
They won the International Basketball Association title in 2001. They won the Continental Basketball Association title in 2002. They didn’t win the CBA title in 2003 — losing in the playoffs to the feared Yakima Sun Kings — but then won it again in 2004.
So, to sum up, Joerger won the title three of his first four years as a head coach. Then he jumped to the Sioux Falls Skyforce in the same league and won the championship in his first year there.
Oh, and then he wound up back with the Dakota Wizards — this is the kind of craziness you find in the minor leagues — and defeated Sioux Falls in the playoffs to win the championship of the NBA Developmental League.
That’s five titles with two teams in three leagues in seven seasons. That’s one for the minor-league thumb.
And, yes, it’s true, none of those championships was with NBA players or against NBA competition. But isn’t there something to the idea that if you can coach, you can coach?
Criticize the Griz all you want for getting rid of Lionel Hollins. I have criticized them myself. But Joerger isn’t some wide-eyed kid who is going to be overwhelmed by the responsibility that comes with wearing the big whistle.
“People wondered if he would be able to have the respect of players,” said Sorenson. “Keep in mind, these are all players who think they should be in the NBA. But they loved playing for him. And we had the best defense in the league. We hustled more than anybody.”
North Dakota’s grit & grind!
None of this means that Joerger will be a successful coach in the NBA of course. Phil Jackson was a superb minor-league coach who did OK for himself. Eric Musselman was a superb minor-league coach who flopped.
But don’t say Joerger hasn’t earned this moment. Don’t say he’s not prepared for the job.
“The day he left us, I would have bet you anything that Dave Joerger would be a head coach in the NBA,” said Sorenson. “The guy is going to do great.”