Clippers Apparently Will Drive Used Ford Into the New Season

Chris Ford is expected to be named coach today by the Clippers, filling a 263-day job vacancy only days before the start of training camp for the upcoming shortened NBA season.

Ford, who turned 50 on Monday and is a former coach of the Milwaukee Bucks and Boston Celtics, will replace Bill Fitch, who was fired last spring. Ford will become the franchise’s 19th head coach and seventh this decade at a 3 p.m. news conference at the Convention Center. He reportedly will receive a multiyear deal that will pay him at least $800,000 a season.

“I don’t know Coach Ford, but his strong points are that he played in this league and played on a championship team,” veteran point guard Pooh Richardson said Tuesday at the Clippers’ practice facility in Carson. “He fell victim to injury [coaching the Bucks]. Milwaukee had a nice team but [struggled because of] injuries.”

Jim Brewer, an assistant under Fitch with the Clippers the last four years who was also fired last spring, was a leading candidate to replace Fitch. He might become an assistant under Ford.

If Brewer is brought back by Ford, he is expected to play a major role in the development of 7-foot center Michael Olowokandi, the Clippers’ No. 1 draft pick from Pacific. Olowokandi will not join the Clippers until Feb. 15 because of a contract he signed with Kinder Bologna in Italy two days before the lockout ended.

“Jim Brewer is a good big man’s coach,” said Lorenzen Wright, a 6-11 center/forward beginning his third NBA season. “Guys really worked hard for him.”

So after opening the job search with George Karl and Paul Westphal--both of whom had NBA finals coaching experience--available, Clipper owner Donald Sterling has apparently decided on Ford. Ford played for and coached under Fitch, who had two years remaining on his contract at $4 million when he was fired.

Ford is a former NBA guard who coached the Bucks the last two seasons before being fired last August after a disappointing 35-46 finish. He also coached Boston for five seasons and led the Celtics to a 13-16 playoff record.

The Clippers had seven players under contract at the team’s informal workout Tuesday, which also included free agents Darrick Martin and Brent Barry. Because the lockout is not officially over, no coaches are allowed at workouts this week.

“We’re not really missing anything as of right now, but it would be nice to sneak a practice here or there like everyone else is probably doing,” Richardson said. “It would not be bad for us to get a hold to the system a little quicker because I’m sure with it being a short season, we’re going to have to go with something simple before getting into intricate things over the summer.”

Clippers Notes

Under the direction of team strength and conditioning coach Johnny Doyle and trainer Ray Melchiorre, the Clippers worked out for more than two hours Tuesday. Lorenzen Wright, Keith Closs, Eric Piatkowski, Stojko Vrankovic, Pooh Richardson and free agent Brent Barry practiced for the second day in a row. They were joined by James Robinson, Charles Smith and free agent Darrick Martin. Maurice Taylor, Lamond Murray and Rodney Rogers were no-shows again.

“Today was a lot better because we had more people,” Piatkowski said. “We were able to get up and down the court. . . . It’s going to come back really quick. You can tell everyone’s legs are in pretty good shape but not in basketball shape yet, but that will come.”

Robinson said he would not work out with the team today, and instead will continue his sessions with a personal trainer.