Coach Enjoys Calmer Waves

Paul Westphal is enjoying himself, and not only because he gets to coach his son instead of Gary Payton.

In his first year as a college coach since calling the shots for Grand Canyon College in 1988, Westphal rarely goes home without a smile after a day at the scenic Pepperdine campus in Malibu.

On some days, he’ll regale Pepperdine players with stories of Charles Barkley, whom he coached with the Phoenix Suns. Other days, he’ll talk about his own 12-season NBA career, including five as an all-star.

He probably won’t discuss Payton, with whom he clashed while coaching the Seattle SuperSonics, his third season with the team ending 15 games into last season. In one particularly volatile confrontation, Westphal and Payton got into a shouting match during a game at Dallas.

But that’s old news for Westphal. He’s got a team to prepare. A college team.

“I’ve really enjoyed these guys,” said Westphal. “They’ve been really receptive.”

Westphal, 50, has some work to do. He was hired in April to replace Jan van Breda Kolff, who left to coach at St. Bonaventure after guiding the Waves to a 22-9 record, 12-2 and second place in the West Coast Conference.

Westphal’s debut would have been easier with Brandon Armstrong, a swift and sweet-shooting 6-foot-4 guard who led the WCC in scoring last year as a junior with 22.1 points a game. But Armstrong opted for the NBA draft and was selected by Houston with the 23rd pick before being traded to New Jersey.

Kelvin Gibbs, a bruising forward, and David Lalazarian, a dependable shooter, are also gone.

“There’s almost no scoring returning,” Westphal said. “The team was constituted really around those three guys last [season]. We’re going to try to spread it around a little bit more on offense. There’s a little bit more responsibility on everybody to put some points on the board.”

Shooting guard Craig Lewis is the top returning scorer at nine points a game. Beyond that, the Waves will rely on redshirt freshman Terrance Johnson and junior college transfer Jimmy Miggins.

Johnson, a 6-5 swingman whom Westphal has called a “future star,” scored 31 points in an exhibition game against the EA Sports West All-Stars.

“He’s got real good range on his jump shot and he’s probably as good a jumper as there is in college basketball [with a 38-inch vertical leap],” Westphal said. “He’s got jets in his legs.”

Miggins, a 6-6 forward who played two seasons at Los Angeles City College, will try to fill Gibbs’ position at power forward for the Waves, who could gain some frontcourt help in January.

Sophomore Glen McGowan, projected as a starter after leading the Waves with an 18.8 scoring average during a five-game tour of Europe in August, was suspended from school for the first semester because he instigated a fight with teammate Will Kimble in the campus library in September.

The 6-8 McGowan assaulted Kimble during a team study hall after the two were involved in a scuffle earlier in the day during a pickup game. McGowan could return for the second semester if he fulfills unspecified duties required by the school.

“We expect him back and he expects to be back,” Westphal said.

Until then, Westphal has a few choices to make. He has to pick a starting point guard. He needs to coax more scoring out of his centers--Cedric Suitt and Kimble averaged a combined 3.5 points last season.

And he has to make sure his son, Michael, a senior guard, continues to bury his three-point shots.

“He’s making it hard for me to keep him on the bench,” Westphal said.