Fitch Named to Coach N.J. Nets

Bill Fitch today became the latest in a series of coaches given the job of turning around theNew Jersey Nets.

Nets General Manager Harry Weltman announced the appointment at a news conference, but would not disclose contract terms.

Fitch, 55, is the fifth winningest coach in NBA history, with 762 victories in 18 seasons. He replaces Willis Reed, who was kicked upstairs 10 days ago and appointed as a vice president with the organization. Reed had spent a little more than a year as head coach, compiling a 26-56 record last season.

Reed took over in February, 1988, following Bob MacKinnon, who served as the Nets leader on an interim basis after the club fired Dave Wohl.

“We are extremely pleased to have someone with such tremendous credentials come in and lead our ball club,” Weltman said. “Bill is an outstanding coach whose record speaks for itself. He is a tough competitor who knows how to win games and will provide experience to a team that is very young.”

Fitch was named NBA coach of the year in 1976 while with Cleveland, and in 1980 with Boston. He guided the Celtics to an NBA championship in 1981.

“This situation is one that I found very interesting and is really the first coaching job that has attracted me,” said Fitch, who was fired by the Houston Rockets after the 1987-88 season.

“The Nets are a young team, but there is some very good talent on this team,” he said.

Fitch becomes the Nets’ eighth coach since they joined the NBA from the ABA in 1976. No Nets coach has lasted more than two years with the team during this decade. Kevin Loughery coached the Nets from 1973 to ’81.

Weltman had said the Nets wanted a coach who had a proven record in developing young teams.

Fitch became the Houston Rockets coach in 1983, taking over a team that had won just 14 games the previous season. That first year he won 29 games, and went on to win 48 games in his second year.