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NBA ALL-STAR WEEKENDFebruary 24, 2012Ron AdamsSteve KerrORLANDO, FLORIDA Q.  You've been dealt a wealth of point guards. Can you talk about the point guards you have and kind of this generation of point guards, this young group, including Kyrie Irving on the other side. RON ADAMS: We have a lot of point guards. It's kind of an interesting time in the league. All of the guards on our team are really good players and have come along well this season, but there are so many good point guards in the league right now. We have one that I'm partial to, but there's just a lot of great point guards. The one thing we had a brief practice today, but I don't know, Steve would probably back me up on this, but I was really impressed by the way they plugged in just to the few things we did. And when you speak, they look at you and are attentive, not just the point guards but the entire group. But I think these guys have a chance to be really, really good, all the guys on this team. STEVE KERR: No, I agree. We do have a lot of point guards. We'll play them together obviously, and that's fine. These games are wide open, a lot of running, a lot of up‑tempo basketball. So we'll play them all and play them together a little bit. Certain guys are going to need some rest. Jeremy has had back‑to‑backs, and this will be the third game in three nights. So we can't overload him, although maybe this Bulls coach over here might want to wear out some of his Eastern Conference rivals, I don't know. Same with Blake. Blake is a little banged up, and so we'll‑‑ we won't play him a whole lot. But this is a fun game, and I agree with Ron in terms of the attitude today at practice. The guys seem really excited about it, and I think they're going to compete and have a lot of fun. Q. What's you guys' take on this whole Linsanity phenomenon? And what's it going to be like coaching him for just one game? RON ADAMS: Well, it's quite something. You notice it when you're here because we were waiting to speak to the guys, and he had a special press conference, like 15 minutes or so, and he was out. But I mean, it's a quintessential American success story. He's found himself‑‑ there are many athletes playing basketball, some overseas, who are very, very good. And sometimes they have not made a team because the conditions weren't right for them. Having said that, everyone can develop, and Jeremy‑‑ I was telling the guys in the locker room several seasons ago, I can't remember unfortunately, I was either with Oklahoma City or Chicago, but he was playing for Golden State and he played about 12, 15 minutes, and he couldn't shoot really well then, like he can now. He can shoot the three really well. But I went away from the game, it was the first time I had seen him, but I thought, this guy has got kind of a herky‑jerky way of playing the game that's kind of interesting, and he was able to get into cracks in the defense and so on. STEVE KERR: I don't know what else can be said, right? I mean, we've all covered this ad nauseam for three weeks. But great story, great kid, and he's a hell of a player. It makes you wonder how many guys that are out there who have just slipped through the cracks and didn't find the right circumstances. But that's what this league is about for‑‑ I think the majority of players in the league. It's finding the right coach, the right system, the right teammates and even catching some breaks, injury‑wise, playing time‑wise, and I'm sure there are lots of guys who have slipped through the cracks. But what I'm most impressed with Jeremy is when he got his opportunity, he didn't just grab it; he choked it by the neck. He basically just took over that whole franchise, which is stunning, because it's New York and it's Melo and Amar'e. You've got stars, you've got the media capital of the world, and he just seized it and grabbed it and he's not letting go. Q. You mentioned young point guards and you've worked with them in Oklahoma City and Chicago. Can you talk about what steps you like to see, whether it's physical or mental, out of a young point guard in his first few years in the league? RON ADAMS: Well, the major step is the competitive toughness aspect of it. You know, take Kemba Walker, for example, who was under the tutelage of one of my favorite players in the league, Kevin Ollie at Connecticut. This is a pretty tough little guy already. So if you have the skills it takes to play the game, which all these guys do, that whole aspect of toughness‑‑ I look at Rubio, who looks like he's 17 years old, and he looks kind of soft to a degree, but this guy has a really fine competitive edge to him already. I think that's the first step. And then it's knowing the league and it's knowing how to run a pick‑and‑roll, which looks simple. It's not simple and it's not simple to defend. I know I talk to college coaches, and they act like, why can't you stop that? And it's difficult. You can't. It's difficult. You have to be very skilled defensively. I saw Steve Nash last night and we were talking about it and I was laughing about our last game with them. Steve is getting up in years, but his ability to dissect a defense on a pick‑and‑roll is just fabulous. I mean, but it comes with the experience and the repetition. Ask this guy, he played. Although he shot, he didn't run pick‑and‑rolls. STEVE KERR: I didn't run pick‑and‑rolls. Q. For Steve: Now that we're talking about Nash, if you were still the Phoenix GM, would he still be on the team after the trade deadline? STEVE KERR: The beauty of my current job is that I don't have to make those decisions. There's so many difficult decisions but different dynamics and scenarios. It all depends on what trade would be out there. But Phoenix is in a very difficult spot. They're stuck in the middle right now. They're not good enough to be a contender. They're not bad enough to be a top‑five lottery team where they can draft a star player. That's a tough place to be, so they have some decisions they have to make. Q. Having such a speedy team, are you guys going to give them the green light and let them run wild? STEVE KERR: I think we should slow everything down, Ron. I think we should throw the ball in the post, 2‑3 zone, work the clock. If we get a 24‑second violation, that's okay, because there's no transition going the other way. Let's just try to grind this one out; what do you think? RON ADAMS: This is my first time managing a team. I'll use the word "managing". Coaching might be a bit too presumptuous. I think the thing that we want to do, we talked about it a little bit, too, is the thing that marks an NBA player is the competitiveness. In a game like this, it can't be fancy‑dancy. You're being judged. I don't care, these guys are under so much scrutiny. They warm up before a pro game in a good warm‑up, and you have people out there judging their warm‑up, this guy is not working hard enough, this guy can't do this. They're under tremendous scrutiny. So in a game like this, we simply want the guys to compete and play good basketball because I think that's what the NBA should be about: Great fundamentals, great athleticism, and hopefully great teamwork. STEVE KERR: I agree. RON ADAMS: That's what we try for, right, Steve? Q. When Mo Cheeks was in here a little while ago, he was asked about his starting lineup, and he declined to say that. He said, "Ron Adams is probably watching and I don't want to give that away." What are you expecting to see from Mo, who you've coached with previously? RON ADAMS: Well, I can tell you one thing: The guys are laughing in that locker room because there's no sweeter person out there than Mo Cheeks. Just one of the most delightful guys to be around. Tom Thibodeau and I were both in Philadelphia when John Lucas was the coach, and then it was Tom and me and Mo on the staff, and we had a miserable team. But I'll tell you, we had very few days that weren't fun. And Mo is just the type of guy, he's just a wonderful guy, just lights up a room. And I had the pleasure of working with him again at Oklahoma City. But the guys are laughing a little bit in the locker room right now. They'll come out loose. Q. He seemed like he was going to go for the jugular, though. RON ADAMS: He may, because I've heard Fratello is really‑‑ I think Fratello studied film for weeks on this and I think advised in the draft and so on, so I think this is fairly significant. Q. Steve, I was hoping you could comment on the roster that your GM saddled you with and what it's like working‑‑ STEVE KERR: Saddled me with? Q. And what it's like working for a GM that you once acquired? STEVE KERR: He's supposed to sit on the bench tonight, which I think is kind of meddling personally. He's supposed to sit on our bench. That's what I heard. RON ADAMS: We can go in the locker room. He'll be able to handle that. STEVE KERR: So I'll tell you afterwards. We'll see what kind of working relationship we have. I think since I was his GM, I think he wanted to be my GM, and now he can get me back for however I wronged him back in Phoenix. RON ADAMS: Do you think he'll be telling us to force the ball inside? STEVE KERR: For sure. Pound it in there. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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