John Lucas

John Lucas, tennis coach, sat in the stands at the U.S. Open yesterday, waggling a finger at Lori McNeil. "She was only down one break," Lucas said. You're not supposed to coach from the stands at tennis matches, but that wasn't coaching, really, it was just being informative. Lucas, 42, was coaching McNeil in the first round of the Open, against Lisa Raymond, who was from Wayne and who had played with the ex-Sixers coach in pro-ams and who was a friend. After Raymond had beaten McNeil, 7-6 (8-6)

After a decade of staggering to the bottom, the Philadelphia 76ers are about to entrust their basketball fortunes to a man well acquainted with the miracle of recovery. The Sixers will introduce John Lucas as their new coach and general manager at a 1 p.m. news conference today, according to sources close to the team. This is the first time one person will be hired for the club's two most influential management positions. According to the sources, Fred Carter, the 76ers' present coach, was told yesterday that his one-year contract, which expires later this month, will not be renewed.

Harold Katz said he wanted a front-office executive for the 76ers who would stand up and challenge him, who would demand to make the final calls, to run the team's basketball operation. He has John Lucas. Sources say that the Sixers owner has hired Lucas as the team's vice president of basketball operations, general manager and coach. A news conference was scheduled for 1 p.m. today. It is believed that Lucas's contract, finalized last night, covers at least four years and is worth between $3 million and $5 million.

Guard Vernon Maxwell received a "very substantial fine" for leaving the Spectrum after being benched in the third quarter of the Bulls' blowout of the Sixers on Saturday night, coach John Lucas said. According to Lucas, Maxwell was not reacting angrily to the benching. The incident was a misunderstanding between Maxwell and him that has been resolved, the coach said. Maxwell said that the incident is over, and that he is "happy" in Philadelphia. "I just hope we can win a little bit more," he said.

John Lucas, coach and general manager of the 76ers, keeps saying all the "pieces" are not here yet. A big piece, though, was dressed in Sixers red yesterday at St. Joseph's, walking through some new plays. Derrick Coleman was not everything Lucas wanted him to be Wednesday, when the Sixers broke an 11-game losing streak. But Coleman, with 17 points, 11 rebounds and an undeniable court presence, was more than enough. Tonight, the Sixers play the Cleveland Cavaliers, the undead of the NBA, in Cleveland.

Over pizza yesterday, incoming 76ers team president Pat Croce sliced John Lucas in half. Figuratively, at least. Croce told Lucas, the coach and general manager, that in the future those two jobs would be held by different people. He offered Lucas the opportunity to apply for either, but not both. "I told him my idea about unbundling the jobs," said Croce, who met with Lucas for a long lunch. "The ball is in his court to think about that now. " In his role as coach of the Sixers, Lucas got a much-needed lift last night.

Until now, the 76ers could not have demonstrated much more than normal vital signs by winning at home against Sacramento, one of the perennial walkovers of the NBA. But because the Kings, who are in the middle of a four-game road swing, are 6-6, while the Sixers are 4-8 and haven't had a game for five days, it is fair to say that the home team needs to show something tonight. It is also worth noting that Sacramento has knocked off Phoenix, Seattle, Cleveland and Denver, while the Sixers count three of last season's lottery teams among their four victims.

The 76ers are suffering from a nagging doubt right now. The doubt comes from losing five of six games, the nagging from frittering them away by an average of 4.4 points. Saturday's team meeting, talking-to by owner Harold Katz, and disciplinary benching of co-captain Clarence Weatherspoon were all signs of the stress of so many winnable defeats. With no practice or game yesterday, coach John Lucas talked about trying to steady his troops for tomorrow night's home game against Utah, after which the Sixers will leave on an eight-game, 17-day road trip through three time zones.

Dana Barros needed 80 points. Instead, Barros managed only a career-high 50, and the 76ers were run off their own court, 136-107, by the Houston Rockets last night. One hundred thirty-six is the most points the winners have scored or the losers have allowed this season, and Houston made a club-record 15 three- pointers, one short of the league record. To say the least, it was another in a series of lost causes for the Sixers, but this time the frustration level rose so high that coach John Lucas did something almost unheard of in a pro basketball game.

If there was any doubt about just how far away the 76ers are from NBA respectability, last night's embarrassing 107-75 loss to the Boston Celtics suggested one answer: Light-years. Coming off a rare home victory on Wednesday against a Golden State team that all but lay down on the floor, the Sixers reverted to form against Boston, falling behind by 15 points halfway through the second quarter and never getting any closer after that. Jeff Malone, Wednesday's star, sat out last night with recurrent pain in his injured right heel, and coach John Lucas said afterward that he doesn't expect the 33-year-old shooting guard play again this season.

Rudy Gay scored a season-high 32 points, DeMar DeRozan had 18 and the Toronto Raptors beat New York, 100-98, on Friday night, handing the slumping Knicks their season-worst fourth straight loss. Kyle Lowry scored 15 points, Amir Johnson 12, and John Lucas 10 as the Raptors won for the sixth time in seven games. Carmelo Anthony had 32 points for the Knicks, winless since beating Minnesota on Feb. 8. Elsewhere: James Harden and Carlos Delfino each scored 22 points, and the Houston Rockets tied their longest winning streak against any opponent by beating the Nets for the 13th straight time, 106-96, in New York.

Dr. J has scored big again. SCP Auctions said more than 140 items from Julius Erving's personal collection sold for a record $3.5 million. The auction ran from October until Sunday. Among the highlights: His 1974 New Jersey Nets ABA championship ring sold for $460,471; 1983 76ers championship rings sold for $244,240; 1983 All-Star Game MVP trophy ($115,242); final game-worn jersey from May 3, 1987 ($88,826); and 1974-75 ABA MVP trophy ($173,10). Erving told the Associated Press last month he's never been a "hoarder or collector," and planned to donate a portion of the auction proceeds to the Salvation Army.

Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki was suspended for one game for a flagrant foul during Friday's 97-88 loss to the Utah Jazz. Stu Jackson , the NBA's executive vice president for basketball operations, announced the suspension yesterday. Nowitzki sat out the Mavericks' 98-76 win over the Los Angeles Clippers. Nowitzki tangled with Jazz forward Matt Harpring under the basket with about 10 minutes left in Friday's game. As they were separating, Nowitzki swung his right arm and caught Harpring squarely in the mouth.

It's a nondescript four-lane street, nothing fancy, with a post office and a self-service "Car Spa" on one side of the railroad tracks. The Lawndale Avenue Baptist Church sits just over on the other side. There are no visible skid marks, old or new, by the tracks, no signs that Eddie Griffin - former Roman Catholic High School basketball star and NBA player - and his Nissan SUV slowed down on Aug. 17 before slamming into a southbound Union Pacific freight train. That collision ignited a blaze and instantly killed the 25-year-old Griffin in a crash so horrific that it took four days for authorities to identify his 6-foot-10 body from dental records.

HOUSTON - It's a nondescript four-lane street, nothing fancy, with a post office and a self-service "Car Spa" on one side of the railroad tracks. The Lawndale Avenue Baptist Church sits just over on the other side. There are no visible skid marks, old or new, by the tracks, no signs that Eddie Griffin - former Roman Catholic High School basketball star and NBA player - and his Nissan SUV slowed down on Aug. 17 before slamming into a southbound Union Pacific freight train. That collision ignited a blaze and instantly killed the 25-year-old Griffin in a crash so horrific that it took four days for authorities to identify his 6-foot-10 body from dental records.

Eddie Griffin's return to the NBA and the Minnesota Timberwolves was paved by a former 76ers coach who, like the former Roman Catholic star, had paid heavily for his indiscretions. The person most instrumental in Griffin's return to the NBA after a season in exile has been John Lucas. From 1994 to 1996, in two forgettable seasons, Lucas was the Sixers' head coach, posting a 42-122 record. But his success rate with reclamation projects such as Griffin has been much better. Lucas, 51, knows firsthand of the pitfalls of substance abuse.

John Lucas said he thought it was a test. "Everything I do, God always tests me," the Oklahoma State guard said. Last night's NCAA East Rutherford Regional final offered a test of Lucas' faith in his own abilities. "I had a horrible first half," Lucas said repeatedly. "I think I was too excited. I've never shot air balls like that before. I think I was just too anxious to play. I think the game was so important to me to win, I think I was pushing too much. " That was all prelude to what goes down as the shot of the tournament in what has to be the game of the tournament.

John Lucas couldn't make winners out of the Cleveland Cavaliers, so Keith Smart is getting a shot. He's made a big one before. Lucas was fired yesterday by the Cavs, who have the NBA's worst record (8-34), an apathetic fan base, complacent players and an assortment of other problems. "We've been pretty much the laughingstock of the league," guard Bimbo Coles said. "It has been a circus or a zoo around here. " Lucas, a former 76ers coach, was in his second season with the Cavs and had another year remaining on a $9 million deal.

A day after being released from a Philadelphia-area hospital, 76ers center Todd MacCulloch returned to work. But that tingling, burning sensation continued to plague his feet. The doctors are working on it. MacCulloch spent five days receiving treatment for foot neuropathy. He said he felt mildly better and was available for last night's game against Boston, although he did not see action. "I feel a little bit better, but it's not an instantaneous thing," MacCulloch said. "Things linger, and it's probably going to be a long process.

John Lucas has faced tougher challenges than the Cleveland Cavaliers, overcoming addiction and rebuilding his life and career. "I know about starting over and I know about trying to stay," Lucas said. "This is a second chance for all of us. " Lucas, 47, a point guard for 13 seasons, was introduced at a news conference two months after the club fired Randy Wittman, who went 62-102 the past two seasons. Lucas has a combined 136-171 record in two previous coaching stops with San Antonio (1992-94)