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NBA ALL-STAR WEEKEND

February 13, 2015

Mike Budenholzer

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK

MIKE BUDENHOLZER: Obviously how much we respect and enjoy the European basketball and the international basketball and the players and the coaches. That's a great thing.

Q. Unfortunately there's no Germans from Denmark. Where you spent many years --
MIKE BUDENHOLZER: That's not true. You have to be careful. They will come out. The Danes will find you.

Q. You hired a European coach as an assistant. What was the reason to do that?
MIKE BUDENHOLZER: Neven can help us. Neven can help us in a lot of different ways. Neven's knowledge of the game and his experiences as a long-time head coach at a high level in Europe and with a national team. And of course he's a very close friend. I've known Neven for a long time. And I trust him. I know that he can help me, and he can help our players and help our organization. He's just a very, very knowledgeable basketball mind.

Q. You want to follow the international game more than before?
MIKE BUDENHOLZER: Well, it's hard to say more. We've been stealing and trying to be more European, more international for a lot of years. I think that there's a lot of value in moving the ball, moving the people. And I think things that people consider European are things that we very much value. And he can help us grow and integrate them even more.

Q. In a playoff game and you're up by three, would you foul like in Europe or no like you do in the States?
MIKE BUDENHOLZER: You have to ask Neven. Neven is very unhappy with me. I tell him we will not foul and he shakes his head.

Q. Is it frustrating you are always compared to Gregg Popovich and people saying his successor (Inaudible) ?
MIKE BUDENHOLZER: No, it's not frustrating at all. Obviously we have a lot of respect for the Spurs and for Coach Pop and all their players and the way they play the game, how much success they have had. Obviously we feel like we're doing it our way in Atlanta and we're building our team and we're building our culture. But there's so much respect and admiration. Not just from us, from the whole league for Coach Pop and the whole team.

Q. How can you describe the success of the team? Is it unexpected the way the Atlanta Hawks are playing? There is no player in the top 50 of leading scorers in the NBA. Collective, good basketball, good coach.
MIKE BUDENHOLZER: Very good players. The coaching we're not sure about. You know, I think we felt strongly about our group really the whole two years we've been together. We've brought back most of the team. We finished on a positive note. They played very unselfishly, they compete at a high level. We're just focused on trying to get better each day. And the guys have embraced that on an individual basis and a collective basis. We just go out and compete every night. Hopefully we'll continue to do that.

Q. As head coach of the best team and the Eastern All-Stars, can you put a few words on your journey from Vejle in Denmark, now to being the head coach for the best team?
MIKE BUDENHOLZER: Yeah, it's a long ways from Vejle. But I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for experiences like that, learning and growing, playing and coaching in Denmark, and learning from other people and other cultures and respecting other cultures. It was a great year, and it helped me along my process of becoming a coach. I have many dear friends there and I'm very appreciative of that year in Denmark.

Q. You've installed ball movement in Atlanta. Is that something that you just say to the players, now we move the ball and everything is going to be fine?
MIKE BUDENHOLZER: No, but I think it starts with our players. Our players are very unselfish. They're very high-character, high-basketball IQ. So I think they appreciate and understand how our team, our best chance of success is with great ball movement, playing unselfishly. So I give the players all the credit. We work on it. We watch film. We talk about it. We stress it. But at the end of the day the players deserve all the credit for how unselfish they play.

Q. Pero, you don't use him as much as last season.
MIKE BUDENHOLZER: Pero is great for us. He does so many things that we appreciate. He gives defense. People don't understand or appreciate probably how good he is defensively, setting screens and moving the ball. He's just a very, very smart player. Our players love him. Our coaches love him. He's a big part of our spirit. We're very, very fortunate to have Pero as part of our program.

Q. What are the lessons you get after spending so many years with the San Antonio Spurs and won four rings? What is the key point for the playoffs?
MIKE BUDENHOLZER: I think San Antonio just competes. The way they compete every night. They play so unselfishly. They play so disciplined. I think it always starts with how you compete. That's Coach Pop and their players just compete every possession every night. And you build those habits, and that's what gives you your best chance to be successful.

Q. Do you remember the first time you were ever in a room with Tim Duncan?
MIKE BUDENHOLZER: I do, actually. He wasn't so sure I was an assistant coach. I was very young, and I don't think I looked the part.

Q. One question about the Washington Wizards: Marcin Gortat, Washington Wizards. He almost made the NBA All-Star Game by voting. You could have selected him as one of the players you picked. Why didn't you do it?
MIKE BUDENHOLZER: I think our votes are --

Q. He was quite close.
MIKE BUDENHOLZER: Yeah. I think collectively why the coaches didn't do it, it's so hard. There's players that are deserving, and you have to make hard choices. And Gortat is someone that's very deserving to be here. He's a great player. The Wizards have had the last year and a half great success, and he's a big part of that. Everybody is deserving, including Marcin.

Q. Do you believe one day day a Greek kid could come here and be an All-Star?
MIKE BUDENHOLZER: Giannis? He's a special young player. His skills along with his physical attributes, his length, and I think the whole league is excited about watching him grow and develop. You never know where a player's career is going to be, and you don't want to put pressure on them and put them in a corner. But he's someone that I think is a big part of the future of our league.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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