BERKELEY, Calif. -- Pete Newell is 91 and acknowledges his memory is no longer what it used to be. Still, the Hall of Fame coach can be caught diagramming plays with his fingers on the tabletop and weighing in on all the differences in today's game.
Even his buddy Bob Knight has changed for the better, Newell insists.
When the volatile Knight has a run-in with a player, official or even an inanimate object, Newell often receives calls from the media seeking comment. There aren't as many such phone conversations these days.
"One guy called and said, 'What do you think of Coach Knight throwing a chair at the officials?"' Newell recalled. "I told him, 'I'm mad at him. If you're going to throw a chair, pronate your wrist."'
On Sunday, Knight will receive the 2006 Pete Newell Challenge Career Achievement Award when his Texas Tech team takes on Stanford in the opening game of the Pete Newell Challenge in San Jose. Stanford (5-1) is unbeaten at 8-0 all-time in this event, but if the Red Raiders (6-2) can pull off a win it will be No. 876 for Knight -- tying him for second on the career list with Adolph Rupp.
California faces 24th-ranked Nevada in Sunday's second game at HP Pavilion, a matchup of two NCAA Tournament teams from last season.
Knight made news again last month for forcefully pushing up the chin of Michael Prince on the sideline, trying to get his player to look at him during a timeout in the Red Raiders' 86-74 win over Gardner-Webb. Knight's players have since defended him.
"He's got a great sense of humor," Newell said in a wide-ranging interview with the Associated Press this week. "He gets a little angry at times, but not like he used to."
Newell remebers one particular moment with Knight -- even if a few details are now a little foggy. At a Midwest Regional, Knight grabbed a notebook and decided he would rate reporters' questions on the spot to entertain the group.
The media session already was 20 minutes behind schedule, and Knight thought he could distract the impatient writers and make them forget they had been forced to wait.
Knight, the winningest active coach, needs four victories to match Dean Smith's all-time NCAA Division-I record.
"It will mean that I've coached a hell of a long time," Knight said recently. "The number of games that goes beyond what's normal means that you've had a lot of really good players."
Knight's teams have long played Newell's style of patient, disciplined offense and tenacious, hardworking defense. Newell has made an impact on numerous coaches for his ability to talk basketball late into the night only to rise early the next morning and continue the discussions.
GUNZUP 
