NBA ALL-STAR WEEKEND

February 10, 2001

Kevin Loughery

KEVIN LOUGHERY: I used Jack Marin's defense today. That was really a great time as far as the exposure of the players and letting them show the skills, the rookie players show their skills, and also the Sophomore team, you see three or four players on that team that will eventually be all stars, Szczerbiak, Odom, Francis, Brand, I think they will eventually be playing in the next game, I think some of the rookie players, also.

KEVIN LOUGHERY: The one thing about it, really, I'm a basketball junkie. I follow the NBA extremely close. I watch all the games. I have the dish. I know probably more about the NBA now than I ever did. Some people say I never knew anything about the NBA, but I watch it religiously. The players, we had nine players, and you're only around them a couple hours in this atmosphere, but the players are extremely coachable, much easier to coach than people think, much nicer people than people think, and its really gotten to a point, there's been a couple of situations this year off the floor cases, that have exploded and everybody thinks that these players are monsters or something. Really, they are getting a bad, bad rap. These are not bad kids at all.

KEVIN LOUGHERY: Well, we have a different game today than we had 30 years ago. 30 years ago there were better shooters but not nearly the best the athletes that these kids are today. In the NBA during the regular season, not today when you are just letting players play in a game like this, but again, relatively overcoached. I see the Lakers beat Miami about two or three weeks ago, maybe a month ago in Miami, without a fast break point. That would be unheard of in any basketball game. But we have a different game today where it is going to be a ground-out, slowdown game. Over the last three weeks, we have seen the game open up some. I think one thing, I'd like to see the game open up. I think we need some rule changes, and not a zone defense. That would be the biggest mistake they would make. But I think the game is a great game, but there's not enough running in the game, really. Nobody has a secondary break now. But I'm already out of coaching five years and everybody had a secondary break five years ago. Nobody hardly in the League runs after a scored basket now; you have a different game today. I'm sure the fans -- I'm a fan of the game, I would like to see a little bit more opened up game.

KEVIN LOUGHERY: Well, he can shoot. Not only that, you bring anybody into the game today that can shoot the basketball, they are going to play forever in the NBA because defenses right now are compacted in. You look at the top defensive teams, they play defense from 17 feet in. So if you can shoot the basketball, you've got a chance to play with anybody's team.

KEVIN LOUGHERY: Mine is a little exotic and I don't know if you guys want to hear it. I've got three things I'd like to see changed in the game. I would like to the 24-second clock go to 20. I would like to see anybody score within five seconds of a made-shot get three points, anybody who laughs at a three-point shot. Third thing is more complicated. The weak side block screen, the Bill Laimbeer clamp coming from the weak side, I don't think you should ever call a charge on that. That should be either a block or no call. That is the biggest defensive change in basketball, and it is not a basketball play. There's no effort to go after the ball; no effort to block a shot. I would like to see something like that. You have to give a reward to the coaches who run. It's very -- as a coach, and believe me, I did it for a lot of years with a lot of bad teams, and it is really, if you lose 86-82, it looks like you are coaching your tail off. If you lose 115-111 it does not look like you're coaching and if you lose 115-111, you get fired. You've got a better chance of keeping your job if you keep the games down. So if there's no reward for the coaches to run the basketball, why should they? And I think if you gave them a three-point play -- it will never happen because it would be too much pressure on the officials, so I don't think you'll ever see that. But I don't know how else you're going to get the coaches to run the basketball. I mean, I've been there. I've been through it all.

KEVIN LOUGHERY: Well, I have seen it over the last three weeks. I have seen teams open up. It sounds -- you can't score in a halfcourt game because the defenses are so good. We have great coaching in the NBA, the best it has ever been. It is tough to score on a halfcourt game. Logically you would think that you would run to get easier baskets, and hopefully that is going to happen. But in the playoffs, it won't. It won't happen in the playoffs. Games will be in the 80s,70s and if we put in zones -- I think there's tremendous support in the NBA for zones, by general managers and people I know that can make judgments. I think if you put in zones, you have games in the 50s. Put Robinson and Duncan in the back of a zone and try to get a shot off, it will never happen.