The NBA Finals date back to 1947 (when they were known as the Basketball Association of America Finals) and the very 1st NCAA tourney was held in 1939. Olympic basketball competition is even older: it debuted as a demonstration event in 1904 and the men’s version became a medal sport in 1936, with the women finally getting their chance to go for the gold in 1976. The United States has dominated Olympic basketball competition from the start: the men have won 15 gold medals in the 18 tournaments they have participated in during the past 84 years, while the women have won 8 gold medals in the 10 tournaments in which they have competed during the past 44 years. Those of you who were looking forward to the 2020 Olympics opening ceremonies in Tokyo on July 24, 2020 will have to wait an extra 364 days, as the coronavirus caused a postponement until July 23, 2021. Due to the absence of college basketball since mid-March, HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel decided to fill the void by trying to interview as many prior Olympic players/coaches as possible so that you have something to read this summer while not watching the Summer Games. We continue our coverage by chatting with Coach Rudy Tomjanovich about his upcoming Hall of Fame enshrinement and winning a gold medal in 2000. Today marks the 25th anniversary of his Rockets’ 2-PT OT road win over the Magic in Game 1 of the 1995 NBA Finals.
(photo credit: nba.com)
Your 1044 career REB remain the most in Michigan history: what is the key to being a great rebounder, and do you think that anyone will ever break your record that has stood for 50 years? I liked to get the ball in the basket so it was elementary to be a rebounder early in my career. When my teammates took a shot I went to the boards every single time. Growing up my friends and I played a game called “Tip-In” and it just became a way of life. In my very 1st game I set a school record with 27 REB vs. Kentucky and later I got 30 REB in Chicago Stadium vs. Loyola. I do not know if anyone will break my record but it does not seem like the game is going that way. I did not think that we were an up-tempo team until Coach Johnny Orr took over in 1968. It is pretty amazing to look back at some of those numbers.
In the spring of 1970 you were drafted 2nd overall by San Diego (1 spot ahead of Pete Maravich): did you see that as a validation of your college career, or the realization of a lifelong dream of reaching the NBA, or other? I knew that I was going to get drafted but did not realize I would go 2nd. There was pressure from the ABA at the time to have a merger with the NBA soon and a fear that our bargaining power would be gone. I was convinced to see whether we could work something out but I did not trust the guy who gave me that message. Coach Orr had me talk to some corporate lawyers in Ann Arbor who explained that it did not matter. I had a gut feeling and trusted 1 of the lawyers…and it was 1 of the best things that ever happened to me. At the time a draft choice could completely screw up your team’s chemistry if he held out for more money than 1 of your All-Star players made. 1 reason San Diego took me that high is because I already signed with them. It was a great honor and I was very fortunate to be in the NBA.
You made 5 All-Star games during a 6-year stretch from 1974-1979: how were you able to recover from Kermit Washington’s infamous punch in 1977 to become an All-Star in 1979? I did not want the punch to be the end of my career: I wanted to go out on my own terms. I worked really hard and eventually got the okay from my doctors to play. When I played in an exhibition game there was 1 news paper that viewed me as the “same old Rudy” while another paper said I was a “very different player”.
You made the playoffs during each of your 1st full 7 years as a head coach in Houston from 1993-1999: how were you able to make such a smooth transition to head coach after 8 years as an assistant coach? The main reason was a guy named Hakeem Olajuwon! When you get a job you hope to get very great players of his caliber. To win it we had to develop some different strategies such as the way that we spaced the floor after we got the ball to him. It really worked for our team when he got double-teamed: Hakeem was a guy who made defenses pay for double-teaming him by passing the ball out to 1 of our many good 3-PT shooters.
You won back-to-back NBA titles in 1994 and 1995: what did it mean to you to win the 1st 1, and was it easier/harder to win the 2nd 1? Since I had been a player/assistant in Houston it meant a heck of a lot because I considered myself a Houstonian who pulled for the other local teams like the Astros/Oilers. To be part of the team that brought a title to the city was a great feeling. It was hard because none of us on that team had ever won a title before. The 2nd year I did not plan to make any trades because I wanted the guys to have a chance to defend their title. However, we were not playing like the same team and I was worried that we were wearing Hakeem out so I felt that we needed another primary scorer. Clyde Drexler’s name was out there and due to their past history as college teammates I felt that it could work…and it did. No disrespect to Otis Thorpe but Clyde was fantastic for us and helped us regain our edge.
You served as head coach for team USA at the 2000 Olympics: how did you get the job, and how did you divide up the responsibilities with your 3 assistants (Larry Brown/Gene Keady/Tubby Smith)? The USOC came to me about the job and asked me if I was interested and I said of course! When I was a college player in Ann Arbor in 1968 I considered myself a peer of Spencer Haywood who played nearby in Detroit so when he made the team and I did not even get a tryout I felt very discouraged. It was a very conservative type of basketball under 1 of the all-time greats in Coach Hank Iba. To finally get a chance in 2000 was a great honor but it was also an unenviable situation because unless we blew out our opponents it seemed like something had gone wrong. Since my 3 assistants were so good I just asked them to chime in whenever they wanted. I had the college coaches work on our zone offense since they ran it a lot more than we did in the NBA.
Which of your opponents impressed you the most: Sarunas Jasikevicius (Lithuania)/Sean Marks (New Zealand)/Yao Ming (China)/other? They were all good individuals but some of the teams posed a big challenge due to their passing/trick plays. Lithuania had assistant coach Donnie Nelson and did a lot of tricky things: they would play man-to-man defense and then switch to a zone after we passed the ball into the post. We had to make some big adjustments because there were no illegal defense rules: I am surprised that more teams did not use the zone defense more often.
In the semifinals Lithuania missed a 3-PT shot at the buzzer in a 2-PT win by the US: how nervous were you about becoming the 3rd coach to ever lose a US Olympic basketball game? That would have been the 1st for a team of NBA players: the 1972 and 1988 teams were both comprised of college players. Nobody wanted that tag the rest of their lives and it was a factor: we played a little tighter and sometimes it paralyzed us from going out and doing what we had to do. We were down by 1 late in the game and then fouled a 3-PT shooter: my whole life was passing before my eyes and I had a vision into the future of people speaking at my funeral. They were saying “Good guy, good friend…1st NBA coach to lose in the Olympics”! It was a relief for us to win the game, both for me and the players.
What did it mean to you to win a gold medal, and what did it mean to you to see 1 of your players from that team (Kevin Garnett) elected to the Hall of Fame earlier this year? Winning a gold medal for your country is about as wonderful an achievement as you can accomplish in any sport. However, the amount of stress involved means that you do not want to go through it too many times: the rules are different, the foreign teams are getting better, etc. It is a dangerous thing because there is always the chance that you will not win. Until you actually get there you cannot understand how good the other teams are: you cannot be sloppy on defense because they will drive by you and score inside or make shots over you from the outside. You need to respect your opponent’s offensive ability because if they get on a roll then the game can get away from you very easily. Kevin was a wonderful player/person and a leader on that team who would fire us all up. Leadership always brings people together: we would have debates about things and he would ask us which way I wanted us to go and when I made a decision he always agreed with me.
You will be joining Kevin in the Hall of Fame: where does that rank among the highlights of your career, and what was your reaction to Jerry Colangelo’s announcement last month that your enshrinement ceremony will be moved to spring of 2021 due to the coronavirus? It is the highest honor you can receive. I have been on the list for the last several years but had the silver lining that a lot of other coaches spoke up about me, which made me feel fantastic even though I was not getting elected. To finally get it allowed me to stop answering questions about why I was not in there: it is not something you campaign for and it was awkward to talk about it. It is mind-boggling and I am just humbled. This pandemic is a life and death thing so it does not matter when they hold the ceremony. I think it is the right thing to do and I am all for it.