When the Dakota Wizards made the jump from the IBA to the CBA in 2001-02, many people were skeptical about their chances.

Even coach Dave Joerger had his doubts.

But as IBA holdovers like Kevin Rice and Michael Johnson proved they belonged, helping the Wizards reel off victory after victory, Joerger came to a realization.

"When that happened it was like, if Mike and Kevin are CBA-level players - and I didn't know that they were (heading into the season) - maybe I'm a CBA-level coach."

Fast forward to 2007, and Joerger's Wizards are in another new circuit - the NBA Development League - playing for another championship, hosting the Colorado 14ers today. If they win, it will be their fourth title in seven years and Joerger's fifth.

His regular-season CBA winning percentage was .655, fourth-best in league history. In his first year in the D-League he led the Wizards to the best winning percentage (.660) in that league's history.

Those numbers indicate that Joerger, who is only 33 years old, is an NBA-level coach paying his dues.

Destined to coach

Joerger has a background that suggests he was destined to coach. An undersized point guard in Staples, Minn., Joerger used hard work and smarts to get any edge he could.

"I rarely lost a conditioning race in the fall, or rarely lost a line race," he says. "I always tried to pick up guys and turn them twice before halfcourt. Do all those little things that I could control, because if we play straight up and down, on talent, I'm gonna lose."

Joerger always took an interest in the strategic side of the game, no doubt catching the bug from his father, Joe, a long-time high school coach. When Joe took over the girls program, Joerger used to help break down tape.

Joerger still says his greatest joy in coaching is drawing up a play during a timeout and watching it carried out successfully before his eyes. He jokes that even in mid-conversation with his wife, Kara, he will feel compelled to stop to scribble ideas.

"I always had that (technical) part of it," he said. "I know that Kara can attest, because we have paperwork and napkins everywhere."

Joerger went on to play college basketball at Moorhead State, where he once recorded 15 assists in a game, which still stands as a Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference record. Joerger says he desperately wanted to continue playing after finishing his career with the Dragons, and mulled over the prospect of playing in Australia.

But while he was still playing for Moorhead State, a door opened that afforded him a different way to stay in the game.

See Joerger, Page 4D

A foot in the door

During Joerger's senior season, he approached Rory White, then coach of the IBA's Fargo-Moorhead Beez, and offered White his services.

"He didn't know me from Adam," Joerger said. "I said, 'I'd like just to volunteer, just hang around. I'll do whatever you ask - do the clock, pick up towels, whatever.'"

Working for the Beez in between his own college games exposed Joerger to a different type of coaching style, but also gave him a foothold in the professional game. Without that unpaid internship, Joerger believes he never would have been hired the following season.

Joerger's first two seasons in Bismarck, serving as general manager and assistant coach, were anything but easy. The Wizards missed the playoffs both years, and Joerger wasn't always on the same page as the two head coaches he worked for, Jay Garmatz and Steve Tucker.

But when the Wizards hired Duane Ticknor to take over the reins in 1999, everything changed.

Doing things the right way

Ticknor came to Bismarck with an impeccable resume that included three IBA coach of the year awards and one title. He also came in with a fresh approach that made a huge impression on his new protégé.

Emphasis was put on treating people with respect _ whether it was opponents or Dakota's own players, getting them better hotel accommodations, meal coupons, whatever. Ticknor was intent on getting every little detail right. Stats and standings were posted in the locker rooms for players to see. Ticknor even helped Joerger do the team's laundry, taking care to fold the uniforms before putting them away.

"If somebody's going to do it, you might as well do it right," Joerger explained.

Joerger still says he often finds himself asking, 'What would Duane do?'

Under Ticknor, the Wizards had what was still stands as their best record (30-6) in terms of winning percentage, going a perfect 18-0 at the Civic Center. But Dakota was upset by Minot in the semifinals, and Ticknor left after one season to move closer to home.

At age 26, Joerger was tabbed as his replacement.

Growing into the job

As great a year as the Wizards had in 1999-2000, falling short of a title took some of the pressure off Joerger. So did a 10-0 start. But despite being confident in his abilities, Joerger admits that he felt insecure when he first became a head coach.

"I overcoached a lot, I thought, when I was younger," he says. "I wanted control. I didn't want the players to be able to do it without me, in my own mind: 'I hope they don't get to the point where they think they don't need me.' "

Joerger learned to let loose and it made him a better coach. He also adapted his coaching philosophies - initially based on his own style as a player who couldn't create his own shots - to better exploit his players' attributes.

"I think his biggest strength is that he tries to get the most out of all of the guys that are playing for him," says Kevin Rice, who played for Joerger and is now his assistant. "You don't have to be the best athlete or the best shooter, but he gets to you and talks to you in ways to where, in you're head you may believe that."

The results were undeniable. The Wizards won the 2001 IBA title, jumped up to the CBA and kept right on rolling, winning that league's championship in 2002.

The following season Dakota finished with the No. 1 overall seed, but lost to the Yakima Sun Kings in the semifinals.

That shortfall served as motivation for Joerger and Casey Owens, who joined the team as an assistant in 2001-02. Together they put together the best team in franchise history, with six players receiving NBA call-ups, but the team never missed a beat en route to another title.

Though Joerger has since had a bitter falling-out with Owens, he gives his former assistant due credit for his part in the franchise's success.

"I thought Casey and I were an awesome team," Joerger says. "It was awesome. We were always trying to figure out: 'We feel like we're pretty good, but how can we get even better?' And we kept going after players and we kept chasing players.

"Between the two of us, I think we were two of the better ones in the business at doing it, and we were on the same page. We kind of just were always reloading. Even though we were winning, we were always reloading."

Sioux Falls and back

Joerger left the Wizards for the Sioux Falls Skyforce after winning that title, saying that it was time for a new challenge. He succeeded there as well, guiding the Skyforce to a championship in 2005 and a 30-18 mark the following season.

But rocky contract negotiations opened the door for his return, and the Wizards pounced on Joerger when he became available. His players sound happy to have him at the helm.

"He's a players' coach," says veteran point guard Maurice Baker. "He knows how to put players in the right situations. He knows our strengths, and he bases his offense around that, and he knows what he talks about. When we played against his teams, they were prepared to stop what we were doing. That impressed me a lot."

Renaldo Major, who played for Joerger with Sioux Falls and now the Wizards, said Joerger had a major hand in his dramatic improvement.

"He's a teacher. He's a father figure. He's a mentor," Major says. "He's a great family man. He's a great man overall. I'm glad to be coached by him the last few years."

Joerger he says he doesn't obsess anymore about what it will take to get to the NBA, although that obviously remains his goal. He does question sometimes what it will take.

"You wonder, 'If I can't get in when we're winning, OK, what happens when we lose?' " he said.

But Joerger said that if he doesn't catch on in the NBA next season, he will keep pursuing that dream in Bismarck.

"(Coming back) is like slipping back into an old routine that you absolutely love. - It has been everything that we thought we would be and more."