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News August 23,
2002 Post Game Words of George Karl
News 10.07.2002 Published by:FIBA - Federation International Basketball Assn.
(Precision Time System was described as a necessity by FIBA)
Interview with USA Head Coach George Karl
The USA will be
looking to bring the World Championship title back to North America come August
in Indianapolis, and George Karl is the man assigned to oversee the NBA stars
who will make up team USA.  It could be argued that Karl is something of a star
himself as he currently owns the title of "highest paid coach in world
sport", with a contract paying him a lofty $7 million per year as head
coach of the Milwaukee Bucks. A graduate from North Carolina and legendary
coach Dean Smith, Karl's professional playing career began with the San Antonio
Spurs in 1973 (who played in the ABA at the time) and lasted until 1978.
Bounce, the mascot of the World Championship 2002, presented by Tom Jernstedt
and George Karl.
Karl's route to a coaching role in the NBA began with
two stints as a head coach with Cleveland and Golden State followed by a move
to Europe and Real Madrid. He ended up coaching Spain's legendary basketball
club on two occasions, while also returning home for periods to coach in the
CBA. In 1992 he returned to the NBA as the head coach of the Seattle
Supersonics, who he led to the NBA Finals in 1996. Now charged with leading the
USA to the title the team last won in 1994 in Canada, Karl shared with us his
thoughts on the upcoming World Championship.
The USA are
overwhelming favorites to win the World Championship, but the rest of the world
is definitely catching up.
Do you feel pressure to win?
Karl: Well, I'm excited. I think it's an honor to take part in this, and be a
part of this crew. I think there will be a lot of nights that the games are
going to be a lot of fun; a lot of enjoyment in Indianapolis. There's going to
be nights where we're going to have to play well, we're going to have to play
smart, be well-prepared. But that's coaching. We all put a lot of pressure on
ourselves, and I think representing our country and representing the NBA,
there's going to be more pressure when we meet a Yugoslavia team, or another
team we know is capable of playing well.
Do you think your
experience at Real Madrid will be an advantage in coaching in an international
tournament?
George Karl Karl: Yeah, I think there's an experience
factor, understanding that the game is shorter, understanding the refereeing a
little bit, understanding the timeout situations, I think going through all of
that is going to be helpful in adjusting to the situation. But in the end, I
still think it's low on the totem pole, relative to us playing defense, playing
solid fundamental basketball, coming together as a team and trying to find the
five best players to go out and get it done. I'm going to really look to my
three assistant coaches -- Gregg Popovich (San Antonio Spurs), Mike Montgomery
(Stanford University) and Kelvin Sampson (University of Oklahoma) -- to help me
with the international game. The most intriguing aspect, from my standpoint, is
the opportunity to share philosophies and bridge the best of the college game
and pro game, which I enjoy. I think the players on Team USA will directly
benefit from the three men the Selection Committee has chosen to assist me.
Since 1992 the USA teams have been a collection of stars. This time the
selection committee took the view that the team should be more balanced with
more role players.
What led to this change in philosophy?
Karl: I think they experimented a little bit at the Goodwill Games in
Australia. Flip (Saunders, the USA's head coach) and some of the people came
away with the feeling that it was a better result. There was better chemistry,
a better exchanging of personalities, rather than a conflict of egos that I
think has happened in some other situations. For me, it's hard to play 12
players. There's no way, I think, that you're going to make 12 people happy.
That's coaching, and along the way, I hope we'll at least be able to appease 12
people and make as many of them happy as possible.
How much personal
input do you get into player selection for the U.S. team?
Karl: Very
little. I've had almost no input up until this time. Stu Jackson (chair of the
USA Basketball Senior National Team Committee) and I have talked a couple of
times about the possible make-up of the roster of players - maybe I need a
shooter, or maybe I need another point guard, things like that - but other than
that, very little input. I have no voting capacity on the board. The selection
committee has total control. Despite a more balanced view towards team
selection, each of the players on the team will be use to having a main role
for their NBA team.
Do you have a predestined idea of how many
minutes everyone will play and do you see this issue being a potential
problem?
Karl: I'm hoping that over a period of some practices and some
games, I'm going to find out who plays best with each other, and hopefully have
different rotations: a big team, a quick team, a defensive team, a shooting
team. Getting to know them is going to be difficult. Once I find one team that
I'm confident in, they're probably going to be given a lot of minutes. At the
same time, there's hopefully going to be games where we're in control, and
everyone can get equal time.
How much do you know about the other
teams that will compete in Indianapolis?
Karl: I just know that there's
a lot of NBA players representing other countries. You've got Germany, Canada,
Yugoslavia, Spain - a lot of teams with NBA-quality players. I've felt for a
long time that the European countries right now are catching us faster than
they've ever tried to catch us. Their brand of basketball is becoming NBA
quality and very professional. They start paying players at a very young age,
and I think we'll have two or three situations where we're going to have to be
ready to play a very good game. As the tournament gets closer, we will delve
into the scouting and advance work. We'll see each opponent before we play them
and I'll prepare the team with my assistant coaches. From my feel - and I'm
very amateur at this - I would say Yugoslavia would be the team. Spain, with
(Pau) Gasol could be an interesting team. He's done very well. Nowitzki and
Bradley I think will represent Germany, and that will be an interesting crew
too. You've got some teams that we'll have to be ready to play.
What
style of play do you foresee your team playing and what do you think will be a
key factor if the USA is to win the World Championship?
Karl: I think
American basketball is always trying to play faster than the rest of the world.
We'll try to play up-tempo and create offense with defensive pressure. Those
would be things I think would be important.
What are you and your
team's expectations for the Championship?
Karl: I don't think there's
any American team right now that doesn't establish a goal of winning the gold
medal and finishing undefeated. Hopefully, we can put on a show of first-class
basketball that we can be very proud of and exhibit NBA basketball at its best.
Indiana is known as a hotbed for basketball.
What do you expect from
the US fans who will attend the games to support the home team?
Karl: I
think it's going to be an incredible outpouring of support for American
basketball. I think there will be a Midwest family-type atmosphere of cheering
on the home country and supporting the basketball tradition in Indiana. There's
a great tradition. I think it's great to be playing in Indiana. We all know the
high school tradition and the college tradition. Being an ABA guy, I also like
the NBA and ABA tradition. All that speaks very well, I think we'll be very
well-served playing in Indianapolis.
USA HEAD COACH GEORGE
KARL: "In general, it was a lot like the practices. The
guys have been very respectful with what I’ve asked them to do. Tonight I
thought our bench played better than our starters but I thought the defensive
intensity is on a good page right now. The 20 turnovers were disappointing
offensively but other than that it was a class A performance. We need to get
some of the rust off and we need to have a progression of focusing and keep
getting better every day. It’s a great challenge and a great opportunity.
I saw a lot of good stuff out there – a lot of good reads and a real good
feel. Hopefully we can keep doing it and improving on it …and move on to
play Germany.
"At halftime we did speak and said the kid (Yao Ming) is
pretty good. We talked about being more aggressive with him and not letting
have the easy catches. We talked about fronting him some more and changing up
the defenses. He had a double-double with a lot of blocks. There’s no
question he’s a danger factor around the basket. You have to respect his
size and length. Offensively, he’s very interesting – it looks like
he’s going to be able to get his own shot off and is going to be difficult
to cover. It also looks like he’s always going to be able to shoot and
pass over the top of you. He’s got a very good release … his wrists
and fingers are very good on the ball. He’s also a problem backing you
down and I think he’s going to get more physical inside. He looks like a
good passer, being able to read double teams and defenses. His ability to throw
over the top of the defense is incredibly successful in our league. I think the
Houston Rockets have themselves a very talented player." |
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