The Associated Press

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - At 70, Hubie Brown is the NBA's oldest coach. So there were some doubts about whether he could relate to his players on the Memphis Grizzlies.

Could he handle a pack of brash young millionaires? Would he be out of step with a team that has an average age of 25?

"For somebody to think you could not relate - that story is naive," Brown said. "It's not about your age; it's about the substance of the sport and what you're teaching."

It looks like the Grizzlies are paying attention. Memphis was off to the best start in franchise history at 17-17, heading into a West Coast road trip this week that was interrupted by a snowstorm, postponing games against Portland and Utah.

It's by far the latest in the season the franchise has been at .500. Last season at this point, the Grizzlies were 11-23.

"Hubie Brown has turned this team around," said center Lorenzen Wright, at 29, the team's second-oldest player. "Hubie gets us organized and tells us how to win."

Brown joined the Grizzlies in November 2002 after a 16-year break from coaching. He led the Atlanta Hawks and the New York Knicks in the 1970s and 1980s.

He hasn't changed his uncompromising style. There's still no touchy-feely ego management, and Brown has no hesitation about getting in a player's face.

"When you have such a young group of kids, they don't understand what it takes to be in the playoffs, because they haven't been to the playoffs," Brown said.

No one gets special treatment. At his first practice with the team, Brown introduced himself by saying, "We're going to work on discipline. Either you play or you sit, OK?"

Brown isn't the only coach to show that older coaches can work with younger players.

At 72, Jack McKeon led a young Florida Marlins team to a World Series championship, while 68-year-old Felipe Alou guided the San Francisco Giants to the playoffs. In college basketball, 69-year-old Lute Olson's Arizona is ranked No. 3. The Washington Redskins are bringing back Joe Gibbs, 63, after more than a decade in retirement.

Brown said he has no trouble communicating with younger players because he sees himself as a teacher as much as a coach.

His players also respect his knowledge of the game.

"There's nothing out there on the court that he hasn't seen, and he's got an answer for everything," said Pau Gasol, a 24-year-old who was the No. 3 pick in the 2001 draft.

To be sure, Brown isn't the only reason for the Grizzlies' improvement. Since April 2002, Memphis has been in the hands of team president Jerry West, who spent 40 years with the Los Angeles Lakers as a player, coach and executive. West rebuilt the team, bringing in Mike Miller, Earl Watson, James Posey, Bo Outlaw and Bonzi Wells to join Gasol, Jason Williams, Wright, Shane Battier and Stromile Swift.

Brown uses a 10-man rotation to keep the Grizzlies fresh for the up-tempo play and aggressive defense he prefers.

Posey said he hopes to be a coach like Brown after his playing days are over.

"With his coaching pointers and things, telling us what to do, I'm always taking notes," Posey said. "I might need to remember this."