NBA NOTES : Motta and Sacramento Kings May Be Perfect Match

At some point during the New York Knicks-Sacramento Kings game Thursday night, King Coach Dick Motta no doubt looked at Patrick Ewing at some point and was jealous. It is a Motta pattern, and in this case it also is understandable, because Motta has to look at center Greg Kite when the Kings’ starting lineup takes the floor.

Motta, perhaps, will recall one of his tired, favorite lines: “I’ve been coaching for 19 years, and not once have I ever been able to call a play for my center and know that he could score two points.” Motta, it should be noted, is the third-winningest coach in the history of the NBA. Forget for a second he also is the third-losingest coach. The point is that he has done it, for the most part, without a great center, and the message, of course, is that Motta is a great coach.

Motta has a difficult time understanding how the Knicks could have hired Rick Pitino and Stu Jackson when he was available. When Pitino was hired, Motta desperately wanted the job. And he certainly could have done everything Pitino did.

In two years under Motta, the Knicks could have improved from 24 to 38 to 52 victories and lost playoffs series in the first and second rounds, as they did under Pitino. In fact, under Motta, the Knicks could have lost both playoff series in the first round. That was Motta’s last achievement in Dallas.

Motta directed the Mavericks to their best season, 55-27, in 1986-87, but his most notable accomplishment was coaching the first division championship team in the history of the 16-team playoffs to be eliminated in the first round, at the hands of the Seattle SuperSonics.

Motta handled that setback with class. Thirty-six hours after the embarrassing loss, the Los Angeles Clippers, who had finished 12-70, asked for permission to interview Motta for their vacant head-coaching position. Motta said it was “an honor” to be considered, which tells you all you need to know about Motta’s definition of honor.

Two weeks later, Motta interviewed for the Knicks’ coaching job, but he was not hired. While he was waiting for the Knicks to make the decision, he quit his position with the Mavericks.

The next season, the Mavericks did something they had never done under Motta, advancing to the seventh game of the Western Conference finals before losing to the Los Angeles Lakers. Motta, of course, was jealous, because he felt responsible for building the team, and the only credit he received was the players’ suggestions that the Mavericks had benefited from his absence and that if he had stayed, the Mavericks again would have crashed and burned early in the playoffs.

This is not to ignore Motta’s achievements or his 813-759 career record, which, including this season, projects to an average season of 43-39. Motta did win a championship with the Bullets in 1978. He had Wes Unseld, Elvin Hayes and Bob Dandridge, and, of course, those three benefited from great coaching.

Anyway, at 58, Motta accepted the job with the Kings and immediately promised great coaching, which is pretty much in line with his philosophy that coaches win games and players lose them. The Kings have qualified for the playoffs only twice in the last eight years, and each time they have failed to win a postseason game.

So it seems to be a perfect match. At some point, perhaps as early as next season, Motta will have the Kings in the playoffs. And everyone in Sacramento will be extremely happy, because considering the Kings’ past, it will be an honor to lose in the first round.

Motta’s old pal Mark Aguirre seems to be hallucinating. Aguirre returned to the Detroit Pistons’ lineup Tuesday after missing three games with the “back injury” he “suffered” in the Piston-Laker game Jan. 21. He was replaced in the starting lineup by Dennis Rodman, but now he claims that the demotion was his idea, that he suggested the change to Piston Coach Chuck Daly.

This is a very unlikely story. Aguirre has started since high school, and anytime anyone suggested he should be a reserve, he pouted.

But maybe there is an explanation. Maybe the December “meeting” occurred when Aguirre dreamed he was in a shopping mall. He spotted Daly, sat in Daly’s lap, and told him it was a lifelong wish to be a reserve. At the time, Daly, dressed in a bright red suit and wearing a fake white beard and white hair, winked and told Aguirre to wait a month, fake an injury, miss three games, and his wish would be granted.

Wake up, Mark.

There is little doubt the Indiana Pacers soon will be making some sort of trade; Pacer General Manager Donnie Walsh says there is no reason for his team to make any changes.

Walsh is a firm believer in deception, and, for instance, has not been above saying he would select a certain player in the draft while all along planning to take someone else.

The Pacers began the season 19-9, then lost 12 of their next 16 games. Walsh said, “If we’re going to add to this team, there are other ways to do it: the draft, free agency.”

If the Pacers make the playoffs, they will have no No. 1 draft pick because they traded it to the Mavericks in 1984 for Bill Garnett and Terence Stansbury. So they should get no help from the draft.

Charles Barkley has received three major fines and a number of minor ones this season, but he seems to have learned his lesson.

After being fined $3,500 for an altercation with the Nets’ Jack Haley, Barkley sort of admitted he was wrong to interrupt the game by slapping Haley. “This caught me by surprise,” said Barkley of the fine.

“From now on, I’ll just have to pop them in the flow of the game.”

Seattle attorney Steve Hayne has a rather active job. As Dale Ellis’ lawyer, he’s been getting a workout.

Last week, Ellis was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol. Hayne also disclosed that he represented Ellis when two bouncers from a local bar attempted to extort $50,000 from Ellis by saying they would offer damaging testimony in the driving case.

Court documents also showed that in the last three years, Ellis had been cited seven times for speeding, twice for improper lane changes, once for careless driving and twice for driving without a license.

So what kind of strategy does Hayne employ in Ellis’ defense?

“He’s a lousy driver,” Hayne said. “But he’s an honest man.”