Season preview: HoopsHD interviews Belmont SO C Nick Muszynski

Posted on September 7, 2019 by Jon Teitel

CLICK HERE for all of our extensive Preseason Content

We continue our season preview coverage with Belmont SO C Nick Muszynski. Rick Byrd finished up his 33rd and final year as head coach of the Bruins in style last season by going 27-6, winning his 5th OVC regular season title in 7 years of league membership, and beating Temple in the 1st 4 before almost upsetting Maryland. Casey Alexander comes in to replace Byrd and will rely on a sensational sophomore class include the 6’11” Muszynski, who was named conference ROY after finishing top-25 in the nation in both FG%/BPG. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Nick about his fabulous freshman season and bouncing back from ankle surgery.

You grew up in Ohio: what made you choose Belmont? Ever since I was a kid my ultimate dream was to play in the NCAA Tournament. Belmont offered as great an opportunity as any other school for me to play in the Tournament on a yearly basis. Combine that with the great campus/city, a team that I gelled with from the start, and a top-end coaching staff who I developed a great relationship with…and I had found a perfect fit for myself.

You have a new coach this year in Coach Casey Alexander: what makes him such a good coach, and what is the most important thing that you have learned from him so far? His ability to relate to his players by both demanding that we bring our best everyday but also understanding what it is like to be a student-athlete at this level. The most important thing that I have learned from his thus far is how to handle adversity in a more positive manner. I love the game of basketball and that makes me a very emotional player. Coach has done a great job of trying to help me learn how to channel my emotions in a way that has a positive impact on our team at all times.

You redshirted during your 1st year on campus: why did you decide to do so, and how did it help you become the player you are? Our center position was very cluttered during my freshman year with 4 true centers including myself plus our senior captain Amanze Egekeze (who played a good bit of center in our “small-ball” lineups). I decided that I wanted to get the most out of my 4 playing years at Belmont and focused heavily on the things that I needed to work on the most, which was primarily learning our offensive system, learning how to defend better in 1-on-1 situations down low, and adjusting to the physicality/pace of the college game through lots of practice reps and time in the weight room.

Last year you started 32 games, were named to the All-Conference 1st team, and won the conference ROY award: what did it mean to you to receive such outstanding honors? It means a lot that I was recognized for these awards: I think it speaks volumes about the abilities of my teammates/coaches. The fact that a team with so much talent/leadership/experience (along with such an extraordinary coaching staff) was willing and able to put that amount of trust in myself (along with multiple other young/inexperienced players such as Grayson Murphy/Caleb Hollander/Tate Pierson/Adam Kunkel) says so much about how special our program is here at Belmont.

Your 60.4 FG%/2.2 BPG were both top-25 in the nation: what is the secret to being a great shooter/shot-blocker? When it comes to the FG%, I think the key is just to trust the incredible offensive system that our coaches have in place and trust that all 5 guys will constantly be working to get the very best shot that we can get every time down the floor. When we do that we are a fun, high-paced team that scores a lot of points in a super-efficient manner. As for shot blocking, my size/length obviously have a great deal to do with my ability to block/alter shots on the defensive end, in addition to a sense of timing that I have been working on since I first started to play the game. Ideally I will be able to continue to block shots at a high rate while also improving my 1-on-1 post defense and pick-and-roll defense, which are 2 areas that I have focused on a lot since last season.

You missed the OVC tourney title game with an ankle injury: how did it feel to be unable to face Murray State, and how is your health doing at the moment? Missing the Murray State game was undoubtedly the lowest point last season. Knowing that I was unable to be out on the court and compete with my teammates during our biggest game of the year was heartbreaking, and I was so thankful to get to compete with them 2 more times on the biggest stage. The roller coaster of emotions that we all felt starting that Friday and ending after the Maryland game were more than most teams feel during a whole season. However, I would not change our experience for anything! Shortly following the Maryland game I had surgery on my ankle that kept me sidelined for approximately 4 months. Thanks to the tremendous work of my doctors and our training staff I am back and have been put in a great position to not only be back but be even better than I was before the injury come this November!

In the 2019 NCAA tourney you had 16 PTS in a win over Temple and 3 BLK in a 2-PT loss to Maryland: how close did you come to pulling off the upset against the Terps, and what did you learn from that experience that will help you this year? Obviously with it being only a 2-PT loss it was an extremely close game. However, when you go back to that game you can see there were about 4-5 instances where we missed a loose ball, they got a fingertip on a pass, or we were an inch too far across the baseline from being in a much better position than attempting a half-court heave at the buzzer for the win. The main thing I took from that experience is just how small the margin is between winning and losing. Paying attention to every little detail throughout the course of the game is so critical because you never know which small/minor details will add up to winning or losing the game.

Your non-conference schedule includes road games at BC/Alabama: which of these games do you feel will present your biggest test? We play an incredibly difficult non-conference schedule this season, with teams like St. Louis, Lipscomb (twice), Middle Tennessee, Western Kentucky, and Illinois State on our slate in addition to those 2 games you mentioned. When I look at our schedule I do not see 1 game that stands out but rather a stretch of tough games (almost all of which are on the road) that will force us to bring it every single night and prepare us for our conference slate and ultimately the OVC Tournament in Evansville.

You graduated your top-2 senior scorers from last season in Dylan Windler/Kevin McClain: how will you try to replace all of that offense/leadership? I feel like those are not things that any 1 guy on our team can replace but rather something that we will have to do collectively. One area where I think this team has a leg up on last year’s team off the jump is our depth. This team has even more youth than last season (which is hard to believe because we started 3 freshmen in more than half of our games!) but we have a ton of talent and lots of guys who simply love to play the game of basketball. As for leadership, we have a pair of 5th-year seniors and a handful of underclassmen who played significant roles last year who know what it takes to win big games and play Belmont Basketball the way that it is supposed to be played, so I think collectively we have what it takes to lead this team back into the heart of March.

What are your goals for the upcoming season, and what are your expectations for the upcoming season? I feel like our goals/expectations are fairly similar to most seasons. We want to win the OVC regular season championship, get to Evansville and win the conference tournament, then go to the NCAA Tournament and win some games there too. At the end of the day our expectations are for everyone to bring it every single night, play hard, and play for each other. I am very confident that if we do those things then we are going to accomplish a lot of those goals…and have a whole lot of fun doing it!

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Season preview: HoopsHD interviews Oklahoma State assistant coach Scott Sutton

Posted on September 5, 2019 by Jon Teitel

CLICK HERE for all of our extensive Preseason Content

We continue our season preview coverage with Oklahoma State assistant coach Scott Sutton. As much as head coach Mike Boynton Jr. enjoys the experience his team has on the court (5 seniors and 1 grad student), he certainly enjoys the experience he has on his sideline as well. He has an assistant he worked with at Stephen F. Austin (Erik Pastrana), a special assistant who has won more than 100 games as a head coach (John Cooper), and a director of player development who is 1 of the best 3-PT shooters in school history (Keiton Page). Another fountain of knowledge on the bench is assistant coach Scott Sutton: son of the legendary Eddie Sutton, the winningest coach in Oral Roberts history, and 3 NCAA tourney appearances/3 conference COY awards on his resume. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Coach Sutton about his fantastic father and his own head coaching success.

You played for your father Eddie Sutton at Oklahoma State: how did you like playing for your dad, and what made him such a great coach? I loved it. It was a great opportunity to be a part of the program and see my dad every day: it was a very rewarding experience. I think what separated him from other coaches was not just his great knowledge of the game but the fact that he always got the most out of his players. He could challenge them and make them better without losing them. They knew that he cared about them and that he wanted them to be the best they could be.

What are your memories of the 1993 NCAA tourney (James Brewer scored 26 PTS in a win by Louisville)? The first thing I remember is that we played at the Hoosier Dome: it was so much bigger and different than anywhere else I had ever played before. We beat New Mexico State and then drew Louisville, who was a top-4 seed. We played great in the 1st half but then their experience/talent took over and they pulled ahead and beat us.

What are your memories of the 1994 NCAA tourney (Bryant Reeves scored 32 PTS in a 2-PT loss to Tulsa)? We won the 1st round rather handily. It was down in Oklahoma City so it was great to have the opportunity to play in front of our own fans. After we got through we figured that we would be playing UCLA. The Bruins had a very talented team and went on to win the national title the following year with the same core group. However, they ran into a Tulsa team that put on a great performance and beat them. Between our 1st and 2nd games we had a starter suspended, which hurt us, but we still got out to a 16-PT halftime lead. Tulsa came out in the 2nd half and played fantastic. I think that was the 1st time that many people had heard of Tulsa coach Tubby Smith, who obviously has had a great career. It was my last game as a player so it was a painful/disappointing loss.

1 of your Cowboy teammates was Brooks Thompson, who later led Texas-San Antonio to the NCAA tourney: what was Brooks like as a player, and what made him such a great coach? He was extremely confident. We came in the same year and both redshirted after transferring in. He became 1 of my very best friends when we played on the scout team together. We had a great scout team that year too with Randy Rutherford/Von Bennett (who went on to be a great center). We also had a great backcourt led by Corey Williams: my brother Sean, Darwyn Alexander, and Brooks went head-to-head with those guys every day in practice and never backed down. He worked his tail off too, which I think helped him eventually play in the NBA, and I think that same competitive spirit allowed him to be a great coach as well.

In 1995 you were hired to be an administrative assistant at Oral Roberts for Coach Bill Self: why did you take the job, and could you tell at the time that Self was going to become a championship coach? Bill called my dad about an administrative assistant position that he was creating: these days you would probably call it a director of operations. I knew that I wanted to get into coaching and had a passion for it so I took the job. You never know exactly what kind of success someone will have but I certainly knew that he was something special. He had the same intangibles as my dad when it came to interacting with his players.

What are your memories of the 2006 NCAA tourney as head coach at ORU (Larry Owens had 13 PTS/11 REB in a loss to Memphis)? 2006 was a special year. I think that our 2005 team was 1 of the best teams that we ever had but we were upset in the finals by Oakland on a last-second shot: it was a crushing loss. We dominated the regular season and came back to play for the title again so to be able to celebrate with those guys was very memorable. I actually thought we got a bad seed that year. It was our 1st time going to the NCAA tourney so we got a #16 seed and had to play Coach John Calipari and 1 of his best Memphis teams. We actually led with about 4 minutes to go in the 1st half and the crowd got behind us because we were the underdog…and then they hit us with a 16-2 run and we never really got back into it.

What are your memories of the 2007 NCAA tourney (Ken Tutt scored 19 PTS in a loss to Washington State)? We had great players that year with Caleb Green/Ken Tutt, who came in together in 2003. We came back and won it again and had what I thought was a really good draw in Washington State but we did not play well in the 2nd half, which was really disappointing. I think that it was easier the 1st time because we knew what we were up against but we really believed that we could win in 2007.

You are the all-time winningest coach in Oral Roberts history: what makes you such a great coach, and do you think that anyone will ever break your record? I was in a very unique situation at ORU. There were 3 main things that allowed us to succeed. #1: the school supported basketball. I had a great boss in Mike Carter and the school understands the importance of basketball, which dates all the way back to when Oral Roberts himself was president. The 2nd thing is that we had a great staff. I was able to keep assistant coaches for a long time, and when they moved on to bigger things I was able to replace them with outstanding people. The 3rd thing was recruiting players. We were able to do a great job of recruiting high-level players, which allowed us to win a bunch of games. As for the record, few coaches have been at a mid-major program as long as I was. Usually you either have success and move on or you do not have success and it eventually costs you your job. I think that it would take someone in a similar situation who comes in and loves the university and wants to stay there, but I certainly think others will win here. It is a great job: a place where you should be in the top 2-3 in your league every year.

Your older brother Sean played/coached at Oklahoma State and made the NCAA title game last year as an advisor to Texas Tech coach Chris Beard: who is the best athlete in the family? Sean was a great basketball player: he has a tremendous understanding of how to play and is very athletic. I think that knowledge allowed both of us to play at a high level.

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The Hoops HD Report: NAIA Session

Posted on September 4, 2019 by David Griggs

Chad, David, and John are joined by Junior from NAIAHoopsReport.com and we take a look at the NAIA, which if you do not know is an exciting level of college basketball outside of the NCAA.  We discuss how it’s unique, who some of the better teams are this upcoming year, and why it is an exciting opportunity for players, coaches, and fans.

CLICK HERE to check out the website

This is audio only, so our radio lovers are happy.  Our TV lovers are just S.O.L.

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Season preview: HoopsHD interviews SMU women’s head coach Travis Mays

Posted on September 4, 2019 by Jon Teitel

CLICK HERE for all of our extensive Preseason Content

We continue our season preview coverage with SMU women’s head coach Travis Mays. He first gained fame in the state of Texas as a player for the Longhorns: 1990 Elite 8, 2279 career PTS (#2 in Southwest Conference history), and the 1st player to earn back-to-back SWC POY honors. After being drafted 14th overall in the 1990 NBA draft, he spent 3 years in the NBA before playing almost a decade of pro basketball overseas. After retiring he spent 15 years as an assistant at several big-time college programs and was named head coach at SMU in 2016. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Coach Mays about being a great scorer and playing against Michael Jordan.

As a freshman on Valentine’s Day 1987 you made a 3-PT shot with 1 second left to clinch a 2-PT win on the road at SMU: where does that rank among the biggest shots of your career? I did not hit many game-winners at the buzzer during my career so it is 1 of those shots that would cause you to run around the neighborhood as a kid. It was not that big of a game but as a freshman it made me feel somewhat more accepted. It was 1 of the coolest moments of my basketball career.

What are your memories of the 1989 NCAA tourney in Dallas (you scored 23 PTS in a 6-PT win over Georgia Tech)? We were a team that was trying to prove itself because nobody knew who we really were. Georgia Tech had Tom Hammonds/Brian Oliver/Dennis Scott and were a nationally-known team under Coach Bobby Cremins. It was a notch in our belt to knock off 1 of the big guys: we wanted to prove ourselves.

You were a 2-time SWC POY and in 1990 you were named All-American: what did it mean to you to receive such outstanding honors? I always played with a chip on my shoulder. The SWC was not a power conference back then. I wanted to go pro so I figured that I would have to be the best player in the conference. It gave me a huge amount of confidence, especially because I could not sneak up on anyone during my senior year. That also rates at the top of my list of personal achievements.

Take me through the 1990 NCAA tourney:
You scored a tourney-school-record 44 PTS in a win over Georgia (including a whopping 23 FTM): was it just 1 of those scenarios where every shot you put up seemed to go in because you were “in the zone”? I do not know if I was in a zone but I did everything in that game with a serious purpose. I did not go out trying to score 44 PTS…but if it was going to be my final game then I wanted to go out as the leading scorer in school history. Guys kept fouling me so I made them all count.

You scored 16 PTS and made 2 FT with 7 seconds in a 1-PT win over Purdue: what is your secret to making FTs? My college coach once told me do not look back wishing you could have spent more time practicing FTs. The key is repetition but when they foul you then you have to make it count.

You scored 20 PTS but missed a 3-PT shot with 17 seconds left in a 3-PT loss to Arkansas: did you think that your shot was going in, and what was the feeling like in your locker room afterward? I absolutely thought that it was going in. When it fell short I followed it but ended up getting my 5th foul and fouling out. When the ref blew his whistle I laid on the floor for a few seconds because I realized that my career had come to a close. Coach Tom Penders came out to see if I was injured and I told him that it was my last shot in a Texas uniform. He patted me on the back and let me lay there for awhile.

In the summer of 1990 you were drafted 14th overall by Sacramento: did you see that as a validation of your college career, or the realization of a lifelong dream of reaching the NBA, or other? It meant everything: it validated my hard work and put a stamp on me as 1 of the best in the world but it was also a lifelong dream. It felt like a time to exhale for a short moment and get to shake Commissioner David Stern’s hand…but then realize that I had to get to work because I was starting over again.

In your 1st season you averaged 14.3 PPG and were named 2nd-team All-Rookie: how were you able to make such a smooth transition from college to the NBA? The confidence and hard work helped me a lot. Playing against the best throughout my college career had me looking forward to accept the challenge of the NBA. My teammates like Rory Sparrow/Wayman Tisdale made me feel like a part of the team and became some of my best friends, as well as Ralph Sampson. It is great to have veterans like that who want to see you become successful. There are very few people who everyone says the exact same thing about but everyone described Wayman as a great person/family man. He made you feel special but he was like that with everyone.

In the 1993 Eastern Conference 1st round as a player for Atlanta you were swept by 2-time-defending-champ Chicago: what was it like to play against Michael Jordan in the playoffs? My 1st experience against him was during my rookie season and it was phenomenal. It is 1 thing to see him on TV and another to walk onto the court and play against 1 of the greatest of all time. Rory and Michael were good friends and during my 1st year Rory told Mike, “I got a rookie who is going to get right in your jock tonight”: I wish he had let that dog lie! Jordan dunked the ball and threw it right back to me, which I will always remember. Michael said after the game that he had tremendous respect for me and compared my defense to Gary Payton, which was 1 of the greatest compliments that I have ever received.

After retiring from the NBA you played in several foreign countries (including Greece/Israel/Turkey/Italy): what did you learn from these experiences, and how did they compare to the NBA? I learned a lot during my 1st year in Greece because they had a lot of great American players over there: Walter Berry/Rolando Blackman/Thurl Bailey/etc. I learned that the NBA is not the only place where they played competitive basketball so I never took it for granted. I got injured in Atlanta, which is what caused me to go abroad.

In 2002 you became a coach/scout for San Antonio of the WNBA, and later served as an assistant to Hall of Fame coaches Jody Conradt (at Texas)/Van Chancellor (at LSU): what is the biggest difference between men’s basketball and women’s basketball? The biggest difference is the athleticism. There are some exceptional female players like Maya Moore/Candace Parker who can create separation, but most of the success is based on execution. In the men’s game a guy can be out of position but still use his athleticism to recover and make a play.

In 2012 you were re-hired as an assistant at your alma mater: why did you take the job, and what do you hope to do in the future? It was a no-brainer for me. When I 1st came to Texas as a player the program was not where everyone wanted it to be. It put a lot of joy on the fan’s faces after we helped bring it back to national recognition. As a student-athlete I reaped the benefits of that by being accepted in the community, so I can relate my story to all of the new players who come in and want to take a program back to the national level. I also liked the opportunity to work in Austin where my family was living. I will continue to sharpen my craft and who knows where it will lead.

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Season preview: HoopsHD interviews Temple assistant to the head coach Mark Macon

Posted on September 2, 2019 by Jon Teitel

CLICK HERE for all of our extensive Preseason Content

We continue our season preview coverage with Temple Assistant to the Head Coach Mark Macon.  Macon showed up in North Philly in the late 1980s and started rewriting the Owl recordbook: 2609 career PTS (#1 in school history), 281 STL (#2 in school history), a #1 ranking in the 1988 AP poll, national Freshman of the Year, and the only 4-time 1st-team All-Conference player in A-10 history. After playing 6 years in the NBA, he later returned to campus as an assistant to Hall of Fame coach John Chaney, and now he is back on the sideline with fellow former A-10 POY/new Temple head coach Aaron McKie. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Mark about being a great scorer and working for Coach Chaney.

In the 1985 Michigan High School Class B state title game Roy Marble scored 25 PTS and his Flint Beecher team made a 15-foot jumper at the buzzer for a 2-PT 2-OT win over your Buena Vista High School team to finish the year with a perfect 27-0 record: how devastating was it to come so close to winning it all and fall just short? It was devastating to lose after working so hard to get there, but at the time it was considered 1 of the best games in state history. I loved Roy as a person: he was a great athlete and a great person. Our goal was not just to get there but to win it all.

Take me through the 1986 state tourney:
You scored 46 PTS against Gladstone in the quarterfinals (the 6th-most PTS in Michigan state tourney history): was it just 1 of those situations where every shot you put up seemed to go in because you were “in the zone”? No: that came from hours and hours of hard work and practice. I was confident in myself and my teammates were confident in me as well so we believed that we could win and were never afraid to do whatever we had to do. If someone could not do the job then someone else would step up.

After Beecher’s Ernest Stewart made a FT with 3 seconds left, Chris Coles made a 54-footer at the buzzer for his only PTS of the game in a 1-PT win in the state title game: where does that rank among the most amazing shots you have ever seen? It definitely ranks right at the top that I have seen in person. I had total confidence that something good was going to happen…and it did. There was a miracle-like energy in the building.

In 1987 after graduating with 2490 PTS you were named Michigan Mr. Basketball (ahead of future pros like Anderson Hunt/Steve Smith) and Athlete of the Decade by the Saginaw News: do you consider yourself to be 1 of the best players in state history? That is up to the opinion of others but I knew that I was just as good as anyone else in our state. Growing up in my era there were a lot of great players but I rode on the shoulders of players like Kermit Washington and Tony Smith and many others. There was always good competition in the area who made sure that you would have a tough time playing pickup ball. Even when I was in the 5th grade I looked up to guys who showed me that small guys could succeed. I played against guys like Terry Mills/Glen Rice and those battles helped make me who I was. Every team you played against had several guys who went on to play in D-1. My 2 brothers were also important in everything I did as a basketball player because I had to get on their shoulders 1st.

That same year you were named MVP of the McDonald’s All-American Game after scoring 14 PTS in an 8-PT win by the East: which of your fellow players impressed you the most (Larry Johnson, Marcus Liberty, Dennis Scott, other)? I had played against Marcus and he could do everything. I also knew what the others could do. LaBradford Smith and Rodney Monroe were fellow 2-guards like me so I was excited to compete against them. Brian Shorter was a monster and was the best player there, bar none. Elliott Perry was my roommate so I will never forget him.

In 1988 at Temple you scored 20.6 PPG and were named national Freshman of the Year: how were you able to come in and be so successful right from the start? Training. I spent countless hours training myself to be prepared defensively, which we ran during my final year of high school. I knew how to cut and handle the basketball so I just had to be ready mentally to play. The coaches put me in a position to come in and do things right away.

In 1989 you scored 14 PTS and set a school record with 11 STL in a 4-PT loss at Notre Dame: what is the secret to being a great defender? Anticipation. I always loved playing defense but you have to know what you are looking for. You have to read a guy so that you know what he can and cannot do. You have to run lanes and go behind guys. It was great to get all of those steals but it did not help because we ended up losing the game. My family got a chance to come down from Michigan to see me in South Bend.

Take me through the 1991 NCAA tourney:
You scored 26 PTS in a 9-PT OT win over Oklahoma State: did you feel any redemption by leading your team to victory at the Meadowlands (the location of your 1988 NCAA tourney loss to Duke)? I do not think that it was about redemption: we were just trying to win games because the more we played the better we got. We knew how to play as a group so after I fouled out of that game it was up to my teammates to win it. They were able to close the deal because they trusted each other: it was an awesome game against a heck of a team.

You scored 31 PTS but missed a 25-footer at the buzzer in a 3-PT loss to #1-seed UNC: did you think the shot was going in, and were you surprised to be named East Regional MVP in a losing effort? I thought that every shot I took was going in due to my focus and confidence. Had that shot went in there was no way they were going to beat us in OT. Being named MVP meant nothing to me because it did not help us get to the Final 4. It was heartbreaking to see teammates like Donald Hodge on the ground crying because they wanted to get there so bad. We had to fight just to get into the tourney and I tried to do everything in my power to get us to the Final 4.

You were a 3-time All-American, 1991 conference POY, and the only 4-time 1st-team All-Conference selection in A-10 history: what did it mean to you to win such outstanding honors? That was all great but I do not make a big deal about it. I think the 4-time 1st-team selection is an awesome thing but I just wanted to win as many conference titles as I could. To look back at it now, it is a heck of an honor and I am very proud of that.

You remain the all-time leading scorer in school history: did you realize at the time how prolific a player you were, and do you think that anyone will ever break your record? Not really: I just knew that I was going to bust it open because I almost broke the record as a sophomore! I was not trying to turn pro until I finished school: that was my goal. I love having the record but I really hope that someone will stay in school for 4 years and eventually break it. Books and ball were the 2 most important things in my life: everything else came after that.

In 1992 you averaged 2 SPG (10th-best in the league) for Denver and were named to the All-Rookie team: how were you able to make such a smooth transition from college to the NBA? Same thing: training. I also had the mentality to want to be great. I was so intense that my teammates told me to laugh and smile a little more, which I did…until I hit the floor. As a pro athlete the key is mental training: when you are at a level where everyone can do what you can do physically you need a mental edge. Even if I could not stop someone I would try to make it as hard as hell for them to score.

You were an assistant at your alma mater under Coach John Chaney from 2003-2006: what made him such a great coach, and what was the most important thing that you ever learned from him? He taught me to take care of the small things so that they would not become big things: do not turn the ball over! I had to learn how to teach young men how to play the game even if they did not have the same amount of talent and intensity that I had. I learned that Coach Chaney was just as hard on his newer players as he was on us back in the day. He was more of a teacher when I worked for him: the players were more athletic but not all the young men today are as cerebral as we were back in the day.

You previously spent a few years as head coach at Binghamton: how did you like being a head coach? I was not prepared to be a head coach but I loved it. I was becoming a good administrator and a better coach. I had a 5-year plan when I arrived in Binghamton but it turned into a 2½ year plan. I think that I have a lot to offer if someone is willing to take a chance on me. I believe in loyalty to your players and assistants.

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Season preview: HoopsHD interviews St. John’s special assistant Paul Pressey

Posted on September 1, 2019 by Jon Teitel

CLICK HERE for all of our extensive Preseason Content

As the summer comes to a close we can rejoice in the fact that college basketball is right around the corner! The season will tip off in a couple of months at the Champions Classic on November 5th at Madison Square Garden featuring a doubleheader of Kansas vs. Duke and Michigan State vs. Kentucky. To get you ready we will spend the preseason speaking with as many players/coaches as possible. We begin our coverage with St. John’s special assistant Paul Pressey. After leading his alma mater to the 1st 4 last March, Coach Chris Mullin stepped down in April and was replaced by former Arkansas coach Mike Anderson. To help create his future staff, Anderson turned to the past and selected his former Tulsa teammate/roommate Pressey to be his special assistant. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Paul about winning the 1981 NIT and working for Gregg Popovich in San Antonio.

Your nickname was the “Rubberband Man”: how did you get the nickname, and how did you like it? The Spinners had a song by that name. I loved it because it identified the way I played: I had a 7’1” wingspan and could cover a lot of space. Coach Nolan Richardson gave me the nickname in college. Our theme song/intro music was “Ain’t No Stopping Us Now” by McFadden & Whitehead, and that is just the way we played.

You began your collegiate career at Western Texas under Coach Richardson, where you finished 37-0 and won the NJCAA national title: how was your team able to maintain its focus for the entire season, and what was the most important thing he ever taught you? I think we went 27-5 during my 1st year there, which I thought was pretty good. However, after we came up short and realized that there was no next year for the sophomores we just felt so bad for them. They gave us the vision that we had to find a way to get back there and win it all. Coach Richardson played 10-11 guys per game: he would sub in 5 guys at a time because we were such a strong team. We never had any letdowns because there was so much competition between the starters and the bench players.

After following Coach Richardson to Tulsa you were named MVC Newcomer of the Year and led the nation with 96 STL: how were you able to come in and contribute so quickly, and did you feel like you were the best defender in the country? Coach Richardson took me and several of my teammates from our title team as well as Mike Anderson and we just came in like gangbusters and did not miss a beat. Nobody expected anything out of us as the new kids on the block but we were already a team.

Take me through the 1981 NIT:
You had a 4-PT win over UTEP, who was coached by Richardson’s mentor Don Haskins: what did it mean to Coach Richardson to beat his mentor? He was a chip off the old block: a lot of Nolan’s ideals came from Don and it was a big win for us. Don was proud of Nolan but crushed at the same time.

You had 20 PTS/9 AST/7 STL in a 2-PT win over West Virginia: where does that rank among the best all-around games of your college career? It was probably 1 of my best games because of the stage that it was on. Playing against a high level of competition every day really prepared me for those games.

NIT MVP Greg Stewart made the game-winning shot with 30 seconds left in a 2-PT OT win over Syracuse to clinch the title: how did that title compare to the NJCAA title, and what was the reaction like when you got back to campus? I was excited for Greg because we played a lot of years together side by side: to see him step up in his backyard of New York was just wonderful. For a little town of Tulsa to beat Syracuse in their own state was a big win for our university. People were cheering us until we were almost in tears.

In 1982 you were named MVC POY/All-American: what did it mean to you to win such outstanding honors? I just give a lot of credit to my teammates. Everyone made sacrifices for each other and I was able to thrive on both ends of the floor. We were all about winning and we got that from Coach Richardson.

What are your memories of the 1982 NCAA tourney (Rob Williams scored 26 PTS in a 4-PT win by Houston)? I cried: it really hurt me. We had a chance to beat them but they hit some big shots down the stretch. We were in our backyard at Oral Roberts and it was my last year. I knew that I would be losing some great teammates and a great coach who helped me grow as a player and as a young man. All of the seniors in the locker room after the game had tears in their eyes.

In the summer of 1982 you were picked 20th overall by Milwaukee (7 spots behind Sleepy Floyd): did you see that as a validation of your college career, or the realization of a lifelong dream of reaching the NBA, or other? It was a dream but a far-fetched dream. I wanted it to happen but felt that I would just get my degree and maybe get into coaching. I thought that I might get picked in the 2nd or 3rd round but never thought I would go in the 1st round. I had about 8 turnovers in the Aloha Classic and twisted my ankle so I thought that I had blown my chance, but I went to the pre-draft camp in Chicago and my stock went back up.

In both 1984 & 1986 you lost to the eventual champion Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals: was it frustrating to keep facing those legendary Celtics’ teams, and do you think anyone could have beaten them back then? Hold on: you have to go back to my rookie year…when we swept them in the 1983 Eastern Conference Semifinals! After that it was a great challenge to play Boston/Philly/Detroit: there were so many good teams back then that there was minimal room for error.

In 1986 you finished 6th in the NBA All-Star Slam Dunk Contest: what kind of dunks did you do, and how amazing was it to see 5’7″ Spud Webb win it all? I was a player who could dunk in traffic but guys like Spud and Dominique Wilkins were “highlight dunkers”. I could do 1-handed cuff dunks and hook dunks but those 2 could do anything!

You were named to the All-Defensive team for 3 straight years in the mid-1980s: what is the key to being a great defender, and who was the hardest player you ever had to guard? There is no single best opponent I ever faced but Bernard King/Michael Jordan/Larry Bird/Dr. J are right at the top of the list. They were the key players on their teams at the time and you always had to be on your toes even if they did not have the ball. I always believed in taking the challenge of making my opponent work for his shot. Defensively you just need to have some inner pride and make the other guy earn his keep.

In 1992 you were an assistant coach with Golden State when you had to come out of retirement due to so many injured players on your roster, and after playing 18 games you got injured as well: how were you able to make the unusual transition from coach to player, and did you feel it was just karma after you got injured yourself? I had a torn calf muscle that forced me to the sideline. I became a free agent that summer and Don Nelson asked me to be an assistant coach for him. He said that if someone went down I would be the 1st guy he activated. It was the best of both worlds in terms of the opportunity: I had always wanted to coach and give something back to the younger guys. I got activated after Tim Hardaway went down and my 1st game was against Chicago: I held Jordan to 30 PTS!

You spent 6 seasons as assistant to Gregg Popovich in San Antonio, where the Spurs won their 1st-ever NBA title in 1999: what makes him such a great coach? Coach Pop just knows how to communicate with people. He is no-nonsense but wants you to have fun while you are doing your job. I want to keep doing this until my hair turns all gray!

Your daughter Angela made it to the 2007 Final 4 as a volleyball player at Cal and your sons Phil/Matt played basketball at Missouri: is it a coincidence that you have such an athletic family, and do your kids credit at least some of their success to genetics? Of course: their mother was an all-around athlete who had a basketball scholarship! Our kids have good genes and we always preached to them to pick a sport. Angela was a 3-time All-American in high school and later became a 4-time All-Pac-10 volleyball player.

At Missouri your 2 sons played for your new boss Mike Anderson, who became your teammate/roommate at Tulsa after your Western Texas team beat Mike’s Jefferson State team in the 1980 NJCAA title game: how did his relationship with your family affect your sons’ decisions to play for him? It is nice when you know the coach very well: he will help them grow and understand the basics of becoming a young man. We have done vacations with the Anderson family for a long time so my kids have known his kids for many years. My boys went to some of his camps when he was head coach at UAB. They were excited about his fast-paced style and made their own decisions.

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