I think, with every kid I coach, I'm trying to get them to do the right thing all the time. I always feel like you should raise the bar. There needs to be expectations.
Larry Brown
Look at how many North Carolina kids have played for me or tried out for me or coached with me. I've had Dennis Wuycik, Steve Previs, Billy Chamberlain, Donald Washington, Darrell Elston, Tommy LaGarde, Bobby Jones. You name it, I've had them. Whatever Coach has ever asked me to do, I've done. Because I love the school, and I worship him.
As long as I feel like I'm helping kids get better, I don't see why I should stop.
My whole thing is being a coach, a GM, and a president: you all got to be attached at the hip. There's got to be no separation between you. The players got to know it's one voice: we're all in this together; we're going to do this right.
I want to coach because I love it. I don't want to sound hokey, but when you play for Frank McGuire, Dean Smith, and Pete Newell - they taught me a lot - I want to share what they taught me with a lot of people. I don't want to stop doing this.
I've grown up playing for some incredible coaches, and I don't think anybody's ever been as fortunate as I have in terms of the people I've been allowed to play under, coach under, or be involved with.
You've got to try to guard, make an effort to defend to the best of your ability. You have to rebound the ball, which was an area that was so critical. And they wanted you to play smart and have fun. I've kind of tried to let our people understand those are the most important things that I could possibly tell them.
I don't think there's any difference in my passion than when I was a young coach. I hope somebody in some way realizes I could be an asset, but we'll just wait and see.
The bottom line is, I want us to rebound, defend, share the ball, play hard. That's all. Now if you can't do that, if that's not important enough to you, it's not on me.
I don't know why you play a team sport and not be concerned about making your teammates better and helping your team win games. That's the only thing that really matters, and if you're the best player, surely you're going to have some effect on the game's outcome.
I want every kid to go to college and be like a normal student. I want them to be able to go to a movie, go to a concert. I want them to be able to have that opportunity. But if you're paying kids, are you going to pay a lineman less than you're paying a quarterback? I don't know how to explain that stuff.
You always care about your teammates, and you care about the game.
I can't figure out how you can hire a coach and tell him how you want him to play.
I've been coaching how many years? A long time.
I almost took a job in Italy. It was really a great opportunity, but they didn't think I had enough international experience.
Why would you want to do something and not be special and want the best?
If you see the NBA now, a lot of it is in transition. Most people now try to get an easy shot off in six or eight seconds before the defense gets set.
I think it's an unbelievable responsibility to our sport, coaching in New York, because the fans are probably the most knowledgeable, or as knowledgeable as any team in the League.
I never left a team in worse shape than I got it. Not once.
I struggled in school. Math and science were difficult for me. But I can watch 10 guys play, and I can tell you what everybody did. It might be a curse because when you see everything, sometimes you don't let your kids play.
I want to be like Johnny Bach or Pete Carril or Tex.
I want to teach. I've got to figure a way to continue doing this in some capacity.
When I was 26, I got offered the Connecticut job, but the ABA started, and I thought I could still play.
I would hope the NBA Players Association would say that people like LeBron could come out early because he's so gifted, but if you stay, you stay three years. Your skill level will be greater, and the chances of you going to the NBA are much greater.
College kids want to be coached. They want to be taught. They might resist it a little bit early on, but the more you give, the more you get back.
When you're bad in the NBA, you're in the lottery. When you're great in college, you get multiple lottery picks.
I can't figure out how you can draft players for a coach that you know coaches a certain a style, and was successful doing that style, and get him to play a style that you feel comfortable with.
You look at the NBA: there's all these young kids that are drafted on potential. They go to bad teams, they're in bad locker rooms, and now we got this analytics stuff that doesn't teach kids how to play. We've got these workout coaches that don't teach kids how to play basketball.
I can't walk in an airport, walk into a gym, where the kids in the gym don't come to me and ask me about Allen and tell me he's their favorite player of all time. And everywhere I go in airports, people look at me, and they, 'You're Allen's coach.'
One place had a winning record that I went to, and that was Detroit. Rick Carlisle laid a foundation that gave us a chance to win a championship.
Everyone wants to psychoanalyze me. I don't know why.
Leading the SMU men's basketball program is an honor and a responsibility that I take very seriously.
I want to do anything where people feel I can help make their franchise better and make a contribution.
I'd rather be involved and somebody say, 'Hey, coach, here's what I need you to do. Go down to the D-League and work with guys'... I want the D-League coach to learn how to be a head coach.
