Fitch Believes He Can Turn Young Nets Into Contenders

Bill Fitch became the seventh man to enter the New Jersey Nets’ revolving coaching door this decade and said Monday he saw no reason why his young team can’t turn things around this season.

Fitch, fifth winningest coach in National Basketball Assn. history, joins the Nets 10 days after Willis Reed left the coaching position to become a vice president with the team that has won only 45 games over the past two seasons.

“I’m certainly smart enough not to go into a situation where we don’t have a chance to win,” said Fitch, 762-714 in 18 years as an NBA coach. “I like the youth of this team. It’s like a green apple getting red.”

Fitch was the choice of Nets’ general manager Harry Weltman from the start.

Neither Fitch nor Weltman would discuss details of the contract.

Fitch, 55, was just what Weltman wanted, a coach with previous NBA experience who has proven he could develop young talent. The two-time NBA coach of the year did that with young teams at Cleveland and Houston, while the highlight of his career was winning a title with the Boston Celtics in 1981.

The low point came two years ago when Fitch was fired by the Houston Rockets.

Fitch said that this past spring he began watching three NBA games a night on television and kept charts on every team. Three days after Reed was replaced Weltman called Fitch to ask if he would be interested in the job.