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articles : Simpson Turns Superstar Under Brown
 Simpson Turns Superstar Under Brown
When Larry Brown took over as coach of the Denver Nuggets last season, there was no happier player than Ralph Simpson, and all that happiness is paying off for both of them.
Annually referred to as a potential superstar during his first four years in the American Basketball Association, Simpson seems to have turned the corner by fulfilling all those nice things people have been saying about him for so long.
Ready to leave the Nuggets following a discouraging and disappointing season in 1973-74, Simpson's unhappiness disappeared when old teammate Brown replaced Alex Hannum as coach. As a result the 6-5 guard turned his new-found enthusiasm into his finest over-all season, and this year is still better.
"I knew I could be happy playing for Larry and playing under his system," Simpson says. "His style of play is more suited to my talents than any I've played under in my years at Denver.
"It's like heaven. I never dreamed it could be so much fun."
What Simpson is referring to is Brown's emphasis on running, pressing and most of all unselfish team play that helped turn the Nuggets from a last place team into a division winner in one season, and now they rank as one of the top three clubs in all of pro basketball as they close in on another regular season title.
"Larry and Doug (assistant coach Doug Moe) get everyone involved in the game," Simpson continues, "and we have a super bunch of guys who have only train goals in mind."
Individually, however, Brown has meant even more to Simpson. Most of all, he has restored his confidence, which had been lost under former coach Hannum. Hannum felt the young Simpson - he is only 26 now after leaving Michigan State following his sophomore year - could not handle the ball well enough and made too many mistakes to be an important factor when the game was on the line. As a result, Simpson was often on the bench in the final minutes of any close game.
However, Brown quickly erased all those thoughts when he came upon the scene. His style took advantage of Simpson's tremendous talents as a scorer, passer and ball thief.
"Ralph has been just super," smiles Brown. "He's done everything we've asked, and then some. The thing that pleases me most about him is his improvements in so many areas. His defense had been suspect, but I think he's proven that he can play the good "D." And I know he's been one of the top assist men around with those dazzling passes."
Brown actually had a head start in relating to Simpson that went back to Ralph's first year in the ABA in 1970-71. Brown was finishing up a fine playing career as a playmaker and he was Simpson's teammate and backcourt companion on the Denver team for two seasons through 1971-72.
"Larry taught me an awful lot those two seasons, not only while we were on the court but off it, too," Simpson recalls. "We played a lot of golf together and talked constantly about basketball. I was very sorry to see him retire." No wonder. He averaged 14.2 points as a rookie, then 27.4 the next season - when he was Second Team All-ABA.
While Brown took the coaching reins at Carolina in the ABA and turned the Cougars from a fifth place club into a division champion, Simpson's game began to slip, as did his minutes played. He dropped to 23.3 points the next season, then to 18.7, and falling with his scoring was his rebounding, assists and shooting accuracy.
He still was named to the All Star team both of those seasons, and again made the All-ABA Second team in 1972-73, but many experts felt he was not really living up to his potential . . . that he was overrated.
All those thoughts disappeared last season - and this season as Simpson blossomed. He made the All Star team for the fourth and fifth times, and no one argued.
And no one will argue when he makes the All-ABA first or second team this season, lie simply has been super, scoring almost 20 points a game, grabbing almost six rebounds per contest as the top rebounding guard in the league, shooting about 54 per cent from the field, and ranking among the league leaders in both assists (more than 400) and steals (more than 100).
"He has simply put his game together," Brown says, "and remember, he's just 26 years old. He has a lot of great basketball ahead of him."
(This article appeared originally in a Spirits of St. Louis Official Program, March 12, 1976.)
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